The Good Wife (TV Series) End (2016) User Reviews

SO disappointed...

[marinesaxon · 5/10 · 6 August 2016]

My Facebook status as soon as I finished the episode: "The Good Wife was a great series, but I didn't like the series finale. Alicia said of Jason, "he's a boy, he likes boy things..."... Ugh. Nothing Jeffrey Dean Morgan has ever acted in has ever emanated anything but the dictionary definition of man. Like... Holy cow, that's what a man is, that there Jeffrey Dean Morgan, LOL! The only good thing in the end was the well-deserve slap in the face from a character that (for me) turned into a super snotty lady.

Jeffrey was great on his own- but the show lost too much without Kalinda and Will's characters. That and the way Alicia grew from someone who was once likable, to unlikable. That's just me, though.

Hating the way stories end, just more motivation for me to try and fulfill my biggest dream: be a screenwriter." I power-watched this series on Amazon Prime Video. I watched all 156 in 2 weeks. I was able to see (because it was continual watching) how much Alicia changed (for the worse, IMO). She was once down to earth- and then became pretentious and seemingly too good for the likes of Jason.

I SO WISH I could have ended this great series on a high note. I feel jilted. Like a book that was incredible, got way weird in the last chapter, and ended with the last few pages ripped out. Sucks.

BY FAR the worst episode of the series

[nikos-19 · 5/10 · 18 July 2020]

Huge disappointment for a brilliant series. I really wonder what they're thinking while making the last episode. Do they were on strike for underpayment?

Well that was a let down

[prhayhurst · 5/10 · 14 March 2018]

The series has been superb, mostly. Dipped after Wills death, Alicia just became a little unlikable. Then much more this last season, which, to me, is the worst season, capped off by a terrible final episode. Khalinda's exit left a void, Lucca was a great replacement, and there seemed no friction between her and Margolies in real life (you do sense tension at some points between her and other actors while watching) but she didn't get a chance to build a character as good as Khalinda. Nothing in this episode was done properly. Peter should've either been guilty and got off or innocent and sent down, with Alicia going off with Jason (or not) What we got was namby pamby rubbish, with everything left open ended! The only good thing was where Diane slapped Alicia (who actually has had a resting bitch face for most of this season) and this wasn't justified, as Diane should have, and would have done her job, and served her client, and cross examined Kurt with no qualms. Writers can almost ruin entire shows by the final episode, very sad.

A huge betrayal to show's and Alicia's values

[randombumper · 4/10 · 11 May 2016]

This is my first review ever. I felt the urge, the need to put my two cents. I have been a huge show lover from day one, but this finale was such a disappointment. And not for the reasons most people are complaining about.

Throughout the series, Alicia has grown from being a submissive wife to becoming a mature, independent and empowered woman. That is, up until the very last episode, where she betrays herself and her values in two major ways.

First, she throws partner and friend Diane Lockhart under the bus in order to save a guilty husband she doesn't love anymore. Without a second thought. This is so out of the blue! Show creators Michelle and Robert King justify this as a sort of "Walter Whitesque" character arc. They claim to always have envisioned Alicia going all the way from victim to executioner. And I guess that's true, that was their initially intended way to wrap up when they outlined the show seven years ago. Then the show came its own way over time and they didn't want to let go of their originally envisioned ending. The problem here is nothing in Alicia's behavior has been building up to that. Then, overnight, she goes all the way from ethically concerned lawyer and friend to cold and manipulative puppet of her husband's interests.

(About the slap: I can't understand the controversy. The slap is well earned. Diane is more than justified. Period.)

But, the real betrayal, the undoing of the show as a whole was Alicia running after Jason (or the idea of Jason) like a teenager. I first feared the worst after Will told her "Do you imagine yourself living alone in this house? You'll go crazy", which translates as "You can't live alone! You need a man, or else you'll end up old and crazy, and your cats will feast on your corpse". Seriously, WTF? These last episodes have been about Alicia the Independent Woman, who can be OK with a casual relationship with an independent man. Or without a man in her life! That's where the real empowerment comes from. Seeing her so dependent she has to literally run after a shadow of her lover is embarrassing to see and plain bad writing.

It'd be OK that she decides to abandon her husband on camera IF that was some kind of meditated statement. But leaving Peter hanging just as collateral damage of a childish crush? Unacceptable.

Bottom line, the writers have sold us "Alicia grows and can now betray a friend in order to get what she wants. She can finally ditch her husband to pursue another love interest". What I was expecting was "Alicia grows into a mature, independent woman who won't submit to other people's will. She'll respect her own values and lead the life coming from that principles, be it with or without a lover".

