The Good Wife Season 3 (Premiers September 25)

Because I feel bad about spamming the other general-purpose TV threads about the show, no matter how hot Archie Panjabi is.

Also, the season 2 finale -- damn! The way the final scene is edited, the rhythm is just beautiful.

http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lrsuebEaVU1qmm6lho1_400.gif

TONIGHT!

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lrou5uPd3z1qmm6lho1_400.gif

man, grace just can't help falling in with all kinds of weirdos

not sure how i feel about them setting kalinda up with another frienemy.

it's a lawyer show that usually doesn't make me cringe ... so that's something. archie panjabi is nice to look at, too.

Liked:
Alicia's new 'do.

Disliked:
Cary's new 'do.

Really liked:
Kalinda's erstwhile blond paramour becoming recurring character???

Really really liked:
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ls5gyalD8Q1qgkpqho1_500.png

Kalinda is so amazing. I don't know if I should continue watching this show if they focus on the Will/Alicia thing. Will is Satan.

Are we, the audience, supposed to view Chris Noth as a villain or am I reading the show's intentions too simply? Because I totally think he's getting a raw deal and, yes, Will is Satan.

So many shades of gray in The Good Wife! argh.

he didn't seem totally villainous before, unless you think of making a conversion to christianity under the guidance of an influential black minister in order to win re-election is kind of suspect; a lot of it hinged on whether you thought he had really properly atoned for his infidelities and whether you thought he had committed any of the corrupt acts he was accused of (and whether the marriage stuff should have any connection to the possible corruption stuff in your judgment of him).

but the focal character is alicia, and most of the attitudes toward peter you could have adopted before depended on what you made of the fact that she had a number of different reservations about whether to fully accept him back and forgive him (expecting full truth from him, getting mad when it was revealed he had concealed some things, not wanting to sleep with him, sticking by him for the kids or because of her vows or something very vague that was hardly ever made explicit). and the reveal at the end of last season that he had been concealing sleeping with kalinda, along with all the other things, was the final straw. but given the timing of it - to coincide with his election win - i don't know if you can tell if alicia decided to kick peter to the curb because she thought she had adequately fulfilled some obligation to stand by her man, through an intense aversion him; or because she had remained willing to continue some aspects of their marital arrangement (power couple, kids, etc.) because she thought he had previously made good enough on his infidelities, but then was forced to retract her (limited) forgiveness because it was offered under conditions of deception (and, since it involved kalinda, was especially hurtful and hard to weather).

i have a hard time seeing peter as getting a raw deal because alicia's commitment to their marriage seems so thin - she stuck with it but was usually so silent about the why. (she acted more than she said, but that doesn't make things too unambiguous.) it would have made a lot more sense to me if she had just dumped his ass immediately after the press conference scene from the pilot. so any extra that she's stuck around seems like it's nothing but undeserved grace for peter. but, given the stress the show has put on her marriage-commitment, i reckon they just want it to play differently, so that somehow the idea is that peter deserves a break, somehow, if she's going to continue to be married to him.

(i don't get why will is satan. i mean i kind of do, but, not really.)

it's a lawyer show that usually doesn't make me cringe ... so that's something.

Tad, I'm curious to know what distinguishes The Good Wife from your run-of-the-mill cringe-worthy lawyer shows?

but given the timing of it - to coincide with his election win - i don't know if you can tell if alicia decided to kick peter to the curb because she thought she had adequately fulfilled some obligation to stand by her man, through an intense aversion him; or because she had remained willing to continue some aspects of their marital arrangement (power couple, kids, etc.) because she thought he had previously made good enough on his infidelities, but then was forced to retract her (limited) forgiveness because it was offered under conditions of deception (and, since it involved kalinda, was especially hurtful and hard to weather).

I think it's pretty strongly the second one, since her involvement with Peter's campaign was almost purely limited to passive and/or implicit activities (e.g. of course not divorcing him, and removing, for the most part, her and her kids from the campaign almost entirely). IOW, I think the political considerations were minimal, and it's the multi-layered depth of Peter's deceptions that set her over the edge (and that part of the betrayal came from her BFF too).

Are we, the audience, supposed to view Chris Noth as a villain or am I reading the show's intentions too simply?

As nuanced as this show can be, I do think that it's 100% conventional when it comes to depicting a character as either good or bad (e.g. Cary for the first season firmly being a good guy in season 1, but in season 2 becoming a bad guy though with a redemptive arc towards the end). Characters tend to either be categorically helping, or categorically working against at any given time. So, yes, ATM Peter is the villain, pending of course future storylines that would actually complicate him as a character.

I get annoyed at how willfully ignorant the DA tends to be.

Maybe I'm naive, but I don't think DA (especially Carey) would think that an online multiplayer video game would be worthwhile evidence in a case.

They are all villains

Tad, I'm curious to know what distinguishes The Good Wife from your run-of-the-mill cringe-worthy lawyer shows?

well, in that they (more or less) get certain technical lawyer-y things right (like what is/isn't admissible as evidence, what's permissible as far as questioning on direct and cross). they had an episode or two where their "Chinese wall" would get a real-life firm disciplined (if not disbarred). at this point, i'm used to the fact that these shows compress the litigation process into a week or two (in show time) -- as opposed to real life, where cases can drag on and on, and you have motion after motion and status conference after status conference and adjournment after adjournment -- so there's no point in getting too worked up about that.

also, the other lawyer shows don't have archie panjabi to stare at :D

kalinda-and-eli seems a lot more promising than kalinda-and-blonde-foe.

am i right to have read the end of this last one as ambiguous, where will and diane both say 'works against us' but one seems to have said, 'turns out to be a political liability with the DA's office', and the other seems to have said, 'tries to undermine us'?

freestyle

lisa edelstein!

eli seems pretty bonkers in this one. i thought he was supposed to be the best?

lisa edelstein!

eli seems pretty bonkers in this one. i thought he was supposed to be the best?

well, it surely is not in the cards for eli to stay with lockhart-gardner for very long. was not in the cards, from the start.

Best episode!

Will is Satan.

― Turangalila, Tuesday, September 27, 2011

wau @ foresight! All this time I've been mesmerized by his big puppy dog eyes, srsly.

Nice to see that Celeste Cuddy isn't just going to be breaking Alicia's balls all the time.

donna brazile!

this was the first not-terrible ep of the season afaic

Nice to see that Celeste Cuddy isn't just going to be breaking Alicia's balls all the time.

Didn't anyone else feel that she only told Alicia about her plan to break up her and Will because she's so confident of being able to do it that she doesn't care if Alicia knows? I didn't get the feeling that that conversation really changed anything. Maybe I'm too cynical.

I get the feeling that it's going to be a long hard slog for Alicia this year, that Celeste and Will are going to end up as her enemies, and that she will have to enlist Kalinda and Peter to turn things around for her.

B-b-b-but they were knocking back tequila with each other! That's always a sign of Alicia having a long and fruitful relationship!!

Also: PARKER POSEY!!!!! In a scene with Alan Cumming!!!!! zomg. *_*

everybody's talking about it, i mean—mark penn—

'come on, eli, you know how this works. the semen doesn't just stay in us'

Tonight's episode is the best of season so far, probably one of the best of the entire series

Though I must say the kids subplots on this show are consistently awful...

Really? I was nodding off because of the time change, so I probably missed a lot of stuff. I was amused by the eccentricity of the guests, but in the scope of the show's realism ("realism"), thought it was laying it on too thick.

i think the grace-wants-to-be-a-christian subplots are pretty dope. what a horrifying thing to find out about your kid!

