The Good Wife

7.6
200943m

Production

Logo for CBS Productions
Logo for Scott Free Productions

Alicia Florrick boldly assumes full responsibility for her family and re-enters the workforce after her husband's very public sex and political corruption scandal lands him in jail.

Trailers & Videos

Thumbnail for video: The Good Wife - New Fall 2009 Preview

The Good Wife - New Fall 2009 Preview

Seasons

23 Episodes • Premiered 2009

Still image for The Good Wife season 1 episode 1: Pilot

1. Pilot

7.1

Alicia returns to work as a defense attorney after her husband's corruption scandal and incarceration. She is assigned her first case - a retrial of a woman accused of murdering her ex-husband. Her firm successfully deadlocked the first jury, and they hope that sticking to that strategy will work again, but Alicia realizes that this trial will be more of a fight than anyone expected.

Still image for The Good Wife season 1 episode 2: Stripped

2. Stripped

6.1

After the State's Attorney refuses to pursue criminal charges, Alicia becomes second chair on a civil suit involving the rape of a prostitute at a bachelor party who may have been hired and abused by her own husband.

Still image for The Good Wife season 1 episode 3: Home

3. Home

6.4

The son of Alicia's former friends is charged with felony murder, and Alicia decides to defend him, despite the fact that they ostracized her ever since the scandal.

Still image for The Good Wife season 1 episode 4: Fixed

4. Fixed

7.0

Alicia uncovers evidence that possibly proves that the jury is tampering with her firm's class action law suit that she has against a pharmaceutical company, while the legal team of her husband continues to mount the case for his appeal.

Still image for The Good Wife season 1 episode 5: Crash

5. Crash

7.2

Alicia and Will have only 72 hours to find the smoking gun that proves the train company, and not the three engineers, is responsible for the crash, thus securing the widows their pensions the company is holding back. Meanwhile, Jackie and Alicia clash over taking the children to visit their father in prison.

Still image for The Good Wife season 1 episode 6: Conjugal

6. Conjugal

7.3

As Alicia works with Will on the appeal of a death row inmate, she agrees to a conjugal visit with Peter in order to get information from him since her client was convicted under Peter's regime as state's attorney.

Still image for The Good Wife season 1 episode 7: Unorthodox

7. Unorthodox

7.0

Alicia, representing a daughter of one of the partner in the firm, finds herself very attracted to her co-counsel, mostly because of his unorthodox approach of defending their client.

Still image for The Good Wife season 1 episode 8: Unprepared

8. Unprepared

7.1

While Alicia is preparing in a case defending a scientist accused of arson, she is suddenly asked to testify on Peter's behalf. Damages Peter Riegert guest stars as the judge in Peter's case and CBS' The Early Show star Russ Mitchell guests as himself and interviews Peter.

Still image for The Good Wife season 1 episode 9: Threesome

9. Threesome

7.8

Alicia is asked to represent a partner in the firm on a DUI charge. Her attention is split when she is suddenly forced to face the Other Woman.

Still image for The Good Wife season 1 episode 10: Lifeguard

10. Lifeguard

7.3

When a judge overturns a simple plea deal that Alicia arranged, she looks into his motivation, and Diane is made an offer she can not refuse.

Still image for The Good Wife season 1 episode 11: Infamy

11. Infamy

6.8

Alicia learns more about Peter's fall from office when she represents Glenn Child's wife, Carla Browning, in her divorce appeal. Meanwhile, Will and Emily, an opposing counsel, get cozy during a death suit against Duke Roscoe, a caustic TV commentator.

Still image for The Good Wife season 1 episode 12: Painkiller

12. Painkiller

7.2

Alicia and the kids have to deal with some really bad news; Peter learns some new information that makes him furious. Meanwhile, Alicia has to represent the doctor who prescribed medication to a high school quarterback, who appeared to die from a painkiller overdose.

Still image for The Good Wife season 1 episode 13: Bad

13. Bad

7.1

Tensions are high as Peter's appeal begins while Alicia has to defend a wealthy client who doesn't seem that innocent, even after he's found not guilty of murdering his wife. Meanwhile, Diane takes precautions when a prisoner she put in jail is to be released from prison.