We'll always have a handful of brilliant seasons to remember Alicia by.

There is, and she is, no longer the good wife.

[mikell-3 · 10/10 · 13 May 2016]

My oh my. I wasn't ecstatic The Good Wife was coming to an End. More like dreading it. And I have seen my fair share of series ends. But, this was an end befitting the best drama series on TV. Mo effort was made to tie things up . . . . quite the opposite. Much more like real life. One door closes, another one opens, if you're turning knobs. The one real constant, throughout the series, has been Alicia's resilience and in the End, that is the final real constant. Also, I was truly grateful and somewhat surprised that Alicia finally got the chance to face the ghosts from her past, or should I say ghost. And that, perhaps, helped her to move on to what was the final series closer . . . she is no longer "the good wife".

Overstuffed Ending

[brooks250 · 7/10 · 16 February 2017]

My wife and I considers ourselves honorary Good Wife PhD. holders after watching all 154 episodes over the past six months (OK we didn't write a dissertation or thesis, but we should get some piece of paper for all that time spent).

I liked the final episode more than she did. I thought that it was fitting that after impulsively running after Jason, alas, I guess she's stuck with an unemployed governor/disbarred middle-aged lawyer. However, she's a much tougher woman now (witness her iron jaw and steely recovery after Diane rightfully slapped her) However, to witness these tied up loose ends were subjected to one of the more dizzying episodes the shows creators have cranked out.

There is just way too much going on here to cram into 43 minutes. A special-length double episode would have been the way to go. Thematically and tonally this one was all over the place with dream sequences, Will's ghost following her around, the very obvious metaphor and annoying physical destruction of the current office (very poorly explained) and a federal plea bargain that is so far fetched as to be distracting. (Much of the law on the show has been interesting and seemingly plausible to a lay person -- OK, getting into court takes years, so these speedy trials have always been big time poetic license)But the Feds do not bargain down from 10 years hard time to 1 year probation. That's just nonsense.

Also, amping up the drama by having this murder case being solved in concert with Peter's corruption case (i.e. like a play within a play) is just too much and left me more fatigued in the end than satisfied.

Epic disappointment

[askggle-85863 · 3/10 · 11 August 2019]

Not sure if the writers were intending to be cryptic or clever. Whatever their thinking & logic was, it does not translate at all on camera. A HUGE LET DOWN after such a phenomenal series. The actors deserve their accolades. The fault lies entirely at the feet of the writers. They didn't fo this masterpiece proper justice.

Appropriate ending

[loisferrari · 10/10 · 27 June 2021]

I for one thought the ending was exactly right. In S7 Alicia unravels. She is not a protagonist but rather an anti-hero. The ending shows that even when faced with better choices for her life, she chooses to remain faithful to her husband and to stand by him. She is truly The Good Wife even though that carries with it a negative connotation in the end. I like a series where the main character is not all good and that endings can occur just like in real life. I don't feel like any loose ends were left hanging. I feel the writers did a wonderful job of not giving the audience the usual pandering. Happy endings are sometimes disappointing in their lack of creativity. I applaud the decision to honestly show where Alisha ended up due to some bad choices in her life.

The end

[oliverdearlove · 7/10 · 9 April 2017]

This is again a dark episode -

Alicia conjures Will to tell her what to do - I thought it was obvious he was saying what she wished to hear. That is the ghost of WIll was not telling her what to do- she was telling herself...

but it seems she doesn't know

the cases and witness show the usual contrasts - those who declare themselves hostile - assist Alicia - and those trying to assist - in their evidence let slip important and telling details

very very good series

No, no, no, no!

[jacegalloway · 2/10 · 17 June 2020]

Today, the entire world is dealing with a pandemic and I find my escape in binge-watching television series. I had never watched The Good Wife before, so I decided to give it a go and ended up watching every single show.

While the legal drama in each episode was good, it was the characters behind-the-scenes that reeled me in. In the end, I could not get enough of Kalinda, Cary, Will, Peter, Eli, Diane and Jason. I was so looking forward to the finale - and yet I dreaded it. I had grown to love - and hate - these characters that I felt I knew.

This ending left me in tears. Not because it was particularly heartbreaking, but because it was just plain awful. It's almost as if the writers just gave up on the show and its characters. So it is up to each of us to determine their fates. What a let-down. What a shame.

Pretty much a perfect ending.

