'To talk about the end of the series is probably to talk about the beginning of the series because we started with this feeling that it should begin with a slap and end with a slap,' says Robert King.
- May 9, 2016
AceShowbiz - "The Good Wife" series creators Robert and Michelle King apparently realize that the series finale would raise a lot of questions with some unresolved issues. In a video interview posted by CBS soon after the last episode aired, the two explain what the ending means.
"To talk about the end of the series is probably to talk about the beginning of the series because we started with this feeling that it should begin with a slap and end with a slap," Robert says of the final scene in which Alicia (Julianna Margulies) was slapped by Diane (Christine Baranski). Michelle adds, "We had talked about that the victim becomes the victimizer, and that's really the circle that we see of Alicia."
"This show is about a woman who becomes more and more confident and more and more cunning and excited about her ability and also about power," Robert continues. "So that slap at the end is very similar to the slap in the beginning. We always had this idea of Alicia becoming more and more of something that she also was not liking in her husband."
Robert explains the significance of the slap, "Michelle has always said the slap at the beginning of the series was like a slap that woke Alicia up. There's a slap at the end of the series that wakes Alicia up a second time."
He goes on praising Julianna's acting in that scene, "Julianna's performance is so sensitive and really fills me with emotion whenever I see it. She is contemplating everything that came before. And so the question of what is the next stage in her life, is she going to take that into account, I think that's also what we see in the ending."
Of Alicia's decision to reveal in court that Diane's husband Kurt (Gary Cole) was having an affair with Holly West (Megan Hilty) in order to save Peter (Chris Noth) from going into prison, Michelle claims Alicia "didn't knowingly betray Diane. If anything, Diane was collateral damage." According to Michelle, Alicia "was saving herself" because she couldn't be free if Peter went to jail.
Robert says what they were trying to show is that "there were consequences to her decisions," adding that just when Alicia decided to "move on, she has found that she's become sort of [Peter]."
Another unresolved question is whether Alicia had her happy ending with Jason (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) or not. "We wanted it to be a little ambiguous," Robert says. "The show has never gone in for easy answers." But Michelle assures us that Alicia's "going after Jason."
Alicia's previous love Will (Josh Charles) also returned in the series finale despite the Kings' denial. "He's fantasy because he's the love that got away," Michelle says of why Will needed to return. "So she can make him, in her mind, anything she wants him to be."
Following the final episode, Charles took to Twitter to bid farewell to the legal drama. "To Wife, To Wife, L'Chaim!" he wrote alongside a picture of him raising a glass.
To Wife, To Wife, L'Chaim! #TheGoodWifeFarewell#ThankYou pic.twitter.com/3BeqkTbl8W
— Josh Charles (@MrJoshCharles) May 9, 2016
