The Good Wife

First post. Thanks to other IMDb reviews, I decided to give The Good Wife a try. And boy I was not disappointed. Julianna Margulies leads a stellar ensemble cast, the acting and script writing is near-flawless, and the weekly stories are believable yet not over-the-top. A nice almost Thriller main storyline flows throughout the episodes, adding a compelling undercurrent to what could have been just another legal drama.

The Good Wife examines the lives of legal professionals as affected by their cases and work circumstances. It certainly does not mirror the style of any other legal drama in style, timing or episode structure, and I believe it has found a well-deserved niche of it's own on current high-quality television drama.

I highly recommend you watch this series if you enjoy fine acting and tight, coherent and interesting story lines.

Greg PS. Thankfully there is no "This is based on a true story" etc. tag-line to distract the viewer from the scriptwriters obvious prodigious talents, and a very enjoyable hour of weekly escapism!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1st May 2012 Review Update (no spoilers): ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have just finished watching Season 3. Literally sitting on the edge of my couch. WOW!. Since my original review this fantastic drama has grown in depth and breadth - I can now place it (almost) with Deadwood, Dexter, The Walking Dead, Battlestar Galactica and Six Feet Under as an all time television great - no exaggeration.

The interplay between characters (of whom the depth is truly 3 dimensional) is complex, yet does not try to confuse the viewer in an attempt at narcissistic scriptwriting "greatness" (We all know shows that do that). It just flows.

Amongst the stellar cast, my favorite character would have to be exotic and mysterious Kalinda Sharma, played by the mesmerizing Archie Panjabi (2009 Emmy award winner for best actress, and Chopard Trophy winner for the phenomenal 2007's "A Mighty Heart").

Subtle humor is so well crafted and acted, you are guaranteed at least one belly laugh per episode; these become almost a small gift from the writers - an (we want these characters to resonate with you) unexpected and welcome tangent from the often serious, sometimes even chilling story lines.

Truthfully I can't recall one episode where I reflected "gee that was a bit dull, I guess they had to do that to pad out the season". Forget the usual clichéd formula episodes from the Scriptwriting For Dummies handbook - you won't find them here. No lame flashbacks, no "24 hours earlier" and no musical/costume themed episodes here thanks. Just gritty, compelling and eminently enjoyable television.

The Good Wife is simply superb.

Why is The Good Wife such an extraordinary show? (I write this while eagerly waiting for the fist episode of Season 7) 1) The character. Alicia is independent, but not a feminist; she sometimes fails, but she never gives up; she is deep, but witty and funny; she has principles, but is sexy; she is true to herself, but dares to experiment and change; she is wise, but you can never take her for granted. In a word, Alicia is brain, morals, fun and passion.

2) The secondaries. They are all pertinent, unpredictable and greatly acted characters. They give perfect balance without distracting from the main line.

3) The themes. The show presents very contemporary and controversial legal issues, related to seldom visited subjects such as Bitcoin money, odd consented sexual behaviors, electronic fraud, bots interactions, non-conventional marriage, new intellectual property rights, and the like.

4) The action. The show is always fast-paced but not frantic; lots of interesting and very gripping things happen across the episodes, which always seem plausible and well-grounded, and are a pleasure to see.

5) The direction and concept. It is a 23-episode per season show. Now, when many series are restricted to less than 12 episodes per year, The Good Wife keeps the fantastic habit of producing lengthy seasons, with time enough to develop both short-time and long-time parallel stories and create loyalty among fans.

I really like this show. It never bores me, it always delivers, it keeps surprising me but not to the point of losing the essence. I remember watching the first episode 6 years ago without great expectations, just to give it a try, and I came to love it and wait for each new season with renewed enthusiasm. Kudos for Ms. Margulies who works the magic in such a natural way! And long life to this superb show!

This is the best new show of the season. The "story within a story" method is used to great effect, as we follow Alicia's marital woes, the inter-office politics, the husband's efforts to get out of prison, and the family ups and downs at home. Interwoven with these ongoing plot lines, there's a new legal case to tackle each week. I find this show a rich combination of humour, pathos, romance, mystery...

Kudos to the young actors who play Alicia's children (Makenzie Vega and Graham Phillips). They are likable teenagers, neither bratty nor too-good-to-be-true. In fact, I think this show is very well cast overall.

For five years, during its original runtime, I avoided watching "The Good Wife." I didn't see the appeal in a show about a corrupt official and his lawyer wife. Even with the constant adverts from More Four, it just never appealed to me.

Then, in early 2014 I worked abroad and had no access to internet. A friend gave me the first three seasons and, after having given up on "Downton Abbey" during the second season premier, decided to give "The Good Wife" a shot.

