I knew that I would love tonight’s episode of The Good Wife right from the start, if only because they showed Will and Diane dancing again. And then we got to hear Peter tell Wendy Scott Carr “my assistant will validate your parking” again as well. From there… well it just got even better.

The Good Wife Recap “Live from Damascus”

Six Months or the Rest of Your Life
During the celebration party for Will, Cary called to let him know that he wouldn’t be indicted. It’s a sweet moment and I almost wish Cary came over to the party, instead he didn’t. But he did get to essentially fire Dana later, so that works. Since Logan Huntzberger couldn’t come to the party, apparently Richard Gilmore could. Oh wait, I mean Lionel Deerfield (Edward Hermann). Anyway, Lionel came to give Will a heads up – someone anonymously (*cough*WendyScottCarr*cough*) told the disbarment committee about Will taking the $45 grand 15 years ago. Disciplinary hearings start tomorrow.

Will just gets busy to work on the case of the week, but he is distracted. He tells Diane about the impending disbarment, feeling defeated. She wants to help, but you know, he did it. So he says there isn’t really much that they can do. But Diane isn’t one to take no for an answer so she heads to Lionel, but we don’t see what they say. The next day at the disbarment proceedings, which Lionel heads, we learn about what Diane did… she told Lionel that Will set up the Pro Bono department. So they offer Will a 6 month suspension. Apparently this isn’t good enough because Diane tells him to fight it because 6 months away from the law will kill him.

Will finally tells Alicia about what is happening because, ultimately, she is his person. He tells her that the Pro Bono department, something he fought against, is why he is offered the settlement. And as he talks to her, he realizes he needs to just take the 6 month suspension because he did the wrong thing. He and Diane discuss the details. When he leaves the firm will be called Lockhart & Associates. But Diane assures him that he will have a place when he comes back.

One of the details they had to go over – handing out all of Will’s cases. And there is one in particular that matters. Kalinda has some tax issues, some that go back before she was at the firm and they ask Alicia to take it on. It’s a BIG file and sure to be a big part of the rest of the season. Will leaves his office that night, taking only a baseball bat. Things don’t go well when people have baseball bats and are upset on this show. It’s so heart wrenching watching everyone watch him leave. Especially as he says good bye to Alicia. Hey, Will…. you aren’t her boss anymore. I’m just saying. I’m disappointed she doesn’t get in the elevator with him.

Software Shenanigans
Viola Walsh (Rita Wilson) is back with Neil Gross (John Benjamin Hickey) and they arrive in the midst of Will’s party. So here’s the deal: Neil created encryption software, sold it to the Syrians and then it was used to find, arrest, torture and murder protesters. I can tell you right now, just from Will’s mock opening arguments that he gives to Neil and Viola, that I will get confused by this case. I apologize. Not helping – the Big Carl of Red Velvet wine I drank prior to watching this episode. But that’s not the point. The point is, as well as representing the families of the protesters, Lockhart/Gardner also represent Neil’s major competitor in the software business. Viola counters Will’s offer with something really pathetic, to which Caitlin (Anna Camp) basically gives her crap. Alicia tells Caitlin to shut it (privately, of course) but Caitlin says Will told her to.

Kalinda, as always, is helping by talking to a contact she has in Syria, Samir (Omid Abtahi). That girl has connections literally everywhere. He has a receipt of some kind. Again – sometimes these cases go over my head. But what helps: amazing guest stars. And if Rita and JBH weren’t enough, Judge Abernathy (Denis O’Hare) is presiding over the trial! And today his cause is: Occupy Wall Street. Goodness, I love him. But I only have a moment to really take in all of the excitement of O’Hare being back, because Will starts questioning the first witness, Jimmy, and Oh My Groff, it’s Jonathan Groff. I pause, say a silent prayer that for some reason Jimmy will sing all of his testimony, preferably with JBH who is also a Broadway star, and then press play again. Groff talks. Oh well.