This was awesome, loved all the scenes of them trying to negotiate the insane legal loopholes. Also, Carrie Preston was great.

'is it my right to consult with a lawyer?'

'it is ALWAYS your right.

… but I wouldn't advise it.'

legal stuff was okay but it seems wayyyy out of character for will to be a gung-ho anti-terrorist hawk

yeah, that was a bit weird all of a sudden. maybe the writers thought it fit in with the sharkish-greedy-defense-lawyer aspect of his character that they like to play up now and then?

Is there a website that grades the legal accuracy of this show, like the one that grades the legal accuracy of House episodes? Or do we have enough lawyers around here to do that for ourselves? (And by "ourselves" I don't mean me.) I found all the anti-terrorism runaround stuff fascinating and I wondered how accurate it was.

i don't know, i bought will being that gung-ho anti-terrorist hawk. i know people like that, liberals who are carrying some unexamined trauma from 9/11.

last two episodes have been great, imo. back on the wagon.

at first i hated the kid subplots on this show, but i think grace has become a genuinely amazing, creepy character.

This was awesome, loved all the scenes of them trying to negotiate the insane legal loopholes. Also, Carrie Preston was great.

― Simon H., Monday, November 7, 2011 4:40 PM (6 days ago) Bookmark

is Carrie Preston the woman who played Alicia's lawyer. she was amazing!

She is great. She is just basically being lady Columbo though, isn't she?

shes ben linus's wife!

last two episodes have been great, imo. back on the wagon.

― horseshoe, Sunday, November 13, 2011 11:56 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark

so...tonight's episode was really annoying. i hate when alica does that trembling lip, but this man did something BAD thing. also the way he told his mom and brother to burn in hell was a bit much. also if they're going to try a cary plays kallinda storyline, i mean, please.

also she's a grown woman she should know how she feels about the death penalty already

at least romany malco was in it. someone should sleep with him imo. christine baranski, maybe?

also she's a grown woman she should know how she feels about the death penalty already

but they're HER DAUGHTERS AGE snif

i think i saw grace's tutor on the subway. she was wearing sweatpants and wrestling shoes. she did not dance in the time I was on the train with her.

You-kno-who was looking like srsly omg.

http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lu4ab0Uyf51qgp9r8o1_500.jpg

~* sWOOn *~

Lots of major lols this week, but hoo boy is the "who does Kalinda want to bang?" stuff getting so boring. Give us back badass Kalinda please.

That said, I like Matt Czuchry more every season. He *really* has that deadpan down pat.

Back tonight!

yay (hey leee)

So glad this is back! So much quality sass this week.

Ripped! Straight from the pages of The New Yorker (again)!

Carrie Preston is now doing her own great little spinoff within this show whenever she's onscreen.

This show is kicking so much arse at the moment. I can't believe nobody watches it. What is wrong with people?

third hottest geek woman

Loads of people watch it! Just no one under 35.

i'm totally under 35

yeah i'm waaay under 35 and i totally LOVE this show

Under 35. Love it. (As does most of my under-35 law school class, but maybe we aren't a representative sample.)

Guys, I wasn't *literally* saying no one under 35 watches it, just not nearly as many as CBS would like. Though I highly doubt it's in danger of going anywhere, considering it's a prestige show at this point.

Though it is possible that more younger folx are watching it now than a year ago, I've not seen new numbers.

> it's a prestige show at this point.

nobody told england where the 3rd series started last week with no fanfare on one of the lesser freeview channels... (see also southlands)

I guess I was saying that for whatever reason I've heard a lot of buzz about it from people my age in the past year. I'm not sure why now and not before, but it's catching on.

That's good. The last article I read about its ratings indicated that the numbers were low, but they were in a good demographic, so it was alright. That might have been last year though. Sometimes I get tired of liking shows that are on the verge of cancellation all the time.

cary is such a snake you guys omg

Ooh, Cary, you little fucker. (Or, what horseshoe said.)

AGH WENDY SCOTT CARR

the grand jury's revolt against her was by far the worst writing and acting that has ever been on this show.

yes not a single thing about that episode made sense

The only purpose it served that I can tell is to get Will's story out of Peter's administration and into the Illinois Bar. Oh, and also to advance the Alicia/Kalinda story ever so slightly in a positive way.

One of my favorite things about TGW right now is not being able to get an angle on Cary.

yeah that ep was praised in some circles but it mostly did not work for me. especially the part that featured alan cumming and amy sedaris boning.

I guess I'm in some circles, because I loved this last episode, even in spite of all of its implausibilities.

Me too. Sometimes I love a good "I'm out of order? You're out of order! This whole court is out of order!" scene, even if that never happens.

I don't get bothered by the implausibilities on this show. I guess I prefer the tradeoff - a more interesting plot or whatever. Generally (and imho), implausibilities on TV shows are more of a joke then an irritant. If I was bothered by them there would be very little good tv left to watch

Alan and Amy's boning was funny. I encourage it. I especially like the awkward, red-head, lawyer girl.

than*

i do always appreciate when they give anyone a chance to be a stone cold motherfucker, which both will and peter got to do this episode. 'my assistant will validate your parking' - the reason parking validation was really invented.

lol abernathy

they realy have to change the name of the firm because will is gonna be gone for 6 months?

Yeah, that struck me as odd considering the firm was originally named Stern, Lockhart & Gardner and Stern was off on sabbatical.

he was a big draw; will is going to be on suspension.

It's not a public suspension, though right? I mean will the firm have to disclose that he's been suspended for six months? I thought it was just a hush hush agreement with the bar.

that may be right. but it seems like word would get around in the little lawyer-world.

And I thought WSC's "I'm taking this to the Bar" comeback was just an empty threat! I'm almost afraid to ask if Josh Charles is leaving the show; in fact, I am patently not asking.

lol abernathy

yesssss!!

i recently watched the first season of the good wife for the first time and i believe kalinda has become too subdued. i guess it's penance for sleeping with peter but i'm over it.

six months would give them a bit of mooning-unemployed-will-gardner storyline this season and then let them eat up the rest during the summer.

Speaking of Kalinda, you know you're not going to survive the end of the episode when she's being uncomplicatedly friendly with you.

Reviewed in the New Yorker. Intersting to find out that Grace's tutor/weird friend who does vaguely inappropriate Youtube dances is played by someone who does real-life vaguely inappropriate Youtube dances.

That's a really good article. I had sort of picked up on the "show about technology" thing since bitcoin especially, but hadn't thought back through previous seasons and put it in the context of its general savviness about social media. It's a great show to be sophisticated about that sort of thing, because the broader themes have consistently been about public image and private life and the tension between the two, so the technology/social axis really is a way of turning that from a politician's problem into all our problems, or at least pushing that connection in provocative ways.

I generally agree with that article, but that Social Network episode was terrible. The worst kind of "ripped from the headlines" only with them actually mentioning The Social Network. I do like that the Zuckerberg-character has remained a client though.

haha, 'schmuck bait'.

their episode-ending case-winning twists often seem schmucky tho.

I think the most important aspect of the article is that it poses a potentially destabilizing or at least interesting metafictional dilemma: in a show where The New Yorker clearly exists (e.g. Cameron Todd Willingham, bitcoin), I wonder what'll happen when Diane picks up the 2012-03-05 issue...

Will's sisters were awesome.