"The Good Wife" is one of those quiet shows. It's rarely melodramatic, despite the potential for melodrama in its storylines. You get a better understanding of how Alicia is doing by how much we see her drink in an episode, than how often she screams at colleagues.

Alicia Florrick is the wife of disgraced DA, Peter Florrick. Despite the fact he maybe traded the law for sex and drugs, Alicia continues to stick by him. She actually goes further when, due to his assets being frozen, she returns to work after 16 years. How'd she get a job? Well, her ex-flame is now a named partner at a law firm and he hires her on the (secret) condition that his partner also gets to hire a new start, with only one being kept on after a year's probation. While she deals with duking it out with a boy half her age for a job in an office that makes her uncomfortable, she deals with her husband's mess through the tabloids, the blackmailers and, worst of all, his mother. Drama, no?

"The Good Wife" manages (for its first 6 and a half seasons) to find surprising and satisfying ways to remain exciting. Alicia, played by Julianna Margulies, is just such a power house of emotion and remains magnetic throughout. The creators often stumbled with the periphery characters, but Alicia is so perfectly created, from her dress sense, to her walk, to her little laugh. Even when the show dipped in the final season, Alicia remained worth watching.

That's not to say the side characters aren't pulling their own weight: Cary Agos (Matt Czuchry), Will Gardiner (Josh Charles), Diane Lockart (Christine Baranski), Peter Florrick (Chris Noth) and Kalinda Sharma (Archie Panjabi) all put in excellent work and each have arcs or moments throughout that often rival Alicia's ongoing story. My favourite story, involving Cary's false imprisonment, is one of the best montages in the show and it doesn't occur until Season 6.

Throughout the show, guest actors pop up repeatedly as judges, lawyers, family members and I don't think a performance was ever squandered. Alan Cumming, who appeared as Eli Gold, was so damn good he became a regular. Michael J Fox, Stockard Channing and Nathan lane all show up throughout the run, alongside some other surprising special guests.

My love of the show stems from Alicia's character arc. She's a tragic character who learns, unfortunately, that power comes with a price. Throughout the show, she is named "good" or "saint," but as her confidence and ability grow, and as she steps out of her husband's shadow, she becomes what she hates. Despite never losing the namesake "Saint Alicia," her actions from season 5 onwards see her use her power for selfish and mean reasons. What's interesting is that she never once sees herself as the villain. Not until the very final moment of the show when it comes full circle. She wants to get ahead in the game, who can fault her for that?

If you're on the fence about The Good Wife, I recommend jumping right on it. It's a sexy, sophisticated procedural with some stellar and exciting character arcs throughout.

This wonderful new series, takes what I felt was a dubious premise, and instantly turns it into entertainment gold.

I'd never liked "ER", though Margulies has formidable talent. Given the right character, script & director, I felt certain she could deliver. In The Good Wife she does. Her distinctive ability lies in nuance, & here she is finally given the perfect vehicle.

The scripts as well as the entire cast, take directions you'd never expect. That's is the real appeal of the show. Archie Panjabi is a spiffy surprise as the "investigative assistant", if you will. She approaches her character as if she's the entire supporting cast of "Shark", (James Woods 2-season crime drama) rolled into one easy-on-the-eyes, package. She's tough, loyal, funny, & adds to the show's depth.

Kudo's also, to veteran Christine Baranski for playing her "been-everywhere...done everything" role in a fresh way she seldom has in recent years.

I watched the first episode with my wife.. (ok, FOR my wife) not expecting much at all. Boy, was I surprised. Subsequent episodes have been exponentially better, richer, & have demonstrated that THIS show simply refuses to go down already beaten paths. I really love that! I have yet to be able to predict anything at the beginning of an episode, as I can with just about any other major network drama. This show is a TV page turner...

TGW is at once touching, topical, intriguing, even funny. Example: The courtroom judges are not your "standard-TV-crime-show-judges". They always prove to be yet another surprising element this show takes advantage of. In my opinion, this is the show's greatest strength. There ARE obvious choices at every turn in the story lines, the characters, even directorial choices, but NONE are ever followed. Prepare to be entertained and surprised.

Rare in this era of formulaic crime dramas... formulaic everything on TV, "The Good Wife" deceives slightly, even in it's title, which almost caused me not to watch what I figured was going to be "chick-flick-TV". Males take note. This is simply a great show & will not disappoint.

Everything in it is fresh, imminently watchable, & the result of great creative effort to not be just another law-oriented drama. IMHO, this really IS "Must See TV".