Anyway, his sister is one of the protesters that was killed. Jimmy saw a red chess piece logo on the software on the computer where his sister was taken and killed. A chess piece is the logo for Neil’s company, and the red is for the specific product in question. Meanwhile, Alicia notices that Caitlin has a card of Viola’s. Last time Viola was in town she tried to poach Alicia. Could it be happening again?

Neil’s competition, Patric Edelstein (Jack Carpenter) is trying to get Will to settle because this will end up being bad for his software too, but Will says no it’s not about you, it’s about the families. He isn’t the client here. Patric doesn’t like it, but Will has sort of a “the hell with it” attitude, what with the whole disbarment thing and all. So the case goes on. Alicia questions the middleman that sold the software to the Syrians (this is the info Kalinda got from Samir). Viola then decides she wants to have Jimmy back on the stand…  because she has proof that his sister is alive! Huzzah! Or Boo? I’m not sure what we are supposed to feel here.

I guess as far as Lockhart/Gardner is concerned, Boo (With a small huzzah, because the girl is alive. We are good people!). Now Jimmy wants to drop his share of the class action. Kalinda goes on the hunt to see where the blogger (Viola’s source) found the picture by contacting Samir. He doesn’t know, so she goes to Patric to hack the blogger. And Alicia has one of her little heart to hearts with Caitlin – Viola is just trying to distract her by trying to poach her. And if she succeeded, Viola would never trust Caitlin anyway. Alicia tells her she is doing a good job, pats her on the head and leaves. Okay, so she didn’t pat her. But I wish she had.

When Kalinda finds the blogger, who is supposed to be a lesbian chic in Syria, it’s a 30-something dude in Kansas. Someone sent him the picture. He gave Kalinda the IP address in order to keep his identity a secret. Will gets Neil on the stand, and this is after he has agreed to take the suspension, so he goes a bit off the handle. As Neil tries to defend his sales, Will realizes that Neil can find out where Jimmy’s sister is. Samir finds out Sarah is in an abandoned building. He would need $50grand to get the girl. But before they can find out where to wire the money, the video chat cuts out. Damn Skype! But it does give Will his “House” moment.

Will calls Dinesh (Manish Dayal) to the stand. He works tech support for Neil’s company. He takes calls from Syrian government who had to licence their software just like any other user and get helped by Dinesh. So Will get’s Neil in the end. And then Jimmy gets to talk to Sarah via video chat. And I want to hug Groff and run my fingers through his hair. I’ve said too much. Kalinda tries to thank Samir, but she is only greeted by a woman who says Samir is gone. Sad face.

Eli and His Ladies
Meanwhile, the ridiculous story of the night – Eli heads to his ex-wife, Vanessa (Parker Posey), to confront her about Stacy (Amy Sedaris) asking to run her campaign. But Vanessa says she went to Stacy. Eli’s brain breaks at this turn of events. The two banter, as they do, and he says that Stacy is doing a bad job. The conversation is silly and I find it endlessly adorable and have begun planning out a spin off series for Vanessa and Eli.

Stacy goes to see Eli, she is both mad at him for talking to Vanessa, but also does the dirty flirting thing they do. And it still grosses me out. Then Stacy heads over to Kalinda to ask how she found out Vanessa slept with a Bin Laden. So Eli has Stacy and Vanessa in to talk. Which has to be weird and awkward in so many reasons. Eli tells Vanessa to own the Bin Laden thing. And then Stacy slyly lets Vanessa know she’s slept with Eli. It’s a bit incestuous. And it gets more weird – she gets him to agree to consult on her campaign. It’s sweet. But again – weird. I’m not sure what to make of this whole thing, but if it means more Parker Posey, frankly I don’t care.

So now we have to wait until March for more. Why? WHY?! And let’s see, 6 months, that puts us right around when we come back in the fall. So what exactly is Will going to be doing until then? But my favorite part of the previews: Kalinda and Alicia having a moment discussing that vixen Caitlin. I love it. I hope they take her down.

Written by Melissa Miller. Find her on Twitter @serrae

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