The Good Wife, ep 1

[JirinPanthosa]

Finally got around to giving this show a chance. Friends and critics seem to praise it.

I liked the first episode. Promising enough to make me want to continue. I like the focus on the different treatment men and women get, what I didn't like as much was that it seemed a little contrived how she got so little support for valid questions she raised but then magically everybody completely supported her.

I know the show has like a handful of eps left on its last season. Does the quality stay consistent, get better as it goes on, start good then flame out? Based on the network it is on and season length my biggest concern is the episodes become formulaic and disposable.

 

[Aldo]

Not to be "That guy" but the Good Wife thread is still literally on the first page of this forum, was it really necessary to create this one?

To answer your question though, it doesn't feel like a procedural, if that's what you meant. It's about the characters, the cases are secondary.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Missed that thread, but is that thread spoiler free? If so we can just delete this one.

It's hard to post in a thread about a series that is building up to its series finale when you're just starting out and not get spoiled.

 

[Aldo]

Fair enough.

 

[Naira]

In my opinion, the show started out great, got better, then not-so-good and now it is great again. I've watched it all along and I never stopped enjoying it.

It is like all TV shows, it has its ups and downs... There are many insteresting characters, so most episodes are nice to watch.

 

[EnderAKH]

In my opinion, the show started out great, got better, then not-so-good and now it is great again. I've watched it all along and I never stopped enjoying it.

It is like all TV shows, it has its ups and downs... There are many insteresting characters, so most episodes are nice to watch.

Hit the Fan in season 5 was one of the best hours of television I have ever seen, effortlessly moving between office tension, to internal personal conflict, to comedy, to romantic loss. When Will wipes the desk, my wife and I jumped back on the couch.

 

[cultcross]

Not to be "That guy" but the Good Wife thread is still literally on the first page of this forum, was it really necessary to create this one?

To answer your question though, it doesn't feel like a procedural, if that's what you meant. It's about the characters, the cases are secondary.

Nothing wrong with having a spoiler free alternative for new converts.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I've gotten through three episodes so far. All good episodes but all on the theme of 'Alesha finds clever way to protect wrongly accused person'. Is this the focus of most episodes?

 

[cultcross]

No. It becomes less and less procedural as time goes on, and the idea that all her clients are really innocent goes out the window fairly quickly.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

That's a relief. I was getting worried she was the only lawyer in the world who is always morally on the right side.

 

[Aldo]

That's a relief. I was getting worried she was the only lawyer in the world who is always morally on the right side.

Don't ever watch Perry Mason.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I picked Good Wife up again, now near the end of season 2. Writing is getting really good but characters are seeming more and more amoral. Eli Gold gets a woman deported to a country that she left at the age of 2 as just a campaign move. Not sure I can really root for anyone in this show.

 

[Ralphis]

I haven't watched The Good Wife, but I've watched the spinoff The Good Fight and I thought it was pretty damn good. I only intended to watch an episode of two just to get an idea of what an original CBS All Access show would be like in anticipation for Discovery, and holy damn! I watched all ten episodes! I've been told by a few people that I do need to go back and watch The Good Wife.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

It is really well written, especially by network show standards. My only concern at this point it's going to be exhausting to get through do to lack of a moral center, and just depress me to think that if I'm ever falsely accused of a crime, expensive legal trickery is more likely to save me than the facts.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I'm at the start of season 4 now.

I'm really enjoying the show in general and think seasons 2 and 3 were very strong but I strongly dislike this Calinda's husband storyline.

He's just way too evil to fit into a show of grays. Hope he gets hit by a car soon. Just makes the show painful to watch.

 

[Naira]

^ That storyline never made much sense to me either.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

As great the writing is, the nihilism of the show is getting kind of depressing. They intentionally get an innocent man convicted of murder because he's being tried for the same crime as their guilty client. On one hand you can argue it's a necessity that defense lawyers fight for their client, but I don't see how people who clearly are not sociopaths can do that and live with themselves. This isn't just getting a guilty person off, it's sabotaging the acquittal of a person they know is innocent. They make themselves feel better by suggesting they will help with the appeal over drinks, but they still intentionally destroyed a person's life for their own win.

Also on the political side you see people who aren't themselves racists pandering to racists to win elections. Realistic, yes, but how do I root for these people? The villains such as Michael J Fox aren't any morally worse than the heroes.

This show makes you depressed about our legal system, showing you that if you're ever in any kind of legal conflict, dirty tricks and clever technicalities will work more in your favor than whether you're right.

Edit: The Good Wife, the story of a bunch of really smart people who act exclusively in their own self interest then feel really bad about it!

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I really liked the season 4 finale. Peter's campaign cheats to win the election, turns out they won by enough they didn't have to. Alicia makes a call to say come to the apartment, you assume it's Will. Nope! Cary, she wants to join him starting their own firm. This makes me excited about season 5.

I've always felt bad for Cary because he's the guy who's equally smart and works equally hard as Alicia but never wins because he's not married to a politician.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Started on season 5. I love this Florrick Agos and Associations storyline, though it's a bit tough to watch all these people who care about each other at each others' throats. It's one of the strengths of the show, it's hard to look at any individual character and say they're the ones in the wrong. Though I'm pissed at Peter for taking away Diane's state supreme court bid over a personal grudge.

Peter, compared to real life politicians is quite honorable, but by TV character standards he's a dirtbag, constantly abusing his power for personal reasons.

I'm rooting for Florrick Agos and Associates here, but my TV watcher instinct tells me that somehow, they'll all end up working for Lockhart Gardener again. It's not as guaranteed as it was for Michael Scott Paper but I have trouble seeing the writers keeping the main cast fragmented and professionally set against each other for three more seasons.

Edit: Hey, whatever happened to Julius Cain? Did they just disappear the character out of contract dispute with the actor or did I forget that he left the firm?

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Why is every sociopath in the show in love with Alicia?