How good is The Good Wife?

Rating: 5/5

Primetime television shows (i.e. the ones that are not on cable channels and therefore lack sex, nudity, violence and swearing) are often unfairly overlooked when it comes to providing an answer for that question “what’s your favourite tv show”? Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, The Wire, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Mad Men, even Battlestar Galactica are all very worthy mentions, but an equally strong case can be argued for The Good Wife, an excellent legal drama currently in its fifth season, that is watched by plenty of people, but not by those in the “right” key demographic of ages 18-49, which is a shame.

It is not uncommon for serious shows to lose its steam and dramatic momentum when it has been carrying on for as long as this show has, but The Good Wife is a completely different beast of a compelling drama, in that it consistently manages to outdo the extraordinarily high bar set by its previous season.

Everything kicks off in its first season with an all-too-familiar backdrop of a seedy sex scandal. Alicia Florrick’s (Julianna Margulies) life is turned into a media frenzy as her husband Peter, the state’s attorney of Cook County, Illinois, is faced with accusations of multiple accounts of indecent conduct involving prostitutes, drugs and suspicious financial dealings. With her husband, the previous sole breadwinner, behind bars, it’s time for Alicia to dust off her law degree and jump back into the courtroom, something she hasn’t done in at least fifteen years.

There are challenges ahead: she is having to start from all the way at the bottom as a first-year associate, she faces competition to keep on to her position in the form of Cary Agos (Matt Czuchry), the fresh-out-of-law-school, keen, eager type, she has two children of her own to raise, and of course, there is that scandal everyone keeps talking about. But thanks to her old friend Will Gardner (Josh Charles), her role at Stern, Lockhart & Gardner provides a way for her to make ends meet.

Each episode deals with a different legal case, just like any other legal dramas out there. But there are reasons why this familiar formula works. Firstly, the cases are all fascinating. Without exception. Even the ones that may seem straightforward to begin with are deliberately designed that way, to make room for complications that arise. The cases are up to date and relevant, with writers clearly getting direct inspiration from current events, often adapting cases that are dominating the headlines. The Good Wife is also known for being an incredibly tech-savvy show, constantly showing how the rapid advancement of technology can both help and hurt the practising of law. They have their own version of Google (called Chumhum here) in its universe, an important client that frequently gets into trouble. With irreplaceable assistance from Kalinda Sharma, the law firm’s best investigator, our team of skilled lawyers have to deal with some of the toughest, most nail-bitingly tense cases that are neatly packed in for each 40-minute episode.

Individual cases aren’t the only aspect that makes the show unique. There are also the equally important season-long story arcs that take place. Whether it’s petty office politics that ends up exploding to an all-out civil war, or important political campaigns that need legal attention, or even a simple love triangle that toys with our heroine’s emotions, these added juicy plot lines all weave together to give one gripping overall season that covers so many aspects of the show’s characters.

No important individual is discarded. Of course, the show revolves around Alicia, hence the title, but equally crucial are those around her. When it comes to the performances, it would difficult to find an ensemble that matches the finely tuned, incredibly well gelled cast of The Good Wife. At the show’s centre is Margulies, in her Golden Globe, Emmy and SAG-winning role. She is as effective showing weaknesses and vulnerability as she is when she’s on top legal form, relentlessly arguing for her clients’ triumph, when she is, in her own words, “kicking butt”. Her development is a fascinating one, from a betrayed wife and mother, rising to an assured lawyer status in the over-subscribed, competitive and morally ambiguous legal world.

Alicia is never keen to bend or break the rules. But her friend/boss Will Gardner and his firm partner Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski) think a little differently. Will and Diane make an extraordinary team, fighting for their clients and firm with ambition and a little more cynical view of the world, since they’ve been at this a lot longer than Alicia has. Even during one of their bitter feuds, usually stemming from one of them trying to push the other one out, the two are a marvel to watch.

Sexual tension makes up a significant portion of the many season-long story arcs, as things get steamy for pretty much everyone involved. Kick-ass investigator Kalinda Sharma’s bicurious tendencies are what stand out the most, but despite this she’s not someone defined solely by her sexuality. She’s incredible at her job, and she doesn’t take any abuse from anyone. Panjabi’s Emmy-winning performance has many scene-stealing moments, and even in the show’s fifth season, she is still a bit of a mystery, as she keeps a lot of herself closed off from the rest of the world. There’s a will-they-won’t-they romantic flame brewing between Kalinda and Cary, who is quite relentless but ultimately chilidishly adorable in his pursuit, although what will happen of them remains to be seen.

Of course, aside from the challenges at the office, Alicia has the difficult task of taking care of her two teenage children Zach (Graham Phillips) and Grace (Makenzie Vega), as well as often having to deal with her mother-in-law Jackie (Mary Beth Peil) who can be quite a handful to say the least. Speaking of family, the show’s mood is always brightened up when Alicia’s relatives show up: including her gay brother Owen (Dallas Roberts), and her mother Veronica (Stockard Channing), both of whom not only act as comic relief, but also in crucial plot developments, those that affect Alicia significantly.

That delicate balance between serious drama and smart humour is something that shows the writers working behind the scenes are doing an admirable job. There are no desperate, completely forced attempts to turn this into a comedy show, but the laughs that are generated are through completely natural, believable acts of characters’ actions and subsequent reactions, some outrageous developments akin to what we see in the real world, realistic scenarios are cleverly manipulated to give us the deliberate, well-placed laughs.

There are no clear-cut good and bad characters; the writing is too smart for that. The firm defends drug dealers, suspected killers, pharmaceutical companies etc, and with each case brings with it a sensitive, delicate matter. And because the lawyers’ number one priority is to their paying clients, this means sometimes, having a conscience is a hindrance to the job.

Even Peter Florrick (Chris Noth), who puts Alicia in jeopardy due to his inability to keep his trousers zipped, has several moments of redemption, and is a classic example of how someone who you should not really like, begins to grow on you. Eli Gold (Alan Cumming), a political strategist and crisis manager, working closely with the Florrick family, probably gets the most laughs, thanks to his very serious approach to his work even though those around him sometimes struggle to keep up. David Lee (Zach Grenier) Stern, Lockhart & Gardner’s family lawyer, is a mighty conniving creature, who will do anything to get his client a bigger settlement from his/her soon-to-be-ex-spouse. Grenier is always a delight to watch, and his entertaining antics are downright hilarious.

Another way the show scores points is through its use of excellent guest stars, and the way everyone keeps coming back for more. So many talented individuals drop by to play clients, opposing counsel, political enemies, judges, among many other roles necessary to be filled. Michael J. Fox, Rita Wilson, Mamie Gummer, America Ferrera, Kurt Fuller, Denis O’Hare, F. Murray Abraham, Matthew Perry, Jane Alexander, Martha Plimpton, Carrie Preston, Dylan Baker, Anika Noni Rose, Scott Porter, Gary Cole, Melissa George, Anna Camp, Parker Posey, Maura Tierney are all a part of this amazing guest-starring ensemble who have left an unforgettable mark, and there are plenty more who have not been named, but without whom the show would have been the same.

There are shocks and surprises along the way, the biggest one arguably seen in the show’s incredibly bold fifth season, a gamble that is currently paying off given the new sides to every character the show is exploring, plus introducing Finn Polmar (Matthew Goode), a prosecutor who should be sticking around for a while.

_The Good Wife _is a show difficult to fault, and thank god this was renewed for a sixth season. Keep going Mrs Florrick, we’re all rooting for you.