Tonight's episode of THE GOOD WIFE on CBS. BEST hour of commercial TV this year!

Are you including season four in that assessment? I'm watching that season now and finding the whole arc with the husband to be almost unbearable (I say this not knowing the outcome because I've never seen this season before). Personally, I like Kalinda most when she's helping the firm solve cases and even enjoy watching her run errands for Bishop during this current season--anything that involves a strong degree of tension and/or problem solving. I've ended up being less interested in her sexual endeavors.

 

I can't think of a show that the addition of Oliver Platt to didn't improve immensely (West Wing being the prime example). Looks like the show is back on it's game, and the mock trial had some of the most insightful arguments made on both sides of a very hot-button issue that I've seen. And yes, it ironically seems that the less the show is focused on the good wife, the better. I knew as soon as I saw the rumpled investigator with his demon spawn that Kalinda was toast, but I don't know how he could have said so in such a definitive way at the end of the episode.

 

Alan Cumming has been doing Cabaret on Broadway the whole time they've been shooting this season, so I think they've kept his workload fairly light.

 

Here's my imitation of Eli's daughter:

"Alicia, have some <insert your choice of food product here>..."

 

I don't have a problem with Eli's daughter - she has a tendency to cut through the BS.

 

True. I found her one of the bright spots of the "running for office" arc.

 

The character is way too one-dimensional for as much face time as it's gotten...

 

Maybe a minute or less. She doesn't bother me. Kinda like her I don't give a ****.

 

Around episode 10 I decided I wasn't interested enough to keep watching week by week, I'm just going to wait until it is available for streaming and I'll finish it up in a single go. I really enjoyed last season but for whatever reason this year just didn't really excite me.

 

A decent episode last night, things are heading to the season finale quickly, with everything falling apart.

 

My feelings about the season too. Just not as exciting as other seasons, probably because the political stuff is just so unrealistic seeming to me and there was enough politics in the show with Peter and Eli BEFORE the SA run. Hopefully next season will be more interesting.

I always enjoy seeing Ron Rifkin.

 

No longer a 'must-watch'

 

I enjoyed last night. I like how everything and every character seems to be imploding. When David Lee is depicted as the only one making sense...

 

It is here.

 

Well, the last 3 episodes are in the can, they are as follows:

Episode # 6-20 26/Apr/15 "The End"
Episode # 6-21 03/May/15 "Game On"
Episode # 6-22 10/May/15 "Old Issues"

 

I watch it 'on-demand' idly - week or so later, but the 'can't wait to see the next episode' is gone, the characters becoming too caricatured or unrealistic for me.

I think I read that 'Kalinda' will be in a new show this Fall.

 

Brilliant episode. So many things going on and Alicia's hearing was gripping. So much so, when her 'defender' threw her under the bus at the end, I yelled out 'you POS'!

It's just unfortunate that we've known about Kalinda's situation for so long now that it dampens the suspense about what's going to happen at the end...

 

I have to say that this is the first time this season that I'm actually curious to see what's going to happen next week.

 

This episode was renamed "The Deconstruction", but it's original name ("The End"), still fits. It was a real game-changer for this series. Hard to discuss without numerous spoilers, but suffice to say that was vintage TGW.

 

Well, it looks like they left the door open for Kalinda (at least at this point) to return. I guess we'll know either next week or the week after regarding Alicia's scenario...

 

Sort of. It would have been a better episode if we didn't already know, for the whole season, that Kalinda was leaving (one way or another), which deflated any suspense as to her outcome. Also, it didn't help that Alicia's long running arc of running for political office fizzled out into nothingness. It was just a dead-end and waste of time. Not impressed!

 

The quality was off the whole season in my opinion. We got led around from one fabricated crisis to another, none really felt real to me in comparison to past seasons. I may watch Kalinda's show rather than this one next season, and I never imagined I'd consider that. . . .

 

So...did something in the note cause Alicia to breakdown at the end, or just the events of the entire episode? Maybe we'll find out next week...maybe not...

 

I didn't really understand the back and forth about Alicia's exit package from the firm. If they wanted her back, I would have thought they would be happy to just cancel the settlement they agreed on? And yet they were determined not to do that.... can someone explain?

 

By running for office Alicia alienated her relationship with Cary and virtually abandoned her firm, and as a result he's now running the firm with Diane and David Lee while Alicia's been ostracized by the entire city. While I agree that they dedicated possibly way too much time to her running for SA, it's hard to qualify that as a "dead-end" plot wise, since everything that Alicia has or doesn't have now is the result of her campaign. Plus, I wouldn't be surprised if we got this outcome because the network mandated it after so many fans started complaining about the SA arc to begin with. Of course it's just as likely the creators were heading in this direction all along, since the show does give off a certain vibe of artistic autonomy. Either way the arc is somewhat weak, but there's a relatively clear path of cause/effect--everything that's happening now is the result of actions made during the season.

I thought it was a pretty great episode, though I guess I don't ask much from the show given the usual broad tapestry of complaints toward just about every single aspect of the sixth season. Normally when a show starts losing so much steam, I'm on board, yet in this particular instance I can't help but feel that good TV is being over-critiqued into obscurity by fans who bring way too much expectation to the table. Meanwhile, people won't go near "Mad Men", which is arguably guilty of plenty of TV crimes in terms of aimless plotting (though I still love it and watch fervently) and lack of pay-off.

In the majority of cases, I think most TV shows belong where they belong, but I can't help but feel that "The Good Wife" should've been on cable or even a channel like HBO. It's fans hold it to a standard that's nearly possible to sustain season after season with 22 episode orders, and the show would've possibly fared better with slimmer seasons and perhaps slightly longer running times. It also wouldn't have to suffer as much grief for the tedious bandwagon of critiques from people who don't like certain story arcs to those who think what Diane's wearing to the office is out of character or that the show is no good anymore because Kalinda and Alicia don't share any scenes. But in spite of its shortcomings, I've never felt so distinctly in the minority in terms of watching a show take a noticeable, but not dramatic dip in quality that's exaggerated to the point of "jumping the shark" when it's done no such thing. It's still better than 99% of television in my opinion, and still completely watchable on its worst day. Even when it feels forced, it's engaging, and God forbid it takes a risk every now and then just to have all the fans whine about how they won't be watching it any more with the air of snobbery akin to those who give negative Yelp reviews and swear never to return when they had to wait for water refills at some restaurant.