My Obsession with The Good Wife

"You don't need another Sunday night show."

For six months I repeated this mantra. As I scrolled through Netflix looking for new friends to call my own, I would force my cursor past that seductive photo of Julianna Marguiles that just seemed to call to me (I love you Carol!). I had papers to write and books to read for class, so I needed to concentrate. Right? Then one fateful day, I went to a four hour late shift expecting to get some homework done, but forgot my book. Totally fate right?

It wasn't on Netflix anymore (which should have been a sign to STOP), but I managed to procure it from other sources.

I watched all 4 seasons in two weeks. Oops. I just couldn't stop.

Alicia is fabulous. She's good and honest past the point I thought was possible on television dramas. It's so refreshing to watch her struggle with her choices and to understand that there are consequences for your actions. A lot of other TV heroines just do whatever they want and everything seems to work out magically or a man saves her from the problems. Alicia's struggle can be so frustrating for me, but I think that's good writing.

Plus I basically know all of the law now. Who needs 3 years of law school when I figured it out in two weeks?

Then there's this:

Chris Noth (Peter) vs. Josh Charles (Will).

It seriously hurts me to think about choosing one over the other. I love Sex and the City and Sports Night, so their faces pretty much fueled this entire obsession. This isn't like Grey's Anatomy where you grow to love Addison, but you need Mer and Der to be together. I keep switching sides. I'll be so set in my choice and then one episode will swing it the other way. They're both so frustrating. (My real choice is my phone background, if you're curious.)

These writers know how to keep me going, too. It's close to perfect plot structure for me, especially in the fourth season. There had been no real development for one of the relationships in the first half of the season, so as I started another episode I thought, "Well maybe that's over for good." Then, at the end of that very episode, something happened. It was something so small, but because the writers let me doubt the relationship, I was shocked. Jumping-up-and-down shocked. It's so nice for shows to be unpredictable instead of going in cycles. The Good Wife is seriously some of the best writing in television. So far, season 6 of Mad Men is lagging behind in comparison.

The only problem with this TV binge is that it's been three days since the newest episode, and I'm having withdrawals. I just want to know what Will's doing, okay?

I would recommend this show for anyone who likes quality dramas. There are no zombies or ghosts, so lower those sci-fi expectations now. Imagine someone writing about situations that could actually happen and doing it well. It's mindblowing.