‘The Good Wife’ Producers Spill Six Secrets About the Final Season

According to Robert and Michelle King, the executive producers and writers of The Good Wife, they learned about CBS’s decision to end the show last week, before the shocking announcement was made in a promo during the Super Bowl. However, seven seasons was always what the Kings envisioned for the story of Alicia Florrick, played by the multiple award-winning Julianna Margulies.

In a press conference, the Kings—who had already decided to exit TGW to produce BrainDead, a comic political thriller, for the network—talked about their plans for the critical favorite as it enters its last nine episodes. They’re happy that the studio and network decided to end the series. “We’re very fortunate and flattered that we can end the show way we want to do it,” said Michelle. (They’re currently writing the 18th episode, out of 22, and have the stories sketched out up to the 20^th.) And Margulies was only sort of joking when she announced last month that she would be unemployed in April. “I think she was up in the air, torn at the time,” Robert said. “But eventually, everybody came to the same decision: it was time go out,” Michelle added.

Here are some more highlights about what to expect.

The Kings always knew where Alicia (and the supporting characters) would end up. In fact, the creators always had a plan, even for Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski), Alicia’s former mentor and saboteur, and Cary Agos (Matt Czuchry), Alicia’s career rival.

Kalinda won’t be back but fellow investigator Robin might. The Kings are trying to bring back a lot of characters from past seasons. Gary Cole’s Kurt McVeigh, the right-wing husband to liberal Diane, is a definite yes. Other favorites, including Martha Plimpton’s “cynical” lawyer Patti Nyholm, Carrie Preston’s wacky Elsbeth Tascioni and Jess Wexler’s plucky Robyn Burdine are maybes. The return of Archie Panjabi, however, is a definite no.

Three major story arcs will be focused on in the final episodes. The remaining episodes will focus on the resolution of Peter (Chris Noth) and Alicia’s long-torn marriage, the events that happen when Alicia returns to her old firm and Alicia’s continuing relationship with all the other characters.

Alicia may or may not fulfill Eli Gold’s (Alan Cumming) dream to run for President. The producers didn’t say anything definitive, but they did mention part of the story has been about how a woman who, like many women, could be led “kicking and screaming” into leadership.

The series finale may have shades of Breaking Bad, Six Feet Under and The Wire. But this doesn’t mean there will be lots of darkness, death and general sadness. “We like the idea of a finale being happy and sad at the same time, but having a major impact,” Robert said.

A Good Wife spinoff is in the realm of possibility. The Kings put a spinoff in the “maybe” category, mentioning how “appealing” one could be with the likes of Preston and Plimpton.

As for what’s after The Good Wife, the Kings also talked more about BrainDead. They revealed that watching current politics helped develop the series premise, about politicians’ brains being eaten by aliens. Even though they wrote the pilot last year, the producers found “so much fun new stuff to add,” thanks to the current presidential campaigns. “It might not be good for the world, but it’s good for our show,” noted Robert.

Don’t miss the final nine episodes of #TheGoodWife. Alicia’s story concludes May 8th: https://t.co/gCGfum3AIuhttps://t.co/eS3aK4zj4e

— The Good Wife (@TheGoodWife_CBS) February 8, 2016