Truth.

i am 95% sure the actor who played his bossy sister was one of the substitute anchors on sports night

confirmed! http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0197453/

Good gods, you've got amazing recall. An obscure Sports Night in-joke (considering the way Josh Charles' character and hers interacted) that I missed. ;_; xpost`

i have seen sports night so many times. so. many. times.

I was disappointed when Peter agreed to give that douchey supporter a job, but also rolling my eyes at the way Donna Brazille should've known the very reason no one was willing to vouch for him is because he was running a clean office with no favors.

eventually all of dan rydell's love/hate/flirt objects should be cast. we've had lisa edelstein and this person who's playing his sister. we need teri polo and that chick who played dan's shrink in the second season.

xp

i think donna brazile probably did know that and did not care. which rings true; i mean, i like donna brazile, but she's a professional political operative.

also, remember in the second season, that wack social network episode? i thought the screenwriter was supposed to be sorkin, with his criticisms of the internet age and his alleged past drug abuse.

I bow down to your knowledge of Sports Night trivia -- I don't even remember Teri Polo on the show, and I initially thought that his shrink was played by Paula Marshall even though I also know that her character was the pr0n star that Jeremy dated -- I need to dust off my DVDs. Maybe they can work Hillary Clinton into The Good Wife and he can mix up secular and the other thing again.

See I'd like to think I'd have spotted the Social Network ref except that I kind of didn't know that Sorkin wrote the screenplay.

And while they're at it, CBS can add a laugh track to the show.

don't even remember teri polo??? for shame.

The other sister (Merritt Wever) is k-funny on Nurse Jackie.

man i hate that lawyer from michigan. this show has such good hateful characters.

lol at first I knew her as John Adams' daughter-in-law, but the actress has made that scummy law-bag her own and am all about hating her now, which was why it felt so nice when she of all people objected to the little personal asides Caitlinn threw into her questioning.

it's meryl streep's daughter you know.

I saw she's getting a medical drama pilot (for the CW, so whatever).

Caitlin twist this ep was pretty classic GW misdirect.

Sure had David Lee fooled!

V v sad to not see any more Gardner sisters.

Sure had David Lee fooled!

renewed, which is nice. does that mean they can go back to putting the soapier elements on the backburner?

...would there be a show left without the soapy elements?

were the non-soapy elements originally supposed to be (a) the arc of peter's re-entry into politics, and (b) the question of whether peter and alicia would reconcile, and (c) alicia's self-fulfillment-through-professional-success narrative?

I'm not disputing that the show is built on soapy elements, but it's seemed more blatant about it lately, not just w/ the Alicia master plot getting hammier recently, but the Matt Czuchry stuff, bringing back maybe-wife-killer Dylan Baker super quickly (with a sexual harassment suit!)...they're just laying on the draaahma a little thicker than usual.

though thankfully the Sedaris/Cumming stuff is gone for now I guess? thank christ. (that was objectionable on diff't grounds.)

i thought the cary bit at the end this week was pretty righteous. until he had to say something about the perception his going unpunished would create. but still.

eli has really been diminished as a character since his initial run as a foul-mouthed mastermind operator.

maybe a different way to think about the proliferation of chaotic subplots is to look at the characters that are around and the relationships and interactions they can plausibly have given the larger-scale plot developments. the first season had a really marvelous nexus between alicia's work relationships and home relationships, and both of those were pretty complex and shifting (because of her prior relation to will, her parity with cary at the beginning, but her affinity with diane, at work; and for obvious reasons at home but especially in light of peter's mother's role in the family). alicia has moved in and out of proximity to different people since then, with the same kind of dynamic that's constrained by the relationships and power interests of the others, but it seems like the frames have rarely been drawn as definitely or as stably since, i dunno.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/movies/finding-the-right-wig-for-the-role-on-screen.html?ref=movies

apparently juliana margulies wears a wig on this show. i just thought she had been having her hair straightened for three years.

a couple great moments this ep, i thought. the scene with "look more worried" and the fakeout with the recusal.

Jackie is the evilest person on the show, btw.

Loved the episode. Interestingly, during the episode, I'd been wondering where Jackie had gotten to.

'so you're the woman... i'm the black.'

Posey and Cumming again -- awesome chemistry.

So much deliciousness this week.

now that was a proper episode.

The idea of someone taking the ankle clips was pretty bogus though. And how did they get back to their proper place (assuming they did) if the bike didn't get back? Who the hell wears ankle clips in the first place?

Well, when you take ALL of someone's clothing, I guess the ankle clips would go too.

What's wrong with Matthew Perry? He sounds terrible.

i can see how it's a matthew perry role but i want matthew perry out of my good wife

he is the worst

he's not even remotely good at being a slimy terrible person.

being totally insufferable is like the point of that character though.

he's not even insufferable, he's just a bunch of bleh, adding nothing

i thought it was great, i just want to punch him in the face while running away cringing

Yeah, I really liked the complete barefacedness of his lying. He's not as good a sleaze as Jackie, though.

jackie is a great villain of our time

Well, when you take ALL of someone's clothing, I guess the ankle clips would go too.― Johnny Fever

I meant before the murder. What kind of person "borrows" a bike and leg cuff clips

I didn't follow the case at all, waaay more interested in the campaign and Jackie subplots this week.

DNC dbag crushing Parker Posey's dreams has me considering voting for Ron Paul now.

that episode was pretty bad, but PREZ!

i don't know why the writing was so dumb and obvious. like when alicia turned to kalinda and was like. "lana's going to get you killed!" thanks for spelling that out, show.

Yeah, this wasn't great. Also, it's already Season Finale Time? WTF. I guess so, but it doesn't seem like it.

This season is 22 eps, whereas the first two were 23.

Lots of twists! None of them terribly good. Sorta dud for a season finale imo, but at least it's already been renewed iirc so that's a good thing.

There was nothing really cliffhanger-ish about the episode, just lots of threads left hanging. Felt more like the episode before a finale.

Premieres 9/30 (or 30/9 to you Euros/programmers).

'i don't like people who quit.'

Scene with Alicia at the office at night is DARK.

And... Uncle Junior! I mean, Judge Junior.

'i'm a blogger'

bodie!!!

'you said to be... entrepreneurial...'

Wee-Bey made a cameo, too, as a photograph.

Srsly tho Boadie wouldn't have tolerated the hijinx Dex was trying to pull.

Am I in need of some mansplanation on how professional women are capable of solidarity regardless of relatedness, or was Amanda Peet's character obviously the Colonel's daughter?

i thought you were a dude. you have to give the mansplanations if you are.

I need someone to explain mansplaining. #genderfail

<3 judge abernathy

Amanda Peet's character obviously the Colonel's daughter?

If that was the case, it passed me by. I thought it was just female solidarity because it's tough to be a woman in the military.

i forgot alicia even had kids

how is this the first time alicia ever heard of cutting?

haha yes i was seriously lolling at that. but the "they like how it feels to heal" line was pretty good. liked eli's manipulations too. seriously don't understand kalinda at all at this point.

she's in THRALL

and boooooring

the main plot was kind of truncated. i suppose that was just setup for something else later in the season, either an unexpected fail/win on the murder case, or something to do with judge hirsch?

I thought the case was essentially resolved (as a fail) with the adultery twist. I'd imagine the tension with judges is the sort of thing they'll pursue though. I like internal firm intrigue, but will v. the entire justice system really bores me.

