The Good Fight

Premise

A year after the series finale of The Good Wife, an enormous financial scam destroys the reputation of young lawyer Maia Rindell and wipes out the savings of her mentor, Diane Lockhart. The two are forced out of Lockhart, Deckler, Gussman, Lee, Lyman, Gilbert-Lurie, Kagan, Tannebaum, & Associates and join Diane's former employee Lucca Quinn at Reddick, Boseman, & Kolstad, a prestigious African American–owned firm making waves by taking on Illinois police brutality cases. In season two, Diane becomes a named partner at the firm, which takes the name Reddick, Boseman & Lockhart.

The show initially deals primarily with the storylines of its three female leads – Diane, Lucca, and Maia – and contains considerable political and social commentary, exploring topical issues such as the alt-right, the MeToo movement, online harassment, and fake news. As well as starting again in a new firm with its own office politics to deal with, longtime Democrat Diane must navigate a world she hardly recognizes, becoming increasingly troubled by Trump-era politics and the actions of his administration.

Lucca Quinn, a former employee of Diane's, has found firm footing at Reddick, Boseman & Lockhart and is a rising star on the partner track, balancing her dedication to her work and a romantic entanglement with US Attorney Colin Morello, a frequent opposing counsel. Meanwhile, Maia, Diane's goddaughter, is trying to get her legal career off to a good start, while coming under pressure from the FBI over alleged involvement with her father's Ponzi scheme. The firm is also joined by Marissa Gold, a recurring character on The Good Wife, an intelligent and self-assured young woman with Democratic Party connections who becomes their newest private investigator.

Like The Good Wife, the show makes use of an extensive cast of supporting characters, including a recurring stable of opposing counsel, clients, police officers, FBI agents, judges, and politicians. Many are played by well-known guest stars.

Cast and characters

Main

Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart, who loses her savings after an enormous financial scam and joins Reddick, Boseman & Kolstad, one of Chicago's pre-eminent law firms. In season two, Diane becomes a name partner in the renamed Reddick, Boseman & Lockhart. The firm later becomes Reddick Lockhart.

Rose Leslie as Maia Rindell (seasons 1–3), Diane's goddaughter, who joins Reddick, Boseman & Lockhart as an associate just after passing the bar exam

Erica Tazel as Barbara Kolstad (season 1; guest season 2), a name partner at Reddick, Boseman & Kolstad who leaves the firm at the beginning of the second season

Cush Jumbo as Lucca Quinn (seasons 1–4; guest season 5), an associate who works with Diane and Maia at Reddick, Boseman & Lockhart. She was made the head of divorce law at RBL in season 3.

Delroy Lindo as Adrian Boseman (seasons 1–4; guest season 5), an attorney who offers Diane a job at his law firm following her financial troubles, and a name partner at Reddick, Boseman & Lockhart

Sarah Steele as Marissa Gold, Diane Lockhart's assistant and later an investigator at RBL

Justin Bartha as Colin Morrello (seasons 1–2), a successful lawyer in the US Attorney's office who later becomes the father of Lucca's son and a United States congressman for Illinois' 1st district

Nyambi Nyambi as Jay DiPersia (seasons 2–6; recurring season 1), the effective lead investigator for Reddick, Boseman & Lockhart. His storylines include his immigration status, and later suffering from long covid and hallucinations.

Michael Boatman as Julius Cain (seasons 2–6; recurring season 1), a managing partner for Reddick, Boseman & Lockhart, and Diane's former partner at Lockhart/Gardner. He later becomes a federal judge. After being pardoned following a wrongful conviction for bribery, he returns to the firm as of counsel.

Recurring

Zachary Booth as Jerry Warshofsky (seasons 1–2), a funder, along with Tom Duncan, for Reddick, Boseman & Lockhart, who uses computer algorithms to determine which cases the firm should pursue

Gary Cole as Kurt McVeigh, Diane Lockhart's husband

Corey Cott as Tom C. Duncan (seasons 1–2), a funder, along with Jerry Warshofsky, for Reddick, Boseman & Lockhart, who uses computer algorithms to determine which cases the firm should pursue

William M. Finkelstein as Simon Kassovitz (seasons 1–3), a conservative Jewish judge

Paul Guilfoyle as Henry Rindell (seasons 1–2), Maia's father, who is a wildly successful financial advisor, phenomenally wealthy and universally loved. He, Lenore, and Maia are the unofficial First Family of Chicago. He is arrested for running a giant Ponzi scheme with Diane as one of his victims.

Adam Heller as Wilbur Dincon (seasons 1–2 & 4), the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois

Chalia La Tour as Yesha Mancini (season 1), an attorney who represented Maia in her legal issues stemming from her father's arrest.

