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shadowkatThe Good Wife is the only series that I've seen that has rebooted its storyline twice in one year with two huge game-changers. And both beautifully done. Both well-kept secrets. That takes guts. To completely reboot a tv series like that, not once, but twice in one year?
Whoa.
Hmmm...is it just me or has television changed a lot in the last few years? I knew something major was going to happen in this episode..but not THAT. Feel...the oddest need to quote South Park.
Time was that you knew lead characters would not die in a television series unless of course it was a daytime soap opera, but even then...but...not now. No one is safe now.
OMG...They just killed WILL! I can't believe they killed off Will! This isn't even a violent series. Although to be fair, we didn't see the shooting, but still.
The show picks up with the story thread about the college kid being tried for Murder One ca - that was focused on way back in the fall, after Alicia and Cary first left Lockhart/Gardner. (yeah, I forgot about it too). That's the case that had Will track down Alicia's brother for information and the brother revealed to Will that he was rooting for Alicia and Will to get together. Anyhow...just as Will finally gets a break in the case, and goes up to the judge to request additional time to bring a key witness to the stand. The kid goes nuts. The show's focus on "trust" becomes the key issue here.
First, we see the kid's parents lose their faith in Will and call Alicia for a second opinion. She gently dissuades them and says, that Will is the best attorney for this case and it's mid-trail. Changing now is a bad idea. Then she warns Will. Who manages to convince them to stick with him. Next, we see the kid beginning to waiver.
The whole episode is about trust - and how vital it is in the attorney/client relationship.
Once that trust is broken...which is what happened here, the relationship dies as well - in this case literally. The kid up for murder one, lost his faith in the system and in his attorney, and went nuts. Although I thought he'd go the cliche route and kill himself. But apparently he lashed out at everyone else, and didn't have enough bullets left over to off himself.
What's interesting and rather ironic - is while Will has somehow lost his client's trust, through no fault of his own, he regains the trust of Alicia, Diane and Kalinda - who at various points in the season and during the year, he'd had serious trust issues with. He and Alicia have come to an understanding of sorts. The animosity has cooled. Will's forgiven Diane for her betrayal last year and they've reaffirmed their professional partnership. Kalinda and Will's friendship and working relationship has strengthened. Although Kalinda's discussion with Will about why she wants to leave - feels as if it was based directly on the actor, JoshLucas's Charles, conversation with the writers and Julianna Marguiles on his leaving. (He had a 7 year contract.)
I so did not see that coming. This show rebooted itself twice in one year. Is it trying to copy Scandal? Actually I think it may have outdid Scandal, which is saying something. Plus it tracks. It really did work story-wise. Scandal doesn't always quite work. It's good, but at times...it feels a bit over-the-top. The Good Wife felt..real and was quieter. And did not fall into cliche, like so many of these series do.
I thought they'd fix the whole voter ballot thing by outing the NSA, but no...they killed off Will. Which was an unexpected twist. Although the fall-out from that case is still there - in regards to Peter, his Ethics Head (Marilyn), Eli, and Alicia - who trusted Peter and Eli not to go there.
And it does explain the wrap up scenes with Will and Kalinda, Will and Diane, Will and Alicia, and..various others. Plus it does change the show completely - provides a lot of upheaval, and changes Alicia and Diane big time. But...whoa...that's a major character. His death changes everything. Although on the other hand, it reaffirms that the true second lead was Christine Baranski. And it provides a nice twist on the lead female character's death, and all the male leads reacting (ie. Person of Interest, and oh so many others). Will's death may actually be the most shocking character death I've seen to date, and that includes Breaking Bad, Walking Dead, Scandal, Game of Thrones, Dexter, etc...because those you expect, they are violent tv shows on cable. Of course they will kill off characters, often leads for shock value. The Good Wife is a quiet legal/political drama - people don't get killed on the Good Wife. Until now.
[ETA: Just read an interview with the actor playing Will that explains why he was written off in this manner: http://tvline.com/2014/03/23/the-good-wife-will-dies-josh-charles-leaving-interview/. Apparently he told them he wanted to leave a year ago, and they struck a deal to film 16 more episodes with him to complete his arc. Together they made the decision on how to write him out. This explains why it was written so well and so tightly. Clearly they thought it out. I disagree with their comment that TV doesn't do death enough - that may have been true 10 years ago, it's not now. I wonder sometimes if people who work in tv, watch tv? That said, kudos to all involved for hiding the news that the actor was leaving, that's a tough secret to keep in Hollywood. My jaw dropped for a full 15 minutes.]
Whoa.
Hmmm...is it just me or has television changed a lot in the last few years? I knew something major was going to happen in this episode..but not THAT. Feel...the oddest need to quote South Park.
Time was that you knew lead characters would not die in a television series unless of course it was a daytime soap opera, but even then...but...not now. No one is safe now.
OMG...They just killed WILL! I can't believe they killed off Will! This isn't even a violent series. Although to be fair, we didn't see the shooting, but still.
