What I’m Watching: The Good Wife (Season Finale)

The Good Wife: Season 5, Episode 22 “A Weird Year” (B-)

It took me until more than halfway into this episode to remember that this was a season finale, and I don’t consider that to be a good thing at all. After such a promising start with what many agree to be one of the show’s best episodes, “Hitting the Fan,” this season took a serious nosedive for the unorganized after Will was killed. The fact that the writers knew they were killing him off means that they should have been able to better prepare and help things come together rather than piecing it all into something difficult to decipher and hard to find appealing. I guess it makes sense that Cary would be resentful of Alicia for always wanting to maintain her ties to Lockhart Gardner, though going to Canning to try to sabotage Diane’s efforts didn’t seem like him. Diane suggesting that she join their fledging firm is a big shock, though it hardly rivals Alicia answering the door for Cary just a year ago. Having both Alicia and Peter’s mothers prepping a meal at home for Zack’s graduation with occasional cameos from Peter and Eli was just plain weird, and not all that effective. Hearing Diane tell Kalinda to continue exploit Cary was definitely hurtful, though he took it out on the wrong person by outing Diane, whose State’s Attorney candidacy was extremely short-lived. I’m not sure what Finn has contributed to this storyline, and while I am a fan of actor Matthew Goode, this has been a rather dull role for him. Here’s hoping that next season is more even throughout the year.

Season grade: B
Season MVP: Josh Charles as Will