'The Good Wife' Recap: Alicia And Cary Get Fired, Peter Mulls Not Giving Diane Judgeship Nomination

The Good Wife began where last week's episode left off – Diane (Christine Baranski) is informing Will (Josh Charles) of Alicia (Julianna Margulies) and Cary's (Matt Czuchry) plan to leave Lockhart/Gardner and take their top clients with them, causing everything to hit the fan, as the episode's title so aptly put it.

Will walks calmly over to Alicia's office to confront her, having flashbacks of happier times with her before he arrives. Once he gets to her office, however, he explodes. As other employees watch through the glass wall, he reminds her that he hired her when nobody else wanted her. She tries to explain it was a business decision, not personal, but Will won't hear it, and tries to fire her. However, she reminds him that because she's a partner, he'll need to get the majority vote of the executive board and the full board to do so. Stuck, he tells Robyn — who he doesn't know is in cahoots with Alicia and Cary — to inform him if Alicia attempts to contact anyone. He also tells IT to monitor the client files and inform him if any associate tries to access them. By doing this, Will identifies and fires Carey (Ben Rappaport).

Alicia then calls Zach (Graham Phillips) and asks him to move her files from the company cloud (backup) to her own personal one. Meanwhile, Diane awaits Cary (Matt Czuchry) in his office and, explaining her distaste for betrayal, fires him. Cary tells her that she brought this on herself, then makes the unfortunate mistake of spilling the name Chum-Hum, a client that he and Alicia need if they're to be successful in their plan.

We then move back to Will, who has quickly gotten the votes he needs to oust Alicia. While Alicia is sitting down with client Candace (Tonya Glanz), he fires her and accompanies a group of security guards who move her forcibly to the elevator. When she tells him again that the move was not personal, he tells her "I don't give a damn." As the elevator descends, she breaks down in tears. And at the height of tension, we get the title card.

We next find Will convincing Kalinda (Archie Punjabi) to pledge to stay with Lockhart/Gardner, and ordering the partners to call all their major clients to make things difficult for Alicia and Cary. He then comes up with the idea of ordering a court injunction to stop Chum-Hum from leaving them for Florrick/Agos.

It seems like Kalinda's loyalty doesn't mean much in the next major scene, when she goes to Cary and says that she'll join them if she gets the salary he rejected last season – she claims that with Diane leaving, Lockhart/Gardner is doomed to fail. To get Kalinda's loyalty for Florrick/Agos, Cary tells her to get the Chum-Hum files since a firewall has been put up, and meet them at the new offices. However, when Kalinda returns to Lockhart Gardner, she tells Will everything she's learned about the new rival firm, including its new address and the fact that Robyn is working for them from the inside. They call the health department to get the new building fumigated, keeping the move-in date two months away, and confront Robyn.

Diane then leaves to visit Eli (Alan Cumming), worried about how everything will affect her judgeship nomination. Though they assure her that any professional decisions will not be affected by personal issues, she seems unsure.

Diane then accompanies Will and David (Zach Grenier) to seek the injunction against Alicia and Cary, but refuses to stand witness. This doesn't stand in their way, however, because they have Beth — a fourth year who had planned to join Florrick/Agos but decides to stay when Will offers her a partnership. Her testimony is enough for the judge to grant the injunction. Alicia and David have a heated exchange, which Alicia closes with a fiery threat: “We’re coming after you — all your clients — every single one we worked to make happy while you swept in at the last minute to take credit. We’re taking them. And then you know what you’ll have? A very nice suite of offices.” She decides to seek a counter injunction against Lockhart Gardner, and Will and David are served in the Chum-Hum lobby. Will decides that now it's time to play hardball.

Peter (Chris Noth) arrives home to find Alicia celebrating with her new partners, surprised she isn't reeling from being fired. After a celebratory quickie, Alicia returns to the living room to find Diane pitching a deal of sorts – both firms drop their injunctions and the next morning Florrick/Agos then Lockhart/Gardner will make separate pitches to Chum-Hum; the more convincing firm gets their business. They agree after switching the order and confirming that Will and David will agree to it.

However, following Lockhart/Gardner's meetings, Chum-Hum executive Neil Gross tells Alicia, Carey, and Cary that given Peter's promise to run the most ethical administration in Illinois history, he doesn't want the scrutiny that will come with joining the new firm. He's sticking with Lockhart/Gardner.

Kalinda then speaks to Will and confesses that she knew about Cary's plans three months earlier, and Alicia's, a week. She pledges her loyalty again to Will, and convinces him to trust her.

Peter then ends a press conference explaining his issues with the lack of taxation on internet commerce. saying "I can’t say my position won’t change on this matter, and of course, I’m always open to dialogue." This effectively leads Chum-Hum back to Florrick/Agos. While Alicia, Cary, and their new employees celebrate, Peter ends the episode by asking Eli to bring him a list of Supreme Court Justice nominees that don't include Diane.