History Series / TheGoodWife

* AdultFear: When Alicia can't find Grace? And realizes that her daughter called her twelve times? And her daughter isn't answering her phone? And one of the messages has a man telling her daughter to get in the car in the background? ''God,'' yes. Terrifying.

* ArtisticLicensePolitics: In ‘Payback’, Marissa tells Eli that Eyal Naftali, Chief of Staff to Israel’s Communications Minister, wants to run for the Knesset, and later for Prime Minister, and wants him to manage his campaign. Aside from the fact that this position does not exist[[note]]The Minister has a ''deputy minister'', whose name as of the episode’s air date is Shlomo Filber[[/note]], but you don’t run for Knesset--you run for party leadership in a party that has primary elections, and then the ''party'' runs for Knesset. Becoming Prime Minister means your party is big enough and you can manage to form a coalition with enough parties to get the majority of Knesset members on your side (i.e. a Westminster-style parliamentary system, sans ridings). Even more JustForFun/{{egregious}}ly, she tells him it’s his chance to get rid of Netanyahu (who is all too chummy with the Republicans in RealLife), while a person at this position would almost certainly be in Netanyahu’s coalition. And, incidentally, as of the episode’s air date, the Israeli Minister of Communications name is... Benjamin Netanyahu. The episode seems to assume the Prime Minister of Israel is [[EaglelandOsmosis equivalent to US President]], with similar elections. Israel does in fact have a President, but the office works very differently, and Presidents are also chosen by the Knesset.

** Frank Prady, Alicia's election opponent is widely rumored to be gay, due in part to not dating or remarrying after the death of his wife. Eventually he confides to Alicia that he never remarried because he's a Jesuit and so that would be against his vows (which include celibacy)-it's not said if he's a priest or a brother, though in either case it would forbid remarriage).

** Frank Prady, Alicia's election opponent is widely rumored to be gay, due in part to not dating or remarrying after the death of his wife. Eventually he confides to Alicia that he never remarried because he's a Jesuit and remarrying would be against his religion.

* MistakenForRacist: One judge sentences Alicia’s black, juvenile client to a stricter sentence than necessary (time in juvie) despite an agreement. The firm figures he’s racist, and reconsiders after Alicia walks into his office and sees photos of him with people like UsefulNotes/BarackObama. [[spoiler:Turns out he has gambling debts, and his friend runs the detention center and is giving him kickbacks from the state’s stipend.]] That last part is VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory.

-->'''Eli:''' You’re beautiful. And I’m... well, I have my moments, but [[spoiler:my office is the size of your bathroom]]. And I don’t have [[spoiler:the money you have]].
-->'''[[spoiler:Courtney:]]''' (''Sighs'') Come here.
--->(''He comes over hesitantly, and they kiss.'')

--->(''Alicia opens the door to Eli'')
--->'''Eli:''' Peter wants to [[spoiler:be president]].
--->'''Alicia:''' ...Excuse me?
--->'''Eli:''' Peter thinks he can [[spoiler:be president]].
--->(''{{Beat}}'')
--->'''Alicia:''' I need a drink.

** Frank Prady, Alicia's election opponent is widely rumored to be gay, due in part to not dating or remarrying after the death of his wife. Eventually he confides to Alicia that he never remarried because he's a Jesuit.

-->'''Eli:''' Rule number one... no touching in public. Ever. If [[spoiler:Jason]] is on fire, let him burn. Touching in private... No such thing. Nowhere is private anymore.
-->'''[[spoiler:Alicia]]:''' Clearly.
-->'''Eli:''' Rule number two... if you have to go out together, make sure there’s always a third party present, preferably female. Rule number three... even if you go out in a bigger group, never, under any circumstances, let it be in a hotel, a bar... or a [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs hotel bar]].

-->'''Rowby:''' Can I say something? Because that is r... really offensive.
-->'''Judge Louisa Page:''' No. Unfortunately not, Mr. Canton.
-->'''Rowby:''' Point of personal privilege.
-->'''Judge Page:''' Yes. I’m guessing that you saw that [[HollywoodLaw in a movie]], sir. That doesn’t work here.

-->'''Alicia:''' You think you could ever be happy? If you had taken a left instead of a right or went up instead of down, you would’ve been happy?
-->'''Ruth:''' No.
-->'''Alicia:''' Really?
-->'''Ruth:''' You can’t control fate. It’s in your genes. Can’t change that.
-->'''Alicia:''' So whatever I do, whatever I did I’d end up right back here?
-->'''Ruth:''' Well, maybe not here, but someplace like here. At the end of every fork, there’s a cliff. Go ahead, take ‘[[Creator/RobertFrost the road less traveled]]’. You’ll still find that cliff.

-->'''Ethan:''' ‘Anyone can defend a sympathetic client with popular beliefs. The real test of the First Amendment is whether we are willing to stand up for people and ideas we hate.’
-->'''Diane:''' Well, that’s more persuasive and plain-spoken than you normally are.
-->'''Ethan:''' I was quoting you. You said that in a speech to Emily’s List. You may not agree with our tapes or how they were made, but prior restraint is just wrong. And you know it.
-->'''Diane:''' (''Sighs heavily'') Why do I have to be so damn convincing?

* FlameBait: InUniverse, a video of Hallie Fisher, a doctor caught talking about selling aborted fetuses’ organs, becomes this in ‘Restraint’. A hearing on whether the video should be posted online or not attracts fervent crowds of supporters and detractors arguing vehemently before the hearing even starts. [[spoiler:It even winds up costing Diane some clients who are appalled at her defending it, despite her insisting that it’s a First Amendment case about prior restraint.]]

