The Televangelist:: ‘The Good Wife,’ Season 3, Ep. 6

• CBS.com
• It’s almost disgusting how awesome we are

What, dear readers, have I been saying that “The Good Wife” does well and needs more of? I was already expecting good things from a Cary-centric episode, and was not disappointed. Then as a bonus we got not only Parker Posey (be still my fangirl heart) but also not one but TWO political subplots, both of which starred Eli Gold! What’s not to like?

“The Good Wife” also continues to use technology in a pretty realistic and familiar way. Technology on TV shows tends to be either woefully dated (because of filming schedules, cell phones and related tech are sometimes a year or two past their prime) or oddly futuristic (3D crime scene modules that appear in thin air and can be manipulated with the wave of a hand). “The Good Wife” has done an admirable job keeping up with how tech shapes our interactions, and in “Affairs of State” we got an onslaught of it. Caitlin shows Alicia the site “After Death Space,” which is sort of like a Facebook for mourners. As far as I can find, there’s no site like this, but would you really be surprised if there was? Even more cringeworthy is the Rape App. Not a very subtle title, is it? Again, from some quick Googling, I’ve discovered that there are quite a few Rape Whistle apps, and that the idea has been around for a long time. (Of course, its functionality diminishes when your friend doesn’t hear your whistle because she’s dancing, but there you have it). Furthermore, Kalinda and Cary both get an important clue from the victim’s boyfriend’s voicemail (which he is able to e-mail them with ease!), Eli’s ex-wife is barraged by a West Coast writer about what blogging means to campaigns, and Alicia’s son Zach sets up her computer to sync with the one at home, removes company-approved pay storage (and probably spyware) and even casually unearths corruption within the IT department. Wowza!

As for the Case of the Week, it felt at first felt like a “ripped from the headlines” version of the Natalee Holloway story, complete with a boat and questionable internationals. But as it played out, “The Good Wife” gave it some unexpected turns that made it a fairly interesting one-off without taking too much time away from the other plots. Mostly it served to move some of the character narratives forward - Cary gets his new office, Alicia comes to like Caitlin (who is perceptive and helpful in knowing what a Stoplight Party is - are these things real? Am I just getting old?), and we see Alicia make a moral choice to end the episode regarding her client. Interesting thought sidebar: if it had been Will who saw the client speeding away, would he have chased him down? Or tipped off the State Attorney’s office? I’m going with the former.