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The Good Wife Season 2 Episode 1

Taking Control

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AIRED: Sep 28, 2010

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8.9

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EPISODE REVIEWS
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Episode Summary

EDIT

Alicia makes her decision about whether to stay with Peter or pursue a relationship with Will.

FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (5)

Good start to season 2, no gaps. It left off where season 1 ended. Some new faces and some other changes.

10

By keramarie, Jun 04, 2012

As much as I like Eli Gold, I was pretty mad that he erased Will's "I love you" voicemail. Obviously, I see why he did it. His first interest is Peter and the campaign, but I love Will!!! Now, he must feel like such a fool and she has no idea. That is sad.

Derrick Bond is a new face. He is cute and has some good ideas for the firm, but there is something about him that doesn't feel permanent. He also tells Alicia that he is her mentor. Is that a tactic of his? He has brought Blake Calamar, his equivalent to Kalinda, who seems to have a thing for Kalinda. Now Kalinda... I really love the character, but I also really don't sometimes. In the last seaskn she had done some things: going back and forth between Peter and Childs, but seemed to side more with Childs. I wonder is she is always going to be such a good friend.

Cary is working for Childs now and that displeases me. He and Alicia worked so well together and now he Is bitter and looking to draw blood.

My hopes for this season: Alicia and Will make their "plan" and things work out for them. I say that with a somewhat heavy heart because I really do like Peter. But there Is something about forbidden love, especially when it is the man pining for the woman. Peter won't let her go without a fight though and i bet he could dig stuff up on Will that could be trouble for him.

I want Will and Diane to be able to keep the firm together and not divide against each other. I wonder if that is Bond's hopes: to pin the two against each other...

I Will just have to catch up and see what happens.moreless
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7.0

By thefanof, Sep 24, 2011

The Good Wife was one of last year's best new shows, and it definitely started the new year with a bang. The opening moments with Alicia making her "decision" and Eli Gold, deleting the voicemail, just brilliant, high-octane drama that this show, and very few others, can create. A great way to kick off the season and welcome new viewers.

The case of the week was interesting as well. I thought that it could have been better, but that was clearly not supposed to be the emphasis of this episode.

Solid opening episode, but TGW needs to be better than this to get a third year.moreless
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Good but the Kalinda story annoyed me to hell

7.0

By Lolotaki, Sep 24, 2011

Average.

Actually no, pretty good except the parts about the new partner (so boring the character so boring the actor but it might get improved) and Kalinda.

Oh dear, do we really need a 2nd investigator co-working with Kalinda?

She has been one of the most interesting new characters in all tv shows last season.. this is the way to develope it? I hope this lame newcomer will have to do more with the new partner(which somehow I suspect he will end up a villain) than becoming Kalinda's new partner (at work and/or in bed).The man makes me barf..

The girl needs to work alone.

Eli's character is so interesting, such an amoralist I think he will fit just fine with the granny. I so wait for the scene Alicia will expose his interference in her private life. Overall I am concerned about the new characters, so far I think Good Wife was 100% good in casting choices. And with the newcomers this is not the case. But we shall see.moreless
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This episode was so cleverly done! Hat off to the writers!

9.5

By njfrench, Oct 19, 2010

I was hoping for something else, but I have to say that despite not getting what I wanted to see. I was overall happy and looking forward to more episode.

She actually did not take control of anything, but as a "good wife", let her husband "team" take control of her, and her speudo choice. But then again we saw how she can use him for her own personal satisfaction when she did not get what she wanted from Will.

Peter, I thought would have been more aggresive in trying to get back in the master bedroom - i do not mean in Alicia's arm. But it would be usefull for him to be able to kind of state that fact when asked if is wife has forgiven him. Will for example would not like to read this.moreless
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The new season of The Good Wife kicks off with a lot of changes. Alicia is defending a political activist who is being set up by the Pentagon. Kalinda is on the case, but Blake, a new guy is also assigned. Will they clash, or click?moreless

9.0

By Chipslinger, Oct 01, 2010

I was jacked up to see the new season premiere of The Good Wife. It picked up where it left off. Alicia was at a press conference for her husband Peter, while Will (Josh Charles) was blowing up her cell, trying to get something going. She told Will, hey, I don't need romance. I need a plan. He responds with two phone messages, but Alicia has handed her phone to Eli Gold, because she has to stand by Peter's side at the press conference. Eli, the political operative that he is, listens to Alicia's voice mail from Will. Will leaves 2 messages, and the first says that he doesn't have a plan and wants to drop it. The second message says his plan is 'I love you' and he plans to make it work. If she is not interested, then she should not say anything and they will pretend this never happened. Eli deletes that message quicker than you can say Monicagate. There is a new sex scandal in the news, but it only draws attention to Peter, as the commentators have no new developments and resort to comparing the two cases a lot to fill time. If anyone can get any damaging footage of Alicia and Will, all heck will break loose. New partner Derrick Bond brings a ton of young lawyers to the firm, and a lot of liberal, 'progressive' ideas. Fresh meat! He might also play on the basketball team. He wants to implement a formal mentoring program, which results in him being Alicia's mentor. Hey, she is already involved in a triangle. You want a trapazoid?