Creator/{{CBS}} legal drama series, 2009 to 2016, executive-produced by Creator/RidleyScott and starring Golden Globe and Emmy Award winner Julianna Margulies.

** Chris Matthews in ‘Iowa’.

* UnwinnableTrainingSimulation: In 'Parallel Construction, Bitches' Alicia is the [[spoiler:target of a SecretTest carried out by Lemond Bishop, and he suspects her briefly before they discover it was in fact the NSA tapping the phones. As opposed to her being]] against Lemond.

-->'''Lester:''' [[NoGuyWantsAnAmazon What is it with all these tough-talking women?!]] [[SocietyMarchesOn You know a word you don’t hear very much anymore?]] ‘[[WomenAreDelicate Demure]]’. [[{{Chickification}} How about bringing that one back?]]

* VillainDecay: Glenn Childs went from rather cunning and vicious in season one to fairly incompetent and approaching JerkassWoobie status in season two.

** In ‘Tracks’, Alicia’s neighbours want to get her evicted for running a business against the homeowner’s association’s regulation. Grace comes to their meeting and points out [[NotSoDifferent their own violations]].

* NotSoDifferent: Alicia’s neighbours want to evict her for running a business from her home, in violation of her homeowner’s association agreement. Grace comes to her meeting and points out a few things.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: While many relatively minor characters on the show recur, it is also not uncommon for them to disappear without a trace. The most obvious example is probably Julius Cain, the head of Litigation at Lockheart Gardner. Often taking the role of David Lee’s nemesis, Julius is (with Lee) presented as the most important partner other than Will and Diane for the first three seasons, and is a frequent participant in the many games of office politics. However, after the end of the third season he is never heard from, or mentioned, again.

** The first judge Alicia goes to court with in the pilot and the last judge she goes up against in the finale is Judge Richard Cuesta.

** One episode has a case nearly go constitutional when Alicia's client of the week tries to claim SpousalPrivilege on his husband, colliding with the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_of_Marriage_Act Defense of Marriage Act]]. This attracts the attention of a noted constitutional law attorney who is on a mission to get DOMA struck down and thinks he could use the SpousalPrivilege question as a wedge for an equal protection argument before the Supreme Court (it wouldn't be an issue for a heterosexual marriage). Alicia and the firm disagree with this approach on ethical grounds: they ''could'' hope for a conviction to be overturned on appeal, but at present their ''job'' is to defend their client as best they can. [[spoiler:Ultimately they TakeAThirdOption and get an acquittal.]]

*** [[spoiler:Josh Charles’]] decision to leave resulted in [[spoiler:Will Gardner’s death]] seemingly at random and out of nowhere.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** The episode title, ‘Whiskey Tango Foxtrot’. The episode involved the military, who use those words to spell out initials over the radio. WTF, or...
** The show also frequently uses a trick where they present the punchline to a dirty joke first, so the innuendo only becomes clear later in the episode - like in ‘Anatomy of a Joke’, where Alicia gets a prank call from someone asking her if she likes Brazilian food. Turns out [[spoiler:there’s a rumor going around that her husband has a Brazil-shaped birthmark on his penis.]]

* TheJudge:
** An unusual judge appears OnceAnEpisode.
** Will himself ends up presiding as a judge in a mock trial... of Literature/HanselAndGretel [[note]]Actually a rather common scenario in that sort of thing; it’s a classic murder/self-defense argument[[/note]].

* ObfuscatingDisability: Though he is legitimately disabled, Louis Canning ([[DisabledCharacterDisabledActor played by]] Creator/MichaelJFox) habitually plays up his disability to gain sympathy with the judges and juries he faces in court, much to Alicia’s annoyance.

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: According to Diane, before she was hired by Jonas Stern, the firm was mostly an all-boys club. Even Stern admitted to her that the main reason why he hired her was because it would be cool to have a woman on the team. Despite this, she accepted because she knew that, one day, she would be seen as a good lawyer, not just a woman. She explains this to Alicia, when the latter thinks she is being rewarded because she is a woman.

* GoodLawyersGoodClients: Subverted and deconstructed to the point of being the series' defining trait. Alicia tries to be idealistic, at least in the beginning, but there are many episodes that demonstrate how hopeless this is. Their villainous clients include [=ChumHum=] (a corrupt website), Lemond Bishop, and Colin Sweeney, but they remain equally good lawyers for their good and moral clients. In fact, they're just as likely to ''lose'' their battles for their moral characters. The best demonstration of this in ''Fleas''. Will and Diane take on Lemond Bishop as a client, to much disgust, for a custody battle. It's heavily implied that Bishop has his wife killed to prevent the case from going ahead - but they still argue for him and win.

* YourCheatingHeart: The original premise of the show is Peter cheating on Alicia with multiple women during his time as State's Attorney. Every time they seem to reconcile their relationship, this keeps coming back to drive them apart. In contrast, Alicia ends up having affairs with several men over the course of the show, although it's clearly portrayed as more romantic than Peter's mostly sexual affairs. At one point, though, even Peter is shown to be having a steady extramarital relationship with a woman on his staff (his marriage with Alicia is just for show at that point), but he's forced to break it off for political reasons. In the series finale, [[spoiler:Diane's husband Kurt is revealed to have been having an affair with a former colleague of his]].