Slugger: The Truth About Kalinda Comes Out on The Good Wife's 'Ham Sandwich"

Whatever secret you thought Kalinda was keeping, it certainly wasn't this one.

Last night's tension-filled episode of The Good Wife ("Ham Sandwich"), written by Keith Eisner and directed by Griffin Dunne, may have seemingly revolved around the episodic plots--the continued story of Peter's political campaign, here embodied in race issues involving the kids and the campaign, and the firm handling Lemond Bishop's divorce proceedings--but it was the Kalinda plot that once again fueled the installment and offered an emotional knee-capping at the very end of the episode.

Throughout the series thus far, Archie Panjabi's Kalinda has remained the mysterious presence in the room, the one with all of the answers who seems to be the source of most of the questions on the show. Just who is she? What is she hiding? Why is she so determined to keep her past a secret? And what does Blake (Scott Porter) really have on her?

The audience learned the answers to some of those questions last night, as Blake dropped a bombshell: the reason Kalinda is being so secretive and the fact that there are no clues to her old identity are all connected. Kalinda, the subject of a grand jury, is at the center of a conspiracy that involves not only herself but also her seemingly closest friend Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies) and Peter (Chris Noth).



Yes, Kalinda slept with Peter years ago, when she worked for him at the state's attorney's office. While this pales in comparison to some of the shocking or operatic conclusions to the Blake/Kalinda battle this season, it has an emotional truth to it. Looking back at Season One of The Good Wife, there was that scene where Kalinda visited Peter in prison which--in retrospect--simmered with repressed tension and desire.

These two had an affair and colluded to not only keep it a secret from Alicia but also to engineer a new identity for Leela/Kalinda, one that would take her away from her husband (the one who keeps calling) and offer her a new life away from what Blake deems the boredom of her old existence.

While we still don't know the details of what Leela's life was like (kudos to the Kings to keeping some things about Kalinda under wraps), the truth of this extra-martial affair threatens to smash the tentative romance between Alicia and Peter, should it come out, but also the friendship between Kalinda and Alicia as well.

Just why would someone befriend the wife of someone they had an affair with? Likely out of some sense of guilt. When Kalinda and Alicia first met, Alicia was still reeling from the fallout from Peter's scandal, emerging from her role as Peter's wife and the mother of his children into an independent woman trying to make her own way in the world, to forge her own career, and fight her own battles. Likely, there was something simpatico about Alicia's struggles and her own, but Kalinda also knew exactly who Alicia was in the pilot episode and it shouldn't be said that Kalinda immediately sparked to the new associate at Lockhart/Gardner in that first installment.

Over time, these two have become close as both have let down the walls around them, removing emotional shields to open up to one another, though always Alicia more than Kalinda. So when Alicia tells Kalinda, "We're friends," it's both a genuine gesture of honesty and friendship... and a slap across the face, given the way that Kalinda betrayed Alicia, both all of those years ago and currently by concealing this from her.

The truth of her relationship with Peter is the biggest wedge between the two, the unspoken elephant in the room every time these two women sit down together or toss back a tequila. The friendship they've formed was built on a shaky foundation of lies and betrayal and, when the truth is dragged out into the light, it's likely to collapse around their ears. Can there be any forgiveness between the two? Can Alicia ever look at Kalinda the same way again?

Viewers were wondering just how the love triangle between Alicia/Will/Peter would take another turn and it has here. Very likely, this is the revelation that will drive Peter back out of Alicia's bed and drive her into Will's arms. In making the truth about Kalinda something so personal, they loaded this reveal with emotional shrapnel, one that will rip open several characters by the time all is said and done.

And there's an inherent beauty to that. This isn't a case of Kalinda being in federal witness protection or being a criminal on the run: she's a home-wrecker whose dalliance affected the marriage of Alicia, a woman she later befriended and who trusts her implicitly. By undermining that relationship, the Kings have once again put some of the central relationships within the show off-kilter and that's a wonderful, wonderful thing that serves to make this intelligent series even more unpredictable.