The show picks up with the story thread about the college kid being tried for Murder One ca - that was focused on way back in the fall, after Alicia and Cary first left Lockhart/Gardner. (yeah, I forgot about it too). That's the case that had Will track down Alicia's brother for information and the brother revealed to Will that he was rooting for Alicia and Will to get together. Anyhow...just as Will finally gets a break in the case, and goes up to the judge to request additional time to bring a key witness to the stand. The kid goes nuts. The show's focus on "trust" becomes the key issue here.
First, we see the kid's parents lose their faith in Will and call Alicia for a second opinion. She gently dissuades them and says, that Will is the best attorney for this case and it's mid-trail. Changing now is a bad idea. Then she warns Will. Who manages to convince them to stick with him. Next, we see the kid beginning to waiver.
The whole episode is about trust - and how vital it is in the attorney/client relationship.
Once that trust is broken...which is what happened here, the relationship dies as well - in this case literally. The kid up for murder one, lost his faith in the system and in his attorney, and went nuts. Although I thought he'd go the cliche route and kill himself. But apparently he lashed out at everyone else, and didn't have enough bullets left over to off himself.
What's interesting and rather ironic - is while Will has somehow lost his client's trust, through no fault of his own, he regains the trust of Alicia, Diane and Kalinda - who at various points in the season and during the year, he'd had serious trust issues with. He and Alicia have come to an understanding of sorts. The animosity has cooled. Will's forgiven Diane for her betrayal last year and they've reaffirmed their professional partnership. Kalinda and Will's friendship and working relationship has strengthened. Although Kalinda's discussion with Will about why she wants to leave - feels as if it was based directly on the actor, Josh
I so did not see that coming. This show rebooted itself twice in one year. Is it trying to copy Scandal? Actually I think it may have outdid Scandal, which is saying something. Plus it tracks. It really did work story-wise. Scandal doesn't always quite work. It's good, but at times...it feels a bit over-the-top. The Good Wife felt..real and was quieter. And did not fall into cliche, like so many of these series do.
I thought they'd fix the whole voter ballot thing by outing the NSA, but no...they killed off Will. Which was an unexpected twist. Although the fall-out from that case is still there - in regards to Peter, his Ethics Head (Marilyn), Eli, and Alicia - who trusted Peter and Eli not to go there.
And it does explain the wrap up scenes with Will and Kalinda, Will and Diane, Will and Alicia, and..various others. Plus it does change the show completely - provides a lot of upheaval, and changes Alicia and Diane big time. But...whoa...that's a major character. His death changes everything. Although on the other hand, it reaffirms that the true second lead was Christine Baranski. And it provides a nice twist on the lead female character's death, and all the male leads reacting (ie. Person of Interest, and oh so many others). Will's death may actually be the most shocking character death I've seen to date, and that includes Breaking Bad, Walking Dead, Scandal, Game of Thrones, Dexter, etc...because those you expect, they are violent tv shows on cable. Of course they will kill off characters, often leads for shock value. The Good Wife is a quiet legal/political drama - people don't get killed on the Good Wife. Until now.
[ETA: Just read an interview with the actor playing Will that explains why he was written off in this manner: http://tvline.com/2014/03/23/the-good-wife-will-dies-josh-charles-leaving-interview/. Apparently he told them he wanted to leave a year ago, and they struck a deal to film 16 more episodes with him to complete his arc. Together they made the decision on how to write him out. This explains why it was written so well and so tightly. Clearly they thought it out. I disagree with their comment that TV doesn't do death enough - that may have been true 10 years ago, it's not now. I wonder sometimes if people who work in tv, watch tv? That said, kudos to all involved for hiding the news that the actor was leaving, that's a tough secret to keep in Hollywood. My jaw dropped for a full 15 minutes.]
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no subject
Date: 2014-03-25 03:50 am (UTC)Possibly. The way it was photographed, as he was staring at the gun (which had to be in the possession of an officer in the courtroom) and then that the next time we saw him he was holding the gun below his chin and pulling the trigger over and over again, leaves a lot of ambiguity as to what exactly happened.
It is entirely possible he was only out to kill himself, and not anyone else. However, as he struggled (presumably) with the officer the gun went off. After that, additional struggling as he tried to take his own life (that is, with the officer or others trying to stop him), he managed to kill or wound others, and Will is shot fatally. For all you know, Will was struggling with him and was shot as that occurred.
If you stop and think about it, that would go to the idea that guns just as often, if not more so, kill more people by accident or misuse or carelessness than when used with actual, premeditated murderous intent, outside of literal warfare of course. If there were no guns in the courtroom (to "protect everyone"), what happened could not have happened.
In the future episodes, I'm guessing that exactly these issues will be brought up at the young man's trial, or at least what his intent was. Is he a psychopath, was one all along, or innocent and just finally pushed over the edge and snapped? Did he only intend to harm himself, or lash out at others?
I love this show.
no subject
Date: 2014-03-25 11:36 pm (UTC)What we will get is flashbacks - showing what happened. Next week's episode shows various characters reflecting on their relationship with Will and what happened that last day. Or so I've read.
Agreed. I love this show. It's so well written.