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WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS POST IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN SEASON 7 OF “THE GOOD WIFE” YET.
A slap in the face. It was not just Alicia (Julianna Margulies) who got slapped at the end of The Good Wife. I was slapped too. Indeed, many other fans of the series also felt this way. The couple of creators Michelle and Robert King justified the final scene of the episode as a transformative moment in the life of the protagonist, like a slap to wake her up, making an analogy to the pilot, when she slapped her husband Peter (Chris Noth). They described these two moments as “wake up call ” which made Alicia wake up to reality: in the first episode, she noticed how her husband really was; in the latter, the slap would be for her to realize that she became exactly like him.
The slap I felt also served to wake me up from the illusion that I had that this show would have a happy ending. Days after the end, I’ve resigned myself a little bit, but I still don’t agree with the choice made by the writers. However, before dwell on it, I should say it for the record that, in my opinion (as judge in the show would say), The Good Wife was one of the best series I’ve ever seen and will be missed. That said, let’s go to a brief summary of the season.
Alicia started the year working alone, with small cases, and soon joined Lucca (Cush Jumbo). They hired an investigator, Jason Crouse (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), who became Alicia’s love interest. Several parallel stories occurred during these months, including a failed presidential campaign for Peter.
The real problem began in the second half of the season, when they announced that this would be the final season while Peter was now the subject of new criminal investigation. I couldn’t imagine what would be the outcome of the story, because it seemed that there was still much to happen. Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski) was Peter’s lawyer in the case and was doing well until she asked her husband, the ballistic expert Kurt McVeigh (Gary Cole), to alter the truth a bit to favor Peter. A series of events led to Kurt back to be questioned in the last episode and he would have to retract what he’d said before. As his testimony was unfavorable to Peter, Alicia asked Lucca, who was helping Diane in the case, to question Kurt, in front of everyone, if he had an affair with another expert, Holly Westfall (Megan Hilty). And that was when Alicia sealed her lonely destiny.
Peter wasn’t arrested but had to resign as governor at a news conference. And there was Alicia, standing by his side, just like at the beginning of the show. However, she thinks see Jason waiting by a door. When he disappears, she follows him and leaves Peter reaching out his hand alone. In the corridor, without finding Jason, Diane appears. And here comes the slap. Former friend. Former partner. Former everything. Because now she doesn’t want anything to do with Alicia anymore. She pulls herself together quickly and starts walking. What is her future? We don’t know! But probably is to be alone: her two children are in college, Jason disappeared, Diane hates her and she will file for divorce Peter.
The only thing she had left was the memory of Will Gardner (Josh Charles), who appeared in Alicia’s imagination in this episode. As a fan, it was the best time of the season, as they had a “closure”, even if it was an imaginary one. The remainder, however, disappointed me. I admit that the idea of ending a successful series like that is admirable, as it is a big risk. But really, I wanted more … I wanted to see Alicia happy. I ended up angry with her, just for what she did to Diane.
As I mentioned before, the creators said Alicia went from “victim” to “victimizer”. Indeed, it is clear her transformation throughout the series, especially after the fifth season, when she left the office with Cary (Matt Czuchry) and especially with Will’s death. She was tougher in her actions and sure of herself, not caring too much about others. But these “others” were never so close to her and neither had been hit in their personal lives as Diane was. So, I found it a more abrupt transformation than what the creators wanted. Unlike Breaking Bad, for example, where I stopped rooting for Walter White in the middle of the series, I still hoped for Alicia. So I was sad and angry at the end. And so, I felt a little slapped too.