[shazaam-73530 · 10/10 · 7 October 2023]

I just finished binging this series, and while I saw this episode was rated easily the worst, I didn't read any of the comments until finishing. I personally think the negstive reviews are way off the mark. The writers did a fantastic job in wrapping up the character arcs of the two main protagonists, Diane and Alicia. In my opinion ;-). Diane began the series as a fiercely independent woman who would turn on anyone to achieve her objectives. She and Will actually discuss this early in the series. At the start, the office was like two kingdoms ruled by two leaders who worked together, but would immediately plunder the other rulers lands should s/he fall. Diane destroyed anyone who opposed her immediately and without mercy. I could write something about Darwin or alpha predators, but if you've watched this series, you know what I mean. Over the course of the seasons, and particularly following Will's death, she began to value having others in her life. The final two episodes brought this to it's obvious conclusion. The remorse she felt in watching her husband taken apart on the stand she forced him to take, and then the absolute refusal to sacrifice him in order to win at any cost is nearly polar opposite to what we would have expected from the character in the first season.

Alicia on the other hand, began this series as a perpetual damsel in distress. In a lot of ways she was the foil to Diane's character, and her arc was almost Diane's in reverse. Throughout the seasons, she was controlled by the men in her life. Decisions were made for her without consulting her, or with her consent bc it's what was expected of her. This was particularly true with her love life. Again, Will's death was the tipping point. She wouldn't commit to thar relationship bc of sense of duty to honor a husband who did not honor her. Similarly she pulled back from the two other potential suitors presented prior to Jason's introduction. At the end of the series, her arc was completed. The realization that who she was in a relationship with was not only up to her but also her responsibility alone to decide was completely a 180° pivot from the earlier seasons. Her willingness to absolutely destroy anyone who stood in her way was on full display here as well. Not only her having Lucca dismantle the husband of her friend, but also in her final conversation with Canning and the "demure smile" scene w the DA. The damsel in distress or her feeling compelled to being a "good wife" were dead. Again, a perfect conclusion to this character's arc. In my opinion. That Jason didn't stick around has no impact on the end of her journey. I actually think it was solid not to have the Damsel end up with Prince Valiant. No need for a Hollywood ending.

One thing I would really like to rewatch sometime is all the cop show segments Alcia watched. I have a really strong feeling those were a clear outline of both the show and her development. I didn't really pay attention to them enough to say one way or another though.

Overall, I thought this was a strong series, but did think the repetitions of the firm breaking up and reforming were a bit tedious. Seriously. The 3rd yrs left, Diane joined them, they all moved back to the old building, all the old senior partners came back, and the firm renamed itself to the same name it had before. Then they did it again. I also though the Bishop storyline wasn't flushed out enough, and it was a plot hole I wished was filled before the show's end. As a series, I'd give it an 8. This episode though was a solid 10. In my opinion.

Please forgive any typos here. The autocorrect on my phone is possessed!

The Writers Really Screwed the Pooch with this Ending

[itsjenjen · 2/10 · 30 January 2020]

Alicia is left with no marriage, lost friendships of her own doing, probably no love (who knows?), and alone. The writers left her as more villain than heroine. I've never been more disappointed in a series ending. Cary is left alone in the world, Diane with a fractured (or ruined) marriage, and Eli a backstabber. Wow. Epic fail.

What ending?

[verab-852-239131 · 3/10 · 20 July 2018]

This "ending" didn't feel like an end. So many questions were left unanswered. I really feel like there should have been one or maybe two more episodes before they ended the series. Why did they suddenly use Will for flashbacks? It was weird and unnecessary. Why did Jason disappear? I'm sure that he still loves Alicia. What will happen to Alicia? To her marriage and her firm? I think this ending was rushed and sloppy

A (Mostly) Satisfying Ending...Here's whats missing....

[gailforce12 · 8/10 · 11 October 2016]

What makes this a satisfying ending is the dream sequences with Will Gardner. The previous episodes have Eli confessing to the existence of the voicemail left by Will, with Alicia reflecting on her past and sacrifices. She had previously not been able to make the image of Will clear but can only do so once in love again. She recognises the price of sacrifice through the revisitation of her time with Will with the sense of loss and regret reinforced with the news that he loved her, willing to give her anything and everything....

There should have been a Kalinda moment, which would have rounded off the series well: she was one of the strongest characters and her sacrifice and risk for Carey, really touching and out of character. These two filled the vacuum left by Alicia and Will as an awkward love match.

