The Good Wife

The Good Wife is an American legal political drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2009, to May 8, 2016. It focuses on Alicia Florrick, the wife of the Cook County State's Attorney, who returns to her career in law after the events of a public sex and political corruption scandal involving her husband.
The Good Wife is a serialized show with standalone storylines that are concluded by the end of each episode. It also features several story arcs that play out over multiple episodes or seasons. These serial plots—a rarity on CBS—were especially showcased in its highly praised fifth season.
The series was created by Robert and Michelle King and stars Julianna Margulies, Josh Charles, Christine Baranski, Matt Czuchry, Archie Panjabi, Zach Grenier, Matthew Goode, Cush Jumbo, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Alan Cumming, and features Chris Noth in a recurring role. The executive producers included the Kings, Ridley and Tony Scott, Charles McDougall, and David W. Zucker.
The Good Wife was acclaimed during its run and considered by several critics to be network television's "last great drama". It won numerous awards, including five Emmys and the 2014 Television Critics Association Award for Outstanding Achievement in Drama. The performances of the show's cast have been particularly recognized, with Julianna Margulies, Archie Panjabi, Christine Baranski, and Josh Charles each receiving widespread acclaim. The show was also lauded for its insight on social media and the internet in society, politics, and law. It received recognition for producing full 22-episode seasons while other similarly acclaimed dramas often produce only 6 to 13 episodes per season.
CBS announced during the Super Bowl on February 7, 2016, that the show was ending with its seventh season. The final episode aired on May 8, 2016. A spinoff titled The Good Fight, centered around Baranski's character Diane Lockhart and Cush Jumbo's Lucca Quinn, also starring Rose Leslie and Delroy Lindo, premiered in February 2017.

Premise

Set in Chicago, the series focuses on Alicia Florrick, whose husband Peter, the former Cook County, Illinois State's Attorney, has been jailed following a notorious political corruption and sex scandal. After having spent the previous 13 years as a stay-at-home mother, Alicia returns to the workforce as a litigator to provide for her two children.

Production

Conception

Writers Michelle and Robert King wanted to create a series that focused on the wife of a high-profile politician following a public sex scandal. They got the idea after they observed prominent American scandals of this nature, such as those involving President Bill Clinton and North Carolina Senator John Edwards. The image of a wife standing silently beside her husband as he publicly admits to his sexual or political misconduct had become clichéd, according to Robert King. This image led the Kings to question why these women stood by their husbands, as well as to wonder about the events that followed that initial announcement. They were further intrigued by the fact that many of the wives were lawyers who had halted their personal careers for the sake of their husbands' professional ambitions. The actual idea for the series was first postulated in the weeks following the Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal of 2008. As Michelle King explains:

Production

The series was created by Michelle and Robert King, who serve as executive producers and show runners. The pair had produced the short-lived legal drama In Justice that aired as a mid-season replacement in early 2006. The creators had previously worked extensively in feature films. Scott Free productions helped to finance The Good Wife and Ridley Scott, Tony Scott and David W. Zucker are credited as executive producers.
Executive producer Dee Johnson added television writing experience to the team. Charles McDougall directed the pilot episode and was the pilot's other executive producer. McDougall had previously enjoyed success as the director of the pilot for Desperate Housewives. All seven executive producers returned when a full series was ordered and they were joined by executive producer Brooke Kennedy. McDougall left the crew after directing and executive producing the second episode. The series is produced by Bernadette Caulfield who had previously worked on the HBO polygamy drama Big Love; co-producer Ron Binkowski added post production experience to the pilot and returned for the first season.
Several new producers were added to the crew once CBS ordered a full season. Angela Amato Velez joined the crew as a consulting producer and writer bringing legal experience from her careers as a police officer and legal aid attorney and writing experience from the police dramas Third Watch and Southland. Todd Ellis Kessler, who had recently completed production on The Unit, and had previously worked on legal drama The Practice, joined the staff as a co-executive producer and writer. Ted Humphrey served as a supervising producer and writer and then as co-executive producer and writer. Corinne Brinkerhoff completed the production team as a writer and co-producer. Brinkerhoff had previously worked as a writer and story editor on Boston Legal. David W. Zucker is an executive producer on the show, having been nominated for four Primetime Emmys and one PGA Award. His credits included Judging Amy, The Pillars of the Earth, and Law Dogs.
Julianna Margulies was also credited as a producer beginning with the third season in 2011.
Although the series is set in Chicago and the pilot was filmed in Vancouver, it was filmed in New York, with an interior set in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The Kings and the writing staff were based in Los Angeles and used teleconferencing to plan with the director of each episode.
Kristin Chenoweth, who was intended to have recurring role as a reporter on the show in the fourth season, was seriously injured in an on-set accident in 2012.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg made an appearance as himself in 2013. His successor, Mayor Bill de Blasio, who said he was "deeply obsessed" with the show, made an appearance as himself in 2014. Gloria Steinem, Valerie Jarrett, Donna Brazile also made appearances, as did Frank Seddio, then-chair of the Brooklyn Democratic Party.
Authenticity of plot and characters was achieved through the use of script consultants, including Karen Kessler, who is a founding member and president of Evergreen Partners, a public relations and events planning firm.
It was reported in October 2014 that Archie Panjabi would be leaving the show after the sixth season.
In May 2015, TVLine reported that Julianna Margulies and Archie Panjabi had not actually been on set together to film a final scene between Alicia and Kalinda in the season 6 finale, with shots of the two characters spliced together in post-production, after ongoing reporting had noticed that the characters had not shared a scene since the middle of the fourth season in February 2013, raising questions about their off-screen relationship and the filming of the scene. In a subsequent interview in August 2015, the producers said they would not go into the mechanics of filming in order to address "gossip" about an alleged rift between the two actresses. In October 2015, Margulies stated at The New Yorker Festival that "it was shot the way Robert wanted to shoot it, and the story line, too" and also referred to the timing of Panjabi's work on the series The Fall; however, in response to an article about Margulies' comments, Panjabi posted on Twitter that "The Fall was not even in production at that time and I was in New York ready to film the scene." TVLine also looked back at the controversy ten years later.
In the final season, which began airing in the fourth quarter of 2015, Chris Noth's character Peter Florrick was written to be a fictional candidate running in the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries.

