TV Review: The Good Wife Season 1 & 2

When Jenn and I moved into our house a couple months ago we were desperately trying to find new TV shows to watch. Since we've gotten really into TV over the last couple of years we've heard tons of good things about CBS's The Good Wife. The show has won a ton of awards over the years and seems to be a critical darling. With our Amazon Prime membership we get the first five seasons for free so we decided to jump in.

I'm reviewing Season 1 & 2 in one post so that should tell you something at the top. We've watched a lot of The Good Wife in the last two months (46 episodes to be exact). However I'm still able to write up two seasons in one post because although The Good Wife is a great show not much actually happens.

Let me give you the run down of 95% of the episodes. You start out with five to ten minutes of lead into the case that's going to be the topic for the episode. Then randomly at some point (usually with no warning) the shows intro sequence will start. Then for the next twenty five minutes you will see Alicia (played expertly by Julianna Margulies) either crack the case or do something to help her firm win the case. Very seldom does she or her firm lose. Then for a couple minutes per episode the actual story arch will inch its way forward. You will get just enough to keep you interested but not enough to have any significant meaning. Rinse and repeat.

It's not a bad thing though. The core of the show is really interesting. Each case is unique and always has a twist you're not expecting. There's enough for those few minutes of actual story that keep you engaged. However it's a real shame that this isn't a Netflix or HBO show with ten to thirteen episode seasons. If this show was tightened up a bit it could be one of the best shows on TV right now. Even with the slow story drip, Jenn and I are continuing on and at the time of writing this we're a quarter of the way through Season 3 and surprise surprise not much has happened yet.