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S05.E15: Dramatics, Your Honor


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It did! Oh my god, I was not expecting that! Stupid Will!

I'm still in shock! I can't believe this didn't leak! I mean I never even considered this. What's going to happen now?! So exciting! Also terribly sad, I'm so mad they cut to black before Alicia finds out. Man. I just don't even know what to say.

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That was IMPRESSIVE.  Impressive that they didn't do a "guess who's going to die" promo at the end of the last episode.  Impressive that they entirely threw the series-defining will-they-won't-they Will-Alicia relationship out the window.  Impressive that the casting implications didn't leak ahead of time.  Impressive that they ended the episode starkly with that "Hello" [cut to black].  Impressive that they did this in a mid-season episode rather than a finale.  Impressive that they didn't give Will a hyper-emotional pre-death speech (but did fit in an nonintrusive moment of detente between Will and Alicia earlier in the episode).  Impressive.

This show has been excellent this season.  And last week's episode is even better in the context of this episode.

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I co-sign everything Travis says.

When I heard about how big this ep was I figured someone might die, and I was going through the list of possibles, and Will wasn't even close to on it.  Can't remember the last show that killed off such a major character completely out of the blue.  And Ned Stark doesn't count.  He hadn't been a major character on the show for 5 1/2 seasons like Will was.

I am also MYSTIFIED that they were able to keep that a complete secret.  I didn't hear even a whiff of ANYONE dying, let alone a lead character.

But, I agree that this might be a great new direction for the show.  I've never been a huge fan of the Will character anyway, and if (as the previews suggest)

Louis Canning is taking over his spot

, that will be very, very interesting.

I also can't WAIT to see that

fight between Alicia and Peter

.  I'm guessing that will be the Emmy reel for both of them this year.

I missed the airing of this show tonight and didn't intend to watch it until tomorrow cause I got home so late.  But a text from a friend right as I was going to bed told me I better watch it tonight if I didn't want to be spoiled, and she assured me I didn't want to be spoiled.  So I had to stay up til nearly 1 AM to finish it, but BOY am I glad I did.  I would have hated to have that spoiled.

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I always liked Will, but as Charles wanted to move on, I'm glad they went this way with it. I'm looking forward to seeing how they handle the fallout.

I hope the series ends with the reveal that Kalinda is actually British and has been doing an accent all along. That "Paramedics!" line wasn't even vaguely American.

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I was pretty unhappy with the plot choice made in this episode, at first.  It left me cold.  

 I really liked Will, perhaps contrary to many opinions on here, and this was a straight-up bummer. Also, does this mean we have to see more of Peter now? Because, ergh.

But now I'm extremely curious to see how the show handles things in the aftermath and beyond.  I do enjoy how these writers aren't afraid to get themselves into knots and then figure out the consequences - the way they tore things down by starting Florrick/Agos was exciting and a real invigoration of the show.  On the other hand, we all saw how things turned out when we finally met Kalinda's husband.  Still, they managed to write their way out of that one too, so if anyone can make this new scenario work, it's these guys.

Or this could be the bit where The Good Wife jumps the shark.

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I liked Will too, and really Josh Charles is one of the reasons I started watching this show (I binged seasons 1-4 on Amazon while recovering from a surgery last year) and while I'm sad that I won't see Josh Charles anymore I'm super impressed with how well they kept this under wraps and how they handled the scene. No cliffhanger while he's in surgery only to have him in a coma, then to recover and then to die or be overly dramatic in some other way. I also appreciated Kalinda breaking down, and I'm really interested to see where this goes. Gah! I still can't believe it! I'm with you @Rhondinella, I don't always watch these on the night they air but last night something told me I should just stay up and BOY am I glad I did. 

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 I also appreciated Kalinda breaking down,

Kalinda breaking down I think is what sold this as real (at least in terms of the show). Kalinda would not sob for fake death, or a coma, or any other minor little inconvenience. It was brutal.

If you haven't seen it, there's a post on the King's facebook page (reprinted here courtesy of Vulture) where they talk about their decision-making process in having Will's death be so sudden. It's a very good read.

On another note, was it just me or did Eli look - maybe not relieved, but somewhat calculating when he got the news that Will was dead? There was that little pause where he registered something slightly more than shock, before going over to get Alicia.

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On another note, was it just me or did Eli look - maybe not relieved, but somewhat calculating when he got the news that Will was dead?

Well, it's hard for dead people to be deposed so as sad as I'm sure Eli is (not that sad) he's also smart enough to know that this is at least a point, if not a bit of a win for Peter. 

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That was crazy brave and/or crazy smart writing.  The core of the show is Alicia, but her changes are defined at least in part by the people around her.  Chris Noth doesn't do many episodes, but Peter is the beginning of it all, the starting line (and as of now, I hope he's not the finish line).  Likewise, Alicia and Will didn't have to be together for  Will's presence to be in the background of every move she made.  Furthermore, Will and Diane were a character all their own, and Will was the only sounding board for Kalinda.  Now what?  Devastation, that's what.

Rhondinella, I'm looking forward to the same scene you are -- and despite the preview, I have no idea where the writers will go with it.  And that, it seems, is exactly what the writers wanted out of this kick in the gut.

