Not since the legendary Seinfeld was at its peak have I looked forward to a new season of a show as much as I pine for the return of The Good Wife. After all, the opening season was a cracker, but that was only a warm-up for the jaw-dropping excellence of season two.
Although it may lack the coolness of Mad Men, and the gritty freedom US cable channel shows such as Game of Thrones or Spartacus enjoy, The Good Wife follows a more traditional and conventional line and excels with ease. It’s slick, it’s well-cast, its characters are clearly-defined and engaging, the plots and twists are great fun and it’s got an internal rhythm that’s utterly irresistible.
Julianna Margulies, for a long time fondly remembered as Carol Hathaway in ER, has redefined her career as Alicia Florrick, the mother of two who returns to work as a lawyer after her state's attorney husband Peter Florrick (Chris Noth), gets jailed following a scandal.
Reunited in the workplace with college pal Will Gardner (the always intense Josh Charles), their chemistry finally led to the season two finale, when Alicia – having told hubby Peter to get lost after finding out he had a fling with Kalinda Sharma – and Will get it together just as the credits roll.
And talking of the superb supporting cast, in-house detective Kalinda is played with astonishing confidence and presence by Archie Panjabi, who has already won an Emmy for the role.
The show’s other major scene-stealer is Scottish actor Alan Cumming, who is nothing less than magnificent as slippery spin doctor, Eli Gold.
Ultimately, what’s great about The Good Wife is that it’s grown-up TV. This is a show for adults, for those who lived a little, maybe lost a little, but who realise that nothing is black-and-white. And in Alicia Florrick, you have a leading female character that’s both vulnerable and inspirational. Enjoy!
The King’s Speech
One half of the creative team behind The Good Wife (along with his wife, Michelle), Robert King offers an insight into some of the key characters ahead of Thursday’s season three opener.
Alicia Florrick
Season Three scenario: still finding her way
"We always thought of the show as kind of an education of Alicia. She's someone who started with an ethical understanding of right and wrong, black and white, good and bad, and she had very defined categories of that that was probably pure but also a little naive.
"What comes with her maturing in a sense also is not all good. We're seeing how far we can get away with what the job requires of her compromising some moral understanding. If Alicia, from before the show started, saw who she was now, I don't think she'd recognise herself because she's allowed to make all these moral compromises that are required by her job, and she's surrounded by people who have accommodated that."
"Michael J. Fox's character [as Louis Canning] is a prime example. He said, 'I do bad things during the day, and I go home and play with my kids. You go home and just feel bad.' I think there was some truth to that: Alicia isn't sure how to get around that, and one of the ways to do it is to kill the part of yourself that thinks in terms of white and black."
Kalinda Sharma
Season Three scenario: hurting from Alicia’s rejection
"It's very tragic because this is someone who opened up for the first time to a friend. She doesn't have friends. That moment in the elevator where she cries and breaks down is supposed to be the lowest moment of her life, and she wants to never have that repeated. She's closing all the doors.
It's an interesting dynamic. It's really someone who wants to shut off being a human, and yet you can't. Archie will do a great job with it this year . . . Kalinda is going to try to be someone who's detached from everyone emotionally and will find that difficult. In many ways, she finds more humanity over the course of the year."
Peter Florrick
Season Three scenario: back in power – but has he learned a lesson?
"One of the things Peter will have to face is: can you have a second act in life, the second act being the one that started this year when he starts again as state's attorney? Will you always make the same mistakes over again, or will you be able to beat that?"
Eli Gold
Season Three scenario: Eli sets up shop at Lockhart & Gardner
"One of the biggest things [we're excited about] this year is bringing Eli in-house [at Lockhart Gardner]. We're thrilled with the move because there was a difficulty last year of having Eli have reasons to come to Alicia. It's like basically he had an office there because he kept going to Alicia at work: 'I need this, I need this.' What's great is now he's there. It makes sense to us that he's there because he's between campaigns."
Will Gardner and Diane Lockhart
Season Three scenario: what happens now for the firm’s heads?
