The Good Wife

On The Good Wife, the character of Kalinda has only been featured in spurts.

Perhaps this is because she doesn't have a famous husband in jail for using state funds to sleep with prostitutes.

Kalinda will soon have a new man in her life, however, as producers are casting for an easily-angered police detective that gets involved with the firm's investigator.

The recurring character will be named Ryan. Not much is known about him at the moment, except for this: he ends up owing Kalinda a favor; and sleeping with her.

This week's episode of The Good Wife prompts us to ask readers a question:

Would you prefer if the show focused more on its legal procederual side, or its mystery side? The installment "Unprepared" dealt mostly with the latter.

Sure, Alicia and the firm defended a client accused of setting arson to her lab, but the case played second fiddle to Peter's bond hearing and the growing conspiracy against him.

While these storylines have always played a role on The Good Wife, they've never been featured so prominently on a single episode. On one hand, we're intrigued by who is setting Peter up, for what purpose and what will be the fallout for all involved.

On the other hand, The Good Wife has grown into a solid, simple procedural. We've enjoyed the added element of Alicia's unique position and the sprinkling of hints here and there surrounding Peter's past/future.

But we'd prefer if those storylines always remained in the background. Not every show needs a long-term mystery to keep viewers interested. A character study of Julianna Marguiles' great character, combined with the interesting weekly case, is enough for us.

On next week's episode of The Good Wife, Alicia prepared a case...but gets interrupted when she's suddenly asked to testify on Peter's behalf.

Watch the official CBS preview for "Unprepared" below:

The episode guest stars Peter Riegert as the judge in Peter's case; along with The Early Show anchor Russ Mitchell as himself.

Check out a few images from the hour below:

Alicia Florrick has worst luck with men than Pamela Anderson.

The issues with her husband are well-documented, but on this week's episode of The Good Wife, she was betrayed by her co-counsel. More professionally than personally, but Alicia had grown to admire the fellow attorney that didn't turn out to be an attorney at all.

Read all about it in our recap of "Unorthodox."

The episode was another nice showcase for Julianna Marguiles, who is on her way toward another Emmy nomination.

We doubt we'd nominate the storyline involving Alicia's son for any awards, however. The Good Wife works well as a character study of Alicia, as well as a basic legal procedural. There's not really a need to spice it up with conspiracy theories, especially when they're investigated by a 12-year old.

Keep it simple, CBS. Keep highlighting Alicia's struggle at work and at home and we'll keep coming back for more.

On next week's episode of The Good Wife, Alicia represents the daughter of one of the partner's at the firm.

During the case Alicia finds herself attracted to her co-counsel, largely due to his unusual approach to defending their client.

Check out the official promo below for "Unorthodox."

We'll recap and review the episode soon after it airs. For now, check out a few scenes from the installment below. Click on each image for a larger version...

The Good Wife took a break from airing new episodes this week.

But the CBS hit returns next Tuesday with an episode titled "Conjugal," though the title doesn't imply what you think: Alicia agrees to alone time with Peter in order to get information about a new client.

What else can fans expect from the highly-rated new drama as it heads into November Sweeps?

Producer Robert King previewed a couple upcoming storylines in an interview with TV Guide Magazine. For example, he said:

“Alicia is put on the stand to speak up for her husband at a hearing that could get him sent home with electronic monitoring. It’s a way for the new state’s attorney to embarrass her.”

Moreover, King said, the Florrick children are providing Alicia with a new, awkward source of angst and anger:

“[She] starts to worry that their dad’s scandal is pushing her kids to have sex earlier than they should."

This was probably our favorite episode yet of The Good Wife, for a few reasons:

1. On the surface, the show is your basic legal procedural. However, there's always the overriding theme of Alicia's status and Peter's affair. This week's installment - titled "Crash" and recapped on our site - combined these elements very well.
2. Juliana Margulies is fantastic. Mark it down: she's getting nominated for an Emmy.
3. Perhaps it's the Sex and the City fan in us, but Chris Noth is believable as the arrogant womanizer you can't entirely hate.
4. It would be easy for the series to depict a merely adversarial relationship between Alicia and Jackie and/or Alicia and Cary. But, as showed well last night, it sets up these interactions in a more realistic, intricate manner.

What do you think? Is The Good Wife the best new show on television?

On next week's new episode of The Good Wife, Alicia and Will race against the clock.

They have 72 hours to find evidence that a train accident was caused by the train company, as opposed to the engineers, in order for the victims' families to be awarded compensation.

Based on the official CBS promo below for "Crash," it also appears as though people start suspecting Alicia of sleeping with Will. Watch and see what we mean:

Alicia is in for a long hour next week on The Good Wife.

First, she thinks she's discovered an incident of jury tampering by her own firm.

Next, she receives the news that Peter's case is moving closer to appeal. Watch the official CBS preview for "Fixed" below.

We've also compiled a few photos from the series, which has been officially picked up for a full season.

Click on the images below for scenes from next week's new episode.

CBS has hit it big with a pair of new dramas.

The network has ordered full season pick ups for its two new hits: NCIS: Los Angeles and The Good Wife.

The NCIS spinoff is the top new program of the season, averaging 17.4 million viewers, causing it to be one of the highest-rated shows on television overall.

The Julianna Margulies-led series, meanwhile, is the number-two new show of the season. The Good Wife averages 13.69 million viewers.