The Good Fight

For Baranski, who arrived to her second-banana job on The Good Wife through a career in comedy (notably as Cybill Shepard's drunken socialite sidekick in Cybill), this is the role of a lifetime, and she responds with the performance of a lifetime.

With remarkable turnaround, the Kings and their collaborators have delivered a spinoff drama, The Good Fight, which, in its first two episodes, proves to be a more-than-worthy successor, with the potential to surpass the original. That’s the good news.

Once again, personal stories weave around and reflect upon weekly cases; and once again, the Kings use those cases to skillfully tackle social issues, with an added emphasis here on ageism, racism and privilege. And as always, they tell their cleverly structured stories with wit, lace them with ambiguity, and sprinkle them with twists that are all the more enjoyable for being believable.

The dialogue crackles and the first featured case (in Episode 2) is buoyed by a guest appearance from Christine Lahti (Chicago Hope) as a very self-assured prosecutor.

It’s not a game-changer on the level it needs to be, for me to feel comfortable saying that it’s worth the sacrifice of sandwiches for anyone who didn’t love “The Good Wife.” That said, anyone who did love “The Good Wife” won’t regret figuring out how to make this new show a part of their lives. After all, a good show is a good show. And The Good Fight shows no signs of being anything else.

The storytelling in The Good Fight lacks some of the scope and jaunty walk-and-talk drive of The Good Wife, a consequence, perhaps, of a smaller budget. But everything else--writing, acting, vision--is smart and strong, and each episode moves briskly and offers ample entertainment.

The premiere spends a fair amount of time laying pipe, so Episode 2 provides a more accurate picture of what the series will look like moving forward. And it looks really good.

The Good Fight, a spinoff from CBS’s acclaimed The Good Wife, turns out to be a really good show.

The Good Fight preserves its predecessors’ tone, intelligence, quirkiness and Nancy Drew sense of adventure, while leaving behind some old, beaten baggage.

The drama itself is personal, not political. The relationships are carried by a balanced script, not an agenda or set of marching orders.

[The Kings'] writing remains sharp and witty. Their knack for telling stories through crisp visuals gives The Good Fight a high-gloss sheen. And their antennae are still tuned to hidden vibrations in the country’s subconscious, picking up on the tremors that are about to become earthquakes.

The Good Fight has been assembled in such a way that you don’t need to have seen so much as one episode of The Good Wife to follow what’s going on. The new chapter in Diane’s life is also a new chapter in the genre of first-rate lawyer shows.

Through two episodes, The Good Fight feels appropriately like an extension on the brand and unless you discover that what you really liked about The Good Wife was the soap opera of Alicia Florrick's life, you'll find this a welcome return.

The best news about The Good Fight is that it takes a character a lot of us have loved for years and challenges her to be better, and less complacent, than she's ever been--with no guarantee that she'll succeed.

Written and executive produced by “Good Wife” creators Michelle King and Robert King, The Good Fight marks a pretty seamless transition from “The Good Wife” that feels similar enough for viewer comfort, but also different enough to avoid being a total rehash.

It’s still a procedural, but it’s a damn fine one--one worth paying for CBS All Access, even though it deserves so much more.

But for [Diane] and for this improbable but promising spinoff--it ends up being an invigorating new start.

It is clear that The Good Fight is a very, very good show that’s worthy of commitment. If CBS wants its broadcast audience to also become habitual users of All Access, this smart spinoff makes for a pretty enticing gateway drug.

Turns out there may be more corners of the Kings’ Chicago to explore, with the help of their twisty scripts and expert pacing, which keep each episode moving like a long, sustained crescendo.

Creatively, it’s a satisfying return to the world, freed of the Florrick baggage that made the final Good Wife days less exciting, even if her absence seems to limit the new show’s overall ceiling.

The Good Fight is off to a bright and brainy beginning, even if it seems a bit rote. We also can appreciate a show focusing on three female leads.

Solid opener, compelling premise, good cast and one major hole.

The Good Fight has to incorporate a host of supporting characters and cases of the week into the backstories of its multiple leads, and the results are occasionally a bit bumpy and scattered. All in all, however, it’s a promising endeavor, even if the lead characters are so understandably stressed that it’s a pleasure to check in on amusing scene-stealers like Eli Gold’s enterprising daughter, Marissa (Sarah Steele), and Denis O’Hare’s delightfully eccentric judge.