The Good Wife Review: What's Your Price?

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How far are lawyers willing to go to win a case? Limits were pushed by both sides on "Runnin' with the Devil." Or were they? Sometimes, ignorance really is bliss.

Both sides in the Lemond Bishop case seemed to have entered unethical grounds during the evidentiary phase. Bishop is without a doubt a criminal, but does that excuse using false testimony to try and convict him for murder? And what was Lester's job if not witness tampering?

As Bishop said, the hilarity of the situation came down to: "Can you believe it? They might convict me for the one thing I didn't do."

Wallace Shawn on The Good Wife

Law cases alone would make The Good Wife or any legal show rather boring. What this show is able to do is bring in lawyers with unique, yet realistic personalities to spice things up. Here, it was Bishop's personal lawyer, Lester, perfectly cast and played by The Princess Bride's Wallace Shawn. He acted so innocent and at times befuddled, only to be cleverly using some type of code to get the witnesses to change their testimony. At least, I think that's what happened. 

Part of the Lester's brilliance was that it wasn't ever clear what he was doing. Was he threatening the witnesses? Bribing them? Or just making casual conversation with them? Lester's discretion allowed Alicia and Cary to keep their hands clean from whatever it was he was pulling. In the end, Lester used some sort of pressure to get Bishop's sister, Judy, to recant her false testimony.

Bishop may be a criminal, but he is a loving father and seeing him go down for something he didn't do would have been a shame. Is the case over now? Probably. Though, Liz doesn't seem like a quitter, so Bishop and Alicia may have targets on their backs now. Unless she pulled some scams of her own.

We know that she pressured Dexter to testify against Bishop with fake DNA evidence. If she would do that, what's to say she wasn't faking her claim of a black SUV following her or someone talking to her son. If the judge thought the threats could be tied directly to Bishop, it could have been enough to force the case to trial. I was bit surprised that Alicia didn't follow up for her own piece of mind. Though, by not asking and not knowing, she was protecting herself.

Liz asked Alicia, "Did you sell your soul?" Good question. Has Alicia built up such a strong wall around her that impropriety doesn't bother her any more? She never would have worked with Lester under these conditions a couple years ago. Has she become too hardened? She's been on a long journey both personally and professionally which has made her stronger, but at what cost.

While Alicia and Cary were dealing with the Bishop case, Diane and Will were facing an identity crisis for the firm. What do they want the firm to be now that they have financial success after their bankruptcy? Unfortunately, they don't seem to have learned anything from their financial ruin. Just when they looked to make a real move forward by coming up with a mission statement, they gave it up because it was too difficult.

They want to be bigger and better, only it's not easy to become both. Kalinda may not have told them about Cary, but she did give them an insight into their clients' thoughts about the firm. They miss the intimacy of Lockhart & Gardner, but neither of the named partners were listening. They are blinded by their ambition. A few words of encouragement from Will and a shot of liquor to celebrate and she was willing to put aside her desire for patience.

After hoping the firm would successfully exit bankruptcy, I'm on the fence now about their future. Their turnaround has made them arrogant and blinded by ambition for bigger and better without consideration of the cost. Could Cary leave the firm and take clients with him? That would be a turn of events, I'd love to see! And, what would Kalinda do? Stay with Lockhart & Gardner? Or, go with Cary?

Despite Kalinda's hesitancy at getting a new investigator, Robyn, the two of them worked well together. Robyn may have a flighty or flaky demeanor, but she's a smart one. I don't think she will be a threat to Kalinda for a while, but at some point she could be. Though, with Kalinda you never know, Robyn could be a potential love interest.

Changes are happening at Lockhart & Gardner, though not in a positive direction. Their decision to make Alicia partner and exclude the others was the first of many terrible moves, but that's the fun of the show. 

Did Alicia cross the line? Or, was she in the clear? Do you like that addition of Robyn to the firm? Would you like to see Cary leave the firm and face off against Lockhart & Gardner again?

Runnin' with the Devil Review

Editor Rating: 4.6 / 5.0
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Carla Day is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter and on Google+.

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