Felt like they're going to resume the case next week or soon, while also involving some romantic intrigue between Amanda Peet and Peter, or at least more allegations of impropriety. We could call them Peeter!

alright, now THIS is a courtroom episode

those are pretty good sunglasses to wear for running someone down.

Otm x 2.

Kyle MacLachlan!

So good when this show's on form. As that was.

i sure hope alicia has something devious planned, she's been pretty back and forth these last couple few.

i loved the wimpy "you know, talk to them" that she offered cary

Black Lodge Dale.

Loved Eli's jiu jitsu of the DOJ agents.

Oh, that was all Elspeth.

yeah eli has been a hump for a minute now

Hahah my bad, you're right. Elspeth needs more love back off Agent Cooper.

The Lockhart & Gardner home for character actors.

Odo!

And Kelly Coffield!

that's the way we ride

Amazing teaser.

Jess Weixler has been a good addition. But will someone give Gary Cole a steady gig, please?

well that was the most hilarious line morena baccarin has ever had

Look, some schmuck wrote a thing on the show: http://www.slantmagazine.com/tv/review/the-good-wife-season-four/400

"you and are are the new will and diane"

er, "you and i are the new will and diane"

"the law is a mountain"

Has Kalinda ever taken a cottoning to Issues like this before?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/17/nyregion/in-spitzers-comeback-campaign-a-once-fervent-advocate-isnt-at-his-side.html?hp&_r=0

somehow the pilot to this is really piloty and really filmy at the same time.

New season tonight!

Good old meta data!

another year to perv onarchie panjabi yay

just finished last season a week ago which I think ended on a strong note. Still enjoying this show.

omg monica from litigation

and melissa george, sweeet

apparently winning the governorship means free eyebrow enhancement for your whole family

That's why Grace is a hottie now. /selfban

I'm probably just dumb, but I had a hard time following the case this week.

No, it wasn't just you. It was a little on the choppy side.

Oooh, twisty twist!

The Kings plus some other people:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/festival/2013/10/television-and-politics.html

I feel sad when Diane and Will fight.

i wanna be pretty

let me be pretty

Massacre, omg.

Exciting.

yknow, the great thing about this show is that with the plotting and the particular setup it has, i don't have the first idea about how good it is or isn't in a particular episode. i'm usually just psyched to see them doing all the stuff and wondering what will happen.

the jailbait-grace subplot!! the conniving ethics investigator! the fractious fourth-year partners!

Robyn on fire this ep.

Also, "You never changed your mind?" "No." "Well, this is what it looks like."

With that new jacket she's wearing, she's a pair of thigh-highs away from officially replacing Kalinda in my heart.

"Alicia runs afoul of an Irishman."

and _that_ is how you do a spit-take

Yeah, I was iffy on the ep as a whole, but those last few frames were golden.

s5 is one of the best seasons imo

Yup. Maybe my favorite tbf

Not feeling this season as much as 3 or 4, actually. ._.

just waiting for that pregnancy to blow up…

Pretty fun watching the two firms battle but it could get old, interested to see where it goes.

i think ppl who think the baby is Peter's are totally misreading the show. shes obsessed w/ peter its a hilar subplot but thats it.

BTW both the episodes with the creepy music box dude are 5/5 classics, incredible television

you mean walter?!

firm battle has barely even begun i think, fa+a is about one episode away from folding still.

creepy music box dude

Which eps are these?

i could have sworn he was in three, but imdb sez the recent one, and s4e18, 'death of a client'. i guess since the latter was in flashback mode much of the time i thought he had appeared more often.

sexxxy grace plotline is still paying dividends

Hahaha nice swerve at the end, the Kings.

god wallace shawn is so terrifying

lost my shit at the Low Winter Sun riff

surveillance nerds also terrifying

Glad to see Jonathan land on his feet, post-30 Rock.

Love how they committed to Shawn's "last name" gag, like it went from scary to funny then back to scary again. So glad this show is back..Even better if they find a cruel and humiliating punishment for the Irish guy.

lol thanks for reminding me he exists.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/15/business/an-underling-among-the-officials-accused-of-fraud-at-dewey.html?hpw&rref=business&_r=0

o hello parallel construction

not sure how this is the same thing as

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/08/dea-and-nsa-team-intelligence-laundering

but they called it that on the front-page headline, at least

Shiiiiiit

o_O

Holy fuck

I am in total awe that they kept that under wraps.

Was I just watching Game of Thrones?

XP yeah no kidding!!!!!

WHAT

“Josh Charles approached us almost a year ago about wanting to leave the series,” Michelle and Robert King said. Charles was looking to leave the series at the end of last season, the show’s fourth, when his contract was up. After playing the character for four years, the actor indicated he was ready to move on.

http://www.deadline.com/2014/03/spoilers-good-wife-bombshell-josh-charles/?

this is some proper tv

guys i can't deal

is everyone just going to cry for three seasons

WHAT

this puts so much in play

More from the Kings on the decision and the direction of the remainder of the season:

http://tvline.com/2014/03/23/the-good-wife-will-gardner-death-explained/

dang. now i have to catch up on this season! i love this show

I like how they have a big spoiker alert graphic, at the end of the article.

More Diane can't be a bad thing. Sad about this though -- not so much for the character but 'cause Charles was just so much fun to watch in this role. Amazing comic timing.

Also I can't believe Jackie outlived Will.

just watched the episode was not expecting thaaaaat :((((

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJnJiFU3fhg

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/03/why-that-big-twist-on-em-the-good-wife-em-is-a-breakthrough-for-tv/359658/

well that shit was real

striped hats!

The TV show seemed like a parody of the ramblings of True Detective.

It used to be a straight-up parody of Low Winter Sun, but they definitely threw in a little True Detective this week.

I caught the B-52s video for "Good Stuff" yesterday, and Fred Schneider is very David Lee-esque in it. Really adds a level.

September!

this nsa plotline is so awesome

sure are a lotta shows on network tv right now about how the government is spying on us

Anyone know the first song in the opening scene last night (4/27)? Mid- to late- 80s industrial (Wax Trax style) track. I used to hear it in clubs all the time back then but can't remember who it is now.

Second song in the scene was Trust's "Bulbform" which I was equally surprised and pleased to hear.

Ha -- found a clip online and played it three or four times trying to jog my memory, and suddenly realized it's "Chains" by Gatekeeper from like four years ago. I listened to that a lot right when it came out precisely because it reminded me so much of my clubbing days.

Diane and pity, lol.

so is he dying, or is he trying to screw me?

he is dying.

and he's trying to screw you.

scene with the water was a great power move.

well ok that was kind of a reshuffle

We're watching this on Amazon Prime and are about a quarter of the way through season 3 so I skipped all the posts to avoid spoilers but I love this show. Julianna Margulies is so pretty. I also like how nobody's hair is perfect. Also Matt Czuchry... whoa.

I do not understand your last two sentences together I mean Matt Czuchry is like flawless.

I'm too hypnotized by his smile to notice his hair.

so stoked for the new season

Indeed. Avoid promos if you can, hella spoilery

Show is so good. Got my wife hooked now too.

Getting this ready for tonight.

I'm glad I avoided spoilers!

Appropriately dizzying premiere. Hope Eli's daughter sticks around, she's a delight.

sheesh

Wonder if OITNB inspired this storyline.

does it have anything to do with the reason the/an oitnb lead is imprisoned?

cuz i would think it fits in perfectly with the good wife writers' zeal for depicting under-scrutinized horrors/absurdities of dealing with the legal system / government / surveillance bros

That was an amazing opener, let alone for a sixth season.

