Monsters of Television

“We don’t lie here. We…don’t lie to each other. But when people want to hurt us, it’s sometimes all right not to tell them the truth.”

This is the kitchen of conflict and resolution. Mostly conflict. Resolution that one time.

Slight calm before the storm, eh?

This is a tricky episode to dig into because, well, the case of the week kind of gets in the way a little bit narratively but works really excellently thematically. All I really wanted was a close examination of Alicia’s grief and sense of betrayal. A more obvious episode to present, yes, with more emotional confrontations between her and Peter, but that’s not how this show really works.

That it didn’t hit my expectation doesn’t mean the episode is a wash, as both tracks of the show actually work well on their own, and Alicia’s personal life directly plays into her boost in confidence in court, so there’s isn’t a total sense of separation between the two stories. And there’s really stellar acting the entire hour from Margulies as she hits pretty much every excellent note, and the script gives her space to do that.

But the big showdown (as it were), the big emotional scene, I guess, is next week. And I am so primed for that.

So, diving in, while I wanted those big splashy scenes, there is something more elegant in how the episode is executed as Alicia is arguing two things at once in both her lives. With the patient of the week, after the typical legal maneuvers and feints (and with Patti Nyholm back, there were a lot of those), Alicia essentially argues the case that just because someone’s past life was filled with booze and rock ‘n roll and tattoos that they shouldn’t be denied a second chance, especially when it’s clear that they have changed. This is why Marjorie Garnett deserves a new liver, and why her doctor was wrong to not only perform multiple tests on her, and other women, but to bump her from the donors’ list because of her past transgressions.

And Alicia is all behind that argument, making the case for it with more gusto and confidence than we’ve seen from her in a very long while. With her personal cage rattled, she keeping Patti on her heels, and is under her skin, looking for some way to use her feelings of rage and betrayal in a productive way so that it doesn’t consume her.

Except she doesn’t believe her own argument in her personal life. Peter has made every effort to change and be better and improve their marriage. And Alicia, in all her cautiousness, has slowly bought into this newly reformed Peter over the course of the season, even allow him to return to her bed. But this new bit of information about Kalinda undoes all of that. And, for all intents and purposes, Peter is right that the affair happened before Alicia and Kalinda even knew one another.

But it’s the lack of disclosure, the lack of the truth is why this has happened, and Peter doesn’t get that. It upends all of the structures that Alicia not only built to survive through season 1, but to have a life in season 2. It doesn’t matter that Kalinda wasn’t her best friend then, it matters that their friendship was potentially built because of a lie, a lie that neither Peter or Kalinda decided to share.

Of course, Peter is not the only one in the wrong here. Kalinda is very much to blame for this situation, but I think Alicia is in very much a kind of “divide and conquer” mode. Settle Peter first and then deal with Kalinda, somehow. And that’s where the interest is, frankly. Being estranged from and angry with Peter is nothing new, but this Kalinda thing is a whole other beast.

I’m not exactly sure what to do with Peter’s interest in Cary (though I love the shot), and I’m frustrated by the idea of Cary being used as a pawn in this marriage of revenge game, much in the same way I don’t like how Kalinda’s role in the show has now become another wedge in that plot.

The rest of the episode plays out well enough. Because her past shenanigans, I never really believed Patti’s suit against her old firm for a second, which made that subplot, while entertaining, something of a dead-end for me. At least it didn’t involve Hugo Chavez.

FINAL THOUGHTS

• Sorry for the brief-ish thoughts, but I’m a little pressed for time. I wanted to get this posted, and had plates spinning today.
• I admit I had some sympathy for Peter’s situation, but as soon as he mentioned Will, that went away. Just a dumb, vicious thing to do. Seriously. Jackass.
• Not to make light of the situation, but I asking Alicia to help me move and find a place. Clearly she’s brilliant at it.
• Good to know that Kalinda’s still got it though. And a very cute nurse, too.
• Please bring John Glover back. I don’t care how. Just do it.