The 10 Best Episodes of ‘The Good Wife’

In honor of the finale of the brilliant fifth season of The Good Wife, here is a list of what I consider to be their 10 Best Episodes.

1. Hitting the Fan (Season 5, Episode 5): When I started writing this list I knew from the beginning that this episode would be number one. It brought together every element of The Good Wife that they have been growing and adjusting to create an episode that is the peak of the show’s creative resurgence. The writing was so natural in its dialogue, but brought to the actors they added an intensity that matched the sharp direction. It is also the episode that highlighted the show as a leader in storytelling. The classical background score, the careful camera work, even the callbacks to past events were so well calculated that every piece contributed to the episode’s ending success. Of course mixed in was the show’s patented dark humor and personal baggage. It was not only the best episode of The Good Wife, it was also one of the best episodes of drama in a long time.
2. Bang (Season 1, Episode 15): I think this was the first episode of The Good Wife that I truly realized that this was a great show. There was no big event, although Peter’s return from prison was probably the biggest thing to happen on the show at that point, but the writers were able to exude such importance with small moments. For example the opening scene of Peter’s return had one line of dialogue between Peter and Alicia. A simple: “hi.” But the emotional weight of their hug to her look at the parole officer spoke thousands. It ran through the entire episode. It’s that skill of taking each character’s journey and growth and translating it into their everyday lives that has given the show so much of its success, and this episode started it all off.
3. The Last Call (Season 5, Episode 16): It may have not reached the heights that Friday Night Lights’ “The Son” and Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s “The Body”, but the writers of The Good Wife created an episode that suited the needs of the series so well. The use of that final phone call as a device to have Alicia rethink her relationship was genius. Plus, they so gracefully balanced each of the main characters’ reactions without being too melodramatic. Everything felt natural and consistent with the show. It was truly a wonderful hour of television.
4. Nine Hours (Season 2, Episode 9): In my opinion, this is arguably the best case of the week episode. So often on the show do we see the lawyers of Lockhart/Gardner seems so composed and with things under control, but with a 9 hour time crunch on a death row appeal, everyone is stressed and at the top of their game. It was one of the most memorable cases the show has covered, but also saw the incredible debate between Peter and Glenn Childs.
5. Another Ham Sandwich (Season 3, Episode 14): This episode finds Will in his grand jury hearing regarding his bribery of judges that results in his suspension. For Josh Charles, this was his “Whitecaps.” With such suspense in his trial, we forget the hilarious storyline between Eli and Stacie Hall as they try to secure the spot as the strategist for a Gay/Straight Alliance, which shows how funny the show can actually be. In the end, it is a humanizing episode for the character of Will, who is humbled following his suspension. It reminds us that these characters aren’t just floating on a cloud all the time. Once in a while they are cut down, and in this episode Will is cut down hard.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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?