The essential episodes of The Good Wife
Watch these 15 in order and you've got The Good Wife — each pick states its reason.
- 01
Is a drama starring Emmy Award winner Julianna Margulies as a wife and mother who boldly assumes full responsibility for her family and re-enters the workforce after her husband's very public sex and political corruption scandal lands him in jail. Pushing aside the betrayal and crushing public humiliation caused by her husband Peter, Alicia Florrick starts over by pursuing her original career as a defense attorney. As a junior associate at a prestigious Chicago law firm, she joins her longtime friend, former law school classmate and firm partner Will Gardner, who is interested to see how Alicia will perform after 13 years out of the courtroom. Alicia is grateful the firm's top litigator, Diane Lockhart, offers to mentor her but discovers the offer has conditions and realizes she has to succeed on her own merit. Alicia's main competition among the firm's 20-something new recruits is Cary, a recent Harvard grad who is affable on the surface, but competitive to the core. Fortunately, Alicia finds an ally in Kalinda, the firm's tough in-house investigator. Gaining confidence every day, Alicia transforms herself from embarrassed politician's scorned wife to resilient career woman, especially for the sake of providing a stable home for her children, 14-year-old Zach and 13-year-old Grace. For the first time in years, Alicia trades in her identity as the "good wife" and takes charge of her own destiny.
- 02
Alicia and Will defend a college student accused of killing her sorority sister while under the influence of a sleep aid. At the same time, they also deal with their growing sexual tension and Diane and Kurt McVeigh continue their flirtation.
- 03
At Eli Gold's urging, Alicia must decide if she'll stand by her man during Peter's new political campaign, or if she'll pursue a relationship with Will instead.
- 04
Multi-million dollar malicious prosecution suit leads to an explosive confrontation between Alicia and Glenn Childs. Meanwhile, Alicia's brother, Owen, visits after his questionable remarks about Peter goes viral online and makes Eli apoplectic.
- 05
The law firm of Lockhart, Gardner and Bond sues a social networking site on behalf of a Chinese dissident, who posted an anonymous blog about democracy in China, and was jailed and tortured by the Chinese government when the site failed to protect his anonymity and turned over his IP address. Meanwhile, Eli gets a tip that he hopes will drive Childs out of the race, and Will and Diane hope to wrestle the firm away from Derrick Bond once and for all.
- 06
Despite their tense relationship, Alicia and Kalinda rush to prove their client's innocence in a murder trial, while the timing might finally be right for Alicia and Will to pursue their relationship, on the second season finale of THE GOOD WIFE, Tuesday, May 17 on the CBS Television Network. Kelli Giddish returns as Sophia Russo, an associate from Kalinda's steamy past.
- 07
With her investigation complete, Special Prosecutor Wendy Scott-Carr presents her evidence against Will to the grand jury in hopes of sending him to prison for bribery. Meanwhile, Eli and Stacie Hall square off once again.
- 08
Office politics come to a head when Will and Diane ask Alicia and Cary to face off against them in a mock trial, only to get more than they bargained for. Meanwhile, Eli tries to avoid losing his role in Peter's campaign to Jordan, as he continues his fight with the Justice Department.
- 09
Alicia and Cary's plans to depart Lockhart/Gardner are suddenly exposed and a desperate battle to retain clients ensues.
- 10
Alicia enlists Cary as her lawyer when Nelson Dubeck approaches her to participate in a deposition regarding his investigation into election rigging. Meanwhile, Will continues the difficult defense of Jeffrey Grant as he faces off against a new prosecutor who proves to be a formidable adversary.
- 11
Alicia searches for answers as she tries to make sense of Will's death in the aftermath of the courthouse shooting. Meanwhile, Diane delivers the somber news to the partners at Lockhart/Gardner who must decide how to move forward.
- 12
An open feed from a camera mistakenly left on after a teleconferenced deposition between the lawyers of Florrick/Agos and Lockhart/Gardner reveals a threat to the firm that Alicia and Cary never saw coming. Meanwhile, the fate of Lockhart/Gardner hangs in the balance as Louis Canning vies for a larger role. Also, Alicia entrusts Zach's high school graduation party to Jackie and Veronica.
- 13
Cary's case goes to trial and he considers a plea deal that would send him to jail. Meanwhile, a joke between mother and daughter lands Alicia in trouble as her campaign for State's Attorney shifts into full gear.
- 14
Alicia argues against Judge Schakowsky when she learns that a former bond court client was wrongfully imprisoned. Also, Diane assists the student editor of a college newspaper when the school threatens to fire her for writing a politically charged article.
- 15
The series reaches its dramatic conclusion.
Shows like The Good Wife
The closest matches on shared genres, ranked by match strength and popularity.
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- 04Drama·Crime·LegalThe essential episodes of Goliath2016–2021
Once a powerful lawyer, Billy McBride is now burned out and washed up, spending more time in a bar than a courtroom. - 05Drama·Crime·LegalThe essential episodes of Bull2016–2022Same network — CBS·
- 06Drama·Crime·LegalThe essential episodes of The Lincoln Lawyer2022–presentMickey Haller, an iconoclastic idealist, runs his law practice out of the back seat of his Lincoln Town Car, as he takes on cases big and small across the expansive city of Los Angeles.
