The Good Wife (TV Series) Old Spice (2014) User Reviews

6.6 Too Much Going On ***

[edwagreen · 8/10 · 26 October 2014]

You had too many stories and sub-plots entangled in this episode. The court case with the quirky red-headed lawyer, who shows that she can really be a woman, Cary violating his parole, Diane and Alicia trying to evict Canning and his crew. Imagine Diane calling on senile stricken attorney Howard to come to her rescue?

If this isn't enough, we have Alicia trying to find a solution to her atheism. Having Sen. Charles Schumer of NY explain his membership in a Brooklyn synagogue just shows what politicians will bring up to please the electorate.

You know who Alicia's "new" office was once inhabited by and the scene where she walks in is quite memorable.

Reflections on Life Imitating Art 10 Months Later...

[abbyjo58 · 8/10 · 31 August 2015]

At the time of this writing, ten months have passed since this episode was released.

Life imitates art when "economic espionage" is the charge and the accused is a blond woman. In fiction, the buyer was China. In life, the characters are Chinese but the buyer is ISIS aka ISIL...and where does the alphabet soup lead? When the writers go on strike, does the news stop? If they stayed on strike would wars end?

Interesting comment about ransom-ware implies it is Russian entrepreneurs hacking into American lawyers' computers assuming correctly that lawyers cannot bother to back up their own computers, because they have "systems" for that run by "people" who do "that" so they don't have to. The middlemen are retired, disabled, poor, unassuming schlubs who end up laundering money without knowing what they are doing. Who is really motivated to police the internet for entrepreneurial acts such as these? This script implies only those who are harmed are so motivated, and only if they have someone like Kalinda- Matta-Hari-Schwarma to do it...setting the stage for what eventually did happen, FCC regulation of the internet so that all are not equal, but this sort of shady business is more severely punished. "China" hovers as a question mark in the room, a smoky cloud hovering before it joins with the prefab ceiling. False flag ransom-ware, Gulf of Tonkin, timing, China sea and refugees...these things came to pass in the ten months since this fictional story was broadcast.

Good writing, creative arguments and colorful characters make this funny, particularly if you've ever worked in a law office that's not strictly criminal defense, or if you have worked closely with police.

I laugh because I always wonder why lawyers, who swear to tell the truth, who know very well what perjury is, who take an oath to be of service in order to be licensed, what have these officers of the court got to hide that is not backed up in public somewhere? If it is true why not post it on a public computer? If it is not true, why didn't they refuse to be involved? I can understand a few gray areas but not all of it. Many of us did get this ransom-ware and either we had backups or we did not. Most of my backups are on government computers, in courts. I have no secrets. Obviously if we did not as a culture value the idea of secrecy we would not need lawyers. But why does everything stop because they cannot find paper copies or public copies of their work? Because all of it is secret? Most of it? It raises ethical questions not asked here. I indeed did learn to practice law in a day and age before computers. I earned a steady paycheck from backing up the most important documents on paper, which this script, circa 2014 implies is a lost art, sticky notes, colored flags and all. How quickly we forget. There is a reason Sumerians used stone.

Contains the Best Scene on Television Since Last Spring.

[RyanCShowers · 30 October 2014]

Building off the steam of Elsbeth Tascioni's visit to "The Good Wife", Diane's ideas of moving Florrick, Agos & Lockhart into the Lockhart, Gardener, & Canning offices, and Alicia's triumphant State's Attorney announcement, "Old Spice" continues the show's season six roll of producing master class television.

Anyone who is a member Elsbeth Tascioni's enormous fanbase, like me, will find the idea of Alicia and Elsbeth working together on a case to be a stroke of genius. They do indeed work together in "Old Spice", and it is priceless to see our heroine partnered with our favorite quirky lawyer. The courtroom scenes are extremely well done in "Old Spice", and this particular episode exemplifies a season-wide trait: The cases are more business-like and somber in tone, therefore taking the stress of the episode off of the courtroom standalone story lines and aiming the bulk of the episode at the regular characters and more personally-driven story lines. This change of probing the series' characters rather than individual cases is an interesting, smart move.

Carrie Preston's acting in "Old Spice" is not quite as dead-on as we saw last week with greater focus on Elsbeth, but here she gives her fans enough of Elsbeth's hilarity and eccentricity to satisfy. Her co-guest star Kyle MacLachlan has never felt more comfortable in his role of Josh Perotti. He strikes his character's peculiar notes with perfect tones and energy. The two gifted actors have an undeniable chemistry, but their first scene together is the dimmer moments in "Old Spice", and maybe the only weak scene in the episode. But further moments work like clockwork between the two actors, like when Elsbeth tips him off about the unofficial rule of saying "In my opinion" to Judge Lessner, the "Call Me Maybe" farce, and their final scene where Elsbeth secretly records him and Perotti shreds an official document, recalled actions that each character performed in earlier, classic moments in the series.

As stated earlier, Robert and Michelle King are moving their revered series into a position of even further greatness, placing the majority of the focus on the series regular characters and their personal story lines, all of which are advanced in "Old Spice". The State's Attorney campaign officially begins, and Alicia gives her first official interview. As the season 6 themes of religion and twisting the truth for political gain continue to develop, Alicia embellishes a "struggle" with religion during her interview, something we know is completely untrue. Julianna Margulies acts the interview scene to the best of her ability, nailing the politician-like voice inflections and charm.

Diane battles Louis Canning and David Lee for the office space, but in a much quieter, more refined way than you would imagine, but nevertheless effective. Making Howard relevant and retaining the character is a smart move by the Kings. Meanwhile, Cary is being watched attentively by his pretrial service officer played by Linda Lavin. Lavin is portraying the role deftly, making it a pleasure to watch her as she watches Cary's every move. The Kings continue to provide little twists that alter the plot in big ways, like the new stipulation of Cary's bail being no contact with Kalinda.

Now, onto the most important scene in the episode: Alicia and Diane move back into the Lockhart Gardner offices. It's the best scene I have seen of television show since the three- episode arc with Will's death last year on "The Good Wife". It's brilliantly acted by Margulies and Baranski, who act primarily through their faces and eyes to superb extents. It's directed in wise way, with the memories and debris of all the good and bad that took place in this suite of offices over the past year. The wrenching scores increases the scene's strength by really hitting the audience and our investment in these characters at their tender moment. The writing of the excellent scene is layered with conflict and strength. Alicia taking Will's office seems so fitting, yet there's that element of tragedy that will lurk around her, but she, in some way, finds it empowering. It reveals Diane and Alicia's growing friendship, how their power is growing, and their feminist partnership progresses.

Grade: A