Cast and characters

Main characters

Julianna Margulies as Alicia Florrick. The wife of Peter, a disgraced State's Attorney, Alicia returns to work as a junior litigator at the law firm Stern, Lockhart & Gardner thanks to the support of her old law school friend Will Gardner, for whom she has feelings. Having spent so many years as "the good wife", she finds herself at the bottom of the career ladder, trying to juggle both home and professional life with the scandal surrounding her husband, with whom she has two children, Zach and Grace. Alicia is smart, independent, fiercely protective of her children, and much more than just a good wife. She excels at keeping a cool exterior. She is rarely ruffled and almost always thinks through what she is going to say, choosing her words for maximum impact or sting. Alicia graduated top of her class from Georgetown University Law Center in the mid-1990s. After graduation she worked at Crozier, Abrams & Abbott for about two years but left to focus on her kids and Peter's career. Her struggles to go back to work and how she is penalized for the "mommy gap", are seen as emblematic of the work–life struggles of real working women. She and her gay younger brother, Owen, have a loving relationship despite having personalities that are opposites. In Season 3, Alicia is a third-year associate at the firm. She and Peter are separated and she has an affair with Will but by mid-season, she breaks it off. Alicia struggles with her feelings for Peter. She is deeply hurt and has not entirely forgiven him but she still loves him. Toward the end of Season 3, Peter announces his candidacy for governor of Illinois; Alicia stands at his side as he makes the announcement. In Season 4, Alicia gets and takes a promotion as an equity partner of the firm and begins planning to start a new firm with Cary. After Will dies in Season 5, Alicia goes into a period of mourning and separates from Peter, maintaining their marriage for the sake of their careers. In Season 6, Alicia runs for State's Attorney and develops a friendship with prosecutor Finn Polmar. Soon after winning the election, Alicia is caught up in an electoral fraud scandal, and though innocent, must resign her post. Broken and humiliated once again, she returns to law, working initially as a bond court lawyer before starting a small private practice in her apartment.
Matt Czuchry as Cary Agos, a young Harvard-educated lawyer. In the first season, he is a first year associate at Lockhart Gardner with Alicia Florrick. In the first episode, it is established that there is only one permanent position, putting Cary into competition with Alicia. At the end of the first season, the firm selects Alicia, and Cary goes to work for the state attorney's office. In season three, Cary is appointed Cook County Deputy State's Attorney, though he subsequently is demoted for having an in-office affair. Dissatisfied with the demotion, he accepts an offer to return to Lockhart Gardner. He is often placed in rivalry with Alicia and sometimes resents her for this and her political connections thanks to her husband, Peter Florrick, the disgraced State's Attorney. His own career trajectory takes many twists and turns, often because of bad luck, but Cary maintains his integrity and loyalty to individual relationships he has formed. He seems to have a crush on Kalinda Sharma, the firm's investigator. It is later revealed that Cary has a very difficult and distant relationship with his father, Jeffrey Agos, a lobbyist in Washington, D.C., who does not ever seem to think Cary is good enough. As season four ends, after not getting the partnership at Lockhart Gardner that he sought, he forms a new firm bringing with him the other fourth year lawyers at the firm, and manages to convince newly minted Lockhart Gardner partner Alicia to come with them.
Archie Panjabi as Kalinda Sharma, the firm's in-house investigator. Kalinda previously worked for Peter for three years. He fired her after accusing her of working two jobs. Kalinda is unflappable, inscrutable, fiercely private, and occasionally physically violent. She is exceptionally good at her job, although her tactics are not always strictly legal. She is often the key to the firm's winning a case, usually at the eleventh hour. She generally does not work well with others. Although Kalinda does not let many people close to her, she becomes good friends with Alicia and she feels protective of her. After becoming friends, Alicia finds out Kalinda had a one-night stand with Peter before she knew Alicia, damaging their friendship; over time, the two start to reconcile. Kalinda has a cynical, misanthropic outlook on human behavior. She is openly bisexual and has a series of relationships through the show, mostly with women and often because they can help her with a case. Kalinda once claimed that she prefers women because to her, women are