Monsters of Television

“It’s nothing. I’m over-worrying it.“

That wasn’t so bad, was it? Okay, yes, I wasn’t thrilled with the plot development at the end, but at least the promos allowed that rage to happen before watching the episode, and the sequence was remarkably well-filmed, so it does soften the blow a bit.

On the whole, the episode is pretty strong. Unlike the previous two episodes, the episodes feels nicely balanced. The lack of the political subplot has allowed the show’s soapier elements to come forward, and not necessarily in the best possible ways. Here, however, the political subplot comes in to fill some gaps, and thus gives the episode a nice sense of closure (even if I still have some niggling plot threads dangling).

So, let’s get it out of the way: I’m not thrilled with Will and Alicia entering that hotel room. I mean, we don’t see anything so there’s no way of knowing that will actually happen (and I’ll go out on a limb and predict that season 3 begins either in the hotel room or the next day without confirmation of what actually happened until near the end of the episode (or that may even play it out across a couple of episodes)), but the implication will hang there for us to talk about all season.

I’m pretty on record as not liking the idea as it puts Alicia in a very difficult position, and she loses the high ground that Karen discussed in her comment to last week’s episode. But it would also be yet another time since the whole thing was revealed when Alicia allows her mask to slip, and it would perhaps be the most devastating slip ever.

On the other hand, and devil’s advocate here, this is something Alicia has wanted (“It’s Alicia time!”), and what is it saying about many of us in which we want to see the woman deny herself some modicum of comfort and pleasure? Nothing in her life, apart from her job, has gone her way these past two years. In a narrative where she’s often too saintly, too good, too perfect, isn’t she more interesting as she caves to “baser” desire and lets herself go? I don’t have an answer right now, but something we can maybe hash out in the comments.

Despite hating the narrative arc of those last few scenes, how gorgeously was it done? Those just off-screen elevator doors acting as transitional wipes but never actually changing the scene. Instead, they act almost as a metronome, giving both Alicia and Will to back out of this, allowing for seconds of doubts. It all felt very Wong Kar-wai. As a result, it’s been the only time I kind of felt like Will and Alicia had any chemistry, instead of the show telling me that they had chemistry and the actors never really being able to convey it.

The rest of the episode is strong. The case (with yet another The Wire alum, Seth Gilliam (who played Carver), in the mix) chugs along nicely, largely motivated by the pile of deadlines that crops up. Nothing gives a narrative a sense of extreme urgency than lots of deadlines, and I like how the episode still makes this fresh with nice resets of deadlines throughout the episode (Will’s clever, and then too-clever-for-his-own-good, dropping of information to a juror in the bathroom was particularly wonderful). Sure, the case is still a bit muddled, but it’s not as annoyingly distracting this week as it has been in the past.

The way the show decides to bring Eli into the fold with Peter now out of campaign mode (and with Chris Noth still not wanting to be a regular) is clever, and it provides an opportunity to not only keep Eli and Alicia in scenes together (how wonderfully played was their scene?), but it will hopefully provide more chances for the show to expand its sense of Chicago.

Which is where some of the dangling threads come in for me. While the show has teased at little bits of this, Chicago is still a little less defined than the show is clearly wanting to do. Much of this is just the challenges of television in general, but some attempts at follow-up go a long way. The coup in Isiah’s church goes unmentioned after it happens, with no sense of its impact on the campaign or the show’s universe. Likewise, Grace’s religious conversion (if we can call it that) kind of didn’t go anywhere, and I’m not even sure what Zach was hanging around for this year.

And even speaking of dangling threads, what happened after Jackie sat down to dinner with Owen and the kids? Did I miss a scene, or was there absolutely no follow-up to that? Of course, if the follow-up is that Owen is a recurring character next season, keeping an eye on the kids while Alicia is out earning some money, I will promptly take back this complaint.

But, as a whole, this was a very satisfying conclusion to the season. I’m not sure how I feel about the season as a whole, as the cloud of Blake and Kalinda hang over it like a toxic cloud of awfulness, but I suspect, if I re-watched it all on DVD, I’d enjoy it even more than season 1.

FINAL THOUGHTS

• Kalinda’s scene with whatshername, in which she discovers that she’s the other woman, was a little on the nose, though it led to a very nice scene transition as we see her in three different time periods (in the bed, at a bar, in the office). I think I liked it more than the elevators.
• Going back to my actor chemistry comment earlier: how deliciously taunt was the scene between Will and Peter? “Things are good, right?” “How’s Alicia?” Charles and Noth needs more scenes together (that was like, what, their second one in two seasons?). They have chemistry. Rife with anger, betrayal, and a little smugness on Will’s part. So good.
• So weird seeing a rational, non-quirky judge on this show.
• “I’m offering you the chance to vie for my services.” “To what do we owe this…largess?”
• “Serve them coffee, serve them lots of coffee.” And then it pays off, and you don’t even think about it until later. Elegance.
• “Oh, here it comes, the obligatory apology. No she works hard because she has to.”
• “Oh, kids, look, it’s your grandmother. What a coincidence.” I LOVE YOU, DALLAS ROBERTS.
• “Did you know we had a sex offender in our mailroom? The baritone at the Christmas party.”
• Karen is going to be so pissed that they won again.
• “I hate tequila.” “Why? Tequila is so good!”
• $7,800. What? Dude. REALLY? And private butler? Named Jerome? What?
• Dammit. I like being original. Wasn’t the only one who saw Wong Kar-wai in that sequence.