Your Official Guide to Binge Watching The Good Wife

As of today, you have two weekends to catch up on The Good Wife before the hit import from the world of Mom Shows returns. Whether you're here because of the nonstop critical praise, the endless lavishing of awards, or to shut up a friend or loved one by finally giving it a try, you still have a decent shot at getting caught up in time to join the conversation next Sunday (9/21).

TGW rarely has what you'd call filler episodes, so we can't really angle here toward eliminating the unnecessary; what you have are choices about focusing on what's going to be of immediate importance when the show returns for Season 6.

Seasons 1-4 are on Hulu Plus (Season 5 available 9/21), and—thanks to a deal earlier this summer—nothing's on Netflix, but everything (including Season 5) is on Amazon Prime.

SEASON ONE

Five Essential Episodes:

• "Pilot" (101) Like that of every show that exists, the pilot of The Good Wife establishes the premise, characters, conflicts, and world of a show. You'd do well to watch the pilot of any show that interests you. That's how it works.
• "Stripped" (102) and "Home" (103) explore Florrick family dynamics and introduce the "shortest giant/tallest dwarf" politics of the show, a natural consequence of the champagne liberal milieu, but one that can come as a sharp surprise when something tremendously conservative or old-peopley happens out the blue. You also get to see what Alicia is like around bitches, which is a huge part of the show, which is in large part just a deluge of bitches.
• "Doubt" (118), "Unplugged" (121) and "Running" (123) take us to the end of Season 1, each concerning a different long-running dynamic within the firm.

Five Worthwhile Ones:

• "Fixed" (104), "Lifeguard" (110), "Hi" (114), "Fleas" (116) and "Hybristophilia" (122) introduce equally important running characters, institutions and concepts. Also, you may be surprised by how dynamic the relationship with Peter actually is, from the very start, and this is also a good scattering of episodes to get the gist of how the Florricks' marriage actually works. (To the extent that you will ever understand how it works.)

SEASON TWO

Five Essential Episodes:

• "Taking Control" (201) resolves the cliffhanger, and introduces new possible enemies at the firm and in Chicago's larger political scene: By "Breaking Fast" (203) Alicia and the firm are up against the villainous State's Attorney Glen Childs (Peter's opponent), and so on.
• In "VIP Treatment" (205) we meet DA Wendy Scott-Carr, a ruiner of countless lives; this one also shows us Diane's disappointed idealism when her heroes show feet of clay: A recurring and central theme, as usually Diane represents the more pragmatic view toward which optimistic Alicia is always staggering.
• "Ham Sandwich" (217) is the first in a long scattered line of episodes surrounding a drug-lord's violent divorce; also when you notice how much unspoken issues of race and privilege have begun dominating both Peter's life and the firm itself. In the finale, "Closing Arguments" (223), let's just say that Alicia, um, resolves the tension in multiple close relationships and areas of life.

Five Worthwhile Ones:

• "Double Jeopardy" (202) shows us Cary Agos as an Assistant State's Attorney, and it's brutal.
• "Poisoned Pill" (206) introduces Michael J. Fox's Louis Canning, a hugely important character and seminal episode just in general; "Net Worth" (214) introduces internet millionaire Neil Gross, possibly the show's most pivotal client.
• "On Tap" (208) is when the telephonic misdeeds from last year's finale finally come to light.
• "Two Courts" (211) dives deep into the institutionalized racism stuff, asking white-lady questions most white-lady shows would be too white-lady to ask. Fairly amazing how willing the show, and characters, are willing to interrogate themselves just in case.

SEASON THREE

Five Essential Episodes:

• "Marthas & Caitlins" (305) Between suicidal witnesses and workplace paranoia, Alicia's need for the monstrous Colin Sweeney's help is nearly cause for a breakdown; Eli does some crazy shit for Peter. A good intro to the real themes and stakes of the season.
• "Executive Order 13224" (307) Alicia vs. the Treasury Department is a fan-favorite episode, not least because of the return of Carrie Preston's Elsbeth Tascioni and some of Julianna Margulies's most hilarious deadpan of all time.
• "Another Ham Sandwich" (314) is a major turning point both for Will Gardner and for the terrifying Wendy Scott-Carr. Possibly Amy Sedaris's best episode.
• "Blue Ribbon Panel" (319) and "The Dream Team" (322) bookend the season's intense last act, as Alicia gets pulled back into Peter's political realm just as Martha Plimpton's evil Patti Nyholm is teaming up with Louis Canning to ruin the firm altogether.

Five Worthwhile Ones:

• "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" (309) is one of the season's most stylish episodes, although the case could stand to be more interesting; Diane's dilemmas back home at the firm provide some intense counterpoint.
• "What Went Wrong" (311) finds Alicia at a crossroads emotionally and Wendy Scott-Carr approaches Will with a devil's bargain; "Bitcoin for Dummies" (313) introduces a second internet billionaire, this one more youthfully and cluelessly idealistic but no less of a pain in the ass.
• "After the Fall" (316) is the best episode involving Anna Camp's Caitlin, seeming party girl/actual striver, whose arc is one of the most surprising and politically relevant on the show.
• "Pants on Fire" (320) requires a reevalutation of the entire Florrick marriage once the vile Mike Kristeva (Matthew Perry) throws his hat into the gubernatorial ring; this dynamic changes things for a long time to come.