Yeah, I watched it with my cousin who had never seen any of the show before and she was hooked right away.

does it have anything to do with the reason the/an oitnb lead is imprisoned?

cuz i would think it fits in perfectly with the good wife writers' zeal for depicting under-scrutinized horrors/absurdities of dealing with the legal system / government / surveillance bros

OITNB does a similar thing, actually!

"using a privileged character as a way to get into jail"

Oz?

1. Taye Diggs got old!
2. Don't trust him and the posse he assembled going over to F&A.

1. But still a very good looking man.
2. Good point!

So that's why Alicia still has Grace around.

Aw man, I was hoping for a Steve Inskeep cameo.

'we let him use the sink in the afternoon'

om G welcome to binding christian arbitration

THIS ONE'S MINE.

died when eli looked in on the christian girls dancing around grace's room and got confused in the middle of his phone convo

so much sass in that ep

what were we supposed to take from the intern's mom meeting w the governor? my roommates were talking in that scene

omg elspeth's ~~mind~~

deej i think nothing? there appeared to be no subtext, just that peter literally was able to dump the intern because he knew her mom and she wanted her moved

Ripping shirts to 'Call Me Maybe.'

cary is such a dipstick

'… spelled in the usual way.'

"that elderly thing"

man it is SOOOOOO painful whenever she tries to play the game and can't bear to

wtf @ random death of hail mary pass witness at the ep's very end

well, does it have to have been random? i mean he was in hiding in the first place because of fearing bishop

yeah, and his existence was revealed to current SA immediately prior to his death, right?

You suggesting that Castro leaked the guy's location to Bishop because of his prosecutorial hard-on for Cary?

i would not rule out some other source in the office?

or i mean kalinda did go to dude's cousin's (?) apartment, bishop already has a history of exploiting her investigative activity

yeah i mean that's what i was wondering i guess, like they said it was a car accident (!)

they did. but that's not super believable. it's just… what appears to be the case.

but presumably someone has the tape of dude saying that he set up casey, right?

by someone i mean dude who just got fired from the DA's office

well knowing this show, probably no - they couldn't let cary off too fast

RIP Cary, maybe they can make Eli's daughter a partner.

poor cary :( that was a hell of an episode, though.

I just started watching this show, holy hell is it good

my wife and I blasted through all the episodes in the space of a month or so. it's fucking great! it's weird how archie panjabi's American accent seems to get worse over the course of the series tho

Also, rmde @ Ramona probably mispronouncing Sleater-Kinney.

Really surprised that upper-class professional strivers would know about SK, but maybe it's retroactive Portlandia aura.

WHAT

Dan, give or take 5-6 episodes it's basically six solid seasons of really good-to-totally greatness

I just started watching this show, holy hell is it good

― the farakhan of gg (DJP), Monday, November 24, 2014 2:46 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

awesome yes just wait it gets even better as it goes

what were we supposed to take from the intern's mom meeting w the governor? my roommates were talking in that scene

― deej loaf (D-40), Monday, October 13, 2014 12:19 AM (1 month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

omg elspeth's ~~mind~~

― j., Thursday, October 23, 2014 7:50 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

deej i think nothing? there appeared to be no subtext, just that peter literally was able to dump the intern because he knew her mom and she wanted her moved

― j., Thursday, October 23, 2014 7:50 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

:D

i also just finished watching the whole series over the last 3 months...the wait for this weeks episode was so painful.

ftr I started with the new episode about three weeks ago, nobody's got time to binge on old seasons over here

The intern's mom is old friend of Alicia and Peter; he had an affair with her while A. was pregnant with Grace (she says while showing him recent pix of them together)(P. reminds A. that this lady is now his attorney).

So, Castro's revenge on Alicia and Peter (who withdrew his endorsement of C.) is to cause the conviction of her law partner, who is in cahoots, ladies and gentleman, with the drug dealer, long-time client of and current campaign contributor to St. Alicia. Okay, but why did Bishop screw over Kalinda? He wanted to teach her a lesson for threatening him with Child Services (pix of known dealers entering/leaving his house during hours when kid was usually there). Seemingly not worried about son actually being taken---so he's got that much of an understanding with DA Castro, or somebody, despite surveillance of his home...

I hope Kalinda will leave the show (announced for end of this season) after doing something to Bishop to rescue or at least avenge Cary, then escaping, riding off into the sunset with her fallen FBI gf (or maybe the blonde cop)---on a motorcycle, dammit.
This won't help Alicia, but I wouldn't vote for shady her or righteous TV guy.

IDK, that DINO ad was pretty lulzy.

seasons 1-4 were amazing above and beyond never before seen television.

season 5 was p much shit.

season 6 i dunno.

whaaaaaa S5 was the best!

I kind of feel the same as surm.

Matthew Goode, huh? had no idea

Yeah he's been a regular for a year now

season 5 was the most gratuitous shit i had ever seen, after all the nuance of the first 4 seasons. all the subtlety went out the door.

it turned into like a middle of the road ABC show.

season 4 had by far the worst plot line, kalinda's ex-husband's reign of terror

uh but you got to see Kalinda beat him up? and that's like, never bad television.

the irish guy in season 5 probably second worst.

So many Poochies.

Luckily they've been pretty good at taking notice of when a character's not working and dispatching them pretty swiftly (except for Kalinda)

All the seasons are good! I think the current one has been fucking fantastic (albeit a coupla blips in the middle). The only weak patch was the Kalinda/Marc Warren era, and the second half of that season got well back on track.

Either way, I can't think of another one-hour show that's remained consistently great into its sixth season.

yeah, i love this show. i do miss some of the more procedural seasons/episodes, but i am glad that they mix it up.

the whole trick about the first 4 (rip Tony Scott) was that it actually got me excited about law. and the writing was believable, and understated. then BAM! season 5 and it's all wacky punch lines and dramatic blows. i was sad :( i barely even finished it and i don't know if i care enough to watch the 6th. but we'll see. not to mention the Will thing. oldest trick in the book - done wrong

I disagree. Charles was done with the show and they needed a definitive end for the character so that everyone else wouldn't always be musing as to what he was up to and how he was doing. I thought the fallout, especially, was really artfully handled. Given all the horrendous things these characters have had a hand in it felt dramatically appropriate to me to have their safe remove from events just disappear for once, and with absolutely no corny foreshadowing.

Totally agree.

Season 5 is one of the best, the 1st 2 seasons are way more uneven, gets better as it goes imo

Season 6 feels pretty "average" so far, which is to say still good. Panjabi's departure is coming too late, if anything - the fact that she and Margulies are never physically in the same room gets more distracting every episode (40 episodes or so now!)

Sarah Steele was a smart addition

Kinda think they should so just one more season after this one, wrap it up and end strong

they could ride this character arc all the way to the white house tho

or at least the senate

They should make her become Secretary of State so that they can show Madam Secretary how it's done.

whenever I catch any of Madam Secretary (while waiting for TGW to start) it seems so transparently like the zero-cal, sad shadow of TGW on like every level, it's not even fair

Love this show. EXCITEMENT AND KISSING.

Herc is even Hercier than he was on The Wire.

Though I have to say, I haven't loved this show since the end of last season. The narrative maneuvering seems a little more obvious than usual.

