History YMMV / TheGoodWife

* Narm: The scenes in Season 6 where Alicia and Kalinda actually spoke to each other earned this response from some. A [[https://twitter.com/MattMitovich/status/597577497434312704/photo/1 few]] people noted that it looked as though the two shot their scenes at different times or on different stages, possibly as a result of the apparent feud between Margulies and Panjabi.

** Anything and anyone in the wake of [[spoiler: Alicia and Cary forming their own law firm.]] Suffice to say, reactions and motivations are really anyone's guess.

** Blake investigating Kalinda. The producers admitted that Scott Porter's schedule forced them to drag the story out longer than they'd planned.
** Alicia and Kalinda's reconciliation. Taking a year might have worked for realism's sake, but without their chemistry as a cornerstone the whole third season suffered.

* JerkassWoobie: [[spoiler:Jackie]], who reveals only in season 7 (in ‘Cooked’, to be specific) that her mother hated her laughter and mader her eat a clove of garlic whenever she did. Suddenly her behaviour makes so much more sense.
* LesYay: Pretty much canonical, albeit perhaps one-sided, between Alicia and Kalinda; at one point in season four, Kalinda's estranged husband hears Kalinda on the telephone, and concludes, based on Kalinda’s tone of voice, that she is having an affair with the person on the other end of the line. Of course, he also concludes that the person is Cary, with whom Alicia shares an office, but we, the audience, know that it was really Alicia.

* ParanoiaFuel: Watching "The Week After" probably compelled more than a few people to put tape over their webcams. Also {{invoked}} InUniverse - the last scene involves Zack closing his webcam program just to make sure the green light goes out.
* TheScrappy: Kalinda's ex-husband Nick, a violent homophobe involved in shady dealings, who spends his screen time stalking her, trying to have sex with her, and getting jealous of whoever she's with. On top of this his actor chews the scenery like their's no tomorrow and scenes with him tend to both drag on and have no importance to what's going on with any of the other characters. Hatred of him was so high that the character was shuttled off the show for a few episodes and then quickly KilledOffForReal after he came back.

** Season 3 was considered a slight letdown from Season 2, featuring a more unfocused overall arc. Season 4's first few episodes continued this trend with a storyline involving Kalinda's husband that many fans disliked. Luckily, the second half of Season 4 and all of Season 5 rebounded from this greatly.
** Season 6 earned accusations of this, though. Some criticisms included the lengthiness of [[ArcFatigue Alicia's election storyline]] (with very little payoff), [[DemotedToExtra the decision to shunt Cary to the sidelines]] midway through the season after giving his trial so much focus and weight early on, and the season finale introducing Louis Canning as a potential player ready to start a firm with Alicia, [[RecycledScript echoing the end of Season 4, where Cary did the same thing]]. Additionally, the apparent bad blood between Julianna Margulies and Archie Panjabi working its way into the show's real-life plotting [[http://www.hitfix.com/the-fien-print/listen-firewall-iceberg-podcast-no-280-penny-dreadful-good-wife-and-more earned particular scorn]], with some criticizing the show's attempt to elicit a passionate response toward Alicia and Kalinda's friendship when the two [[http://www.buzzfeed.com/emilyorley/the-most-complicated-relationship-on-the-good-wife-has-come#.yuqKMk7RM8 hadn't been shown in the same frame]] with one another all season long.
* ValuesDissonance: Kalinda is rather cynical about a jury consultant for using racial stereotypes, to which the rather obvious comeback is "That's what your firm pays me for." Honestly, you simply try to fix a jury in your favor, and ''look'' at the kind of amoral people you get.
* WinBackTheCrowd: As mentioned above, while Season 3 dropped a bit in quality, the second half of Season 4 (with episodes like "Red Team, Blue Team", "Death of a Client", and "What's in the Box?") and all of Season 5 (particularly the show's 100th episode, ‘Hitting the Fan’), have received widespread acclaim.

** Alicia's election storyline in Season 6.

* {{HSQ}}: As the name would indicate, "Hitting the Fan". Also, [[spoiler:Will's sudden death, and the fallout from it.]]

