Episode 19 | Aired Mar 25, 2012

Matthew Perry guest stars as the chair of a blue ribbon panel, and the FBI joins the investigation on Kalinda

By Breia Brissey / EW

"Is this going to take long? Only if it irritates you." Oh, Eli Gold. How I love your comedic relief for The Good Wife. Last night's episode was relatively tame, as it focused mostly on a blue ribbon panel instead of a typical in-court case. But we finally got a little more insight on Kalinda's mysterious tax case, and we got to witness Matthew Perry as a man of the law instead one of our favorite Friends. Could I be any more excited? Full disclosure: I was a little disappointed when I learned his character was a big asshole. Nobody messes with Alicia Florrick and gets away with it.

Anyway, Alicia was asked to sit on a blue ribbon panel in Diane's place. The panel -- which was chaired by Mike Kresteva (Perry) -- was investigating a police shooting. The undercover officers involved in the shooting claimed they announced themselves as police officers, when a good Samaritan got in the way and was killed. Alicia was her normal awesome self and kept asking all the right questions during her alloted five minutes of time. But this just irritated Kresteva & Co. "You don't have to reinvent the wheel," he told her. And I wanted to smack him. Let Alicia be Alicia. But the tone was already set. Kresteva would continue to be a jerk throughout the episode.

Alicia was continually reprimanded for being too detailed in her questioning and for investigating where she shouldn't. Just stick to the evidence at hand, they told her. But for Alicia, seeking out the actual truth was more important than not upsetting Kresteva and the rest of the panel. Even if that complicated things later on down the road. But that's why she's the good wife and not the mediocre-at-my-job wife.

While questioning IPRA investigator Forrest Burke, Alicia uncovered an important fact about a drop gun at the scene of the incident. The gun matched the ballistics of one used at a prior jewelry store robbery. And when Burke tried to come back to the panel with more evidence on the drop gun, Kresteva denied his request. Alicia stuck up for him and had Burke come back to the panel to share that Officer Zimmerman had taken the gun into evidence, but never inventoried it after the robbery. And while Alicia was more concerned about finding the truth, Kresteva was worried about inciting a race riot. But that commitment to the truth backfired on her when the state's attorney's office was pulled into the investigation.

The state's attorney's office originally questioned those involved about the drop gun. But after seeing the evidence, Peter decided not to prosecute. Cary was called to the panel to testify, and the blame was shifting to the state's attorney's office for making an inappropriate decision regarding what cases to pursue. Cary also confirmed that Eli Gold was at the meeting where they decided not to prosecute. It appeared as though Peter decided not to take on the racially charged case specifically to help his political career. Kresteva laid it out on the line when he told Alicia he could file two reports: One would say there was nothing unusual about the shooting. The other would be more forthcoming and likely hurt Peter in the process. Alicia was left with no choice but to recuse herself. Either way, she'd have a conflict of interest.

Meanwhile, Kalinda's IRS investigation took a turn for the worse. It appeared as though some of the money she had received had come from a dummy account. The IRS was looking more in-depth to all of her freelance work over the last three tax periods. Alicia tried to get Kalinda to open up, but Kalinda remained tight-lipped. Kalinda eventually admitted that she had done the work for someone Alicia knew and thought it would be unfair to divulge it. "It's not who you think," she told Alicia. Then, she said all the work was for Diane. But I'm not sure I believe her.

Kalinda and Alicia were called into a meeting with the IRS. There, the IRS requested the exact nature of Kalinda's work. Kalinda's keen eye caught that their meeting was being recorded by a computer camera. And frustrated with her own personal (see: trying to buy a house) issues, Alicia went full on bad ass for a moment. She marched back into the room and demanded that this unknown person stop playing through intermediaries. Get it, girl! But we were still left in the dark about what they -- whomever they were -- wanted from Kalinda.

I don't think anyone expected that the "they" was the FBI. Enter agent Lana Delaney -- wtih whom Kalinda has a, ahem, history. Lana just showed up in Alicia's office asking about Lemond Bishop, and Alicia sent her away and told her to make an appointment next time. Alicia warned Kalinda that someone from the FBI visited, and later, we saw Kalinda meet with Lana to figure out what was going on. I can't figure out if Kalinda is actually in trouble for something or if Lana is out to get Kalinda for her own personally vendetta. If you recall, Kalinda turned down Lana's job offer and their Lana always wanted more out of their relationship than Kalinda was willing to give. Either way, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. But true to Kalinda form, she was able to prove her point about not mixing business and pleasure in a very public setting to send Lana on her way. At least for now.

Meanwhile, the children of Lockhart Gardner (David Lee, Eli Gold, and Julius) were still clamoring for the spot of named partner. They got a tiny win after they voted to end Will's firm revenues as long as he was suspended, but they were still coming after his seat. Finally, Eli Gold figured out that as long as they were fighting, Diane and Will would continue to benefit from their childish squabbling. Eli and Julius decided to flip a coin to see who could go after the spot. Julius won the coin toss, and in the next partners meeting Eli not-so-eloquently proposed that Julius take Will's place.

But Will and Diane were smart enough to have a backup plan. The quickly proposed that Howard -- one of the elder equity partners -- replace Will and help Diane during these difficult times. That way, they could no longer complain about someone not replacing Will. But it case you missed it, Howard is just a body and name to fill the role. He doesn't actually do anything at the firm anymore, unless you count using the bathroom and surfing porn sites. I love that mom Diane and dad Will are always a step ahead of their little kiddos.

And while Alicia was not serving on the panel, she was still trying to secure her dream/former house. The couple selling her old home wanted the asking price, but Alicia couldn't go any higher than the offer she'd already made. Her realtor suggested that she write a personal, handwritten statement explaining what getting the home would mean to her. So Alicia tried to write a note that encompassed all her feelings about the house. That included the good memories of her children growing up there, to the media circus that was Peter's relationship with call girls.

The letter worked. And the current homeowners informed Alicia that they wanted her to have the house. The only problem was someone had already offered the asking price. They needed Alicia to top the offer they had, even if just by a little bit. I didn't look like she'd be getting the home after all. Then, her realtor shocked her with a congratulatory call on getting the house. Alicia was confused until she realize there was another Florrick -- Peter Florrick had just purchased her home. But when she confronted him about it, and he had no clue what she was talking about, she realized that she had forgotten about one very important Florrick: Jackie. (I really didn't see that one coming. Like Alicia, I assumed it was Peter the whole time.) The episode ended with Alicia finding Jackie at her hair salon to confront her. Alicia threatened to purchase a gun (joking, of course) but didn't have on in hand when she approached Jackie. But I imagine that conversation is still not going to be a pleasant one.