The Good Fight– A Knock-out
If you loved the multiple award-winning “The Good Wife” (2009-2016) starring Julianna Margulies, you will be enthralled even more so with The Good Fight (2017-present), purportedly continuing the legal drama of “The Good Wife” as a sort of sequel or spin-off.
In the first episode, “Inauguration”, it is January 20, 2017. Chicago attorney Diane Lockhart (the riveting Christine Baranski) –the powerhouse head of the legal firm in “The Good Wife”,–is watching Donald Trump take the oath of office. In disgust, she turns off the television, emotionally stunned by the craziness that will become reality. She is looking forward to early retirement in France.
Unbeknownst to Diane, a Ponzi-scheme, Madoff-like, is soon to shake up the privileged wealthy of Chicago…like her. The freshly minted young lawyer, Maia Rindell, (Rose Leslie of “Game of Thrones”)–her goddaughter– will suffer for her father’s alleged scam and so will Diane as her financial ruin and curtailed retirement present a different reality.
Together, as newcomers to a predominantly black law firm, , Dianeand Maia are compelled to rebuild their lives and establish their careers, and in the case of Diane, who is no longer a “named partner”, a humiliating downfall.
Ripped-from-the-headlines issues were the basis for the legal cases in “The Good Wife,” and in The Good Fight they take on more controversial material: Trump’s sexual assaults, impeachment, and obstruction of justice, fake news, twitter weaponizing, police brutality, and racism hiding under the surface of “diversity”.
Perhaps the most original and creative contribution that co-creators Michelle and Robert King make to prestige television is to embed a different perspective–Black–into the popular genre of legal thrillers. Each episode does not have to articulate the range of diversity in the legal system and throughout the workplace. It is simply there to witness.
The Good Fight is so well-written and is so well cast, that this viewer is in awe of the smart, brave, and wickedly insightful dialog throughout. Current news–and the complexity of our politics–is not something easily acknowledged or addressed but The Good Fight manages to address what cannot be ignored. Genius acting, writing, directing, and scene-building, including some clever animation.
You will not miss Alicia Florrick, Julianna Margulies’ character, and “The Good Wife”. And that is quite the achievement in itself.
Availability: Amazon Prime