I was completely unspoiled, including being unaware of Josh Charles' desire to leave the show, so I absolutely could not process what I was seeing. I agree with swimmyfish: I needed Kalinda and Diane to be there to make it real.  On the other hand, I didn't read Eli as anything but horrified (at least in that moment) and worried for Alicia.  That's what makes Alan Cummings' portrayal so interesting for me.

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I have no idea how I was able to stay unspoiled, as I usually watch TGW on Mondays and I live online. Somehow I managed to skip over all online information due to an unusually busy weekend. I wasn't able to watch the episode until Tuesday evening and Holy Shit, Wiiiiiillll!

I think it was a brilliant, gutsy move and I can't wait to see what happens in the aftermath.

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I was really lucky to be unspoiled for that episode.  I had run across several comments online alluding to something major happening, and actually thought to myself, "eh, how big could it be?  They've broken up the firm...is it some crazy hook up?"  Someone dying didn't even occur to me for some reason, and if it had, it certainly would not have been one of the main characters.  

That having been said, I did go into it knowing "something" was going to happen, so when the shots were fired and Kalinda started running to the court room, I was terrified for her.  In that moment I construed that closure-heavy conversation between her and Will to be for her benefit and I was like "oh crap no, not Kalinda."  So no offense to Will, but I was kind of relieved when they cut to the hospital and Kalinda was walking in of her volition.  I still fell for the mislead in the hospital when they thought he was in surgery.  I still didn't believe he was going to die.  But when she started walking towards the exam room with the "vics" from the courthouse only then did it really hit me that the show had had the balls to go there.

I'm continually impressed with this team.  They've had their missteps [iMO Kalinda's ex], but they've course-corrected well when they have, and they've got some real chutzpah.  To carry off this plot line without it being spoiled in this day and age?  That's a pretty impressive feat.  And the Kings' explanation made perfect sense to me.  Charles wanted to leave, and they knew there was no distance that would really keep Will and Alicia apart.  Except this one.  I'm really looking forward to where this takes us.

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I was shocked!  I usually read spoilers, but this was a very well kept secret, and I somehow missed all the talk of Josh Charles wanting to leave the show.  I know this show is about Alicia's journey, but Will was a favorite of mine, so at first I wasn't sure I wanted to keep watching the show.  However, now I need to see where it goes, so I will at least watch the rest of the season.  

Other than the Will shock, the thing that bugged me most about this episode was Kalinda, again, threatening to leave the firm.  Sheesh, either do it or shut up already.  

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Other than the Will shock, the thing that bugged me most about this episode was Kalinda, again, threatening to leave the firm.  Sheesh, either do it or shut up already.  

I think that was partly there for misdirection, so that people might think Kalinda was going to be the one to die. The conversation between Cary and Alicia about their relationship too.

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I was shocked!  I usually read spoilers, but this was a very well kept secret, and I somehow missed all the talk of Josh Charles wanting to leave the show. 

I don't think there was any.  One of the articles I read about the Kings' strategy on this was that they were able to keep Charles' contract status out of the trades to preserve the secret.

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First post here and I wanted it to be in my favorite, can't miss show.

Kudos to the Kings for not taking the easy way out and having Will move to Aruba, leave the firm, or go into a coma, or even give a deathbed speech before they pulled the plug.  I'm a JC fan since the days of Sports Night and have loved his work as Will  on this show.  Sudden death should be shocking, and messy, and leave all kinds of problems behind. Wrapping it up with a long farewell to each person would have been too easy.  I think watching everyone deal with the loss (or gain, in the case of slimy Peter) will be fascinating and can't miss viewing. 

PS - I fell off my couch when they did the reveal. Maybe I could sue "LG" (not the washing machine company) for injury? :D

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I'm going to be in the minority here and please don't think I'm just hating on the show because they killed off a favourite character, but...

My immediate response to Will being shot was "I wonder what new show he's going to be in?". My disappointment is not so much that they killed Will, but that they killed off one of the few remaining characters I found interesting. Cary seems destined to remain a piece of scenery even in his own firm, Kalinda has be reduced back to 'sexy bad girl' when they had her sleep with Cary again, Eli has been effectively sidelined, David Lee has gone from a hilarious snark into a miserable SOB. Even Diane hasn't had much presence since the nastiness, though that will obviously change now.

The preview of things to come did not fill me with anticipation, rather with dread at the thought of MJF becoming a main player. I loved this show when it had smart and snappy writing but it really feels like it's lost direction to me and the last few eps have been a struggle.

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I'm really annoyed that I was (inadvertently) spoiled as to Will's death, because I would've been completely blindsided by that. I'm glad that at least he got to make peace with Alicia first. Glad to see that Diane (and Kalinda) thought to call Alicia on his death (as well as his sisters) - they may not be friends, but they're not heartless. Was Surprised that Kalinda got so emotional - was she meant to have a thing for Will? Granted, it's not every day she sees somebody she knows gunned down, so I guess I can cut her some slack.

 

On the other hand, once the shooting happened my first thought was "Well, I guess the guy really was guilty!"

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