The Good Wife: Runnin' with the Devil - A Theme of Betrayal

Season 4, Episode 16 | Original Air Date: Sunday, March 10, 2013

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Betrayal.  It comes in many forms.  Sometimes it’s a lie you tell yourself while other times it’s an action that’s thrust upon you.  No matter what, betrayal makes you question those things you’ve always known – like who you are and how far you’ll go – and sometimes it makes you question those things of which you’re just not sure – like employment or friendships. 

In ‘Runnin’ with the Devil,’ betrayal is the main ingredient in a juicy tale that starts in a partnership meeting and ends in a courtroom.   This week, I'm looking at how trust and disloyalty perform an intricate dance together and how they're beginning to play a larger role on The Good Wife.  Don't forget to stop by the Q&A at the bottom of this article to share your thoughts on this week's developments!

“Be brave, lone voice in the wilderness”

Oh David Lee.  Less than three minutes into the show and I've already got a quote I love to hate.  If there’s one thing I can say about David, it’s not that I like him – no – it’s that I can’t get enough of his smarmy quips.    

As Alicia goes against the grain in her first partnership meeting (she doesn't mind having the firm look like a Burmese tent city… and neither does Diane), she stands alone in her resolve to not hire a second investigator.  Alicia’s in a difficult position because she’s friends-on with Kalinda again and the last time the firm brought in a second investigator, glass repair shops were operating on full cylinders to keep up with K’s bat-wielding ways.

Still, no one seems to care and as Alicia stands alone in the forested wilderness known as covert friendship, she gets herself tasked to the hiring committee. 

Flash forward.  K finds out new investigators are being interviewed and she’s anything but pleased.  Even Will, who has had Kalinda’s back since season one, seems particularly emotionless about the new team that’s being formed.  Maybe it’s time for these two to go for drinks and for K to punch Will in the leg again, because that’s the one thing he seems to be missing: tough love.

With a parade of ex-cops running around the 28^th floor, the ‘Investigator Hiring Squad’ went with an unexpected choice: Robyn Burdine (Jess Weixler) a former treasury enforcement agent, turned babysitter.  She’s a quirky dynamo who seems just a bit out of her element when it comes to working in a law firm.  Strangely though, this just might work.  She’s Kalinda’s 360 degree opposite, but it could make them a formidable team.  Everyone needs a sidekick… and if Batman could make it work, so too can Kalinda.  I hope.

The Defense of Lemond Bishop

Finally!  Lemond Bishop is back – albeit in shackles – to fight for his innocence.   When last we saw Bishop, in ‘Waiting for the Knock,’ he was being carted away under with the charge of murder hanging over his head.  As Chicago’s biggest drug lord, it never really made sense to me as to why he could be charged with killing one of his employees and leave her for dead in a trunk – not because he wouldn’t want to, but because he has people for that kind of thing. I mean, right?  For Chicago PD I don’t think it mattered though.  It was like catching Al Capone on tax evasion.

The more I think about it, the more I feel they've crafted Bishop into a modern day Capone.  Sure, he doesn't wear a fedora or smoke cigars, but he deals in cash, is a master at creating plausible deniability and no one will testify against him… at least for long.  This is especially the case when we start looking at Bishop’s second attorney on retainer: Charles Lester (aka Blair Waldorf’s step-father Cyrus Rose, aka Wallace Shawn).   

Travelling around with Alicia and talking to witnesses, we find Lester jumping into conversation with seemingly simple questions.  To a guy at the gym: What are the hours here and are you interested in body mass?  To a man at a bowling alley: How old are your little girls?  Alone, these questions seem innocent, but the result is always the same: a recanting of testimony.  Charles Lester, as it turns out, reminds me a bit of Louis Canning, only unlike our plaid-loving attorney nemesis, Lester has an almost sweet demeanor.  It’s like he doesn't realize Bishop is the master puppeteer and using him to threaten witnesses, but at the same time, we know he’s aware of what he’s doing – he’s been at it for the last 10 years.  Lester isn't afraid to betray his oath as a lawyer: who says threatening witnesses is wrong?  

Oh. Right. Everyone.

Of course, then there’s Alicia, who assumed the role of innocent bystander with ease because, well, who saw this coming?  This guy looks like a kind old man who eats prunes for breakfast and writes thank you notes to the kids down the street who shovel his snow.  He doesn’t look like Lemond’s confidant and co-conspirator.  That’s why I was especially worried for Judy Bishop, Lemond’s sister, when she decided to testify against her brother.  A) Seriously?  Who testifies against their drug lord brother who had their wife offed? And B) See A.  When Lester said “you know what you need to do,” I thought Judy was a goner, but maybe for Bishop blood really is the tie that binds.  He won’t betray Judy, because Judy won’t betray his son, Dylan.  It’s the circle of life, even when you’re a kingpin. 

The Case of the Restaurateur

Cary: The man who has been passed up and looked over, is plotting his next moves, one of which is in a play to start his one firm, the other of which is to finally hook up with Kalinda.  While the latter continues to be a bust, Cary’s aspiration to reach for something better is both inspiring and promising.  Just think: Cary could branch out and start Agos and Associates… and soon.  For those of you waiting for Cary’s big break, I’m hoping this is it.  While my personal preference would be for Cary and Alicia to team up, that’s not in the cards, at least for now.  In fact, last week I read an article with Robert and Michelle King that said the last half of the season would be characterized by a Lockhart Gardner civil war.  Could Cary be at the crux of the mutiny?  Who would he recruit over to his new firm?  Could this finally be Cary’s chance?

Well, it might be if Kalinda has anything to say about it.  Having been out investigating with local restaurateur and cheese-lover, Seth DeLucca, Kalinda found out Cary had been talking to him about a higher level of personalized service.  With Robyn in the mix and Kalinda more uncertain about her job at Lockhart Gardner than ever, she’s let Cary know she’s up on his plan but that he needs to keep his nose clean.  She’s can’t lie forever.  Wait.  It’s Kalinda.  Yes she can.  But betray his trust?  No way.

Q&A

What did you think of “Runnin’ with the Devil?”  Was Alicia’s law school rival, Liz Lawrence, right to ask Alicia when she sold her soul to the devil?  Are you excited at the prospect of Cary going rouge and starting his own firm?

What’s Next?

What’s better than formal wear and fisticuffs?  The answer?  Nothing.  In “Invitation to an Inquest” my two favourite things come together in an episode that’s promising to feature the demise of Jordan, the reappearance of Mike Kresteva and a fistfight.  Did I mention Alicia in a floor-length red gown, Will putting the moves on Laura and Alicia and Will having not one, but two, heart-to-hearts.  Oh for the love of Sunday.  I can’t wait.