In Appreciation of The Good Wife’s Jason Crouse

In Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s character, the series’ writers have created the perfect man.

Kelli Marshall
The Outtake
10 min readMar 22, 2016

--

BY Kristen Warner and Kelli Marshall

Paul Newman’s eyes
Humphrey Bogart’s style
Lena Horne’s ferociousness
Greta Garbo’s face

Each of these downright lovely things is the subject of a fan’s appreciation.

For instance, NPR pays tribute to Newman’s “cobalt blue, piercing, intelligent” eyes, always “readable by the camera.” Esquire honors Bogart’s iconic thick-patterned bowties, double-breasted suits, and white tuxedo jackets.

Likewise, The Wrap commends Lena Horne for simultaneously “chewing up the scenery” onstage and relaying stories of Hollywood injustice. And literary theorist Roland Barthes adores the “perfect and ephemeral” face of Garbo, labeling it “an Event” in itself.

Alongside these classical Hollywood stars — and their attributes worthy of praise — we can feature a more recent name: Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

But not so fast…

Unlike the eyes of Paul Newman or the face of Garbo, it’s not a specific attribute of Morgan — his clothing, hair, gait, smile, or voice — about which we sing. After all, Jeffrey Dean Morgan in Supernatural and Jeffrey Dean Morgan in Grey’s Anatomy aren’t necessarily worthy of (our) admiration.

Move along. Nothing to sing about here… (Supernatural and Grey’s Anatomy).

But Jeffrey Dean Morgan in CBS’s acclaimed legal drama The Good Wife is a different story entirely.

Therefore, what is worthy of our praise — and on par with Newman’s eyes, Bogart’s style, Horne’s ferociousness, and Garbo’s face — is Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Jason Crouse.

Wait, why is this character deserving of such devotion, you ask?

Because in Jason Crouse, the writers of The Good Wife have essentially created the ideal (cis white) American man: smart, funny, sensitive, honest, mysterious, commanding, handsome, and sexy.

Well, hello there. Image: TVLine.com.

Jason, Meet Gary

Listen, if you told us Jason Crouse spoke 14 languages, had 12 Black Belts in different martial arts traditions, ran a food pantry in Chicago, was a Navy Seal, owned the anniversary boxset of Pride and Prejudice starring Mr. Colin Firth (and if you asked Jason about it, he’d tell you he too loved the lake/wet shirt scene), and was at church with his mama (cause Jason has a mama, not a mom, not a ma, not a mother, but a MAMA) every Christmas and Mother’s Day, I WOULD BELIEVE YOU. EVERY WORD. EVERY SINGLE THING.

Why? Because Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Jason Crouse, to our best understanding, is not real.

Yes, yes, we understand Jason is a fictional character portrayed by an actor on a television series. But the character is too perfect to be real. Watching him feels like watching a character designed by a focus group of (heterosexual) women who flesh out all the qualities they desire in a mate — like the kinds of characterizations in Harlequin romance novels…or fan fiction.

Image: CBS.com.

Part of the reason we find Jason Crouse unreal — in the BEST sense of the word, of course — is because he reminds us of a “Gary Stu.”

Gary, the male version of Mary Sue, is a term emerging from fandom that describes original characters written in stories that present the best version of the author’s self. Fanlore.org describes one of the many iterations of the “Mary Sue.” We’ll highlight the important stuff so you can scan:

(S)he is perfect in every sense of the word, and is usually considered to be a self-insertion of the author. Some fans have observed that she’s just as likely to be intended as someone for the reader to identify with. She may also have been created as a “perfect mate” for one of the canon characters. She is unique in numerous ways (by having an unusual hair color, eye color, special abilities, etc). At some point in the tale she “saves everyone” in some way. Nearly everyone in the story instantly loves her; and those who don’t are eventually brought around. If she has flaws, they are “perfect” flaws, such as wanting to serve others to the detriment of her own well-being.

This is Jason Crouse, right down to the black shoes he props up on Alicia Florrick’s (Julianna Margulies’) expensive oak desk.

The most handsome, unique, emotionally and intellectually intelligent, gifted, athletic person that would draw in, charm (ALL) the characters that already exist — including Alicia’s mother and brother and daughter — and are loved by the viewers? Yeah, Jason Crouse is a Gary damn Stu.

Let’s break this down more.

A Sense of Humor: Mini Tacos for Everyone!

Freelance investigator Jason Crouse charms viewers via his dry wit. For example, in his initial job interview with Chicago lawyer Alicia Florrick, Jason’s hand is bandaged. Alicia wants to know why.

His response:

GIF: Tumblr.

“On the job?” she cautiously asks. Jason jokes,

The real reason, we eventually learn: he cut it on a metal ice tray and “cried like a baby” because “he doesn’t like pain.” Damn, we’ve only just met him, but Jason is already funny and sensitive.

Jason’s humor also comes across in double entendres. Praise Jesus.

GIFs: Vanity Fair. Who knew that uttering the phrase mini tacos could make a nation of women QUIVER?! Jason. Jason did.

Modern-Day Cowboy, An Air of Mystery

Not only is Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Jason Crouse funny and sensitive, but he’s also commanding and mysterious.

In the episode “Payback,” a woman named Maggie receives harassing phone calls from a man named Bob who works at a so-called collection agency. Even though Maggie has paid off her student loan debt, Bob claims she still owes him $8,000. He threatens to come to her house, her neighbors’ house, and her parents’ house.

Jason investigates the fishy situation and turns the tables on Bob: “This is Jason Crouse, Bob. I want you to focus. I know your Social Security number, I know your address, I know your neighbors’ names.”

