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The Good Wife
Mar. 17th, 2010 11:35 pmIs anyone else watching The Good Wife? I know it does well in the ratings but it's not getting much love from the critics (aside from acting awards) or from a fandom.
It's a bit sad because the show is really quite excellent. I know it looks like one of those boring CBS procedurals and it did start out a little slow but it's become quite complex both in terms of the 'cases-of-the-week', the on-going plots, and the characters.
For those of you who don't know much about it, the basic jist is this: Alicia Florrick's (Julianna Margulies) life went to hell in a hand basket when she and the rest of the country found out that her husband Peter (Chris Noth), the State's Attorney of Illinois, had cheated on her with prostitutes and was accused of corruption. She stands by his side at the press conference but she's hurt and humiliated behind closed doors.
When the series starts it is six months later, Peter is in jail for corruption, and Alicia has to go back to work to support her family (they have two teenagers, Zach and Grace, who are initially very unhappy about leaving their posh neighbourhood and private school for a more affordable life). Alicia hasn't practiced law in 15 years but she's hired by her college friend Will (Josh Charles aka Dan Rydell from Sports Night) at his firm. She's got competition in the form of 20-something Cary, but she makes friends with the in-house private investigator, Kalinda, and eventually establishes a rapport with senior partner Diane Lockhart.
One of the reasons I like this show so much is that they spend a lot of time on Alicia's personal life. There are on-going story lines involving her kids and pushy mother-in-law that actually add to the show, as opposed to say, Mary's completely annoying family stuff on In Plain Sight. Peter is also very much still a part of the show as a) Alicia tries to sort out her feelings for him, and b) it appears that there is a wider conspiracy trying to keep him in jail. That, in particular, is very intriguing.
I initially found the 'case of the week' stuff unimpressive because the cases themselves were a bit predictable and black and white. However, the guest stars have been very good from the beginning and their characters have, you know, actual character, so they've been entertaining when the cases haven't been. But as I said, the cases have recently become a lot more complex and interesting. The look at office politics has been really good too.
Finally, this is a show that features really good female characters. Alicia is both a great lawyer and a great parent, Kalinda is basically Veronica Mars all grown up if Veronica was Indian and possibly a lesbian (the show hasn't fully revealed that one yet but it's hinted early on), and Diane is intelligent and strong while still managing to occasionally show a softer side. The men are good too: a love triangle between Alicia, Peter, and Will is clearly in the offing from the pilot but they've avoided the cliche of Will as the white knight and Peter as the dastardly husband by spending time showing us both Will's flaws and Peter's good points.
To sum up, The Good Wife: it's not the show you think it would be. It's smart and well-crafted, with on-going plots that reminds me at times of Veronica Mars. Is it the greatest show ever? No. But it is a show about interesting adults, for intelligent adults and, as such, it's pretty darn refreshing.
It's a bit sad because the show is really quite excellent. I know it looks like one of those boring CBS procedurals and it did start out a little slow but it's become quite complex both in terms of the 'cases-of-the-week', the on-going plots, and the characters.
For those of you who don't know much about it, the basic jist is this: Alicia Florrick's (Julianna Margulies) life went to hell in a hand basket when she and the rest of the country found out that her husband Peter (Chris Noth), the State's Attorney of Illinois, had cheated on her with prostitutes and was accused of corruption. She stands by his side at the press conference but she's hurt and humiliated behind closed doors.
When the series starts it is six months later, Peter is in jail for corruption, and Alicia has to go back to work to support her family (they have two teenagers, Zach and Grace, who are initially very unhappy about leaving their posh neighbourhood and private school for a more affordable life). Alicia hasn't practiced law in 15 years but she's hired by her college friend Will (Josh Charles aka Dan Rydell from Sports Night) at his firm. She's got competition in the form of 20-something Cary, but she makes friends with the in-house private investigator, Kalinda, and eventually establishes a rapport with senior partner Diane Lockhart.
One of the reasons I like this show so much is that they spend a lot of time on Alicia's personal life. There are on-going story lines involving her kids and pushy mother-in-law that actually add to the show, as opposed to say, Mary's completely annoying family stuff on In Plain Sight. Peter is also very much still a part of the show as a) Alicia tries to sort out her feelings for him, and b) it appears that there is a wider conspiracy trying to keep him in jail. That, in particular, is very intriguing.
I initially found the 'case of the week' stuff unimpressive because the cases themselves were a bit predictable and black and white. However, the guest stars have been very good from the beginning and their characters have, you know, actual character, so they've been entertaining when the cases haven't been. But as I said, the cases have recently become a lot more complex and interesting. The look at office politics has been really good too.
Finally, this is a show that features really good female characters. Alicia is both a great lawyer and a great parent, Kalinda is basically Veronica Mars all grown up if Veronica was Indian and possibly a lesbian (the show hasn't fully revealed that one yet but it's hinted early on), and Diane is intelligent and strong while still managing to occasionally show a softer side. The men are good too: a love triangle between Alicia, Peter, and Will is clearly in the offing from the pilot but they've avoided the cliche of Will as the white knight and Peter as the dastardly husband by spending time showing us both Will's flaws and Peter's good points.
To sum up, The Good Wife: it's not the show you think it would be. It's smart and well-crafted, with on-going plots that reminds me at times of Veronica Mars. Is it the greatest show ever? No. But it is a show about interesting adults, for intelligent adults and, as such, it's pretty darn refreshing.