* LesYay: Pretty much canonical, albeit perhaps one-sided, between Alicia and Kalinda; at one point in season four, Kalinda's estranged husband hears Kalinda on the telephone, and concludes, based on Kalinda's tone of voice, that she is having an affair with the person on the other end of the line. Of course, he also concludes that the person is Cary, with whom Alicia shares an office, but we, the audience, know that it was really Alicia.

* WinBackTheCrowd: As mentioned above, while Season 3 dropped a bit in quality, the second half of Season 4 (with episodes like "Red Team, Blue Team", "Death of a Client", and "What's in the Box?") and all of Season 5 (particularly the show's 100th episode, "Hitting the Fan"), have received widespread acclaim.

** By [=S06E10=] ‘The Trial’, [[spoiler:Cary]], once [[spoiler:the defence and Lemond Bishop finally force him into pleading guilty and going to prison for 2 years]].

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Alicia Florrick. Is she a noble hardworking single mother who faces adversity with integrity and honesty? Or is she an inconsiderate JerkAss who believes justice is sternly the law and constantly indulges in [[KickTheDog kicking or]] [[ShootTheDog shooting the proverbial dog]]?

* ArcFatigue: Blake investigating Kalinda. The producers admitted that Scott Porter's schedule forced them to drag the story out longer than they'd planned.

** How many times can Colin Sweeney go back and forth over whether he killed his wife?
** Kalinda being stalked and harassed by her Ex-Husband Nick. It dosen't help the storyline followed the same beats of Kalinda rebuffing him and the two threatning each other till they ended up sleeping together or him getting violently jealous of someone over and over again.

* EnsembleDarkHorse: Kalinda Sharma. To the point that film studies students at Harvard have written essays about her.

* MagnificentBastard: Eli Gold, oh so very much.

* MagnificentBitch: Patti Nyholm

* TheScrappy: Kalinda's ex-husband Nick, a violent homophobe involved in shady dealings, who spends his screen time stalking her, trying to have sex with her, and getting jealous of whoever she's with. On top of this his actor chews the scenery like their's no tommorow and scenes with him tend to both drag on and have no importance to what's going on with any of the other characters. Hatred of him was so high that the character was shuttled off the show for a few episodes and then quickly KilledOffForReal after he came back.
* SeasonalRot: Season 3 was considered a slight letdown from Season 2, featuring a more unfocused overall arc. Season 4's first few episodes continued this trend with a storyline involving Kalinda's husband that many fans disliked. Luckily, the second half of Season 4 and all of Season 5 rebounded from this greatly.

** By [=S06E10=] ‘The Trial’, [[spoiler:Cary]], once [[spoiler:the defence and Lemond Bishop finally force him into pleading guilty and going to prison for 2 years]].

** Season 6 earned accusations of this, though. Some criticisms included the lengthiness of [[ArcFatigue Alicia's election storyline]] (with very little payoff), [[DemotedToExtra the decision to shunt Cary to the sidelines]] midway through the season after giving his trial so much focus and weight early on, and the season finale introducing Louis Canning as a potential player ready to start a firm with Alicia, [[RecycledScript echoing the end of Season 4, where Cary did the same thing]]. Additionally, the apparent bad blood between Julianna Margulies and Archie Panjabi working its way into the show's real-life plotting [[http://www.hitfix.com/the-fien-print/listen-firewall-iceberg-podcast-no-280-penny-dreadful-good-wife-and-more earned particular scorn]], with some criticizing the show's attempt to elicit a passionate response toward Alicia and Kalinda's friendship when the two [http://www.buzzfeed.com/emilyorley/the-most-complicated-relationship-on-the-good-wife-has-come#.yuqKMk7RM8 hadn't been shown in the same frame]] with one another all season long.

** Diane Lockhart in Season 5. [[spoiler:Peter screws her over and denies her the judgeship she always wanted. Her best friend dies. Lee and Canning plot to remove her as managing partner of her own company.]]

* MoralEventHorizon: Louis Canning has defended quite a few reprehensible people and companies, but when he defends Chicago Polytech after they grossly mishandle a rape case, playing his condition in court UpToEleven, and after he informs the defendant that [[spoiler:they ‘happened’ to find drugs in her room in a ‘random’ search, meaning she’s expelled, and she drops the charges and effectively kills the class action Alicia wanted to form]], [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil he comes across as downright evil]].