SEASON FOUR

Five Essential Episodes:

• In "Boom De Yah Da" (411), Will and Diane face off against Clarke Hayden, who's sweetly trying to take over the firm; Alicia finds herself in the wilderness with only a weirdly sympathetic Louis Canning and his marvelous wife for company.
• "The Seven Day Rule" (413) A whirlwind, instant classic episode all about the farcical machinations and finances at the firm. Peter's campaign storyline is also fairly decent in this one, as well.
• In "Red Team, Blue Team" (414), the fourth-years face off against the partners, which becomes a huge deal for the rest of the season (and series).
• "Death of a Client" (418) introduces and kills off John Noble's outstanding Matthew Ashbaugh posthumously; nevertheless he becomes a central character, despite never appearing in realtime on the show. a Top Five all-time episode.
• "What's in the Box?" (422) is a fairly brutal, suspenseful finale that both clears the deck for the glory of Season Five, and ties things up here in a satisfying way.

Five Worthwhile Ones:

• "I Fought the Law" (401) / "And the Law Won" (402), while enjoyable episodes, introduce the show's most negatively received, unnecessary plots and characters ever: Maura Tierney's mesmerizing Maddie Hayward, Kalinda's mysterious shitty boring stupid awful husband, and Nathan Lane's wonderful trustee Clarke Hayden (who will eventually matter, but not until year) are all important to the overall arc of the season, but also just distract from it. You can pick up the gist without caring too much about any of that stuff.
• "Waiting for the Knock" (405) puts Alicia inside Lemond Bishop's home for almost the entire episode, resulting in some pretty stellar stuff; Eli's fight with journalism goes to some pretty crazy places over the course of the season.
• "Here Comes the Judge" (408) Will overhears a judge being a total dick at a bar, which unravels everybody's lives in ways that never stop being super intense/hilarious. Grace Florrick as interesting as she will ever be.
• "Je Ne Sais What?" (412) While Alicia, Diane and Will join forces to help Elsbeth Tascioni, TR Knight's Jordan and Alan Cumming's Eli Gold clash over Peter's campaign. One of the show's and definitely Peter's best scene of the series to date, in which ASA Geneva Pine explains race to the dude more patiently than you would ever believe possible:

Bonus: Worst-Ever Episode of This Whole Show

• "A Defense of Marriage " (409). Poorly written, smarmy as hell, and manages to fumble gay marriage and organized labor in the same story. Veritable checklist of why you should never presume to tell someone else's story. Just skip it.

SEASON FIVE

The best season of the show and one of the best seasons of any show, ever, this one probably deserves its own day of bingeing. It's definitely the reason you've been hearing about the show more this last year, as the buzz increased from both old-school fans and newer converts. In a pinch, remember that multiples of 5 (episodes 5, 10, 15, 20) are the tentpoles this year, along with the premiere and the finale.

Essential Episodes:

• In "Everything is Ending" (501) Alicia and Cary are treated like double-agents within the firm, which is exactly what they are... Until "Hitting the Fan" (505), which is aptly titled and brings the entire show down around everyone's ears. Some of the most intense dramatics in the show to date, and some of the best writing and acting too. You'd think it would be hard to top...
• And then comes "The Decision Tree" (510), in which we get a glimpse inside the betrayed Will Gardner's mind (and at all the Alicias that populate it). A heartbreaker and one I've personally seen convert new viewers even without the backstory. Its parallel episode, "A Few Words" (514), recapitulates Alicia's own biography more clearly and explicitly than any story to date. But they both, together, sadly lead us inexorably toward...
• "Dramatics, Your Honor"/"The Last Call" (515/ 516), which if you don't know what that means or how the story therein cemented Good Wife as one of the all-time greats, don't worry about it. Just start watching so you can get there as quickly as possible.
• The last three episodes of the season (520-522) form a triptych of sorts, although if you're pressed for time you can leave out the middle chapter and still get the gist of where Season 6 will find us: Who is estranged from Lockhart/Gardner these days, where Alicia's head is at romantically, and how everybody is going to be moving forward after the show-rattling events that kept exploding in everybody's faces all season.

Also Worthwhile:

• "The Bit Bucket" and "The Deep Web"(502 and 520) introduce and wrap up the NSA storyline, which is enjoyable as background noise you know will never go anywhere.
• "The Next Day," "The Next Week," and "The Next Month" (506-508) follow on from the events of 505, a neat bit of stage business that never gets so absorbed with its own cleverness that you can't track and grieve along with the involved players.
• "Outside the Bubble" (504) takes us behind the Diane curtain for the first time in a while, which is always nice; she brings in Elsbeth on a case and comes to an astonishing decision regarding her sexy, gun-nut Republican boyfriend Kurt McVeigh.
• "We, the Juries" (512) puts a couple accused of drug trafficking through its symbolic paces, as everybody tries to figure out their trust-fall situation with everybody else, while by "All Tapped Out" (518) everything has so drastically changed that it's itself just a fascinating transition story. Everything after that point is about exploring the professional and personal roles our cast—now including Matthew Goode's Finn Polmar—might find themselves inhabiting this coming season, now that everything is irrevocably and pretty horribly different.

So there you have it. The Good Wife Binge Guide. What do you think? Good Wife fans, anything to add, or correct, or holler about? Maybe try and be cagey about the bigger twists of S5, since the exclusive Amazon deal means it's not on Hulu Plus yet? Normally Captain Spoiler Warning types piss me off too, but this is one time where I think a little decorum might be called for. Just a thought.

[ Images via Getty]

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