When local fans of “The Good Wife” TV series on CBS tuned in last Sunday, they may have been surprised to see a storyline that included a wedding planner from Pocatello.

The plot involved marriage equality versus religious freedom, and the wedding planner is going to trial for refusing to coordinate nuptial plans for two men in Pocatello. Her defense was being paid for by a rich conservative U.S. businessman. The businessman, R.D., asks the principal character on the television show, Diane Lockhart, to come in and argue from a liberal viewpoint against restoration of freedom of religion laws prior to the trial.

At one point in the episode, R.D. takes Diane aside and explains he wants her to convince his cadre of conservative lawyers that it’s a bad case to defend because his nephew is gay.

“No. I want you to fight,” R.D. explains. “I want you to convince me this is a loser case. If you worried about offending me,  don’t. I have a gay nephew, OK? Love my gay nephew. Want him to be happy. I just don’t happen to believe in gay marriage. You do. Convince me I’m wrong. Go for the jugular.”

After some give and take over discrimination versus freedom of religion arguments between the lawyers involved, the episode moves to the trial involving the Pocatello wedding planner.

Diane begins the questioning with a fictitious Ms. Dahl of Pocatello on the stand. Here’s the dialogue:

Diane: “So Ms. Dahl, you’ve been a wedding planner for 12 years, is that correct?” 

Ms. Dahl: “Yes”

Diane: “And in all that time you have never been approached about doing a gay wedding before?”

Ms. Dahl: “Never. Of course there’s a homosexual community in Pocatello, and my very favorite florist is gay.”

Diane: “But you are aware that gay marriage has been legal in Idaho since October of 2014?”

Ms. Dahl: “I’m aware it’s legal, yes. Abortion is legal, too. It doesn’t mean I have to agree with it.”

Diane: “But you have to follow the law.”

Ms. Dahl: “I’m not stopping anyone from getting married. I just don’t want to be the one to plan their wedding. That’s all. I’m helping two people seal their commitment to one another before the world and before God. I can’t do that if I don’t believe in it.”

Diane: “Ms. Dahl, how many times did, um, Jesus condemn homosexuality?”

At this point the defense objects to the line of questioning on the grounds its not relevant, but the judge overrules the objection.

Ms. Dahl: “Um, Jesus never condemned homosexuality.”

Diane: “And how many times did Jesus condemn divorce?”

Ms. Dahl: “Three times. Four times, if you count Mathew and Mark’s account of the same incident”

Diane: “Thank you. So you’ve never planned a wedding for a couple that had previously been married?”

Ms. Dahl: “Um. I haven’t asked. I...I guess I have.”

Diane: “Well, in fact, you have planned two weddings in the last year alone where one or both of the couple had previously been married.”

Ms. Dahl: “That sounds right.”

Diane: “So your religious objection is selective at best, wouldn’t you say?”

A fan of the show is former Pocatello Mayor Roger Chase, and he said he wasn’t happy with the negative image viewers might have gotten from this portrayal of someone from the Gate City.

“It didn’t portray Pocatello in a positive way, and image is so important,” Chase said.

He said Idaho as a whole suffers from a national image that it has been host to the Aryan Nations in the past, and those impressions die hard.

“When you’re portrayed in a negative light, it’s not good for your community,” Chase said.