The Good Wife

You know those TV shows that you don't actually look forward to watching and put off but always enjoy and are glad you did afterward? The Good Wife fits that to a tee. I'll delay watching The Good Wife, watching any manner of TV I've recorded before eventually sighing and hitting "play". But once an episode starts, I'm quite content watching it from start to finish and don't even feel the need to play computer games on my laptop at the same time (which is saying something!)

A mix of LA Law (it is a courtroom drama after all), The Closer (there's always that moment when the case clicks and the truth is craftfully uncovered and justice is served) and throw in a tad of TMZ due to the tabloid nature of the story of the main character, and you have The Good Wife. Alicia Florick, played by Juliana Marguilles (of ER fame) is the wife Peter Florrick (Chris Noth,aka "Mr Big" looking pretty hot again), a former and disgraced Attorney General of Illinois. Peter is currently in prison after a sexual and political scandal which ruined his family and career 6 months prior to when the show is set.

Alicia, our heroine, is having to juggle her new role as a single mother of two teenagers and navigating the shark-infested waters of civil litigation all while under the constant impact of being a disgraced politician's wife. She is regularly recognized as the wife of "him" but bit by bit is gaining confidence in her abilities and resilience. She is aided by my favorite character so far, Kalinda, a sassy, crafty and "tell it like it is" investigator at the law firm.I also enjoy Christine Baranski who is one of the partners at the law firm, but is not in a comedic role in this show which is a nice change.

Most episodes usually follow one court case Alicia is working on and is usually resolved by the end of the episode. This is played out on the backdrop of Peter's ongoing legal case as he claims innocence (on some things though he admits his adultery with numerous women) and claims of being set up by his political enemies. His lawyers file appeals and Alicia, who hasn't yet decided the future of their marriage, has to navigate her complex feelings for Peter which include fondness, shared memories, betrayal, continued suspicion and more. I think Juliana Marguilles plays such a restrained performance which makes her seem very real; like she's a real person. It also seems topical in light of Tiger Woods, Jesse James and all manner of disgraced lawmakers who've been in the news recently for their sex and power scandals. Recent previews of upcoming episodes reveal as Peter's appeals move further, some pretty dark things are going to come out and we'll see how Alicia handles that!)

I think...it's a good quality drama with many layers which appeal to a broad audience.

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