It’s always a good sign when a particular underground innovation finds its way into popular media—and although I’ve been wondering when it would show up on “ripped from the headlines” Law & Order as some sort of badly designed drama it appeared on CBS’s legal thriller The Good Wife instead. During the episode in question a enigmatic maker of electronic currency, called Bitcoin, is called into court by the Treasury Department and his lawyer, played by guest star Jason Biggs defends Mr. Bitcoin’s anonymity in court.

While I used to watch The Good Wife regularly last season I’ve been unable to keep up with it, so this came to my attention via Betabeat.

The legal scenario puts Biggs’s character between a rock and a hard place when he refuses to reveal the identity of his client. It places him on the hook for 18 months of jailtime, which is then increased during the episode to 10 to 30 years of imprisonment. The fears that the Bitcoin currency in the episode might be used for illegal activities. As many have put it: Drama ensues.

This is exactly why Bitcoin’s “Satoshi Nakamoto,” the mysterious forefather and Batman of Bitcoin, keeps his identity secret.

The title of this episode is, of course, “Bitcoin for Dummies.”

Reporting on the episode right now shows a mixed reaction. It went over fairly well in the Bitcoin community; but not so much with The Good Wife community. Something about it just didn’t rub viewers the right way—perhaps the technical details of the function of the currency. That it went over well with people who use Bitcoin suggests to me that the episode stayed carefully away from saying anything weird about the technical aspects; but according to comments from watchers of The Good Wife they still said too much.

BetaBeat quoted a few commenters who couldn’t wrap their heads around the technical plot:

“This episode confused me.  Partly it was because the bitcoin story was boring, and dare I say it a bit stupid,” one commenter wrote.

It’s hard to say what exactly rubbed the viewer community the wrong way. The Good Wife is well known for tedious details being the leverage-point of plots, although often they’re seeming deus ex machina that spring forth from technicality. Much of the power in the show revolves around the characters moreso than the technical detail of the plots and perhaps a story about anonymity online and big government vs. little guy over a digital currency came off as too stuffy.

All that aside, finding a foothold in a popular TV show like The Good Wife should do wonders for the Bitcoin community in bringing new interest and curiosity in its function.