Diane Lockhart's Master Class On How To Be A Working Woman

One episode after The Good Wife's Red Wedding, the fallout from the Lockhart Gardner splitters forming their own firm continues to fall out in ways that give us new insights into the show's characters. Will (Josh Charles) indirectly strikes back at Alicia (Julianna Margulies) -- one of the relatively few women of substance we've seen him date (or "date") -- by taking up with Isabel (Hannah Sorenson), an apparently-much-younger tattoo artist who starts her days with topless yoga and may or may not want him to get her pregnant. Alicia embraces her new steely, pragmatic attitude by engaging the services of a ballistics expert (Gary Cole) who happens to be married to Diane (Christine Baranski); later, she short-circuits an ethics probe by Marilyn Garbanza (Melissa George) by announcing that Peter (Chris Noth) hadn't gotten any inside information about ChumHum just by being in Alicia's apartment because when Florrick Agos learned they lost the business, Peter was in Alicia's bedroom, totally nailing her. And Diane continues doing absolutely everything right: we just get to see her do it in thrilling new ways.

First, the episode's recurring wake-up montage motif gives us a glimpse at Diane's pyjama game, which -- no surprise -- is tight.

Next, we see Diane accept that Kurt (Cole) is testifying for Alicia. Granted, Diane isn't exactly thrilled about it, not just because it's Alicia's case but because Alicia kind of snaked it out from under Diane, who was looking forward to arguing it in her very last stand as a lawyer. But Diane can't stay too mad for too long once Kurt reminds her that he's doing it on behalf of the client, and that doing whatever he can to get a fatally defective gun off the market is the right thing to do for the sake of the public: in the end, Diane's ethics override her petty concerns.

But the moment I was still thinking about this morning was when Diane gets confirmation from Kalinda (Archie Panjabi) that the Governor's office is vetting other candidates for the Supreme Court vacancy. Diane holds it together long enough to find a private corner, and allows herself a teeny-tiny breakdown.

Remember, Diane is no longer a partner at Lockhart Gardner. If she wanted to peace out on the ongoing Attorney Disciplinary Board wrangling over the gun case for the day, or forever, she probably could; Will is already there to defend the firm's interests. But two sobs later, Diane is up in the meeting room, presiding like a boss.

Diane may have started the episode with a certain idea of how the next weeks and months of her life were going to go, but then circumstances change, and Diane changes with them: she masterfully maneuvers herself back into arguing the gun case, graciously takes Peter's call informing her that she won't be a Supreme Court justice (not in his administration, anyway), and secures her old position at the firm she founded -- looking impeccable all the while. And what makes those steps to victory even more impressive is that they come after her moment of vulnerability. It's okay to get the wind knocked out of you by a shocking disappointment; but then you take a breath, move on, and smite your enemies.

Diane just has so much to teach us, and every week I'm more and more glad she exists.