The Good Wife (TV Series) Hail Mary (2015) User Reviews

****

[edwagreen · 10/10 · 4 January 2015]

How interesting. As he is about to be sentenced, Cary meets with a prison consultant who begins to instruct him on how to survive his prison term and how to relax just before sentence is passed.

While this is occurring, Diane and Kalinda work feverishly to find last minute evidence that shall clear Cary. It is just terrific what they have to go through, even if it means breaking the law in order to secure his freedom.

Alicia goes through mock debates in preparation for her big one and one with her opponent. Even the governor participates as her foe, and she really socks it to him, questioning his ability in governing when it comes to crime.

Matt Czuchry is splendid as the brilliant guy who seems to have exhausted all his ways to avoid prison. He surely gave a bravura performance.

A Remarkable Pulse-Racing Return

[RyanCShowers · 5 January 2015]

BY RYAN C. SHOWERS

The first 2015 episode of "The Good Wife" is the most stressful hour of television Robert and Michelle King have ever dreamt up, and it's also one of the series' best. I left the episode feeling dizzy from the sharp turns in the plot and the prudent placement of each plot detail. Though I greatly appreciated the artistry of the mid-season finale, "The Trial", "Hail Mary" is just as critically savvy as that episode and contains the fast-paced, pulse-racing, and even shocking entertainment that "The Trial" did not have.

There's a new tone established in this episode, much in thanks to the newest rendition on the musical score. The directing was not romanticized at all; the harsh reality was crushing all the characters surrounding Cary's storyline. It was a more quiet of an episode than usual even though the reverberating waves of urgency and tension. "Hail Mary" juggles and interweaves the three plots into one narrative succinctly, each acknowledging and enabling the other. (Alicia being present both in her storyline with the State's Attorney's race and Cary's plea reversal is especially an improvement in "Hail Mary" compared to some of the first half of the season.)

Matt Czuchry continued his roll of great performances in his major season six storyline, and Christine Baranski was given more screen time than she has been recently and makes the most of it. The two account for the weight of the episode's cathartic climatic moment when Judge Cuesta dismisses Cary's case.

The show may be called "The Good Wife" and Cary's freedom may have been the subject of the episode but Archie Panjabi is the star of "Hail Mary". Kalinda was a noted force in the first two seasons--maybe even the show's intriguing character--but the quality departure in the writing of Kalinda in the later seasons has been a letdown. Season four almost destroyed the character completely. After being on the sidelines for most of the series' showcase fifth season, Panjabi has had a buoyant of a run so far in season six and will most likely continue to do so until her eventual exit at the end of the year. Yes I'm saying it, "Hail Mary" is the Kalinda best episode (and the best acted by Panjabi) ever. Even better than her Emmy-winning episode from season one, "Hi", and her season two arc. She not only drives the episode's narrative but empowers it with a sense of dramatic emotional velocity as Kalinda digs herself deep into an insolvable mess. Give her a second Emmy now.

Now onto Alicia. Though it's less interesting than everything going on with Kalinda and Cary, the State's Attorney's debate will make for a fun occasion next week. The preparation in this episode studied not just Alicia's skills as a possible SA but her romantic life based on who was acting as Prady in the practice rounds. First is a random man, whom Alicia has never met before, second is Finn and third is Peter. The first Prady substitute asks, "Whom should Alicia be with?", the second Prady substitutes answers who she should but can't be with, and the third shows who she is stuck with. Which all eventually leads to the episode's left turn in the final scene.

"Hail Mary" shows the confines of Alicia and Finn's feelings for one another and Alicia's unwavering stance against her husband. The episode's conclusion, one that pauses conversation of Alicia and Finn romance for now, does spice things up. It's an incredibly feminist move by the now stressless, liberated Alicia. Casting someone as attractive as Steven Pasquale in a role opposite of Alan Cumming's Eli had its catch, but I'm not sure how far this will go, or if it will go at all. My guess is it may be a mid-season fling, but Alicia and Finn will be the ultimate objective.

With the exception of a few minute flaws, "Hail Mary" is a remarkable episode. It's the best episode season six so far after the perfect "Oppo Research" and the exciting "Sticky Content". Since Will's death last season, the Kings have made a habit of throwing unforeseen curveballs just when you think you have the whole season storyline solved. "Hail Mary" is evidence to never underestimate the capability of "The Good Wife" to take you on an emotional roller-coaster in the time span of a single hour.

Grade: A