This is great fun. Always a treat to see Dylan Baker back on the show and, after a complex and fast-moving sequence of opening scenes, it transpires that a murder has just taken place in Colin Sweeney’s house. Again.
The rest of the episode is told from Alicia’s POV as a witness. She is the one giving Sweeney his alibi. A responsibility she takes very seriously, replaying the events of the night in her mind and even having a dialogue with her memory. Clever.
In the end we are given a downbeat twist-ending. We knew something like this was coming but this was still very satisfying.
Meanwhile, we have a delightful Finn Polmar b-story. The climax of which had me laughing out loud at the screen.
Matthew Goode is a great addition to the show, and I really love his character.
Michael Cerveris is another great addition to the show. Love to hate his character!
Those final two scenes showcase great storytelling. First we are laughing at Finn and then – a minute later – there is the gut-punch revelation of the real murderer. Quality.
The ongoing NSA storyline comes to head when one of those monitoring the phone calls – Zach Woods – needs needs legal help himself and comes to Florrick-Agos. Exciting to see this character walking a tight rope, knowing things he’s not supposed to know and trying not to say them.
He fails.
And the second half of his story is an intricate (but much more typical) court battle. Good fun. Cary and Clarke are a great team. Love watching them.
The b-story is just as strong, when Alicia must defend the prosecutor who is being accused of being indirectly responsible for Will’s death. Like the character in the a-story, she is walking a tight rope. Instead of forbidden knowledge, her Achilles Heel takes the form of her own strong feelings for Will. And, after a hesitant start, she comes out all guns blazing in the end. Magnificent.
Three solid storylines here. The best, of course, involved Alicia returning to her old firm to testify. Nice twists and turns. The Will murder cast story was probably the weakest (as it utilized some tired tropes, like discarded gum yielding DNA) but the core story was engrossing and I look forward to seeing it continued. 10/10
Melissa George, Malik Yoba, Jeffrey Tambor. A gut-wrenching, roller-coaster, death-row thriller with a magnificent and clever ending. All non-A-story scenes are great, too. 10/10
Margaret Colin, David Garrison. An intelligent script, bringing some story arcs and character arcs to fruition and giving the fantastic Julianna Margulies a chance to showcase a tougher side to Alicia, speaking her mind a bit more, taking no bull, etc. Love it! I hope we see more of that moving forward. The conclusion, with Alicia submissively thanking the equity partners is surely the launching pad for something more? 10/10
John Glover. Lacks cohesion, despite having many good scenes/moments. The case of the week only really got interesting at the very end, and seemed like a by-the-numbers effort being used as filler between scenes about the new affair storyline. Delighted that we had no scenes with Kalinda’s husband this time around. 8/10
Kristen Chenoweth, Nathan Lane. Nice season opener. No one storyline dominates, but all of them hold the spotlight. I particularly enjoyed seeing Alicia and Cary on the same side. 9/10
Michael J. Fox, Tim Guinee, Jennifer Carpenter, John Michael Higgins. Strong thought-provoking case-of-the-week, with some superb character drama when heroine’s daughter suddenly goes missing. Conclusion is both sad and clever. 10/10
Over the years, my “Favourite TV Show” has been: 24 (00s), Voyager (90s), Wiseguy (80s) and Space: 1999 (70s). With Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Press Gang & Seinfeld coming in 2nd at various times.
A Briefing With Michael 