Sometimes its hard to put your finger on where a show goes wrong, but when several things aren't working, it almost doesn't matter which aspect is most problematic.

The reverse is also true. Many things work very well in the second season of 'The Good Wife' (10PM ET, CBS), and perhaps the greatest pleasure of the show is that so many interesting elements are so expertly woven together.

The CBS drama has a large cast and there's a lot going on, but it never feels messy or threatens to spin out of control. 'The Good Wife' is well structured and and its characters feel specific; it can be thought-provoking and also a lot of juicy fun. In a season of mostly anemic pilots, it returns Tuesday to show the new kids how it's done.


The debut season of the drama ended with Chicago lawyer Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies) on the verge of choosing between her politician husband, Peter (Chris Noth) and her longtime friend and fellow lawyer Will (Josh Charles). That choice gets a creative non-resolution in the show's Season 2 premiere, but like the briskly efficient Alicia, 'The Good Wife' doesn't wallow. The sexual tension between Alicia and both men doesn't go away (and in fact, its quite steamy at times), but that is just part of the array of things to enjoy.

The show isn't perfect; there is a somewhat clunky bit of stuntcasting early in the season (TV anchor Lou Dobbs and political advisor Joe Trippi stop by) and a couple of stories feel a little predictable. The law firm's private investigator, Kalinda (Archie Panjabi), gets some competition from another investigator played by 'Friday Night Lights'' Scott Porter, and though that story mostly goes where you think it will, Porter and Panjabi are so good that it mostly doesn't matter. (I have one other complaint in the Mildly Spoilery Mini-Rant below).

But those are minor quibbles. In its first couple of Season 2 episodes, 'The Good Wife' stirs up a delectable stew of political, legal, romantic and interpersonal complications. It manages to be both escapist and intelligent, and that is an unbeatable combination.

There are few shows that do a better job of creating meaty weekly stories and making guest characters memorable, yet 'The Good Wife' makes all that look easy. Many's the time I've hoped that characters glimpsed in a few scenes end up returning for another go-round (the Oct. 5 episode features a military lawyer and Army judge that you could almost build a new show around).

Tuesday's episode has a timely WikiLeaks echo, and the the chronicle of Peter's campaign weaves in ideas about the challenges of politics in the social-media age without making it seem like the show discovered Twitter 10 minutes ago.

But it really all comes back to the characters, who are simply enjoyable to watch. There's plenty of interesting drama at the office, where a merger with a Washington, DC, firm has shaken up various workplace relationships, and when it comes to Peter and Alicia's family life, as I've said in the past, any network show that makes teen characters not only not-annoying but interesting is doing something right.

The entire cast is very skilled, including, of course, Noth, Charles and Margulies, but as political advisor Eli Gold, Alan Cumming commits outright theft of every scene he's in. At one point, Zach Florrick tells Gold he wants to help with his father's campaign.

"You want to help? Stay in school, don't do drugs. ... I don't need Encyclopedia Brown on my staff," Eli deadpans as he stares at his Blackberrry.

I would watch a show that consisted of Eli being amusingly rude to people. It's our good fortune that 'The Good Wife' offers much more than that.



Mildly Spoilery Mini-Rant:

If someone can provide me with an example of a female journalist on a TV show who does not sleep with a source or act in duplicitous and unethical ways, I would be eternally grateful. That TV cliche is a pet peeve of mine, not surprisingly, and I thought 'The Good Wife' was above such shenanigans, some of which take place in the second episode of Season 2. The story line about the slutty journalist is so overdone and tired by this point that it would be highly original, if not revolutionary, for a show to introduce a female journalist who doesn't sleep with anyone yet manages to be both ethical good at her job.

Yeesh. We've come a long way from Mary Richards. But not in a good direction.



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