['The Good Wife' - 'Silly Season']

It's so refreshing to turn on the TV week after week and see such smart and powerful women in leading roles on 'The Good Wife.'

Too often TV writers make female characters into absurd caricatures. Thankfully, 'The Good Wife' does not succumb to that. Alicia was hurt, but remained calm when Wendy Scott-Carr confronted her. She let it fester, but then dealt with the issue.

This week we saw the return of Lemond Bishop and his nefarious drug ring and a nice -- albeit a tiny bit boring -- look at how the State's Attorney does its thing.

CBS teased the Zach Florrick abortion scandal as a big part of the episode and it gave us one of the first looks at Alicia and Peter parenting side-by-side. It was interesting to see their dynamic. Alicia is the dominant parent as we've seen over the past season and a half, and Peter seemed a bit uncomfortable being the second chair. The ending of the episode clearly left a few doors of thought open (you see what I did there?). Did Alicia finally allow Peter back in the bedroom even though she never said "I love you" back?

Cary and Kalinda's friendship has been a highlight of this season. Cary was clearly concerned about the investigation his office is doing into Kalinda, they've truly bonded -- but how far? Is he afraid for himself, for Kalinda, or both? But, now we have two investigations into Kalinda and you can tell she's starting to squirm, just a little bit. She's Canadian, eh? I wonder how much Will and Diane know about her past if Childs and Blake have been able to dig up so much.

When Cary and Blake came face-to-face, I couldn't help but root for Cary. It was like a smarm-off and Blake won. Cary is just too charming. Now that Glenn Childs and his new hair offered Cary a new position, will Diane put more pressure on him to rejoin Lockhart Gardner?

It's been a while since we had a good campaign story that focused on the three characters. Wendy Scott-Carr has been missed. When she went toe-to-toe with Alicia it really showcased how unflappable Alicia is in the face of threats. She's had a ton of scandal thrown at her over the course of the show and it was good to see the abortion flyer slowly get to her. It built the suspense of the many confrontations she had over it.




Lemond, Lemond, Lemond. What are we going to do with you? Rather, what will you do with the fine folks Bond might get caught in the cross-hairs? I can't wait for the inevitable: A trial for Lemond Bishop. Hopefully it'll happen in a few years. There's life left in his storyline and his connections to several characters that can be used for years. It was cool to see him back involved in the case of the week, a murder at a prison.

After a few slapsticky episodes it was great to see kick-butt Eli back. He really knows how to undermine teenage girls, right? Having him tell Alicia that it wasn't Zach who got Becca pregnant shows just how much the two mutually respect each other.

While it was interesting to see Cary and his team at work, the new investigator and his hapless "I'm a dad and an investigator" routine became annoying after the second cell phone ring. Given time, I'm sure their team dynamic could flourish, but watching the State's Attorney office work is nowhere near as thrilling as it is to watch Lockhart Gardner crack a case.

I'm anxious to see Will and Diane start to build their army in the war to reclaim their law firm. I'm even more excited to see it become a full-blown battle of wit and will between the three attorneys.

Total gasp count: 2, with 2 OMGs.

Some other things:

• "Whenever I see that bitch, I know we're in trouble"- Geneva Pine, about Kalinda. A true laugh out loud moment.

• Was Glenn Childs' hair done for the show or did actor Titus Welliver do it for something else?

• "People are dangerous when they are desperate"- Wendy Scott-Carr.

• Does Dreama Walker get to film anything inside? Becca is forever outside.

• Forget Will and Alicia, Will and Diane are my OTP.

• "I love you." - Peter. "I know" - Alicia. (Cue me with my arms flailing in the air.)

Do you think Alicia invited Peter into the bedroom? Will Derrick find out about Will and Diane's plans?

'The Good Wife' airs Tuesdays, 10PM ET on CBS.

Follow Chris Harnick on Twitter.