The Televangelist: ‘The Good Wife, Season 3 Ep 15”

• CBS.com
• Honestly, there really HASN’T been a decent rock opera since “The Wall”

CBS didn’t exactly pull a “previously on,” but they did start off “Live from Damascus” with some scenes from the last episode of “The Good Wife,” which aired in January, to remind us of what had been happening. To wit, Will had been cleared of of his grand jury charges, and Wendy Scott Carr had her parking validated. Just before she did, though, she slipped an anonymous tip to the Illinois State Bar Association about Will’s $45,000 mistake, which translates to grounds for disbarment. Did anyone think, even for a moment, that Will would actually get disbarred? Did even Will believe it? A 6-month suspension will be strange enough, but an impressively bold step for the show to take. Might it lead to Will and Alicia rekindling their romance as Will is no longer her boss?

In a continually uneven season, “Live from Damascus” proved to be one of the weaker episodes. When the show relies too heavily on a “ripped from the headlines” Case of the Week, it can get too wrapped up with quirky judges and snooze-worthy court scenes to really advance the emotional lives of the characters. Alicia had about as much to do this week as a Lockhart Gardner office chair; though to be fair, the episode’s theme of “the cost of freedom” doesn’t exactly apply to her in any way we haven’t already explored. Will’s freedom from jail and Wendy Scott Carr comes at the price of his law partnership. Across the world, the freedom of a white, American female comes at the expense of a young Syrian male who helps shepherd her to safety. The dissolution of Eli’s marriage left him lonely and seeking, once again, the comfort of his ex-wife (and occasionally confusingly, Stacy). All freedom comes at a cost.

Eli’s story seems set up for a spin-off show - his appearances at Lockhart Gardner are cursory, he rarely has anything to do with the main storyline, and his check-ins with the office and the staff are either entirely selfish or perfunctory. The writers know Eli is a great character, and bringing him into the firm was a way to keep him around even when he wasn’t running Peter’s campaign. As far as creating cohesive episodes, though, it’s not been a smooth ride. Though I’m 100% in favor of having Eli in the wings (and he is my favorite character), the show still doesn’t seem to quite know what to do with him and the fantastic guest stars they surround him with (like Parker Posey and Amy Sedaris).