The Good Wife Season 7 *Spoilers*

crazyderk

The episode overall I thought was good, I liked the aspect of her speaking to Will in her imagination. I wasn't a fan of that ending, although after reading this I suppose it made a bit more sense.

http://mashable.com/2016/05/09/the-good-wife-series-finale-creators-explain/#na2HlTrseGqd

" In an interview posted by CBS following the final episode's airing, the duo explains that while they did want to leave a few questions unanswered — particularly the one about Alicia's romantic future — there was nothing unclear about where Alicia's personal journey ended up.

The show is about a woman who becomes more and more confident and more and more cunning and excited about her abilities and also about power," Robert King says. "So the slap at the end is very similar to the slap at the beginning — we always had this idea of Alicia becoming more and more of something that she also was not liking in her husband."

The slap to which they refer is, of course, the one delivered to Alicia by Diane in the final minutes — a moment in which Michelle King says was to communicate that "the victim becomes the victimizer."

longshanks

I thought the last couple of episodes were good, enjoyed how they played out. Alicia becoming more calculated and ruthless was handled well. But success at any cost has hurt her, and she realises this. It sets up the next series nicely.

crazyderk

longshanks wrote: »

It sets up the next series nicely.

There is no next series, that was the series finale. no more the good wife ever

pixelburp

There's a lot to be said for some form of narrative closure. Riding off into the sunset. Saving the world and getting the girl. Foiling the villains masterplan. It isn't necessarily the smarter or more artful way to close off a series or story, and sure it's a little too cliché if written clumsily enough , but after 7 seasons of any show, I think there's a certain duty of the writers to see their creations off into their respective sunsets, so to speak. We didn't get anywhere near that.

Simply mirroring the pilot with some vague sense of Alicia coming full circle and ultimately becoming her husband was ... insufficient and not particularly interesting & very anticlimactic. Especially having endured an uneven season that was at pains to make the Jason saga ... well, just that. A saga. Not to mention scattered threads about what Alicia might do, having lost the taste for her career (at least Cary was given some closure and happiness, seemingly content as a teacher).

A goodbye may not be cool, but having made pains to build a show on the foundation of rich, intriguing characters, said characters deserved some form of send off, to let the audiences know where their lives might head when the final fade to black occurred. It didn't have to be sentimental, just satisfying. A poor way to end one of the better dramas on TV in recent years.

SimonTemplar

I came late to The Good Wife and watched the first 5 seasons on Netflix. Those first 5 seasons had some of the best writing and characters in TV history coupled with genuinely riveting plots. Sadly, The Good Wife joins The X Files as one of those outstanding shows were the writing took a serious drop in quality towards the end of its run. I binge watched the entire season 5 during a long weekend because it was just that enthralling. Compare that to this last season were I barely had the enthusiasm to watch the weekly episodes.

One of the most frustrating things about its downfall (and the same can be said of The X Files) is that I still love the characters, and in the hands of a good writer, I want to continue to go on adventures with them. The problem is that the writing this season has been incredibly messy. Peter is not an important or empathetic enough character to hang the main plot of the final season on him, not to mention the entire final episode. Personally, I think Peter should moved well into the background once he became governor and just pop up very occasionally (like Zack).

Alicia, who was once one of the most engaging and smartly written characters currently on TV, became an unforgivable bore this season. I'd happily watch a season without her - imagine a show centered on a firm run by Diane, David, Eli with Marissa and a few other great supporting characters. It would be great and would probably capture the wit, fun and intelligence of the show's peak without the weight of Alicia around its neck. I say this was a heavy heart because I think Juliana Margulies is excellent but when your show's title character becomes its weakest point, you know the show is in trouble. The treatment of the other main characters this season was shameful, especially Diane because Christine Baranski is an excellent actor, and Cary who surely has been in this season less than Elsbeth's husband's dog!!

As for the final episode, firstly I absolutely loved the long close up of Diana as Kurt was on the stand. Diane goes through an emotional whirlwind in that scene, and those few seconds alone should guarantee Baranski's awards. The main problem I had is that the episode didn't feel like a series finale, mostly because I couldn't give two hoots whether Peter goes to jail or not. The writing used to be so smart and deliberately avoiding cliches, so to use the very obvious series finale trick of chasing after someone you love is just tired. It might work for a sitcom but not here. And as pixelburp said, I wanted some closure. Since it was announced it was ending, I was really interested to find out how Alicia ends up, after all we've been following the intricacies of her life for 7 years. So she walks off seemingly without a partner or job, with a hint that Eli will bring her again into the world of politics. But that is not enough! Open ended stories can work well in some cases, but not here. It just caused disappointment. Also, I want more of Diane and Kurt - they were the best part of the season and yet I felt the finale did the characters an injustice by also leaving their marriage under an open question.

As for Will, ugh...just an awkward way of bringing back that character. Even a flashback would have been preferable to imaginary Will.

