The Good Fight Derives Purpose And Energy From Our Current Political Climate

While The Good Wife was never a ratings powerhouse, and its reputation took a knock in its final couple of seasons, the show remained a brand that still appealed to a certain well-to-do demographic, one that might have the income necessary to subscribe to yet another streaming platform. Spin-offs for the sake of business interests, however, may not always yield the best results, and after the plot synopsis for The Good Fight was released -- Diane (Christine Baranski) loses all her money in a Ponzi scheme just as she's about to retire -- even some of the most die-hard Good Wife fans I know, myself included, raised a quizzical eyebrow about what this continuation of the franchise had to offer. Trump's victory turns Diane's retirement victory into a liberal firebrand fleeing a situation she believes she can't possibly tolerate but is now stuck in because of a system she thought she could trust. (Reddick remains to be seen; perhaps he'll be this firm's Jonas Stern?) We're introduced to them as they're suing Cook County over a police brutality case, the type of case in which Diane would typically be on the firm's side -- as Lucca (Cush Jumbo) helpfully points out -- but is instead serving as the "necessary side" in defending Cook County, a sort of pragmatism that Diane wasn't always prone to. While all of this is focused on Diane since she is, after all, the headliner of the spin-off and the pre-existing character with the most history (at least for long-time Good Wife viewers), Good Fight offers up Maia Rindell (Rose Leslie) as not only an audience surrogate for any new viewers but also a younger potential counterpoint to Diane's perspective on the newsy topics creators Robert and Michelle King are plucking from the headlines for this series. The second episode, "First Week," illustrates all this by devoting a surprising amount of time to a case of the week regarding retail loss prevention, garnished wages, and int