The Good Fight is, of course, the spin-off of the series "The Good Wife" but is pretty far removed from the parent series. This season starts with tying up the prior season's storylines with the episode titled "Previously On" which shows how the events of 2021, including Covid, the election, and the attack on the capital, affected the characters, including a great long-haul Covid storyline involving Jay that makes him hallucinate throughout the season. It also provides a proper sendoff for Cush Jumbo and Delroy Lindo, both of whom intended to leave the show after season 4, but came back for the premiere since the prior season was cut short by the pandemic.
The main serial story arc this season involves a fake court run out of a copy shop, run by Mandy Pakankin's character "Judge" Hal Whackner. Marissa (who somehow goes to and graduates law school in a year) ends up becoming his court clerk (and tries cases in front of him). It is an amusing, but totally unrealistic storyline that gets silly by the end of the season. Another new addition to the cast is Charmaine Bingwa, who plays a first-year associate named Carmen Moyo, who ends up being the only lawyer one of the firm's sketchier clients will work with. This also allowed for a couple of appearances by Wallace Shawn in his role as Charles Lester, the fixer for bad guys. Unfortunately, there was no Princess Bride reunion between Shawn and Patinkin. The show does continue the STR Laurie conglomerate storyline, but John Larroquette left the show and his role was taken over by David Lee (played by Zach Grenier, the other carryover from The Good Wife) who is always great.
For those who get the DVD set, it is pretty bare-bones. The ten episodes are spread over three discs. There are deleted scenes for some of the episodes, but not all of them. There is not an extras menu on any of the discs, so if you want to watch the deleted scenes you have to go onto the menu for each individual episode. If you use the "play all" function, you will not see which episodes have deleted scenes available.
Overall, the show is one that you will either love or you will hate, probably depending on your political leanings. Unlike what some people seem to think, the show did not "go political" it was always political and has always been critical of the former guy. Although the show does portray conservative characters, including Diane's (Christine Baranski) husband, played by Gary Cole, and Michael Boatman's character Julius. But, the writers and producers most definitely have a liberal bent. The show is a combination of drama and comedy, but mostly very dark comedy. Because it streams on Paramount Plus there is a lot of swearing, including f-bombs. There is some sexual content, but it is not too over the top. There was one pretty hilarious bare butt shot, however, but that was the extent of the nudity. So, it is definitely not going to appeal to everyone. There has been a lot of cast turnover, with three main characters from the start of the show now gone. I'd say, in general, if you were a fan of the prior seasons, unless you were really invested in one of the characters who are no longer on the show, you will probably like this one. But, if you did not like the prior seasons, nothing about this season is likely to change your mind.
The main serial story arc this season involves a fake court run out of a copy shop, run by Mandy Pakankin's character "Judge" Hal Whackner. Marissa (who somehow goes to and graduates law school in a year) ends up becoming his court clerk (and tries cases in front of him). It is an amusing, but totally unrealistic storyline that gets silly by the end of the season. Another new addition to the cast is Charmaine Bingwa, who plays a first-year associate named Carmen Moyo, who ends up being the only lawyer one of the firm's sketchier clients will work with. This also allowed for a couple of appearances by Wallace Shawn in his role as Charles Lester, the fixer for bad guys. Unfortunately, there was no Princess Bride reunion between Shawn and Patinkin. The show does continue the STR Laurie conglomerate storyline, but John Larroquette left the show and his role was taken over by David Lee (played by Zach Grenier, the other carryover from The Good Wife) who is always great.
For those who get the DVD set, it is pretty bare-bones. The ten episodes are spread over three discs. There are deleted scenes for some of the episodes, but not all of them. There is not an extras menu on any of the discs, so if you want to watch the deleted scenes you have to go onto the menu for each individual episode. If you use the "play all" function, you will not see which episodes have deleted scenes available.
Overall, the show is one that you will either love or you will hate, probably depending on your political leanings. Unlike what some people seem to think, the show did not "go political" it was always political and has always been critical of the former guy. Although the show does portray conservative characters, including Diane's (Christine Baranski) husband, played by Gary Cole, and Michael Boatman's character Julius. But, the writers and producers most definitely have a liberal bent. The show is a combination of drama and comedy, but mostly very dark comedy. Because it streams on Paramount Plus there is a lot of swearing, including f-bombs. There is some sexual content, but it is not too over the top. There was one pretty hilarious bare butt shot, however, but that was the extent of the nudity. So, it is definitely not going to appeal to everyone. There has been a lot of cast turnover, with three main characters from the start of the show now gone. I'd say, in general, if you were a fan of the prior seasons, unless you were really invested in one of the characters who are no longer on the show, you will probably like this one. But, if you did not like the prior seasons, nothing about this season is likely to change your mind.