better lovers than men for women understand her needs and feelings better. Very little is known about Kalinda when the series begins, and she is incredibly secretive about her past. The character's signature wardrobe piece has become a pair of knee-high boots; the character initially wore pumps but Panjabi felt that boots "grounded her in the character". In Season 4, it is revealed that Kalinda has an estranged abusive husband, Nick Saverese, played by Marc Warren. Kalinda also grows romantically close with Cary. In Season 6, she desperately tries to save Cary from a malicious prosecution on drug-related charges while Alicia is busy running for office, and at a point of desperation, fakes a Brady violation through computer hacking to have Cary's charges dropped. Later, when her deception is caught, she is forced to surrender drug dealer Lemond Bishop to the State's Attorney's office in order to spare Diane from prosecution, as Diane had unknowingly used the fake evidence in court. In order not to be found by Bishop for turning him over to the state's attorney office, Kalinda disappears for her own safety.
Graham Phillips as Zachary "Zach" Florrick, the teenage son of Alicia and Peter Florrick. He is the elder of the Florricks' two children, the older brother of Grace Florrick, grandson of Jackie Florrick and Veronica Loy, and nephew of Owen Cavanaugh. Zach has an interest in politics, at one point joining Peter's campaign as an intern. Zach is smart, stubborn and also has a strong sense of right and wrong, which has led him to not be afraid of questioning authority figures at times. Zach's computer skills and technical know-how also expose lies that are being spread about his dad. Beyond his computer skills, he shows an aptitude for using the law like his mother. He is protective of his mom because of what his father has put her through. Zach is coping with his parents' separation and starting at a new school and also starting to date. Throughout the series, Zach dates the scheming Becca and later a girl named Neesa who is of Somali origin and whose race and religion are occasionally brought into his father's campaign, which causes some issues. This becomes complicated when his father is released from prison and contemplates a run for office, making his children's life political fodder, despite their mother's best efforts. Zach eventually goes to Georgetown University.
Makenzie Vega as Grace Florrick, the teenage daughter of Alicia and Peter Florrick. She is the younger of the Florricks' two children, the younger sister of Zach Florrick, granddaughter of Jackie Florrick and also Veronica Loy, and niece of Owen Cavanaugh. Although pretty and compassionate, she is friendless, which is most likely due to her personality. She begins to become deeply religious, thanks to a friend at school, much to her mother's bemusement, and Alicia tries to be supportive in spite of her own atheist outlook. Grace is naïve and young for her age. She has a tutor, Jennifer, who likes to bust out dancing in public. She has many questions about her father's infidelity, which she does not understand. She previously idolized her father, and despite his sins, she wants her parents to get back together. Grace was not happy about the move from their house in Highland Park to their apartment, and initially struggles to make friends in school. In the final season, she provides clerical support for her mom when Alicia starts a new legal business out of their apartment.
Josh Charles as Will Gardner, a name partner at Stern, Lockhart & Gardner. An old friend of Alicia's, in the pilot he helped her get a job with the firm and is constantly trying to avoid appearing as if he favors her. This is complicated by the fact that the two have feelings for each other. Will and Alicia have an affair beginning at the end of season two. In season three they break up when Alicia's daughter goes missing, and Alicia decides she needs to focus more on her children. He is seen as very much of a ladies' man throughout the series and had various love affairs and girlfriends. Will generally had a good working relationship with Diane Lockhart, his co-managing partner at the firm, and the two demonstrate a shrewd ability to guide their business, even through difficult times. Will plays in a regular pick-up basketball game with other attorneys and judges, and has friendships with the players that are eventually scrutinized. During season three, Will is suspended from practicing law for six months as punishment stemming from an old bribery scandal but returns to the firm in season four. In season five after much planning, Alicia and Cary leave Lockhart & Gardner to start their own firm; Will takes this betrayal personally. In episode 15 of the fifth season, he is shot and killed in the courtroom by his client Jeffrey Grant.
Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart, a name partner at the firm: She is liberal and is a champion of women's causes. A photo on her desk in her office shows her with Hillary Clinton. She has strong opinions on many issues, including on guns and violence. She speaks fluent French and seems to have an active social life. Among her paramours is Kurt McVeigh, a firearms expert and conservative Republican, whom Diane is drawn to despite their political opposites and her dislike of guns, and they eventually marry. Although she is initially skeptical of Alicia Florrick's abilities as a lawyer when she joins the firm, Diane becomes a sort of mentor to her. But she is a mentor at a distance, and her support often comes by way of cryptic advice that only points Alicia in the right direction. She does not hesitate to tell anyone when she thinks they are wrong. Diane is often torn between supporting Alicia and Cary Agos when the two are in competition.
Alan Cumming as Eli Gold, Peter Florrick's campaign strategist and crisis manager. Eli consults for Peter when he considers a return to office. His style of management is to be blunt, often rude. Eli is politically astute and does not waste time with niceties. Eli is separated from his wife, Vanessa Gold, who has political aspirations of her own, and has a daughter, Marissa, who is similarly outspoken like her mother and shares a healthy relationship with her father. Eli believes that securing the support of Peter's wife Alicia is crucial to any ambitions he may harbor, and he quickly realizes that Alicia is no pushover and his usual wife-coddling techniques will not work. He mostly seems to respect the boundaries Alicia sets up, particularly where they concern her children Zach and Grace. As a top political consultant who is also an expert in damage control, Eli has talks with Diane Lockhart and Will Gardner about joining their firm in some way. Eli seems genuinely invested in Peter Florrick and respects both him and Alicia, although she is often a frustrating enigma to him. He has a brief shot at romance with Natalie Flores, a student who worked in the past as a nanny for Wendy Scott-Carr. Eli leaks details to the press of Natalie's status as an illegal immigrant but as he comes to know her he is seen to regret this and later helps her get a job as an intern at Lockhart & Gardner. Cumming's portrayal of Gold has been compared to Rahm Emanuel. He became a main character in season two. Eli is Jewish, but not very religious. He does, however, request the Sabbath off. In season 5 Peter asks him to be his chief of staff, which position Eli accepts.
Zach Grenier as David Lee, head of Family Law, a divorce lawyer, and an equity partner at Lockhart Gardner. The Family Law division is responsible for a sizeable chunk of the firm's income, so David has more sway than Diane or Will would like. David is misanthropic and is prone to scowling, sarcasm and being directly rude to people when he thinks things are not going his way. More than anything, he is unambiguously concerned with making money. He particularly hates Julius Cain, the firm's head of litigation and an equity partner. Nevertheless, at rare moments, Alicia Florrick turns to him for help and he comes through. Although no easy judge of character, he has a liking for Alicia's mother, and sporadically asks Alicia about her. After recurring in the first four seasons, he was promoted to a series regular for the fifth season.
Matthew Goode as Finley "Finn" Polmar. Introduced in the fifteenth episode of the fifth season, Finn Polmar is the Assistant State's Attorney who prosecuted Jeffrey Grant who was being defended by Will Gardner. During a shooting in the courtroom, Finn is wounded pulling a dying Will to safety. As Finn recovers from his injuries, Alicia later seeks him out looking for answers after Will's death, and even acts as Finn's lawyer when the State's Attorney's Office tries to scapegoat him. In the sixth season, he is the Assistant State's Attorney up against Florrick-Agos, trying to take down one of their top clients, drug kingpin Lemond Bishop. Finn leaves the State's Attorney office midway through the sixth season to start his own practice, and he represents Alicia in exit negotiations with Cary and Diane, though he declines Alicia's invitation to work with her. Finn's sister died of a drug overdose, he is divorced, and has a son. At one point Finn confides in Alicia that he and his wife had a miscarriage. Finn's character was intended to help fill the gap Will's death left behind, but he left the show after season six.
Cush Jumbo as Lucca Quinn. A bond court attorney who Alicia encounters at the start of the seventh season. They soon become business partners and develop a close friendship.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Jason Crouse. A calm, experienced hourly investigator whom Alicia hires in the seventh season, where he becomes a love interest to Alicia.