Yeah perhaps the legal stuff has been a little soapier -- I like all the little idiosyncrasies and journalistic details in the weekly cases -- although I guess the procedural element will be back next week? But The Cary story has been pretty thrilling, and I love that every episode is a fucking machine.

alflijlijliwjdliwjliwjl @ this latest ep

In a good way?

yah just hair-pulling plot developments

yeah really love the way the resolved one plotline here while leaving an even bigger one wide open

and they didn't use quite the old misleading crosscut-montage trick that soderbergh likes so much, but they did come very close. the editing on this show is top notch

Archie's accent getting Britisher the closer to the end.

Midseason finale not so good.

That was a very comforting fairytale.

Archie's accent getting Britisher the closer to the end.

yeah, i commented on this upthread too. it's like she's stopped trying altogether!

"God, handsome men are so weak."

Marissa is now the best character on the whole show

Agreed. I would totally let her get that tramp stamp.

catching up on a backlog of episodes - the one from a couple of weeks back with alicia suffering from laryngitis and working her way through a bunch of scenarios in her head was fantastic. i love it when this show gets tricksy with the format.

That one was good, but overall it's been pretty meh of late.

they really surprised my with the last ep -- didn't think they were going to follow through that way on character development. i guess they're fine with always changing things up.

No thoughts on the last ep?

been saving em up since after the midseason break

really underwhelming tbh, this season is maybe the least impressive to date

Can't help but feel like her losing her position as states attorney so fast was a bit of a cop out

woof. not my favorite season. definite step down from s.'s 4+5

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-good-wife-and-the-good-life

this is a good pt though

Interesting article. But yeah, although the exploration of failure is quite an interesting route to go, I'm not sure they found the most dramatically interesting way to go with that. great first half of the season, and the final two-three eps felt partway back on form, but the stretch inbetween felt really off its game. Still, I think the critic's cliche -- "even when it's bad, it's better than most other stuff" -- still applies, if only because most other stuff doesn't have Diane in it.

I seem to say interesting a lot.

wow, just looking up what else Archie Panjabi has been in on IMDB and apparently she did voiceovers for Postman Pat. whodathunkit?

JUst been watching this show through after seeing people talking about it 9n here. I think I'm about half way through this series.

& its been ok, but has had some super dumb things in like the Hugo Chavez thing, which might be series 2.

BUt Archie's pretty tasty anyway.

This show is on fire again.

Consistently my favorite drama on television. Im pretty picky though and don't watch any other drama on television.

The latest ep was really good

Unless im tripping, I remember Robert Wyatt mentioning that he likes to watch Good Wife. It's nice to know that my favorite musicians watch the same television shows as me. When Bill Waterson finally gave an interview decades after Calvin and Hobbes's last strip, I was like what are these bullshit questions? I dont care about your stance on commercialism. Tell me some family stories. Tell me what you watch on television. What are your interests nowadays? Nope. They wake Waterson from the dead to ask him some stupid shit.

Although maybe I didnt read the full Watterson* interview and just a long snippet that the interviewing magazine was allowed to post online. Fuck you magazine for not giving me the juicy details up front! You expect me to rationally search out the full fledger when your clickbait doesnt deliver? No. Learn to interview better!

The start of the new season completely flew past me, I've got some catching up to do!

Yeah, still seems to be good. Trying to think who Peter's chief of staff is.
A lot of Machiavellian stuff going on with some characters.

Kalinda is almost not missed, but I guess she will be inevitably.

Yeah it will really depend on how these new characters develop. Her new PI has that perma-flirty face, he could be a good character/love interest. I like all the double/triple crossing stuff going on atm.

No blonde investigator anymore? :(

that's what I was thinking. also cary #2 is out the window

Yeah not sure what happened to her xp

Vengeful pee-wee herman Eli is pretty fun to watch.

yeah Jess Weixler disappearing was really weird

really don't care about the Eli plot this season

Trying to think who Peter's chief of staff is.
>
Couldn't quite place her earlier, she was the contact or department head in the Americans last time i saw her before this series

She's Margo Martindale. Recently she was in the Americans and also Justified.

but most notably as herself, Character Actress Margo Martindale, on Bojack Horseman.

This show is way past its prime but still super enjoyable. This half-season has been a huuuge improvement on the last half of the sixth.

yeah there's a few too many dud story lines at the mo but just enough to keep me involved.

Finally have gotten around to beginning this season, am enjoying the nu-Kalinda, her accent is definitely more convincing.

Looking forward to seeing where this Landau thing is going. Is there an online extra of Alicia and Veronica's cooking show scene in full splendor?

It's nice that Grace is helping out with her mom's practice, but isn't she supposed to be in college?

the show could save a lot of money by just cutting loose the entire cast at Lockhart-Agos-whatever

They're obv gonna all get back together at some point tho

which is an awful idea since none of those characters have been associated with anything interesting in like a season and a half

Matthew Lillard was so, so awful, I think that's the first time I've ever rooted for Alicia to lose a case.

Finally caught up -- the bad episode I thought was before Matthew Lillard, the "Iowa" one. Like the writers purposefully tried to cram as many cliches into an episode as they could.

The music episode was nice if only for the return of Marissa.

still watchable but not nearly what it once was

Margulies hinted that this will be her (and thus, I have to imagine the) final season. We can only hope.

It reminds me a lot of how Buffy struggled in its last two seasons - running out of story and steam, random cast changes, and the shift to a more inactive, ineffectual protagonist (mirrored by increasingly ineffectual writing).

Would watch a Marissa and Diane spinoff though

Hah, I was thinking of JM leaving and renaming this show The Good Daughter and following Grace's trials and tribulations, but The Sassy Daughter with Marissa would be soooo A++.

haha i was thinking it should be named "the good daughter of the good wife" but decided not to post it.

anyway they should just give eli a lighter-touch prequel spinoff a la better call saul

only thing was it felt for a long time like it was headed to a destination & that the writers knew what that destination would be .... but now it's become increasingly clear that there was never a destination in mind

Just announced this is the last season. 9 episodes left!

It's time. I'll miss it a lot though! One of the most pleasurable TV shows ever, I think.

this has gotten so bad :(

Yeah post-S5 has been largely a drag - if they'd found a way to end it at five season it'd have gone out as an all-timer.

yup

Still an all-timer for me, even operating at half-speed. This season's been an improvement on the last one.

Not to slight Alicia (who's still great) but maybe the show is just a bit more boring without Will.

My partner watched this relentlessly while breastfeeding on the sofa and I joined in when I could, was a bit perplexed with the end of the Florrick Agos arc - I got that they moved into LG's offices, then Diane joined, next time I watched David Lee was there as well and it was like the end of Animal Farm. S7 still to go as it's not on uk netflix yet.

yeah the loss of will pulled all the internal tension out of the show. Then Kalinda leaving. Really miss Lemond Bishop too.

S7, if it's the last series, is / was on more 4 recently so it might be on all4

Last week was episode 7.11, iowa

s7 is, mercifully, the last season

"Mercifully"?

I mean, it's clearly not as good as it used to be - not even close - but it's still really enjoyable. I'm glad it's been around for two more so-so seasons rather than quitting after the fifth.

Good decision to stop now though.

Last week was episode 7.11, iowa

― koogs, Wednesday, April 13, 2016 5:35 PM (53 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I've got up to episode 18 of season 7 so are there different speeds that seasons are being broadcast in the states or something.
& I think there have been at least a couple of weeks since it was last broadcast new, seemed to be a major gap in several shows running not sure if it's to do with Easter or what. But then again don't know what is influencing American scheduling anyway.

It's been two or three weeks since there was a new one; some of that's due to sports. There's a new one coming this Sunday night. I believe there are 4-5 episodes left.