Jane Lynch as Madeline Starkey (seasons 1–2 & 5), a relentless FBI agent with a quirky personal style who believes Maia to be complicit in her father's scheming

Andrea Martin as Francesca Lovatelli (seasons 1–3), Colin Morello's mother and a controlling influence in his bid to join Congress

Tom McGowan as Jax Rindell (season 1), Maia's uncle

John Cameron Mitchell as Felix Staples (seasons 1, 3–4 & 6), an alt-right gadfly

Guests

Jerry Adler as Howard Lyman (seasons 1–2), a geriatric partner at Diane Lockhart's former firm, and now judge, who shows chauvinistic and stereotyping tendencies

Jane Alexander as Suzanne Morris (seasons 1–2), a judge

Becky Ann Baker as Alma Hoff (seasons 1–2 & 6), a principled lawyer at a rival firm

Dylan Baker as Colin Sweeney (seasons 1–2), a client of the firm and a likely serial killer who has gotten away with many of his crimes

Mark Linn-Baker as Don Linden (season 1), a judge

Jason Biggs as Dylan Stack (season 1), a wealthy tech entrepreneur involved in the creation of Bitcoin, wanted by US officials

Louis Gossett Jr. as Carl Reddick (season 1), a name partner at Reddick, Boseman who has semi-retired. He dies before season two. In season three, it is revealed that he raped his secretary, the firm transcriptionist and many others.

John Benjamin Hickey as Neil Gross (seasons 1 & 6), owner of Internet firm Chumhum

Jayne Houdyshell as Renee Rampling (seasons 1–2), a friend of Diane's at a rival firm who cuts ties with Diane after the Rindell scandal

Christine Lahti as Andrea Stevens (seasons 1–2), a high-powered lawyer from Los Angeles who often appears opposite Reddick, Boseman in cases involving film and television

Greta Lee as Amber Wood-Lutz (seasons 1–2), a young lawyer at a rival firm whose beaming smile obscures her sneaky tactics in court

Kelli O'Hara as Deirdre Kresteva (season 1), the wife of Mike Kresteva

Production

Development

In February 2016, Michelle and Robert King, when asked about a spin-off from The Good Wife, stated that there was a possibility for a spin-off series. In May 2016, CBS was in final negotiations to set up a spin-off featuring Christine Baranski reprising her role as Diane Lockhart, but which would air on CBS All Access instead of the network. The spin-off was officially ordered to series on May 18, with Cush Jumbo returning as well. In September 2016, it was confirmed that the 10 episode spin-off would premiere in February 2017, with the story picking up a year after the final episode of the original series and seeing Diane pushed out of her firm after a financial scam involving her protégé wipes out her savings, resulting in her move to Lucca Quinn's firm. The series was initially planned to air in May 2017 but was moved to February 2017 after production delays forced CBS to postpone the premiere of another new series, Star Trek: Discovery, that had been intended to launch the CBS All Access streaming service. After months of speculation, CBS revealed the title for the spin-off series, The Good Fight, on October 31, 2016. It was announced that the series would premiere on February 19, 2017. CBS released the first trailer for the spin-off on December 18, 2016, featuring footage from the premiere and later episodes.

On March 15, 2017, CBS All Access renewed the show for a second season with an increased episode count of 13, which premiered on March 4, 2018. On May 2, 2018, the series was renewed for a third season. In January 2019, it was announced that season 3 is set to premiere on the streaming platform on March 14, 2019.

On April 23, 2019, the series was renewed for a fourth season which premiered on April 9, 2020. Only 7 of the scheduled 10 episodes were fully completed before production came to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 14, 2020, CBS All Access renewed the series for a fifth season. In May 2021, it was announced that the fifth season was scheduled to premiere on June 24, 2021, on Paramount+. On July 20, 2021, Paramount+ renewed the series for a sixth and final season which premiered on September 8, 2022.

Beginning with the season 2 finale, and more prominently in season 3, episodes have increasingly featured animated music video segments written by Jonathan Coulton and produced by Head Gear Animation in Toronto, Canada, that discuss subjects relevant to an episode. Coulton had been involved in the Kings' previous series BrainDead, which featured musical recaps performed by the singer. The segments have drawn comparisons to the series Schoolhouse Rock!, albeit discussing topics such as the impeachment process, non-disclosure agreements, and Russian trolls. Coulton remarked he shared the Kings' "sensibility of really liking to mess with the form itself and poke through the fourth wall a little bit", and has received a relative amount of creative freedom in regards to the content of these interludes. However, CBS requested the removal of a segment from a season 3 episode that discussed censorship in China. The network agreed to allow the inclusion of a placard informing viewers of the removed content.

