19. Boom

Complete story — includes the ending

Jeffrey Sanborn's widow, Karen Sanborn, is seeking punitive damages for her husband's death which her new attorney, Jonas Stern, claims was the intentional act of Stern, Lockhart, and Gardner's client, Charles Clay, owner and editor of The Cook County Vindicator. A Muslim extremist group claimed responsibility for the pipe bomb explosion at the newspaper's office after Charles published a controversial political cartoon that showed Muhammad being humiliated. Sanborn, the paper's managing editor, was killed in the blast. As Jonas and his team try to convince the jury that Clay published the cartoon to sell more newspapers, the firm looks closer at the crime scene and realizes that the bombing was an inside job. Also, Alicia plays on Jonas's dementia, throwing him off during the trial while Cary foils Jonas's attempt at poaching a number of the firm's associates. On the personal front, Peter and the family attend a church service, but he uses this opportunity to meet secretly with Gerald Kozko about the latter's potentially damning testimony. Alicia is furious at Peter for making her believe he had found religion and was trying to be a better man. She leaves the Florrick apartment, and the episode ends with Peter going after her, setting off electronic monitoring alarm.