The Televangelist: ‘The Good Wife’ Season 3, Ep 19

• CBS.com
• There are more old white men in here than in an episode of “Luck”

Those who felt there wasn’t enough of a bang with last night’s “Mad Men” premiere may find solace in a fantastically action-packed episode of “The Good Wife.” “Blue Ribbon Panel” deserved its own blue ribbon last night as - potentially - the best episode of the season so far. Mutiny on the bound! Alicia fights for justice! Kalinda learns a lesson! The return of Evil!Jackie! Seriously, did you see that “I will chew you up and spit you out and defeat you for all eternity” smirk and saunter that Jackie had to end things? And now we have to wait three weeks to see the results? If you think that “Mad Men” trolls viewers with its cryptic promos, it’s nothing compared to CBS and their month-long hiatuses after a cliffhanger.

“The Good Wife” subverted its legal procedural form by taking Alicia out of the courtroom and into the back room, where she played the role of “The Token Woman” to a room full of powerful white men (with the exception of Pastor Danforth, who announced himself as “The Token Black”). Alicia, moved by the spirit, immediately sought an inconvenient truth in relation to the shooting in question, not using race as a factor, but mere procedure. Though she went outside of her purview and “investigated” the case, in the end the tide turned her way enough to hear reconsidered testimony that she helped bring to life.

But wait! Matthew Perry played a deliciously villainous role as head of the panel who attempted to belittle and thwart Alicia at every turn. By the end of the episode, though, it seemed that he wasn’t interested in a cover-up so much as simply torturing Alicia. Yes he wanted to be right and he wanted things to be kept status-quo, but his final comments to Alicia mocking the grieving son who had pleaded with her to seek justice for his father were just downright evil. He got his way after she recused himself, but there was a feeling that he wanted more. He wanted her to make a choice, to either openly agree with him or to denounce the actions of her husband (who acted on Eli’s behest).