The Good Wife Series Finale Round Table: Were You Satisfied?
Christine Orlando
at
.
It was the “End” of an era, as Alicia turned on an old friend to try and save Peter from yet another prison term on The Good Wife Season 7 Episode 22.
Below, TV Fanatics Carissa Pavlica, Christine Laskodi, Elizabeth Harlow and Christine Orlando debate if the series finale worked for them, if Will Gardner was the love of Alicia’s life and who they’d like to see in a spinoff of The Good Wife.
Were you satisfied or disappointed with the series finale?
Carissa: Overall, dissatisfied. Although, I shouldn't have been surprised that Alicia was a wife to the end. She never learned how not to be a wife, and that was the one decisions that plagued her from the beginning. Focusing on Peter so heavily to round out the series when he was barely seen for so long just felt very lackluster. But running after Jason to find out he might be running faster? Worked for me. Being slapped by Diane? Worked for me. Alicia earned no happiness. She treated people terribly in her own attempt to find happiness that was always elusive. She never understood herself, let alone relationships with other people. Being alone at the end made sense.
Christine L: I feel like I'm in the minority, because I LOVED the finale. The parallels were just awesome. The voicemails, the way the press conference was set up, the slap... oh the slap! I'm so jealous of Diane. I've wanted to slap sense into Alicia ever since Will died, basically. And I disagree with Carissa. I think she DID learn how to not be a wife. I think that she loved sneaking around with Will, and the campaign manager whose name escapes me, and Jason...I think THAT was how she let go of being "Saint Alicia." But what she didn't let go of was Peter, because of their "arrangement" which benefited them both greatly. But more importantly to my loving that ending was that Alicia really became such an arrogant, bitchy character, one who seemed...untouchable? I think watching her get knocked down a few pegs was a fitting ending for her. I think she's tough from what she's learned though, and she'll do just fine after this.
Elizabeth: I'm with you Christine, I really liked it. The way it mirrored the premiere episode was beautiful. I absolutely loved that Josh Charles came back, and that he was the love of her life. I never took the show to be about learning how not to be a wife per se, but about how to be a strong woman who actively makes decisions about her life instead of passively letting things happen to her.
Christine O: Dissatisfied. For me, it lacked any sense of closure. I watched the pilot years ago so, for me, the slap didn’t resonate the way the writers intended. I hated that in becoming a strong, independent person, Alicia had become completely unlikable. I enjoyed the scenes with Will. I didn’t need Alicia to end up with Jason or anyone else but I would have liked to have gotten a real answer about whether or not Jason left her for good. I also wanted some idea of what comes next. Will she get sucked in to Eli’s political plans? Will Diane bounce her from the new firm? The ending gave us no answers, just an unhappy looking Alicia straightening her clothes.
Was Alicia accusing Kurt (through Lucca) of having an affair in order to save Peter a justified tactic?
Carissa: I don't even know how it would have worked. It was a cheap and tawdry move that had no place in the court room. I was ashamed Lucca went along with it.
Christine L: Totally agreed. I was shocked at how quickly Lucca jumped on board with that line of questioning. I thought better of Lucca. And while we're on the topic, how awesome was that long close up on Christine Baranski while that was happening? My heart was breaking with Diane's.
Elizabeth: I'm not sure if Lucca or Alicia really thought he'd had an affair, but I think they were both aware that Diane was afraid he had, and knew that it would destroy the testimony. I felt bad for Diane on one hand, but she's pulled the same move before. If it hadn't been her husband on the stand, it's the exact play she would have made.
Christine O: Talk about blindsiding a supposed friend! Maybe since Alicia was so used to Peter fooling around she didn’t think it was a big deal. I guess anything is fair game in court but it was low. They could have inferred it to the jury without coming out and accusing him of the affair. I loved it when Diane slapped Alicia. She totally deserved it.
Is Will Gardner the love of Alicia’s life or does it just seem that way because of his tragic death?
Carissa: Alicia is a drama queen who has no real understanding of her emotions. Will worked for her because she couldn't have him. If she would have had to make a decision about him, all the magic surrounding him would be lost. Instead, he was plucked out leaving it in ambiguity, creating an even better story of love and loss. He's definitely the love of her life only because of his tragic death.