Aside from the Kalinda reveals, I will say that the scene that stuck out to me (in the best possible way) was the phone call between Alicia and Cary, in which they almost shared a moment of something approximating friendship, or at least sincere caring. The silence on the line, Alicia's nearly off-handed question, and Cary's reluctant confession all served to show how damaged this relationship is, but also how there is the potential here for rapport, for respect, and for a future in which these two might not be enemies, after all. (Dare I say that Season Three will have Cary back at the firm?)

And what should we be making of the fact that Blake covered up Will's "theft" years earlier? Just what did Will steal? And how exactly did Blake cover it up? While we now know just what their past encounter involved, it opens the door for a host of other questions as we ponder just what dark secrets Will's backstory holds. Hmmm...

What did you think of this week's episode and the revelations about Kalinda and Peter's affair? What will the fallout be? And have we seen the last of Blake? Head to the comments section to discuss.

On the next episode of The Good Wife ("Killer Song"), a convicted murderer (guest star Sam Robards) is sued when he profits from the crime by writing a song that describes the killing; Eli tries to help Natalie Flores (America Ferrera) and her family.

Bat Girl: Kalinda Takes a Swing, Alicia Strikes Out on The Good Wife

Batter up...

I knew that last night's episode of The Good Wife ("Net Worth"), written by creators Robert and Michelle King, would have a doozy of a twist embedded in its episodic plot, because the episode was being kept under firm wraps by the folks at CBS... and even Archie Panjabi was coy about what was going to happen when I interviewed her a few weeks ago. (For that interview and more information about what's coming up between her and Blake, you can click here.)

But I also didn't quite expect the breathless hotel room showdown between Panjabi's Kalinda and Scott Porter's Blake that followed so closely on the heels of an encounter between Kalinda and Jill Flint's steely FBI agent Lana, an extended sequence that had both Blake and Lana seemingly aiming for Kalinda's, er, heart.

Despite Lana's job offer to Kalinda, she seemed more interested in her body in those moments than in her mind and the aura of conquest hovered over the entire sequence. But while these two danced around the question of sexual union, Kalinda seemed to relish seducing Blake, regaining the upper hand in their twisted relationship in order to strike home a fairly brutal blow. Yet it was Blake who managed to wipe the satisfaction right off of Kal's face in the end...

So what do we know about Kalinda Sharma thus far and how have these preconceptions been changed by this week's episode? Let's discuss:

* Her real name is Leela, rather than Kalinda.
* She may be a Canadian national who is living under an assumed identity.
* She may have faked her death in a house fire in order to escape... something.
* She's married! (This one came as quite a surprise to me.)
* Her husband is still alive and Blake claims to have been in contact with him, so he didn't die in the alleged house fire.

All of these elements come together to paint a rather different picture of Kalinda/Leela than the tough-as-nails badass that Kalinda presents herself as. There's a sense that Kal has been running from something, something dangerous and potentially life-threatening, and that she had faked her own death in order to escape. The obvious answer would be that mystery husband that Blake dangles over her like a Sword of Damocles in the final minutes of their scene together.

It seemingly comes as a surprise to Kalinda as well, whose entire modus operandi in the scene seems to be to string Blake along, get a hold of that baseball bat (now evidence in the beating of that trial witness and an object that the state's attorney's office wants to their hands on), and then deliver a coup de grace that leaves him struggling to breathe on the floor. Unexpected? Brutal? Cunning? All of the above.

But Kalinda is blindsided by the news that "fixer" Blake has been speaking to her husband (or, at least, he claims to be), leaving the victor of this particular round up in the air. Kalinda may have been able to wrap Blake around her little finger, getting him to strip down to next to nothing in an electrifying encounter, and then slugging him with her bat. But I can't help but wonder whether Blake truly wins no matter what Kalinda does, that the demons that she's been trying to outrun have finally and truly caught up with her.



I also loved the reveal that Blake's connection to Will dates back to his days in Baltimore as well and some illegal work that Blake did on Will's behalf. Just what this work was and whether it was professional or personal remains to be seen. Also of note: how Cary (Matt Czuchry) attempts to both protect Kalinda and distance himself from her, though his investigation into Blake and the search warrant he obtains links Blake to Bishop at MS 13... but it also proves to Blake that Kalinda has hacked his computer system and is attempting to set him up. (Consensus is still out whether Cary helped or hindered his new BFF this week.)