Objection! Speculation!

The series finale was 99% garbage. :(

It even made the last season feel worse than it actually was.

I liked it!

In retrospect they probably should've gotten to the Diane/Alicia firm much quicker - maybe last season? Then we could have had fun watching it work (and fall apart) instead of the hyperactive plottiness of the past half season.

Huh!

http://www.thewrap.com/the-good-wife-spinoff-officially-goes-to-cbs-all-access/

Hey pay for a cbs subscription too!!

wait, there's a living human walking the earth right now whose name is 'cush jumbo'?

what a world

Just finished this. Season 6 was rough, but 7 was mostly pretty entertaining. I guess everybody in the world hated the final season? I thought it was powerful.

i just never went back after, i dunno, some point in alicia's campaign before it was over? and i don't feel like i'm missing out.

Can't remember pretty much anything that happened in the last couple seasons

I mostly remember the hideous BLM episode and the utter wasting of Matthew Goode

7th season wasn't peak Good Wife, but still a big improvement over 6th. I liked the new cast members. Finale (in retrospect) was pretty daring and memorable. Am very glad the spinoff is happening. And even when it's sub-par, it's a pleasure to watch.

Yeah, that's how I felt. I just liked the tone and rhythm and world-building of the show. Even the sixth season went down easy.

The spinoff sounds... low reward. I hope it finds a way to establish its own identity, without becoming "The Good Wife but sans most of the characters you like." That's gotta be hard to do, though. I'm not sure I want to see more of Eli Gold's daughter. And the quirky judge gags were starting to get old; are they gonna have a whole new cast of judges?

I'm just greedy and want to see more. Also - don't know if they filmed it before the election, but am curious what Trump-era Good Wife looks like. Also: Diane. Love Diane.

Yeah Diane rules. That's kinda why I loved that final scene; she got the final word

Afraid the spinoff will just be 10 episodes of her arguing devil's advocate cases for conservative think tanks while Eli Gold's daughter makes quippy references to her offscreen father though

a little ditty bout marissa and diane / two b-list stars doing the best that they can / saying oh yeah the franchise goes on / long after margulies and cumming are gone

Marissa and Grace start a law firm under the tutelage of Eli and Elsbeth - that's the dream.

Started The Good Fight. First episode was kind of a knockout, close enough to the Good Wife but still very much its own thing, and it was beautifully filmed. Super promising. Next episode and a half feel just like a lesser a Good Wife, though, just without most of the characters I liked, and look cheaply filmed.

CBS All Access is very clumsy. The commercial breaks are frequent and take forever to load.

honestly TGF was a letdown for me. starts out feeling like its own thing and winds up having way too much in common with TGW to feel like anything but leftovers

hm i was gonna start this but now not so sure. these posts are making me think twice

not gonna go into details cuz spoilers but a bunch of TGW characters end up showing up, including a few I really never needed to see again

thats lame

I've been enjoying it, more than expected (the UK is about 6 episodes into season 1)

Matthew Perry though...

Found it frustrating because it was so often on the *cusp* of excellence but then lost the plot in what seemed like really basic ways.

None of the three leads are well-served - Lucca gets stuck in an annoying subplot romance with one of those awful handsome dudebros that kept ruining the Good Wife; Ygritte is great but never gets anything interesting to do, just react to a series of Job-ish increasing disasters; and Diane - who I thought would be the lead - somehow gets even less screentime than she did in the Good Wife, which is LITERALLY A CRIME.

Matthew Perry also returns to be annoying Matthew Perry, a new faux-Milo character gets added who's even worse, and none of the non-white characters get any sort of development.

THAT SAID I generally found it quite delightful to watch, was glad to be back in the world, Delroy Lindo is awesome (if underused), and after a really ropey centre-stretch it regains some of the pilot's mojo in the last few episodes. Marissa and the new PI also have an adorable double act (I would refashion the show with them as leads).

yeah Marissa rules

Also I miss Alicia & Will

Would also watch alternate universe show where they lived happily ever after and run a hotel together, or whatever

With Alan Cumming as snarky concierge

4 eps in now and it does feel like leftovers. Same Good Wife guest lawyers and judges. Lucca's relationship with the lawyer who looks like Paul Ryan is a repeat of Alicia's with Finn. And yeah somehow Diane is barely in this?

It's not terrible but it does feel tired. And setting a show at a black law firm and having it focus largely on three white additions to the firm is kinda gross.

the Kings' attempts to address race have always been embarrassing

The middle patch is rough going but the final two episodes course correct somewhat (helped by more Jane Lynch and less Paul Ryan ). Maybe it needed a 22 episode season and more space for do-nothing character development stories. IIRC Maya doesn't even try a case for most of the season! And Rachel from Justified remains the weak link in whatever she's in (kind of a dull actor).

enh I liked her sometimes on Justified, her character on this is mostly just a boring scold

also this has made me remember the penultimate season of TGW where they made a big deal about adding Taye Diggs, then did absolutely nothing with him

I don't care for the Emma Stone-y lead in this

Also very weird that of all the plots they could repeat from The Good Wife they (minor spoil) went with the vague grand jury thing from season 7. Not nearly invested enough in the fates of the new characters or new firm to care. But the quirky lawyer they bring back to defend the firm (again a season 7 repeat) is very good and fun to watch.

Is Matthew Perry alright? I assumed he'd suffered a mild stroke, based on his speech.

It was v weird to see Rose Leslie cast as a timid newcomer considering she's best known as Ygritte from Game of Thrones. Also a bit sad/funny that she inherited the Archie Panjabi role (in the sense of having to use a dodgy American accent).

Oh I didn't notice that was her from GoT. She was really good in that! Surprised that didn't open more doors for her.

But yeah it's exhausting how timid/beaten down she is. She's supposed to be the Alicia surrogate, the put-upon hero who rises up when the rest of the world is shitting on her, but she doesn't really have any moxie or unique character.

Two weird things about the commercials that air on All Access:

1. Every break has one narrated by Julianna Marguilies, which was smart casting for the ad agency
2. Some of them are for that Amazon Alexa machine, even though a subplot in the show involves a malfunctioning Alexa surrogate called Alida

Interesting decision to cast Kenny from Frasier as the show's main villain

Everything I know about grand juries I learned from this show

Anyone watching the second season? It's way, way, way better than the first. Tentative fingers crossed that the Trump storyline doesn't get too pleased with itself.

"Pleased with itself" is a good description of the first season. Don't think I ever even finished it, and I loved most of The Good Wife.

It's still very overpleased, but the writing has sharpened up. And subbing in Audra McDonald, giving more to Delroy Lindo, and ending the stupid faux-Maddoff story = all good decisions.

New season is good so far but the musical cartoons are intolerable. INTOLERABLE.

yesss

some of those lawyers have great voices, they should have gone into musical theatre or something

the 'you can't vote in that t-shirt' punchline made me lol.

(i think the uk is some weeks behind. um, imdb seems to have the uk air dates on it.)

How's this season been? The extra theatricality wasn't working for me. And the fucking songs!

the songs are ok imo in a satirical, tmbg / i'm a bill kind of way but i'd rather just see more of the cast tbh

TMBG! I knew they reminded me of something. That actually makes me feel more tolerant about them, although, yeah, overall, I'd rather watch a scene of Delroy Lindo eating lunch

Felt like reviving this thread to discuss the Kings' Evil since it has so much Good Wife DNA despite the ostensible genre switch: Mike Colter! that score! technology! child-rearing! courtroom scenes!

