I thought this story in The Atlantic was interesting
But the many convolutions of “Hail Mary” just don’t hold up to closer inspection.
the episode prioritized inorganic plot moves over the characters. It followed the structure of a typical Good Wife episode: There’s a race against time to turn a case around, with Kalinda doing whatever she can to bend the law to her will; meanwhile, we get some lighter fare with a political plot (this time, it’s Alicia in debate camp).
The “race against time” aspect was particularly crucial to what didn’t work here. We’ve already suffered through Cary’s prison ordeal for ten episodes, grimacing along with countless twists and turns as the State’s Attorney’s vengeful prosecution tried to drag him into jail, unfairly, for representing Lemond Bishop. Witnesses were uncovered who could testify to his innocence, and then killed off minutes later. Bishop promised to offer help, then double-crossed Cary at the last minute. There’s already been far too much whiplash around this particular plot, and yet we were treated to a manipulative cliffhanger in November (Cary taking a plea deal) and an hour of merciless teasing last night where Cary prepares for life in the slammer with a tough-talking prison consultant (Domenick Lombardozzi, a.k.a. Herc from The Wire).
But they also felt like tiring stall tactics in a plot that had long ago run out of thread. Cary wasn’t going to prison. If he were—if showrunners Robert and Michelle King had decided to explore that plot—he’d have been there already. The palpable relief I felt at Cary’s liberation at the end of the episode was more to do with finally being free of the storyline.
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