The Good Wife - Fixed, S01E04

This show continues to impress me. It is a great mix of court room and family drama. You care about the developments in Alicia's life, but you also get an interesting, self-contained court case. I would not want to miss an episode, but if I did, I could pick up the next week without suddenly being completely confused.

The case this week involved a young husband suing a pharmaceutical company because, after taking a drug, he went from being an Iron Man to being in a wheelchair. If he and his wife won this case, than over 100 other athletes and young people who had been also affected by the drug would be able to bring a class action lawsuit against the same company and have precedence to win.

Diane (Christine Baranski)'s case was going well, and the defendant's attorney (True Blood's Chris Bauer*) does not have a particularly strong defense. Then, Alicia (Julianna Margulies) finds a piece of paper which indicates that either juror #2 or #11 is being bribed. They don't know which one, and they can't even know for sure that it is true. In their pursuit to find the truth, juror #2 is removed from the jury, though when this occurs, they are certain she is not bought. Juror #11 is being paid though, but when they bring this to the attention of the judge, he is fed up and says it's too late and the jury's decision will rest.

The jury finds in favor of the young couple, and Alicia is quite pleased until she realizes that it was the couple who bribed the jury. She brings her findings to Diane, thinking something must be done, but Diane reminds her they already brought their concerns to the judge, they have fulfilled their legal duty. Alicia's reaction to the entire case is a very unique combination of naive expectations and legal requirements. She wants to find the corrupted juror, for the integrity of the case, not to prevent a possible loss, and she is surprised to discover that the law only requires so much.

But she really had bigger personal concerns this week. Hounded by Peter (Chris Noth)'s lawyer, Daniel Goldson (Joe Morton*), she tries to find letters from Peter's past. If information exists that Peter was not being bribed, it is up to her to find it. Worse is the fact that the new tactic is to prove that Peter's lies during the investigation were to prevent Alicia from discovering his affair, to protect her, and not to hide any other legal issues. No one seems to realize just how hurt Alicia still is over the affair. Peter really has so much to do if he ever wants to return to her good graces, and it hasn't even occurred to him.

Can't wait to find out what happens next week, can you?