Later, we see Jason get out of his big truck and approach Bob’s apartment with a crowbar in hand. When Alicia asks how he retrieved Maggie’s money, Jason replies cryptically, “I persuaded him. By being persuasive.”

Additionally, in the episode “Lies,” Alicia learns Jason used to be a lawyer in New Jersey but that he no longer practices because “he punched a judge.”

When Alicia investigates, a colleague warns her of Jason’s unpredictable behavior: “He’s a ticking time bomb. He will smile, he will tell you jokes, and you’ll even think you’re dealing with a normal person, then he’ll explode when you least expect it.”

A witness later contradicts this story, so the details of Jason’s past are still vague — but now, they are (or he is?) more curious and attractive.

Look here: the person who assembles the slideshows for CBS titled the name of this photo “Tired, Slouchy, and Sexy.” It’s as though s/he knew EXACTLY why viewing this photo might necessitate smelling salts. Image: CBS.com.

On his way to becoming a full-fledged Gary Stu, Jason is now funny, mysterious, and conventionally masculine. Come on, he drives an F-450, not a damn Prius.

Indeed, Like Timothy Olyphant’s U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens from FX’s Justified (who deserves his own post of appreciation, btw) Jason occasionally functions as a modern-day cowboy. As a private investigator, he does what needs to be done for justice, whether on the side of the law or otherwise.

Olyphant as Raylan Givens. Image: Esquire.com.

What’s more, even the way Jeffrey Dean Morgan delivers Jason’s dialogue, which is often short and direct — lots of “yeps” and “yeahs” — emits a sort of baritone drawl that isn’t readily present in the actor’s appearances on late-night talk shows, for example.

We can also see a commanding masculinity in the way Jason carries himself and the way he often sits onscreen, especially around Alicia — nonchalant, kicked back, legs up.

Image: News-Entertainment.net.
Image: TV Guide.com.
Image: Bustle.com.

His Looks

I mean, do we even need to write an explanatory paragraph here? Let’s just put down these four words and then let the pictures and gifs do the talking:

Glasses
Hair
Beard
Smile

Image: CBS.com.
GIF: Bustle.com.
Image: CBS.com.

Before moving on, one thing we will note is that the The Good Wife’s various directors frequently shoot Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Jason Crouse in medium shots and close-ups, with lighting that almost always accentuates the qualities we cited above. This is not a coincidence.

The Perfect Lover

Finally, perhaps the most obvious way Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Jason Crouse functions as a Gary Stu, and thus the perfect (heterosexual) man, comes in the cold open of the episode “Hearing.”

I mean, let us lay this out for you. After a Sunday full of sexy times, Jason sits on the floor below Alicia, just tickled to death as he watches bad TV (God, yes!) and eats Doritos (God, yes, yes!), which are fed to him by us…er…Alicia.

Cut to Jason comfortably answering the door for the pizzaman in Alicia’s bunny pink robe:

Image: EW.com.

And then, cut once more to the couple as they comfortably eat pizza — as one is wont to do FOLLOWED BY A SHOWER SCENE THAT, IF I [Kristen] WERE ONE TO ENJOY WETTING MY HAIR IN THE SHOWER, I WOULD THINK THIS WAS MAGICAL. (Again, Kristen here: I was glad to take pleasure in it vicariously.)

GIFS: Tumblr.

Finally, let’s conclude with Jason, wearing his glasses, reading to us…er…Alicia WHILE. THE. TWO. HOLD. HANDS (Look at that GIF!).

GIF: Tumblr.

We are not even mentioning the zip, zip, zip…pop, pop, pop of their first encounter in Alicia’s office. Remember when Alicia couldn’t open her vodka and Jason was enough reason for her not to want to?

Yes, Jason makes miracles happen — wine-into-water kinda miracles — because we need to function and operate like the grown-ass women we are.

Jason Crouse’s Gary Stu-ness allows Alicia to find her own wildness. And that girl? She wild as hell.

Conclusions and Candy Stores

Like the Mary Sue, the Gary Stu also often embodies a negative connotation — because “too perfect” feels false and non-dimensional. And, perhaps, it can be. However, recalling one of the functions of Gary Stus is that they are designed to be someone the reader (i.e., us) can identify with, Jason’s perfection may enable that process.

But more to the point: if we consider Jason Crouse’s place within the large seventh-season world of The Good Wife — after the will-they/won’t-they of Alicia and Josh Charles’ Will Gardner (ultimately resolving in “a never” that left many of us grieving), followed by a frustrating non-starter romance with Matthew Goode’s Finn Polmar — the show’s obsession with Jason’s perfection feels…well, right.

Jason Crouse feels like the perfect reward for the pain we’ve endured. He’s the balm that soothes us — as he is pure, concentrated pleasure.

He makes us feel when he smiles while wearing those glasses.

He makes us feel when he laughs as Alicia whispers naughty things in his ear as she proceeds upon her public “lewd acts.”

He makes us feel when he bonds with Alicia’s mother (Stockard Channing) over bagels.

He makes us feel when he (maybe kinda?) has tears in his eyes at the prospect of losing Alicia to a misunderstanding and when he admits to being jealous of not having her to himself in all the ways he desires.

It’s too much in just the way we need.

But, seriously. If we discover in these last episodes that Jason Crouse also owns a candy store? We might have to go be with Jesus — because our hearts just can’t take it all.

Lewd acts in public. Mmmm. Image: CBS.com.

--

--

Kelli Marshall
The Outtake

​Ph.D. Writer-editor. Southerner. ​Gene Kelly fan. Curator/editor of @OuttakeThe on @Medium. http://kellimarshall.net