Such as shame!

Oh, and it is incredibly ironic (in a bad way) that (1) a show which had some of the best female TV characters ever ended with one woman slapping another woman; and (2) Diane's mission all season was for a female led firm for the perceived advantages that would have, and yet the very last thing that excellent character did on the show was to slap one of her business partners. I mean, seriously...how did the writers not see this was a terrible idea.

Sorry for the brain dump. :eek:

SimonTemplar

I couldn't resist making this ... http://i.imgur.com/aYBy8eK.jpg

pixelburp

SimonTemplar wrote: »

I couldn't resist making this ... http://i.imgur.com/aYBy8eK.jpg

Diane was utterly wasted in season 7, but that scene in the courtroom, the camera tight on her face as Kurt was asked the question, is reason alone Christine Baranski should have awards handed her way. She has been a consistent bedrock of great performances throughout the series, but watching her heart break was borderline agonising!

SimonTemplar

pixelburp wrote: »

Diane was utterly wasted in season 7, but that scene in the courtroom, the camera tight on her face as Kurt was asked the question, is reason alone Christine Baranski should have awards handed her way. She has been a consistent bedrock of great performances throughout the series, but watching her heart break was borderline agonising!

That long close up of Diane when Kurt was on the stand was the single best moment of season 7 and made me realise even more how Christine Baranski has been wasted this season.

expectationlost

so did somebody "pit" the bullets?

Orion

I think so - but don't really care anymore. S7 was the poorest season. I'm actually glad it's all over.

hufpc8w3adnk65

Just finished now.... Found the finale a bit of a let down been honest

2RockMountain

SimonTemplar wrote: »

I came late to The Good Wife and watched the first 5 seasons on Netflix. Those first 5 seasons had some of the best writing and characters in TV history coupled with genuinely riveting plots. Sadly, The Good Wife joins The X Files as one of those outstanding shows were the writing took a serious drop in quality towards the end of its run. I binge watched the entire season 5 during a long weekend because it was just that enthralling. Compare that to this last season were I barely had the enthusiasm to watch the weekly episodes.

One of the most frustrating things about its downfall (and the same can be said of The X Files) is that I still love the characters, and in the hands of a good writer, I want to continue to go on adventures with them. The problem is that the writing this season has been incredibly messy. Peter is not an important or empathetic enough character to hang the main plot of the final season on him, not to mention the entire final episode. Personally, I think Peter should moved well into the background once he became governor and just pop up very occasionally (like Zack).

Alicia, who was once one of the most engaging and smartly written characters currently on TV, became an unforgivable bore this season. I'd happily watch a season without her - imagine a show centered on a firm run by Diane, David, Eli with Marissa and a few other great supporting characters. It would be great and would probably capture the wit, fun and intelligence of the show's peak without the weight of Alicia around its neck. I say this was a heavy heart because I think Juliana Margulies is excellent but when your show's title character becomes its weakest point, you know the show is in trouble. The treatment of the other main characters this season was shameful, especially Diane because Christine Baranski is an excellent actor, and Cary who surely has been in this season less than Elsbeth's husband's dog!!

As for the final episode, firstly I absolutely loved the long close up of Diana as Kurt was on the stand. Diane goes through an emotional whirlwind in that scene, and those few seconds alone should guarantee Baranski's awards. The main problem I had is that the episode didn't feel like a series finale, mostly because I couldn't give two hoots whether Peter goes to jail or not. The writing used to be so smart and deliberately avoiding cliches, so to use the very obvious series finale trick of chasing after someone you love is just tired. It might work for a sitcom but not here. And as pixelburp said, I wanted some closure. Since it was announced it was ending, I was really interested to find out how Alicia ends up, after all we've been following the intricacies of her life for 7 years. So she walks off seemingly without a partner or job, with a hint that Eli will bring her again into the world of politics. But that is not enough! Open ended stories can work well in some cases, but not here. It just caused disappointment. Also, I want more of Diane and Kurt - they were the best part of the season and yet I felt the finale did the characters an injustice by also leaving their marriage under an open question.

As for Will, ugh...just an awkward way of bringing back that character. Even a flashback would have been preferable to imaginary Will.

Such as shame!

Oh, and it is incredibly ironic (in a bad way) that (1) a show which had some of the best female TV characters ever ended with one woman slapping another woman; and (2) Diane's mission all season was for a female led firm for the perceived advantages that would have, and yet the very last thing that excellent character did on the show was to slap one of her business partners. I mean, seriously...how did the writers not see this was a terrible idea.

Sorry for the brain dump. :eek:

I could pretty much have written this. I did enjoy the last season a bit more than you, though Eli was getting a bit slapstick rather than clever. Diane slapping Alicia was a poor outcome. She has more class than that.

Galwayguy35

Just watched the finale, what a let down.