Fantastic skewering of Aaron Sorkin (and his TWoP debacle and struggles with drug abuse) and The Social Network in this week's case, which found the subject of a Social Network-esque film, Patric Edelstein suing the movie studio that released the film, claiming that it defamed him. Along the way, we got Rita Wilson as the insanely jealous Viola, F. Murray Abraham as Burl Preston, and a plot that, once it veered too closely into Social Network territory, even pulled out a mention of said film to ground the plotline further still. Questions of right of publicity, defamation of character, and emotional truth marked this intriguing and realistic depiction of the battle between art and commerce. (Well played, Gardner & Lockhart.)

Elsewhere, I loved the scenes between Julianna Margulies' Alicia and Dallas Roberts' Owen; they crackle with the authenticity of siblings and it was fantastic to see these two out of their elements (Alicia searching desperately for wifi, their hotel room banter, Owen smoking "medical marijuana" in the bathroom) as they spent some quality time together. I'm happy that the Kings have chosen to keep Owen in the picture, moving him from Portland to Chicago, where hopefully he'll be more of a (bad) influence in Alicia's life.

Still, I was happy to see that he was willing to ask her what she wanted and their "it's Alicia time!" conversation was insightful and adorable ("sultry-eyed Will") in equal measure. While Owen's line about needing a minute of Will's time was said half in jest, there was an emotional truth to it and to Alicia's need to clear the air and find out just what Will had said on that second voicemail message, to attempt to get the facts and make an informed decision about her future, even as she's finally allowed Peter (Chris Noth) back into the marital bed.

So why doesn't Will (Josh Charles) come clean? Is it that he's moved on and doesn't want the complication of getting involved romantically with Alicia? Are things already just too chaotic at work with Bond? Does he not want to be responsible for jeopardizing Alicia's marriage? Or is he testing her? Seeing whether she'll come after him even if he claims to have taken the moral high road on that voicemail, telling her that she should stay with Peter.

Or is it as simple as Will not wanting to be responsible for a "plan," for something that's not as easy as a casual relationship, to take that plunge and try to be with Alicia? Despite all the talk of everything being fine between them, I can't shake the feeling that the chasm between Will and Alicia has widened even more considerably.

What did you think of this week's episode? Will Will and Alicia ever get their ducks in order and take the plunge together? When will Alicia realize that it was Eli who made the decision for her and deleted Will's voicemail? And just how will things end between Kalinda and Blake? Head to the comments section to discuss.

Next week on The Good Wife ("Last Shot"), Diane represents ballistics expert Kurt McVeigh in a lawsuit; Eli takes an interest in Wendy Scott-Carr s illegal nanny.

The Daily Beast: "The Good Wife's Scene-Stealer" (Archie Panjabi)

Archie Panjabi plays The Good Wife’s law firm snoop, Kalinda, and viewers are obsessed. “I don’t think there’s ever been a no-nonsense, bisexual investigator of Indian origin,” she says.

When Archie Panjabi won the Emmy Award for outstanding supporting actress last year, many said, “WHO?” But to the millions who watch The Good Wife, and are obsessed with Panjabi’s mysterious, ass-kicking investigator character on the CBS legal drama, she was the Academy’s logical choice.

Over at The Daily Beast, I sit down with Archie Panjabi (in a private cabana at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, no less) to discuss playing the hard-edged Kalinda Sharma, the character's bisexuality, tonight's pivotal episode of The Good Wife, and why Panjabi will forever be a "breakout" star in my latest feature, entitled "The Good Wife's Scene-Stealer."

I'm curious though: why do you think viewers are so entranced by Panjabi's Kalinda?

I discussed this issue with Panjabi, but I'd love to hear your take on the character and the audience's engagement with Kalinda. Head to the comments section to discuss.

The Good Wife airs tonight at 10 pm ET/PT on CBS.