It is easier for her to leave Peter with the children gone and the final episodes pave the way for this to happen whilst the kids go their own way. The narrative tie in of Alicia's mother making romantic mistakes vis a vis Alicia's principles is a good plot ploy: the issue of abandonment of all sensibilities is given through us looking at the differences between mother and daughter.

Diane and the slap is justified but not the actions of Alicia to betray her friend. Both have/had throughout weighed up the costs of a lack of personal life and it would have been far better for these two to go off together with their respective partners waiting for them in the wings as strong and loving men, able to be themselves and love their women without threat to manly ego.

Michael J Fox was compelling to watch throughout.

The end was not but disappointment

[pegahghaemian · 3/10 · 23 July 2020]

Very bad ending. I loved this show and now it ends and I don't even know what really happened to my beloved character Alicia?!

****

[edwagreen · 10/10 · 8 May 2016]

Am still feeling the slap that Diane gave Alicia during that last scene. You couldn't blame her. To save her husband, Diane's husband had to testify and he did and had to admit under oath that he had had an affair with the woman who had bought his business.

You'll be perplexed at the ending when Jason isn't there after Alicia runs down the hallway. What is she to do? At least, Peter will not be serving any jail time.

Nice to see Josh Charles back in Alicia's day-dreaming sequences advising her what to do. We realize now that Will was the only man that Alicia ever loved.

At least, we can say that the ending didn't tie all things up. How about an occasional show? This show, with its fine writing, shall be missed.

Others may be critical for the bitterness shown by Cary and Diane as the series winded down. Too bad we didn't see Lewis Canning, Michael J. Fox, at the end.

Letdown.

[jp-206 · 2/10 · 23 August 2023]

After binging the series over the past couple of months, it's clear to see the quality of the final season doesn't come close to the seasons preceding it. The departure of Will and Kalinda really put a kink in the flow of the series and you could tell the writers were struggling with storylines. Numerous storylines were dropped without explanation. The final two episodes focusing on Peter's trial really doesn't do the show justice and the final scene was contrived and ridiculous.

Because we watched this several years after the original broadcast, we could rationalize the writers were just setting things up for "The Good Fight".

They really should have ended the series at the episode featuring Howard and Jackie's party. A few extra scenes and that would have been a satisfying ending. But this mess felt contrived, over calculated, and exceeded logic on several occasions.

Such a disappointment.

I don't get all the negativity.

[jenniferdduval-06926 · 8/10 · 8 April 2024]

It's hard to wrap up a series that's been in as long as Good Wife was. I'm in the minority here, I guess, but I thought it was great. Not the best episode by any stretch, But I was very satisfied - it was moody and mournful for lost lives and lives, and frenetic with the case at hand. The only thing really missing for me was some evidence secretly, anonymously provided by Kalinda, but there's no way to be all things to all people. I've read a lot of the negative reviews and of course everyone has a right to their opinion. But I can't think of anything that was missing. I appreciate when storytellers make bold choices. I think the characters were all true to themselves, the storyline relevant and poignant, and the ending audacious and surprising, but not unsupported or out of the blue. Good job, Good Wife. I really miss this show.

Just why???

[claire8202 · 3/10 · 20 March 2024]

I have just finished watching the whole series, I have loved every moment of it. Right up until this last episode.

She has already decided to divorce Peter, she knows she wants to be with Jason she is looking forward to seeing up this powerhouse female lead law firm and she throws pretty much everyone under the bus for the man who as done nothing for her who she has already decided to leave.

In the first season I might have expected that but the character development did not lead up to this point.

Did the writers get lazy? Or short on time?

I wish I could undo the 45 mins, and blissfully liv in a world where she stood by Peter but didn't destroy all her other relationships to do so. Where the law firm succeeded, she became governor, then senator, with talk of the white House. Where she left the press conference, submitted the divorce paperwork and went home to see Jason in her kitchen like in the earlier vision.

This character deserved better.

Literally a Slap In the Face

[shelbythuylinh · 2/10 · 13 December 2021]

Really the show is or should have ended rightfully there. And that like in the beginning with Alice slapping Peter, Alice gets the same thing from Diane Lockhart in deciding her future there with either her estranged not to be trusted husband or that over in the Jeffrey Dean Morgan character.

Should have ended much better over on it.

Forever a mystery

[satyris · 3/10 · 9 October 2020]

I dislike shows coming to an end, something about me likes to continue to inhabit this world that now exists in my head. I'll be honest, I stopped watching the episode after about 10 minutes. The courtroom action started to get a little silly and I was worried the series wouldn't resolve to my satisfaction, so I turned it off.