Still image for The Good Wife season 1 episode 14: Hi

14. Hi

7.2

Alicia defends a man accused of killing his child's babysitter. Meanwhile, Peter's appeal seems to be going well, and Alicia prepares for the idea of him returning to her life.

Still image for The Good Wife season 1 episode 15: Bang

15. Bang

7.2

While Peter gets acclimated to life at home and works on a comeback strategy with his political team, including Eli Gold, Alicia and Diane wrestle with spousal privilege laws in a murder case that hinges on their ability to get a wife to testify against her husband.

Still image for The Good Wife season 1 episode 16: Fleas

16. Fleas

7.1

As Peter strategizes on how to handle his retrial and the next steps in his public rehabilitation, Alicia and Will defend an attorney arrested for murder.

Still image for The Good Wife season 1 episode 17: Heart

17. Heart

7.3

In an emergency courtroom set up in a hospital, Alicia and Will battle Patti Nyholm and an insurance company that refuses to pay for life-saving in-utero surgery. Meanwhile, Alicia gives Peter a proper welcome home.

Still image for The Good Wife season 1 episode 18: Doubt

18. Doubt

6.4

Alicia and Will defend a college student accused of killing her sorority sister while under the influence of a sleep aid. At the same time, they also deal with their growing sexual tension and Diane and Kurt McVeigh continue their flirtation.

Still image for The Good Wife season 1 episode 19: Boom

19. Boom

7.3

When Alicia goes head-to-head in the courtroom with former boss Jonas Stern, she debates whether or not use personal information to her advantage. Meanwhile, Peter uses religion to work on his appeal.

Still image for The Good Wife season 1 episode 20: Mock

20. Mock

7.1

The police are quickly at the door when Peter's electronic monitor sounds after he chases Alicia out of the apartment. As a result, Grace and Zach scramble to figure out a way to keep him from being arrested.

Still image for The Good Wife season 1 episode 21: Unplugged

21. Unplugged

7.1

While the firm takes on a case involving a divorce settlement for the wife of a musician who is in a coma, Alicia reluctantly considers a bold move to make sure that Lockhart and Gardner choose her over Cary.

Still image for The Good Wife season 1 episode 22: Hybristophilia

22. Hybristophilia

7.5

Eli Gold works on getting Peter's charges dropped, and Alicia defends Colin Sweeney, a client and accused wife killer, who claims self defense after she finds him handcuffed to a dead woman.

Still image for The Good Wife season 1 episode 23: Running

23. Running

7.3

At Eli Gold's urging, Alicia must decide if she'll stand by her man during Peter's new political campaign, or if she'll pursue a relationship with Will instead.

Cast

Photo of Julianna Margulies

Julianna Margulies

Alicia Florrick

Photo of Christine Baranski

Christine Baranski

Diane Lockhart

Photo of Matt Czuchry

Matt Czuchry

Cary Agos

Photo of Alan Cumming

Alan Cumming

Eli Gold

Photo of Cush Jumbo

Cush Jumbo

Lucca Quinn

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Reviews

N

Peter McGinn

8/10

This show was recommended to us by a relative. It was running on a treating service we had, so we started watching it. We liked it enough so that when our service suddenly stopped running The Good Wife we signed up for CBS All Access.

We have seen all seven seasons now and while I still liked it, the plots started to lag for me a bit in later seasons. Their professional relationships between different law firms or them personally kept changing, reminding me of the show Friends, where it felt like the main characters took turns dating each other.

Another element of the plots that struck me was the formula they seem sped to follow. They used a long running plot, usually political, that ran for entire seasons sometimes, and also had cases they handled that wrapped up in one show. Those cases often ran the same course: first one side would do well in court, then the other side would introduce something that helps them, and then the first side would — you get the idea. I called them reversals and got so I expected them every ten minutes or so for each show. Plus their investigators seemed really good at digging up dirt Fast. It isn’t a terrible thing. They only have 40+ minutes for each show and they want to cram drama in where they can. Perhaps I just noticed it more because I write novels and do a lot of plotting myself.

But we watched the entire seven seasons. I won’t be tempted to watch them again, but I don’t regret the time spent on them either. So now, before we give up CBS All Access, we need to try the sequel series, The Good Fig, and a show Alan Cumming is in that sounds good: Instinct.

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