'The Good Wife' Season 4 premiere: Alicia fought the law, remains to be seen who won

"The Good Wife" came back for Season 4 with some interesting new faces in the mix. What did you think of the new characters?

Lockhart/Gardner

Nathan Lane is brought in as Clarke, a financial fixer who is basically there to keep the firm from going under. And part of his plan is to fire almost a third of the staff, which is only mildly interesting because we feel fairly confident Alicia, Cary and Kalinda are safe, since they are some of the stars of the show. But Lane is fun in the role, particularly the way he lays the smack down on David Lee.

Case of the Week

The case of the week hits close to home, as Alicia and Zach sort of team up to take down a less-than-above-board state trooper who pulls them over on a bogus traffic stop to look for drugs and/or cash. But buggering with the Madison County forfeiture corridor puts a big ol' target on Peter's back from the Madison County State's Attorney. Perhaps Alicia and Peter should communicate a little better, so the right hand and the left hand know what each other is up to.

Kalinda's konundrum

Kalinda's ex Nick is in the picture now and posing as a client at the firm so that she has to deal with him. Their fighting/foreplay is a little disturbing from a dysfunction standpoint, though we hardly expect anything less from Kalinda. Marc Warren was certainly a good casting call, as he's rather menacing in a very quiet way.

Thoughts & Tidbits

• It's a shame Kristen Chenoweth's guest arc was cut short, she's so perfect as a sassy little stick-her-nose-in political reporter.
• Nice to see Matthew Perry's face again, even if it is only in a campaign ad. We wish "Go On" the best of luck, because so far we really like it, but we hope it can share him with "The Good Wife" for a few episodes.
• Will's suspension lifted right at the end of the episode. Should be fun to watch him come out swinging next week.

What did you think of the Season 4 premiere, "Good Wife" fans?