I wish they hadn't felt the need to spell it out, but the conclusion to the fourth episode was genuinely ghoulish in a way I wasn't sure they had the nerve for

I haven't seen any of the Good Wife and only seen S1 of the Good Fight (which I really like) but I'm still unsure about Evil

I like the procedural elements and the whole element of trying to reconcile faith v science but I do not care a single bit about the characters' personal lives (which I get is part and parcel of these kind of shows but still) and that recurring character who plays a prosecutor (?) against the protagonists or something who I guess is a demon or Satan in disguise or something but is so cartoonishly evil that he comes from another show entirely idk

I'm not totally sold myself, but it's endearingly weird and still seems to be figuring out its limits.

Two eps in a row where the idiot grandmother gets her idiot grandkids into trouble

Is this gonna be a recurring thing

Another plot element it shares with TGW!

I really cannot stress enough that Evil has been flying under the radar for how thoroughly weird it is. Maybe it's not quite as weird as Braindead, but it's awfully close, and unlike that one it's gotten renewed. Anyway, I'll take it over The Good Fight any day.

Okay, I didn't expect the incel plot line to resolve itself that way lol

I'll give the show this - things never resolve the way you'd expect

The twelfth episode, which aired last week, was mostly not very good, but LMAO at the closing scene. Who is letting them get away with this shit? (I mean this lovingly.)

This season of The Good Fight is fantastic so far

That's one way to end an episode/season!!!

I am a few episodes into S4 of The Good Wife and Mr Veg and I are both unanimous in being over Alicia and her obtuse uppityness.
Also I hate her idiot children
Christine Baranski’s hair gets more perfect every season god she’s the fucking best
mainly though
I am TIRED of Kalinda wearing GO GO BOOTS and LEATHER JACKETS and generally dressing like a 90s NIGHT CLUB PROMOTER. They have signified her edgy otherness to death dear god will her sexy pirate costume ever end.
And this stupid dom/sub storyline with her creepy-ass husband is so dumb
She deserves so much better!

This show is so weird why do i like it

That was absolutely the worst season. After that it gets good again.

almost everything after s5 is the worst. s6 features maybe the single worst ep they ever did

haa which one? i dont remember specifics any more about this show.

the episode that incorporates/references the Michael Brown verdict

i gotta rewatch now.

there was not a single current topic they were worse equipped to make an episode about

Lol/smdh at the title and concept of the last ep of The Good Fight

The seventh/final season of Good Wife (I want to say it’s the nsa one but I can’t remember) is a pretty good rally. S5 starts great but then loses it big time. Sixth season’s a mess all round, with weird parallels to S6 of Buffy

I loved season 2 of good fight but I had to bail for s3 because I was so tense about when those fucking dreadful animations and monologues were going to start

yeah and the musical numbers

for lawyers, those characters had great voices

I don't remember which season of good wife it was but the Noth running in Iowa plotline was especially dire

I remember nothing good about s6 or 7 tbh. You're better off pretending the s5 finale is just a cliffhanger ending.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xyqsmEfcP4

the episode that incorporates/references the Michael Brown verdict

Oh Jesus, yes, you're right. I'd completely forgotten about that.

With good reason. I was recapping the show at the time and struggled to convey my disgust.

So-so episodes never bothered me because I liked the show. I always thought this thread was too heavy on disgust.

I'm encouraged to watch the spin-off by the seldom praise it has received in this thread.

If you enjoy watching the good wife and you don't mind its sillier moments, you will probably also enjoy the good fight

The first season is fine, the second season is almost as good as Good Wife in its peak, the third season I’ll return to eventually

I might do a rewatch of just s5

OK, after reading a description of the Good Fight's s3 "finale' I might have to give it another try starting from s2

It tickles me that the Kings are Epstein obsessives

Watched a couple of s5. What I really miss about this show is

1. The dialogue, which asks "what if Whedon and Sorkin didn't suck"
2. those obscure bits of absurd but real legal minutiae that get sprinkled liberally into every episode and blow your mind for a few minutes, like House only interesting

Why, the Good Fight doesn't have those two things?

I found s1 joyless and rose leslie fatally miscast, too annoyed throughout to enjoy things

is there a podcast where woke lawyers recap the good wife

Well, the most recent season does not have Rose Leslie

season 3 just started in the uk. halfway through first episode and part of me wants this to continue and part of wants it to stop.

anyone else other than Simon watch Evil? S2 starts streaming today

lol'd at the bad dubbing for the Shocking Swear Word they used now that they're not encumbered by network standards

way more people should be watching this hilarious and batshit television series imo. michael emerson having the time of his goddamn life, even more than on lost

Hilarious and batshit in a good way?

yes, though it doesn't reveal quite how weird it's willing to get until, idk, maybe 3/4 of the way through s1

Simon is making it sound like those "I swear it gets good later!" shows that are mostly prominent amongst prestige TV but Evil is great all the way through imo and is worth trudging through even if you're not impressed by it at first

one of the things I admire the most about this show, which I think may be a thing with all of the Kings' shows, is that storylines never resolve themselves the way you'd predict, I wouldn't say their storylines are unpredictable thrill rides through and through, but the resolutions are never quite what I expect, especially with one near the end of S1, and I bet Simon knows which one I'm talking about

Sounds great! Enjoy their shows but thought TGF lost its way in S3 (after only finding it in S2)

Watched three episodes. It's fun! Also it continually skirts with badness but somehow that's part of the fun too.

Some of the performances (e.g. Colter and Emerson) are enjoyable but verrrry unconvincing - but it's almost like the bad acting amps up the feeling that No One Is Who They Seem.

No animations or musical numbers or monologues please.

Obsessed with Evil now. The first season was a bit so-so, but the second season is so fantastically creepy and bonkers, love it.

the elevator episode fucked me up.

aww fuck, upcoming season of Evil will be its last :(

boo

I need to catch up on this! I only got halfway through the first season, not sure why I stopped, it was a lot of fun.

I ditched Good Fight during the third season (musical cartoons were too cringe and I felt tense about when they were gonna turn up).

And there's a new spin-off procedural show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ2WX99QXXY

Hope it’s good.

Absolutely adore Carrie Preston and Elsbeth on the Good Wife/Good Fight and I’ll prob check a couple of episodes out but she feels like a character that is best in small doses/as a regular guest star, not sure if I wanna watch a whole season.

"Every generation gets the Columbo it deserves." - Bob Marley

"The first episode of Columbo only had 10 million viewers, but everyone who saw it formed a detective agency."
--Gandhi

i do love elsbeth. if i remember correctly she is simply "quirky" and doesn't have any real DSM-5 detective skills? or PTSD or anything like that? i like that new Will Trent show but it seems like they really threw the book at him as far as trauma and spectrum stuff. it is kind of refreshing to watch someone solve crimes who is just super-smart and having fun being underestimated as opposed to someone having a lifetime of pain behind them. no offense to people in pain...but it does feel like a cliche ever since Monk. and all those British shows where every cop is living under the burden of 10 lifetimes of fuckedupness.
i could be wrong though and maybe elsbeth was diagnosed in some early episode of Good Wife. been years since i watched them.

I think it's the same shtick as Monk (neurodiversity-as-secret-weapon) minus the murder backstory. Wonder how that plays in 2024 vs. 2009 when The Good wife debuted.

Preston is such a good actor though (and also v cute IMO, irrelevantly)