The Good Wife season 5


The fifth season of The Good Wife began airing on September 29, 2013. The season received critical acclaim, with the general consensus calling it the series's best season. The show's critical resurgence and creative renaissance won the season the TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Drama and the Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Episodic Drama.

Cast

Main

Recurring

Guest

Reception

The fifth season of The Good Wife received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 100% rating based on 25 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "The verdict is in: The Good Wife is a solid adult drama, with a delicately fine-tuned performance from Julianna Margulies and storylines that become increasingly absorbing as they progress."
James Poniewozik of TIME: "A civil war breaks out in the office, and 'Hitting the Fan' proves, if there was any doubt, why The Good Wife is currently the best thing on TV outside cable." Chris Harnick, News Editor of HuffPost TV, commented that "'Hitting The Fan' May Be The Best Episode Ever". Stephen Marche of Esquire wrote that the show is network TV's most intellectually ambitious, commenting "It's a rare show that starts to come into its own in the middle of its fifth season, but somehow CBS's The Good Wife has managed to do it. This season has been among the strongest I've seen, and the last two episodes may be the best television produced this year". Phil Dyess-Nugent of The A.V. Club wrote that "for four years now, it's been a great example of a network show refusing to calcify and settle into formula", citing the scene when Kalinda tells Robyn that 'Losing a job changes you', which he suggests "could be on this show's coat of arms". Patrick Freyne of the Irish Times wrote that the series is "the best-made, most nuanced show on television".
The season received three Golden Globe Award nominations, two TCA Award nominations, a field-leading five Critics' Choice Television Award nominations, and five Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including mentions for its stars Julianna Margulies, Josh Charles, and Christine Baranski. Margulies ended up winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her performance in "The Last Call".

Awards and nominations

Primetime Emmy Awards

Bruce Springsteen album promotion

During the January 12, 2014 episode, "We, the Juries", snippets of three songs from Bruce Springsteen's new album, High Hopes, which was released two days later, were featured. CBS struck a deal with Springsteen's record label to promote the new album, which will also be streamed through CBS.com from 10pm on January 12 to 7pm on January 13. Writer Keith Eisner, who is from Springsteen's home state of New Jersey said the deal came together after the season's 12th episode had been written and filmed, but not yet edited. He said when he heard of Springsteen's songs being used he literally jumped up and down in excitement. "High Hopes", "The Ghost of Tom Joad" and "Hunter of Invisible Game" were the songs featured at various points in the episode. CBS said this was a way to gain wider exposure for the album in an unconventional way, and lure his baby boomer fans to the show and the top-rated network's website.

Episodes