Alicia gets stuck on a case defending a political activist. She is going up against the D.A., Glenn Childs. When the prosecution's case goes South he assigns Cary (Matt Czuchry), Alicia's former colleague, first chair. He scores a few points, but when Alicia puts the politcal activists former co-worker on the stand, who knows that the CIA leaker killed his partner, not him, she takes the fifth. The judge, a real piece of work, played by Chris Sarandon with all the haughtiness he brought to his role in The Princess Bride, tries to compell her to say why she is taking the fifth. He threatens Alicia with contempt of court charges, but she strikes back at him that he is trying to violate the witness' fifth amendment rights. Peter is watching his wife kick legal "A," and this turns him on. Later, there is a steamy scene in the bathroom. I like Julianna Margulies, but this is the first time that she has turned me on. I think I felt like her husband Peter (Chris Noth).

Jackie Florrick, Peter's mother, sets up a photo op at her club's cotillion, and she proposes to Eli that they should work together to promote her son's political campaign. Someone is up to something, as before, Eli Gold (Alan Cummings) and her clashed big time. While at the Cotillion, some young political operatives try to get some film of her saying things that will harm her father's campaign. She doesn't fall for it, but is horrified to think that the young man who appears interested in her is only trying to exploit her to destroy her father's political campaign.

At the end of last season there was a scene with Kalinda that was not resolved or referred to, at least so far, that implied that she was a lesbian. What is up with that? Now, she has a new co worker, Blake (Scott Porter), who is pretending to not remember her name as a tactical ploy to pique her interest. She sees through it and hits him. Still, it is like the way cats do their mating dance, with a lot of hostility that leads to some pretty intense ferral feline romance. But what is up with the female lawyer who put the moves on Kalinda in that storage locker? With all that is going on with her, Kalinda still finds the time to advise Alicia that life is short, and she should talk to Will. But now that Eli Gold has sabotaged Will's phone message, and things with her husband are heating up, not to mention the mentoring by Derrick Bond, when is she going to find the time to talk to Will? Life is very short . . .

The Bottom Line is that the new season of The Good Wife is off to a good start, and there are plenty of potential story arcs that could yield gold. Stay tuned.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Julianna Margulies	Alicia Florrick
Matt Czuchry	Cary Agos
Archie Panjabi	Kalinda Sharma
Makenzie Vega	Grace Florrick
Alan Cumming	Eli Gold
Josh Charles	Will Gardner

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Jacob Pitts	Vance Salle	Guest Star
Tammy Blanchard	Petra Long	Guest Star
Chris Sarandon	Judge Howard Matchick	Guest Star
Chris Noth	Peter Florrick	Recurring Role
Scott Porter	Blake Calamar	Recurring Role
Titus Welliver	Glenn Childs	Recurring Role

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Preview: 'Taking Control'

9/27/10 (01:31)
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Red Carpet Interviews

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Episode Photos

Alicia (Julianna Margulies) on The Good ...

© 2010 CBS Corporation
Will (Josh Charles) and Alicia (Julianna...

© 2010 CBS Corporation
Diane (Christine Baranski) and Will (Jos...

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Attorney Glenn Childs (Titus Welliver) a...

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (1)
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- Every episode in season 1 had a one word title. Starting the second season, episode titles are now two words long.
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QUOTES (6)
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- Will: No, you know what? I'm not just dropping this. You wanna know my plan? My plan is I love you, okay? I've probably loved you ever since Georgetown. So phone me. I'll meet you anywhere, and we will make a plan. If none of this makes sense to you, just ignore it. No embarrassment, nothing. We'll just go back to how things stood.
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- Will: Are we being played in some way?
  Diane: I don't see how.
  Will: I don't either. It's making me suspicious.
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- Blake: Did you ever find your extra key?
  Kalinda: You knew who I was?
  Blake: Yeah. I wanted to see how you'd play it.
  Kalinda: What are you, man of a thousand faces?
  Blake: No. Just one. Does that flirtation bit always work for you?
  Kalinda: Yeah. Are we going to have trouble?
  Blake: No. No. As far as I'm concerned, it's your backyard, Leela. Sorry. That's not your name, is it?
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- Kalinda: Did you see the photo spread? Will in a swimsuit.
  Alicia: He wasn't in a swimsuit.
  Kalinda: So you saw it, then? Talk to him.
  Alicia: He doesn't want to. He told me. He wants to drop it.
  Kalinda: Yeah. In a voicemail. Anything said in voicemail doesn't count.
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- Eli Gold: Do you know what a tracker is?
  Alicia: Do I know what a tracker is? No.
  Eli Gold: An unpaid political operative who tracks the opposition candidate, trying to catch him off-guard with a question or a comment in order to tape the embarrassing encounter for free viral negative campaigning. Macaca? Result of a tracker.
  Alicia: And I imagine this will all come around to me.
  Eli Gold: The event of this morning. The congressional scandal. You are back in the news.
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- Diane: (about the merging) Good job.
  Will: Not me, you. It's like Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
  Diane: As long as we're the ones snatching.
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NOTES (3)
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- Alan Cumming (Eli Gold) becomes a series regular with this episode.
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- International Episode Titles:
  Czech Republic: Pod kontrolou (Under Control)
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- Original International Air Dates:
  Canada: September 28, 2010 on Global
  United Kingdom: January 6, 2011 on More4
  Czech Republic: February 7, 2011 on Universal Channel
  Germany: March 3, 2011 on kabel eins
  Finland: June 13, 2011 on Nelonen
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ALLUSIONS (0)
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