So a happy ending will always exist in my head. Series 7 has been a fitting tribute to a brilliant show and I laughed and cried more in some of the later episodes than in the rest of the show.

I know this isn't really a review, I'm sorry

Worst

[ZLATKOyPIA · 1/10 · 27 April 2018]

Worst end Julianna What happened? Unhappy? Just wantin to finnsh season7??

By Far A Mess That Reflects The Series Ending

[DKosty123 · 3/10 · 14 June 2020]

So what happened to the writing sine Will died? This episode dances on it and pounds it into submission. There's so much wrong here that all you can do is shake your head and wonder how many bongs the writers took to come up with this. There are at least 2 or 3 plot lines dropped, but that is not rare with this series. There is very little to make sense of here.

The trial becomes a huge joke because there is almost no way to figure out the guilt of Peter for sure. Granted the motive appears to be money, but why is it the money of one donor was that important after Peter was elected and in office for less than 3 weeks makes no sense. Meanwhile, Eli never gets even a call from the Grand Jury when he should have been charged with Obstruction of Justice is simply shocking.

The NSA illegally overhearing everything and not even being brought to task for wiretapping never gets solved. Alicia's daughter Grace still has photos of her undressed on the Internet being sold for several seasons now and that is never even mentioned since back several seasons ago after her brother saw the photos. In fact, if I went through the number of plot lines dropped, this show holds the World Record. It gives legal shows a bad name. It leaves with poor taste too boot.

Will is back in this finale just like Diane showed back up on the last episode of Cheers. The difference in this one is that Will piles on and denigrates Alicia's character by saying she was never in class and drunk all the way through college. While that could be an excuse for her marrying the con man Peter, it weakens her character on becoming everything she was in the courtroom. It makes the whole reason for this series mute. At least Will is not as sickening as Diane on Cheers was, but after he buries Alicia's character, his spirit becomes her lover in the episode. There's no real charm here, and the memory is melancholy.

I guess they want to draw the conclusion that Peter was really guilty here by having the bullets show up for an iron clad proof. Then at the same time they undermine the lab tech on the blood proof, and meanwhile the murder has a suspect found whose cell phone is at the murder. This is really left dangling as there appears to be no interest in that person, who might have the real motive behind the murder Peter is supposed to have covered up.

Ironically, in November of 2016, Clinton would proof to be a bigger disaster than Alicia and this foreshadows the real historic event. Alicia is still supposed to be a viable candidate for election while the corrupt Clinton destroyed her chances of being elected ever by having the corruption in the Democratic Party brought into the open. This series brought corruption in the Democratic party out but Wiki Leaks showed the real stuff even went beyond what this series ever imagined. Another loose end is we never find out for sure if Peter rigged Alicia's election and then in another dropped plot line what ever happened to Alicia's vote on the voting machine scandal.

Then we have the dropped plot line of the corrupt judge who the FBI for some reason looses interest in after he screws over 1000's of people in the night court type of setting where he is obviously getting kickbacks from the lawyers in his court and others. Granted he gets away with a mock trial that is a legal joke and he is found innocent, but it seems the loss of interest in bringing him to justice is never explained.

The failure here is that normally last episodes usually tie things up and finish something. The only thing this episode does is get Alicia a slap in the face for using Diane's husband to try and get Peter off. If that slap is the only reason to justify this entire series, it falls way short of what we need to see. Diane is the only character who has grown in this series. The rest of it has just become a mess. This Diane actually has brains, unlike the airhead Diane who showed up for the last episode of Cheers. Everyone knows Diane Lockhart's name because she gets in the slap of Alicia at the end.

Unfortunately, Diane needed very much to slap the series writers. They went on strike after killing Will. They are guilty of making what could have been a great series into a soap opera.

So disappointed

[maja_basket · 2/10 · 16 October 2021]

No no no... I've loved this show through all its seasons and it became my favorite show. But the ending is extremely disappointing. Maybe it all boils down to if you like Alicia or not, I liked her.

Yes, she has done some bad things, but she has also experienced a lot of bad things herself, so can we blame her? It's so weird of the show to give their main character an ending like this. Did she really deserve to end up alone?

I wish it ended with Alicia and Diane being friends, maybe name partners in their powerful all women-firm. Or Alicia getting her revenge on Frank Landau, finally becoming state's attorney. Why had the final "message" be Alicia not being the good wife anymore, couldn't it instead be; now it's her turn?