Sunday's episode of "The Good Wife" isn't called "Hitting The Fan" for nothing. Like you, my mouth hung open several times, from the sheer shock on Will's face upon learning that Alicia was leaving the firm, and her betrayal (what everyone who isn't Alicia, Cary, Carey and the other fourth years sees it as), to destroying her office and Will coldly firing her and having security escort her out of the offices of Lockhart Gardner. And that was all before the title sequence came on the screen. Gah! Did everyone else unclench their fists or exhale with relief after seemingly holding their breath for those tense minutes? Because it couldn't have been just me.
But as far as Chris Noth is concerned, it's the kind of shakeup the show needed. "It feels like it can never go back," the actor who plays Peter Florrick told media at the CBS International Press Junket in New York City mere hours before last night's game-changing episode aired. "It was great. It's like a new show, in a way. The dynamics are completely different."
Noth continued: "And I think it's just brave of ["Good Wife" creators Robert and Michelle King] to do it too. You settle into something for five years, it works, let's not fix something that's not broken, and then they just reinvent it? It's fantastic."
Sunday's episode literally turned the show upside-down, not only with the Alicia/Will battle but for Peter, who finally called out Will on sleeping with Florrick's wife, even though he's not exactly sure what went down between the two.
"I don't know what he knows about Will, actually," Noth told HuffPost Canada TV. "He never red-handedly caught them; his instinct is that something was going on there. I think he tends to just leave it alone as long as he and Alicia can be on some common ground and continue their marriage."
And just when things were looking grim for Florrick, Ago and Associates, viewers saw the governor use his position to help his wife keep the dream of starting her own practice alive. But that might come back to bite him. Both of them. Just when it seems the Florricks are finally in a good place, the rug might be pulled.
"She's finally getting to trust me, which is probably the wrong thing to do," laughed Noth. "I feel like there's possible storm clouds coming. I have a new ethics commissioner -- Miss Garbanza, who has lovely brown eyes -- so I don't know what that's going to mean for the future." That old adage about cheaters -- think it applies here? OK, OK, put your hands down. Damn Melissa George and her beautiful peepers.
"Obviously he's a very imperfect person, so it's possible he can get in trouble again. I just don't know where they want to take it," mused the actor. "Do they want to make it about a marriage that has pulled itself out of the depths of misery and gotten it back together. Is that interesting? I don't know, it's up to them. But I'm glad to be bad."
Meaning? "I haven't figured out from the writers yet what they actually believe he wants from that marriage besides keeping the marriage together," said Noth. "Because it's getting a little tiring for me, to have to keep telling her how terrific she is and how much I love her. You don't have to keep saying that, because to me, that's not as interesting as struggling with it together. Who knows whether anybody gets over that kind of infidelity. I can't really read where they're going with it."
This can't be good for Alicia or Peter's governorship. All together now, those rooting for the Florricks: Uh-oh.
"The Good Wife" airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on Global in Canada and CBS in the U.S.
