The Good Wife’ Season 4, Episode 12 Recap

• CBS
• When the law is an ass, somebody has to kick it!

“The Good Wife” saved their best guest star for last. After last week’s glut of guest stars, this week had only one, but she was a good one: Elsbeth Tascioni, played by Carrie Preston. Elsbeth has an amazing combination of qualities, from excessive exuberance to sharp mental acuity to extreme good nature. In fact, everything about Elsbeth is extreme, but in all of the best possible ways. She may be overwhelming, but she gets things done. And are we meant to take away from Will and Diane’s interest in her that they are hoping to collect her into their fold? (I feel the topic has been broached before, but that she prefers to work on her own. Building up good will though would be a good start to winning her over).

Overall, it was another great week for “The Good Wife,” with an entertaining Case of the Week in which the snooty French are undone by Rambo! America! Somehow, the show actually managed to pull that off without it seeming purposefully obtuse about world culture and America’s reluctance to really be a part of it in any meaningful way. When Will admits he can’t speak French (the first time he’s been likable in awhile, because he couldn’t be arrogant), his opponent sneers something about the American school system. A dig, but also a fair point, because I also took many years of French and only caught a few passing phrases last night.

Of course, the tricks didn’t end there, since it turns out Diane is fluent in la langue française (of course she is - I also loved how she kept an accent even when speaking English). And while the case seemed very straight-forward to start (the athlete was being set up by the athletic company so they wouldn’t have to pay out her fee), it turns out that her proof of innocence made her feel exceptionally guilty, and asked Will and Diane to win without it.