The Good Wife taught us just ugly people can get with "A Precious Commodity" this week.

People were all over the map in terms of loyalties and sensibilities and it didn't necessarily paint a pretty picture of the human race.

Alicia was out of the hot seat for a while as all attention was focused on Diane after she put the firm at risk with her tell-all interview about Will. That won't last, however, as Will asked her to consider taking over as Managing Partner and, if she says no, the jig is up.

The Case of the Week

There was really no happy ending to it. A loving couple unable to carry their own child implanted their baby in a surrogate, only to learn very late in the second trimester that it had an 85% chance of being severely deformed upon birth. As they had already lost an infant to a birth defect, they wanted the pregnancy terminated. So far, so good.

The surrogate must have worn a boat load of St. Judes's medallions around her neck because she was the champion of lost causes and refused to give up hope on the life kicking inside of her. As it turned out, all of it was moot because the pregnancy was viable and into the third trimester, which was unexpected. 

Along the way, both sides mixed up heartfelt pleas with vindictive cries of financial ruin or gain, dependent upon the side. It felt as if there was more of a power play going on than anyone thinking about the best interests of the fetus. It was a roller coaster of sadness and anger and nobody won in the end.

The Governor Elect

So it turned out that Peter's attempt to remove Marilyn Garbanza from her position on the Ethics Committee in order to drive away temptation and keep up appearances had the complete opposite effect. A reporter thought he did it to pad the committee with his own, softer members, so back came Marilyn.

This time around Marilyn seems less professional. She's using Peter's first name and digging into things that really don't seem to matter overall. When she made a suggestion that Peter choose a different member for the Water Board because of a loose conflict between he and the lease Alicia signed with her new firm, Peter chose to stick with his pick who was best for the job and let the naysayers be damned. 

After that little conversation, Marilyn was all aflutter and considered reading Dan Brown to broaden her horizons so she could better understand the difference between a good candidate and a poor one. Really, Marilyn? You need to read crap to suss out Hemingway is probably better than a book turned into a movie you watched with Tom Hanks? This appointment has disaster written all over it. 

If Peter's sudden desire to run to Hawaii to renew their vows is any indication, he's already certain where Alicia's mind is going to go, and why. I can only hope The Good Wife is not going to take us down that lonely road of infidelity again.

Grace the Homely Girl

This week the Grace story finally took a ridiculous turn. Alicia saw the "10 Hottest Politician's Daughters" website and put everything together. She even went so far as to toss Grace's pastor out on his rump when he showed up, leaning sexily against the door asking if Grace was in. Seriously, that dude should have introduced himself and shown a little class. I don't know that I'd let my daughter go to church with him any longer.

Top that off with this and I no longer enjoy the story - Grace said she just wants to be pretty. That is a truckload right there. If she doesn't already get that she's considered pretty merely by her appearance on the website, then the girl needs some serious counseling. What would have been a sweet mother/daughter moment on The Good Wife Season 4 felt contrived now. Her mother isn't the only one telling her she's pretty. So, get over it and grow up. You're on the minds of predators. Congratulations!

Alicia is Sitting Pretty

For just a little while, Alicia has the world at her fingertips. She's the wife of the Governor Elect, on the cusp of forming a brand new law firm and was just asked to consider being Managing Partner of her current firm. Of course, on the negative side, she also has all of those things happening. They're all double-edged swords, aren't they?

Cary tried to talk some sense into Alicia about accepting the Managing Partner position and staying under Will's thumb, and it didn't hit her until she saw Will and Diane interact. As it was hitting the fan for Diane, it seemed that all was going well for Alicia, but she's about to come under some fire herself.

Even if she accepted the position, if Will ever found out about the other firm and that she was on her way out the door (which he will, after all; Robyn told Kalinda about Alicia, so that's one more person who knows the big secret. It's also one more person they need to fear taking with them because she's clearly a blabber mouth incapable of being trusted. Oops.), he'd be just as hard on Alicia as he was on Diane. 

We still don't know if the new firm will take flight, but tonight I realized it could work for the show. It was the first time I thought so. Will and David Lee against Alicia and Cary with Diane on the Supreme Court and Peter in the Governor's mansion would be an interesting show to watch. After all, it's not about law firms. It's about The Good Wife. Wherever she goes, we follow. I could be down with that.

Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.