- Red Team, Blue Team (Season 4, Episode 14): This is the episode that began (the unknown to Lockhart/Gardner) civil war between the partners and the 4th year associates. It proved to us that these are characters that are selfish and manipulative and remind us that in the legal world everyone is a shark. The concept of having Alicia and Cary act as opposing counsel to Will and Diane in a mock trial was the perfect set up of aggression, emotion, and tests of relationships. However, the reason I have this so far up is because it is one of the best written, best directed, and best acted “normal” episode of the show. There was no big event offering forward momentum, it was simply a thrilling and entertaining episode of The Good Wife.
Closing Arguments (Season 2, Episode 23): The source of the infamous elevator scene. The will they/won't they storyline between Alicia and Will finally came to a head in this episode in fine fashion. With each opening of the elevator door we hoped that the couple would finally inch closer, until we ended the episode with a closing hotel door. However, with every event episode of the show, the storyline surrounding it was just as good. With Alicia and Kalinda still at odds over her history with Peter and Will's efforts to force a mistrial on the case they were working on, it gave the actors a framework to demonstrate their talents and their knowledge of their characters, which ends up being an integral part of the success of the series.- What's in the Box? (Season 4, Episode 22): This is a choice that surprised even me, but when I went back to start making this list I was shocked at how much I enjoyed this episode. We watched as the case of the week and the serialized element of the show collided and the result was something so well plotted and executed that it could have been a segment in a political movie. As Alicia and Patty Nyholm (Emmy winner Martha Plimpton) faced off over fraudulent ballots that were being introduced into the gubernatorial election, the two lawyers had to flip flop defenses as the nature of the ballots changed. It mixed humor, drama, and the characters that we love so well to create a thrilling hour of television.
Pilot (Season 1, Episode 1): There was no way I was leaving this episode off the list. To watch Alicia experience a struggle that so many, yet so few of us face was wonderful. The King's introduced us to a woman who we would consider weak, but through the course of the episode displayed someone with drive. It displayed to us that this was not just another legal drama, but a character study, a family drama, a political satire, and a coming of age story. The Pilot had a lot of ground work to cover, but from there it was smooth riding.
Dramatics, Your Honor (Season 5, Episode 15): It was a really hard decision when I was deciding what to put in this last spot. So many episodes deserve to be on this list, but I finally landed on the episode that changed the show forever. RIP Will Gardner. It's had to judge the quality of this episode when the last fifteen minutes were some of the tensest heartbreaking moments in television of the last year, but the 30 minutes preceding it were just as good. The case involving Jeffrey Grant gave a wonderful insight into the thoughts of a man at the end of a rope. The directing, the use of music, the dialogue all worked together so well. But the growth in Will and Alicia is one of the high points of the episode. Especially during Alicia's deposition and Will during his run in with Alicia in the courthouse. They are different people from 5 years ago and for that I love the show.
I obviously missed a few, so what are your favorite episodes of The Good Wife?
Hey, I'm Karl, founder and film critic at Smash Cut. I started Smash Cut in 2014 to share my love of movies and give a perspective I haven't yet seen represented. I'm also an editor at The New York Times, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and a member of the Online Film Critics Society.