Jackie Florrick wastes no time getting her Loudmouthed Old Bitches Club membership current once they release her into the wild. When she starts formicating in public, Eli assumes she's just acting out against his authority -- of course -- but a teary moment of grace and gratitude toward Alicia clearly proves that something is seriously, disastrously wrong. It's nice to see Alicia giving Eli tips on wrangling the old beast, but hopefully the campy "invisible bugs" thing won't be a major factor moving forward.

Kalinda, who is apparently ready to start doing her dang job again, gets that dummy campaign worker from last week to catch herself in a lie about her so-called affair with Peter... But notes some inconsistencies in Eli's story about that night, too. (This with the help of an unbelievably bizarre hotel employee you can't take your eyes off for even a second, which provided some of the levity.)

The case itself, a hate-crime blender of race, sexuality and fraternity rivalries, treads a little too close to demonstrating the same privilege with which the show itself sometimes gets a little too comfortable. But for a story centered on the It Gets Better/bullying meme it's a fresh take, and comes to a satisfying conclusion. If only we could say the same of Maddie Hayward's interest in Alicia, which continues to be this weirdly misty fascination that never results in anything resembling an agenda or intent of any kind.

Eli's paranoia throws some weird notes into Alicia's first friend-date with Maddie Hayward, as well as inviting more rage -- and possibly an anonymous tip to a muckraking blogger -- from Mandy Post, and at episode's end Eli's given a one-hour warning before the story goes live online. This mystery or whatever it is seems to have a lot more layers than at first appeared.

Nathan Lane's Trustee Hijinks this week involved a lovely testimony to the wonders of Cary, which ended up rebounding on a wary Alicia pretty hardcore: They're now sharing an office, which -- considering Eli's surgically attached to her ass at this point -- makes for some complicated shouting matches. On the other hand, Diane visits the now-desolate 27th floor and, seeing her dream in pieces, goes through some kind of spontaneous catharsis that leads her to join the Will Gardner School of Not Giving A Fuck.

Next Week: After all those years spent in praise of the Chinese Wall, L/G finally gets pulled into Lemond Bishop's criminal activities. Alicia appears to chill at his house for most of the day, hanging out with that great kid of his while the Bishops' life gets dismantled. If it's anything like the rest of the episodes this season, it should be awesome.