The Televangelist: ‘The Good Wife’ Season 3, Ep 18

The firm takes on the NHL, but isn’t the show really implicating the NFL?

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  • CBS.com
  • You may recognize me from my work on that other legal show



First of all, in the opposite news I began with for “Luck,” “The Good Wife” has been picked up for a fourth season! The show remains perpetually on the bubble because CBS seems obsessed with killing it by putting in the most competitive slot for good TV drama (up against HBO and AMC’s best), despite it being CBS’ only critically acclaimed show. Well done, network, well done.

It hasn’t helped that the show is forced to take odd and extended hiatuses because of awards shows or sports, which also bump the show later than usual on a good day (last night “The Good Wife” began at 9:43pm. Enjoy those first 15 minutes, DV-R viewers). Further, the season has been plagued with an uneven tone and nebulous story arcs that have had moments of greatness while not providing consistent quality. It’s difficult, no doubt, when you have a 23-episode season to keep things on track, and as “The Good Wife” closes in on the last episodes of its current season things do seem like they are coming into focus. “Gloves Come Off,” however, was not been the best example of it.

The main thrust of the episode was with the Case of the Week, which meandered and took many a turn only to end back up where it started. Unlike an episode of “Law and Order,” which could never help itself from making a pointed commentary on the “ripped from the headlines” case it was exploring, “The Good Wife” presented an issue and left it on the table without fanfare. Is it because that the NHL wasn’t really the issue? Instead, the NHL was standing in for the far more powerful (and frightening, depending on who you are) NFL, an organization which has gone under immense scrutiny in the last few years over the issue of concussions. It is well and probable that hockey players face some of the same problems are pro football players when it comes to health and the way they are treated by the league, but hockey has nowhere near the power and influence of the National Football League. I am not surprised that the writers would use the NHL as the target instead, and not pass any judgement other than to present certain facts.