“The Good Wife” Review: “All Tapped Out” (5×18)

I would like to start off this review by saying that I was skeptical that The Good Wife would be able to sustain its quality post-Will Gardner. This episode proved me wrong.

Throughout the entire season we have had this odd isolated storyline concerning the NSA and a wire tap that surrounds Alicia, 3 hops to be exact (anyone she talks to and anyone they talk to). However, it seemed like the storyline wasn’t really going anywhere. Well, we just found out where it’s going.

The episode surrounded Jeff Dillenger, one of the NSA employees who was working on Alicia’s wiretap. He becomes concerned that he is being investigated for taking confidential files out of the workplace and goes to the one law firm he knows, it also happens to be the law firm that he has been helping spy on for the last few months. Dillenger was portrayed by Zach Woods, better known as Gabe Lewis from The Office, who absolutely killed it in the role. He was able to delve into drama so well, but still slyly maintain some goofiness that was key to the success of the episode.

The episode was genius in its handling of the case. Cary and Clark (Nathan Lane has been a wonderful addition to the cast by the way) walk Dillenger through the process of taking the focus off of himself by becoming a whistleblower.

The Good Wife has always been so good at storytelling, but this episode really took it to the next level. First off all, the episode began with exposition about Alicia’s grief and the potential firm mergers through the NSA wiretap, then we see Cary and Clark telling Dillenger exactly what to say when he reports his boss for spying on his ex-wife by merging the two scenes together.

After the firm realizes that they have been tapped, the firm goes into lockdown. Then, Alicia realizes that they are also spying on Peter, which leads to a wonderfully awkward encounter between the two. In the end, Peter uses his pull to stop the wire tap on himself and Alicia. There is something in the works for the two of them, I just don’t know what that is yet.

The episode also found the return of Louis Canning (Michael J. Fox), who merges with Lockhart/Gardner, adding his name to the end as a remembrance to Will. Diane is skeptical and Kalinda is furious when he refers to himself as the new Will and frankly so was I.

Finn Polamar continues to deal with becoming the scapegoat for the courthouse shooting. Alicia comes to his defense in a not so Alicia way, mostly because she has been moping around for the past two episodes (not that I’m blaming her). Of course, she gets a kick in the ass when she talks with Louis Canning and he fire is running like good ol’ Alicia.

The final scene? An incredible discussion between Peter and Alicia discussing which events Alicia needs to attend. Actually gave me chills.

The Good Wife has found two niches in its writing and directing. They have been able to side step the categorization as a procedural or serial drama by dealing in both arenas. On the one hand we have the NSA case, which take the “case of the week” spot. On the other hand, we have the firm mergers, Alicia’s depression, her defense for Finn Polamar, and the NSA case has been underlying the entire season. As for the directing, don’t even get me started. It is a beautifully directed show. Everything from the classical underscore, the storytelling devices, to even shots of a computer screen, the show has really matured into what I’m calling the best network drama since The West Wing.