Sometimes I feel like The Good Wife just started, and yet here we are at the Season 4 premiere, “I Fought the Law.” Instead of reaching some sort of complacency as it hits the stride of season 4, this show manages to be creatively better than ever. How do they do it?

Maybe it’s the magic of the Matt Czuchry smirk. No? I suppose I’ll dig deeper then.

I think this episode can be summed up in one moment – the look on Kalinda’s (Archie Panjabi) face when she first saw Nick in Lockhart/Gardner. Nothing like that moment when you are innocently flirting with some woman you dated (probably too strong a word) and then you suddenly see your estranged psychotic husband walk in the office with your tentative BFF and that cute guy you also flirt with and once kissed in a lobby. That moment can kind of ruin your day.

We have always known that Kalinda is a bit… off kilter. She is gutsy, sexy, private, sensitive and more than just a little bit scary. And all of that is taken to the furthest extremes by the return of Nick. He may claim that his new tattoo, a midnight sun, means new beginnings, but his actions – fighting Kalinda, their violent sexual encounter, getting close to an unknowing Alicia (Juliana Margulies) through business – shows that maybe this isn’t so different after all. I have a feeling we will be watching Kalinda spiral, and it scares me as much as it enthralls me.

Kalinda and Nick aren’t the only ones with not-so-new beginnings. We also found a new beginning at the firm, which seems familiar as they are always in trouble. As Will (Josh Charles) approaches his return to law, he and Diane (Christine Baranski) also approach bankruptcy. One of many new faces this season is the man appointed as their trustee while wading through these rough waters, Clarke Hayden (Nathan Lane). We as the audience, along with Will and Diane, immediately wanted to hate the guy. He is trying to sell all the pretty art! Has he no taste?! But he also did the firm a favor and basically forced the always smarmy David Lee to stay with the firm, and not become another creditor they owe, as he does bring in a lot of cash. Hurray for divorce lawyers!

But don’t go thinking Hayden is all cuddly. His promise to Diane that he and Will, who refuse to give each other up as partners, now need to cut 30% of the staff makes him mean and evil once more. Of all the stories, I’m least excited about this. Why? Because so help me, if they pin Alicia and Cary against each other again and don’t let them be the next Will and Diane as they are so meant to be, then I will riot. I. Will. Riot. One day I want them to have an exchange as perfect as this as they sit in their big corner offices sipping scotch.

Will: He said the firm suffered through your leadership for the past six months. Now it needs a man at the top.

Diane: He didn’t say a man!?

Will: No. I added that to piss you off.

God, they are perfect. Not perfect, but certainly not as awful as he once was (a new beginning, maybe?): Zach (Graham Phillips). Listen. I’m not saying I like the kid. Let’s not get carried away. Teenagers are a pain, and I do not look forward to a few years from now when my oldest gets there. But the kid is proving to definitely be his mother’s son. However, when he got pulled over and then video taped that cop and sent it to himself I yelled out my common gripe with television shows: “Why are teenagers all idiots?!” This has been said a lot recently. Anyone else watch Revolution? Anyway, I was mad.

But in the end, he helped his mom get what she needed to get him out of his charges, but it just ended up causing all sorts of problems for his dad’s campaign, much to Peter (Chris Noth) and Eli’s (Alan Cumming) horror. I’m curious how much Madison County State’s Attorney Phil (Jeremy Davidson) is going to play into the season. I assume he is there to make up for the fact that Mike Kresteva (Matthew Perry) is off crying about his dead wife on an NBC sitcom. Either way, I’m always happy to see a wrench thrown in Peter’s plan, if only because Cumming is one of my favorite actors, and I like him best when he is playing super annoyed. And nothing annoys Eli more than things getting in the way of his plans for Peter.

Zach may have proven to be his mother’s son in his ability to use his resources to fight down the man, but he is also his father’s son. What does he do to celebrate bringing down a corrupt cop? He pulls up porn on his computer. Somewhere Peter Florrick sheds a proud tear.

While she may have been relegated to almost an aside in the episode due to the unforeseen circumstance of a lighting rig nearly killing her, I have to say that Kristin Chenoweth was a delight as nosy journalist Peggy Byrne. And I’m happy to know that despite previous reports to the contrary, she has been back filming on set and I’m sure causing all sorts of problems for Alicia. And Will, I would assume.

What did you think of the Season 4 Premiere of The Good Wife? I loved it and can’t wait for next Sunday! (My DVR, on the other hand, hates Sundays. How are all of you handling the overload of the night?!) Give me your thoughts in the comments!

Find Melissa on Twitter @serrae

Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,