Christine L: Honestly? I think Peter was the love of her life, and he crushed her. As much as I disliked Peter, I can't deny that those hints of their former romance showed that there was a deep love there between them. I absolutely think she learned to love again with Will. I think she eventually would have left Peter for him, if things had worked out differently. But Alicia was also so in love with this...idealistic view that she had of her and Will. It's almost as though she just forgot about how angry he was with her, and how much he truly hated her for going behind his back. That was never truly resolved between them before he died, so there's no telling really if it ever would have been.
Elizabeth: I think they kind of addressed the whole aspect of being unavailable as part of his appeal, but I do think that he would have been the love of her life. He was definitely her biggest regret. Peter was the (seemingly) safe option when she was young, but she and Will always had that connection. I think she was more herself with Will than with Peter, or maybe just more the person she wanted to be? But who knows, maybe she has yet to meet the real love of her life! Look at Howard and Jackie.
Christine O: I’m with Carissa on this one. I think Alicia makes decisions with her head and not her heart. I think she’s compartmentalized her emotions to the part of not feeling them. Alicia only took a chance on Will because she knew she could back out, and she did. He’s her great love now because he died, and she can’t go back.
Do you think Jason is gone for good and, if so, why?
Carissa: I do not think he's gone for good, but I do not think they will last. He's too sweet of a guy to stick with Alicia for long. She's hard, cold and calculating. Whether she was ever able to love completely, I don't know. But she cannot now. Maybe Jason wants to teach her that. I don't think he has it in him.
Christine L: I think in the end she'd be just a little too much drama for Jason's liking. He's said it before, he doesn't want anything complicated. Alicia's life will never NOT be complicated. He might put up with it for a bit, but I don't know...he was pretty quick to high tail it out of there away from her.
Elizabeth: Yeah, I just don't see them working long term. He certainly appeals to a part of her, but I think after a while she'd get bored with him, and he'd get tired of her. Also, he wouldn't play into Eli's plans for her very well.
Christine O: I think Jason was really falling in love with her and that’s what scared him. I think Alicia liked having fun with Jason but more than that, just didn’t want to be alone. I like Jason and think he deserves better than being a place holder in Alicia’s life.
If there is a spinoff, which characters would you like to see return?
Carissa: Diane, Lucca, Elsbeth, Caitlin, Marisa...the women who would be a part of a female law firm. Marisa could be interning. I don't want to see anymore of Alicia.
Christine L: Diane, Lucca, and Elsbeth would be amazing. Also Cary. Because, really, why not?
Elizabeth: I would watch a show about the new female focused firm (maybe Alicia heads to New York, or has been elected to congress) or a show about the judges. Also acceptable would be a show about Eli and Marisa. I can't really think of anybody I wouldn't watch other than a show focused on Matan.
Christine O: All of the above! I’d love to see more of Diane. Marisa is wonderful and there has to be more to Cary’s story. He was really short changed this season, and I’d love it if he came back in a spinoff.
What was your favorite moment from “End”?
Carissa: Cary stepping up and searching for the bullets in the evidence room. No matter what it meant, he knew there was a chance they were there, and it was the right thing to do. His hair looked great, too.
Christine L: I have to go with the slap. It was perfect. It made that ending perfect. Everything came full circle for Alicia in that moment. She went from full on Saint to full on sinner, and watching her realize it... that was everything I needed to properly send her off.
Elizabeth: The slap was epic on a lot of levels, and really resonated not just a moment for Alicia but for Diane. Diane at the start of the show could be pretty vicious, and so it seemed like she was also slapping her old self. But I also gave a little fan girl squee when Josh Charles appeared.
Christine: I did love Will’s return. I miss Josh Charles. He had a way of making boring legalize sound fun and sexy. Also, like Carissa, I loved that Cary was the one to stand up and do the right thing. The truth means more to him than it does to any other character on the show.
We can’t believe it’s over! If you’re already missing the show or want to go back to see that very first slap, you can watch The Good Wife online here at TV Fanatic.
C. Orlando was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.
