Anyone watch The Good Wife tonight?

<p>OK, I’m not particularly happy about the demise of WG, but unlike the funny column writer-- I did not watch the program out of the hope or desire that Alicia and Will would get it on. I mean, yeah, he was kinda cute and it was nice for Alicia to have her fling… but I cringed in the episodes last years when it looked like she was drifting back to him. I mean… he pretty much reminded me of all the lawyers I really hate… not much of a moral compass when it comes to legal practice. And she can do better. </p>

<p>There was even a scene in the last episode where Will crossed the line again – he was asking his client about where he had (or hadn’t) been – and before he asked the question, he stopped to coach the client. Aaargh. </p>

<p>Anyway, I like the show because of all the really strong female characters who spend much of their time focused on other things besides the men in their lives. Like being super confident and capable lawyers and investigators. The show is my #1 female empowerment fantasy. I’m not watching it to see Alicia hop into bed; I’m watching to her trounce all the other smartass lawyers in the courtroom. (Live that smug look she gets sometimes when she wins). </p>

<p>I don’t like losing the dynamics of the dramatic tension between Will & Alicia, and I am definitely going to miss the Will & Diane relationship… but the one thing I don’t think the show ever needed was a male romantic lead.</p>

<p>I just think they could have written him out of the show without killing him off. </p>

<p>There are plenty of shows that go on too long after they have “jumped the shark.” When that happens, I can see major actors leaving the shows. The Good Wife is not even close to jumping the shark. The story line is the best ever. We won’t know until much later, but it is possible the death of the Will character is that pivot point for the show. </p>

<p>Razorsharp- He’s a friggin’ actor- not the POTUS! (well, maybe he’ll run…) If he wants to move on, he owes us NOTHING! That is the oddest viewpoint I’ve ever heard.</p>

<p>I was surprised they killed off Will - did not see that coming as I thought that at some point (hopefully soon as their being angry at each other was getting boring), he and Alicia would take another shot at their relationship. </p>

<p>Now it will be interesting to see whether the showrunners can make it interesting without that central relationship. As good as Chris Noth is, I yawn when he and Julianna are getting romantic. They have no chemistry. (Speaking of George Clooney, he and JM had great chemistry back in the day in the ER.)</p>

<p>A lot of actors leave shows in the middle of a popular run. Two that immediately come to mind are McLean Stevenson and Wayne Rogers. (Although yes, McLean did get a show of his own - lasted 1/2 a season.) (I don’t count Gary Burghoff or Larry Linville as their departures made objective sense - Gary was getting too old to play Radar, and Frank Burns wasn’t growing as a character like Hot Lips did.) Cote de Pablo left NCIS, but it’s still going strong.</p>

<p>Law & Order lasted 20 years with cast members coming and going, by choice or by death (RIP Jerry Orbach). A strong show with strong writers can survive the departure of characters and actors.</p>

<p>Then of course we have Patrick Duffy, but if Good Wife ever plays a shower scene, it’s all over!</p>

<p>Look at Two and a Half Men. Once Charlie Sheen left (involuntarily) the show has gone down hill. It is still entertaining but but it has an odd feel to it with Walden and Charlie’s daughter.</p>

<p>I think it remains to be seen whether the show will succeed without Will. There are many twists and turns that the life of Alicia Florick may take, to say nothing of the twists and turns in the two law firms, in the governor’s office, and for the other characters reacting to the loss. At least they showed the end of Will’s life rather than the way it was handled in Two and a Half Men, with a ridiculous excuse for Charlie Sheen’s absence. And since the actor who plays Will didn’t self-destruct like Charlie Sheen did, the writers will move the plot, complete with reactions to Will’s death on the remaining characters and how they deal with it, rather than the scrambled and hardly believable way it was handled on Two and a Half Men.</p>

<p>Law and Order is a good example of how casts can change, characters can be killed off, replacements can come on, and the show is still successful in the long term. CSI is another show that has gone through this several times with little to no issue. Same thing with ER.</p>

<p>p.s. I miss Cote de Pablo. Ziva was such an interesting character.</p>

<p>How about the two different Darrens on Bewitched?</p>

<p>I think The Good Wife can succeed easily without Will. I didn’t watch the show for him or his relationship with Alicia (I actually don’t think Josh Charles is that great looking). This does explain the whole plot arc for this year, the separating and feuding firms. I think the show has more options now than it would have if Will had died while Alicia was still at Lockhart Gardner. </p>

<p>I never thought Will was that much of a catch. He just didn’t seem like a particularly nice guy to me. I just felt that after what happened with her husband she deserved a really great guy and Will did not strike me as a really great guy. </p>

<p>It wasn’t that Josh Charles was divine, more that his character and Alicia shared a history and hadn’t been able to see their relationship through when it started in law school - because she got pregnant with her son while dating Peter - or after, when they picked it back up. So there were always questions about whether their lives could have been different; were the bad choices he made avoidable, if she hadn’t gotten married to Peter because she had to; and so on. Clearly it was never really over for him. So no he wasn’t a great guy, but what woman doesn’t love a story about a bad boy who carries a torch for her for 15+ years…</p>

<p>And I think that Will and Alicia had such great chemistry. I think he allowed her to express a part of herself that had been suppressed in her marriage and in being a mother. I loved that for her. And yes…I realize it’s just a TV show and they aren’t real. :-S </p>

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<p>I thought offing Charlie in the way that they did was brilliant. </p>

<p>I liked Will :frowning: </p>

<p>I thought the show was very well done tonight. Too often, things happen in a show and they don’t show people’s reactions, really liked that they showed that… Whatserface with the belt was pretty mean though!</p>

<p>^^^Kalinda at her best!</p>

<p>I was glad they explained what actually happened. If seems the client really meant to kill the witness and that Will was shot accidentally. Not sure how I felt about the voicemail, but it did seem so true to life – loose ends don’t always get neatly tied up. </p>

<p>I loved Diane firing the client and I think David Lee did too! I especially loved that she had blocked his access to other law firms before she did it.</p>

<p>Bravo to Christine Baranski as Diane. I hope that this year she gets an Emmy nomination and wins. She is a greta actress to start with, but she has been very strong all season long. I also enjoy Alan Cumming in his role as Eli Gold. He is so versatile, I saw him on Broadway in the revival of Cabaret about 10 -12 years ago but he is once again revisiting his role as the Emcee, this time with Michelle Williams. Come to think of it, I’d love to see a play with Julianna Margolies and Christine Baranski together.</p>

<p>I liked Diane firing the client, but I especially liked when Cary got angry at that other attorney who wouldn’t postpone the deposition. </p>