After ending Season Two in the arms of Alicia, one of the key elements this season is where it leads company co-owner, Will Gardner, and his partner Diane Lockhart. "There will be darker things that come out about Will," King insists, while adding: "There will be another romantic complication in Diane's life."
Julianna Margulies . . .
On Alicia’s betrayal by Kalinda and Peter
“Here’s what I keep saying about this show: when the writing is that good, all I have to do is say the words, because the intention is already there. The way I was able to rationalise her staying with Peter was that when it comes to it being a hooker, there’s almost an understanding of ‘Someone isn’t getting enough at home,’ and she can see her fault in that. But when it becomes about someone [Kalinda] she has opened up her heart to for two years, the hurt was beyond deep. I love playing this character because she’s so smart and yet incredibly naïve in ways, and her eyes have been opened to a whole new world because of Peter’s behaviour and also because of her own, by not being more in tune with what’s going on [around her].”
On Alicia falling out with Kalinda
“Kalinda is such a mysterious sort of character who can at times border on caricature when placed in such a real show – with the boots and the skirts, the way she doesn’t answer questions – I think it was very important that this happened, to keep her real and see that she’s actually human and doesn’t just hit guys with baseball bats. Also, we’re hoping for a few more seasons, so this gives us ground to find new friends, and it allows us to find a way back – or not. One way or another, confrontation is the best source of drama.”
On Alicia and Will getting together
“That was so much fun to film because a) [series co-creator] Robert King was directing, and b) we had been waiting two seasons to have this not be a Hallmark moment, but be real. Josh Charles and I have known each other for years, and that allows for the discomfort to happen. Alicia has to take a minute before the “exceptional moment” line because the right, appropriate words never fall off her tongue. When you hear that, and then see that little hint of doubt when the little kid has pressed all the buttons in the elevator, you think: Maybe this is a sign? I loved how [the elevator sequence] was shot, because you got to see what we’re thinking. Television is filled with so many words for the sake of talking, and what I love about our show is the silences.”
On this season’s Alicia
“The first season was fantastic, but the second season outshone it. What I think is slowly happening is we’re all making strides, and we also have the support of our network to be the show we are rather than conform to what they think we should be. That gives us confidence to do things that have never been done before, and there are so many colours Alicia has yet to play. She’ll have a tilted halo – and I think she’ll open herself up to other experiences because of it.”
The Simon Community
One of the great things about The Good Wife is its wide and impressive range of guest stars. This season’s bunch includes a returning Michael J Fox, former Friends star Matthew Perry – and Irish actor Simon Delaney
Regular fans will be delighted to learn that Michael J Fox will be returning to play the cunning and intriguing Louis Canning, a brilliant-but-Machiavellian lawyer whose spats with Alicia are always memorable. Fox clearly enjoys playing the role and it's a big credit to all involved that Canning's disability (a necessary character trait as a result of Fox's Parkinson's Disease) is referenced but never made into a major issue.
Also in the pipeline this year, former Friends star Matthew Perry will have a recurring role as Mike, who’s been described as ‘an extremely charming Chicago attorney’ who chairs an eminent panel that investigates a suspicious police shooting.
But from an Irish perspective, the major talking point is the arrival of former Bachelors Walk star Simon Delaney, who’s gradually building a reputation for himself across the Atlantic, as he’s also appeared on Kiefer Sutherland’s new Sky One drama, Touch.
In The Good Wife Delaney plays opposite Eddie Izzard as Anglo-Irish solicitor Timothy Ash Brannon. Talking to the RTÉ Guide he described Julianna Margulies as “an absolute sweetheart, a lady. In fact the whole gang; herself, Josh Charles, Alan Cumming, Christine Baranski and Eddie Izzard was in that episode too – they were all great.
“Don’t they say never meet your heroes because ultimately you’ll be disappointed? I wasn’t with Eddie, he was exactly what you’d expect him to be – mad as a brush, very funny, great company.
“The character I played was an Irish-born, English character and when I got the scripts I thought ‘He reads very English but I need to get a little Irish in there’. Eddie and I spoke about that at length and that’s how the whole Kerry thing came about.
“I was nine days in New York shooting and it was probably one of the happiest filming experiences I’ve had in a long time.”
John Byrne
