The Good Wife 6.14

[selenak]

Eh.



I think I'm done with this show. Not that anything in this episode itself was objectionable. I just realised I don't care anymore. Whether Alicia ends up in bed with her campaign manager or Finn Polmar, whether she wins or loses the election - I don't care. I have a mild interest in how exactly Kalinda will leave the show, but not enough to keep me watching. All the things I loved best about the fabulous fifth season that were so innovative - the break from Lockhart and Gardner, founding a new firm, the Alicia and Cary partnerhship - are gone and might as well not have happened. (The sight of Howard will never not rub this in as extra repellent.) Cary and Diane are mere bit players these days. And I have a busy, busy life. I always held with "if a show doesn't provide you with more you love than you dislike, get out instead of of staying around to complain endlessly to the other fans who still love it", and this case, it's not dislike as much as monumental indifference.

Re: this particular episode, I enjoyed bits - imaginary Zach being homeless on a bench (when real Zach is doing fine in Georgetown) was hilarious, both the imaginary and real Alicia and Louis Canning conversations and him being her favourite enemy, so of course she goes to the hospital. Oh, and imaginary Peter pointing out that the dialogue Alicia is writing for him and Kalinda is totally ooc, and that she knows it. But the reveal that Alicia still can't think about Kalinda without holding the one night stand with Peter pre show against her was a case in point for me why I should stop watching. Back at the end of s2 when the one night stand was revealed, and in the early episodes of s3, it had tremenous emotional power because Alicia and Kalinda had a close friendship the audience and yours truly was invested in. But now, four years later, when Alicia has moved on emotionally in all other regards, there is no relationship between these two women anymore. There hasn't been for a long time. The bits of dialogue they shared over the last few seasons was always expositionary in nature and no more. Why should I care that Alicia is still holding that grudge?

As for the form, I think The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari on Babylon 5 and Revenging Angel on Farscape have spoiled me for once and all re: episodes that mainly take place in a character's head, with the other characters used voicing pov character's thoughts and emotions. Alicia's head, by contrast, was a pretty boring place to be in.



In conclusion: that was it, for me. The fifth season was fantastic, but this one is the proverbial whimper, and I just don't have the time anymore.

Comments

[trascendenza]

I feel the same way about the show, which is so sad for how much I enjoyed the earlier seasons. I think the beginning of the end was when I realized that Archie was leaving. Kalinda was one of the best parts of the show for me, even though I also felt she was underutilized, but that loss and the lackluster direction it's going just don't make it worth it to keep watching.

[selenak]

It is a pity. Especially since the last season proved the show could revitalize itself. But this season, they've just gone for variations of their greatest hits, so to speak, hence the overall sense of staleness.