** Colin Sweeney.

** Alicia, at least until [[spoiler:getting together with Will.]] And then Will (separate spoiler) [[spoiler: ''dies'', plunging Alicia straight back into this territory]].

** Alicia, at least until [[spoiler:getting together with Will]].
** Elsbeth Tascioni has a brief moment as such in “A Few Words”, when the man in the bear costume in [=NYC=] she hugs and has her picture taken with calls her a ‘Dirty stinkin’ Jew’. She looks utterly distraught and tries to warn other tourists, and while talking to Kalinda on the phone she spurts out out of the blue, ‘I am ''not'' a dirty, stinkin’ Jew!’ This moment will either [[FunnyMoments make you laugh]], make you see her as TheWoobie, or [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs both]].
** ''Everyone'' after [[spoiler: Will is KilledOffForReal]].

** Elsbeth Tascioni has a brief moment as such in “A Few Words”, when the man in the bear costume in [=NYC=] she hugs and has her picture taken with calls her a ‘Dirty stinkin’ Jew’. She looks utterly distraught and tries to warn other tourists, and while talking to Kalinda on the phone she spurts out out of the blue, ‘I am ''not'' a dirty, stinkin’ Jew!’ This moment will either [[FunnyMoments make you laugh]], make you see her as TheWoobie, or [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs both]].

* WinBackTheCrowd: As mentioned above, while Season 3 dropped a bit in quality, the second half of Season 4 (with episodes like "Red Team, Blue Team", "Death of a Client", and "What's in the Box?") and all of Season 5 (particularly the show's 100th episode, "Hitting the Fan"), have received widespread acclaim.

* FanPreferredCouple: Will and Alicia

* ParanoiaFuel: Watching "The Week After" probably compelled more than a few people to put tape over their webcams. Also invoked InUniverse - the last scene involves Zack closing his webcam program just to make sure the green light goes out.

* ValuesDissonance: Kalinda is rather cynical about a jury selector for using racial stereotypes, to which the rather obvious comeback is "that's what your firm pays me for." Honestly, you simply try to fix a jury in your favour, and ''look'' at the kind of amoral people you get.

* ValuesDissonance: Kalinda is rather cynical about a jury selector for using racial stereotypes, to which the rather obvious comeback is "that's what your firm pays me for." Honestly, you simply try to fix a jury in your favour, and ''look'' at the kind of amoral people you get.

* DidntDoTheResearch: In a rather awkward and contrived manner, with Zack's (ex-)girlfriend Nisa. Initially it's only her skin color that's a topic of debate (because of the possible repercussions for Peter's campaign), but later she is mentioned to be the daughter of a Hamas sympathizing Muslim preacher, which basically rolls three separate unlikely scenarios into one. A girl not wearing a scarf? Progressively more unlikely the more conservative the family gets. A girl allowed to have a boyfriend before marriage? Progressively more unlikely the more conservative the family gets. A girl allowed to have a ''unbeliever'' as boyfriend? Unlikely even for moderately religious families. All of the above at once, with the father in question being the aforementioned Hamas sympathizing preacher? You must be joking, even if the boyfriend is the son of the district attorney of Illinois.

* DidNotDoTheResearch: In a rather awkward and contrived manner, with Zack's (ex-)girlfriend Nisa. Initially it's only her skin color that's a topic of debate (because of the possible repercussions for Peter's campaign), but later she is mentioned to be the daughter of a Hamas sympathizing Muslim preacher, which basically rolls three separate unlikely scenarios into one. A girl not wearing a scarf? Progressively more unlikely the more conservative the family gets. A girl allowed to have a boyfriend before marriage? Progressively more unlikely the more conservative the family gets. A girl allowed to have a ''unbeliever'' as boyfriend? Unlikely even for moderately religious families. All of the above at once, with the father in question being the aforementioned Hamas sympathizing preacher? You must be joking, even if the boyfriend is the son of the district attorney of Illinois.

* ParanoiaFuel: Watching "The Week After" probably compelled more than a few people to put tape over their webcams. Also InUniverse - the last scene involves Zack closing his webcam program just to make sure the green light goes out.