Casting

In May 2016, CBS was in final negotiations with Christine Baranski to reprise her role as Diane Lockhart and Cush Jumbo to reprise her role as well. After the series was picked up, it was announced that Jumbo would reprise her role as Lucca Quinn. Deadline announced on September 17, 2016, that Sarah Steele had been added to the cast, returning as Marissa Gold and appearing as Diane Lockhart's secretary-turned-investigator. On October 12, 2016, it was announced that former Game of Thrones star Rose Leslie had been cast to play a lead in the show, the role of Diane's goddaughter Maia who joins Diane's firm just after passing the bar.

The day after, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Delroy Lindo had been cast as "Robert" Boseman, an attorney who starts poaching Diane's associates and clients. The first name of Lindo's character was changed to "Adrian". Deadline reported on October 27, 2016, that the show had added Paul Guilfoyle and Bernadette Peters for recurring roles as Maia's parents. Guilfoyle would play Maia's father Henry, a wildly successful financial advisor who is phenomenally wealthy and universally loved. Peters' character Lenore was described as a woman who came from a tough working-class background and is a natively brilliant financial whiz. It was announced on October 31, 2016, that Justified alum Erica Tazel had joined the cast as a series regular.

On November 7, 2016, it was announced that Gary Cole would be reprising his role as Diane's husband Kurt McVeigh. It was confirmed on November 11, 2016, that Zach Grenier, Jerry Adler, and Carrie Preston would be returning as guest stars, reprising their roles of David Lee, Howard Lyman, and Elsbeth Tascioni respectively. On November 18, 2016, it was announced that Justin Bartha had been added as a series regular as Colin, a rising star in the US Attorney's office and love interest to Lucca. On August 1, 2017, it was announced that Audra McDonald had been added to the main cast for season 2 as Liz Reddick, reprising her role from The Good Wife season 4, and that Michael Boatman and Nyambi Nyambi had been promoted to main cast. On November 7, 2018, it was reported that Michael Sheen had joined the main cast for season 3. On February 20, 2020, Lindo announced he would be leaving the series as a regular following season 4. Jumbo was also due to depart at the end of season 4. However, due to the COVID-shortened season, the show was not able to develop the storyline that led to Lucca Quinn's or Adrian Boseman's departure. On January 27, 2021, Charmaine Bingwa was cast as a new series regular for the fifth season. On March 5, 2021, Mandy Patinkin joined the cast as new series regular for the fifth season. On April 5, 2021, it was reported that Jumbo and Lindo were set to return as guest stars to wrap up their storylines in the fifth season. In March 2022, it was announced that Andre Braugher had joined the cast as a new series regular while Alan Cumming would reprise his role as Eli Gold from The Good Wife as a guest star for the sixth season.

International broadcast

On February 8, 2017, the series was picked up in Canada by Corus Entertainment to air on their cable channel, W Network; the American broadcast premiere of the series would be simulcast by Corus's broadcast system Global.

On March 2, 2017, Channel 4 confirmed it had acquired the UK broadcast rights for the series for its More4 channel following the success of progenitor series The Good Wife on that same channel. The series debuted on More4 on March 30, 2017.

HBO began airing all 10 episodes of the first season on June 1, 2017, in various European territories, while India's Zee Entertainment Enterprises obtained exclusive pay-TV rights to The Good Fight for its English-language general entertainment channel Zee Café, which also carried The Good Wife in India.

In Australia, the series's episodes were shown on free-to-air TV on SBS Viceland two days after their American broadcast.

In Southeast Asia, the series's episodes were shown on pay-TV on Fox Life two days after their American broadcast, then moved to ROCK Entertainment.

Reception

Critical response

The Good Fight has been widely praised. Rotten Tomatoes reports that the first season has a rating of 98% based on reviews from 57 approved critics and an average rating of 8.18/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "An auspicious beginning for CBS All Access, The Good Fight solidly follows its predecessor while allowing for new storytelling styles, a wider narrative scope, and a chance for its lead to explore new territory with a relatable human struggle." On Metacritic, the first season received a score of 80 based on reviews from 45 critics.

The Los Angeles Times suggested that Good Fight creators Robert and Michelle King "still had the Good Wife magic" and though Good Wife "had already [run] its course" after seasons 6 and 7 had received mediocre reviews, "they just needed a clean slate" to allow them to continue to mine more stories from that fictional universe. In addition, unlike Good Wife which was centered around "romantic tension" and got bogged down in Alicia Florrick's (Julianna Margulies) love life, Good Fight was considered "refreshing for steering the story the other way" as relationships are "not the plot points that drive the story". Good Fight is regarded as a rare successful example of a TV series spin-off, as other contemporary TV series are either reboots or remakes.

Writing for Vox.com, Emily VanDerWerff praised the show's deft use of political themes, commenting that while The Good Wife was a commentary on "liberal hypocrisy" and the nature of moral compromise, The Good Fight stands out as a much more earnest "defense of liberal values", giving the show a compelling "reason to exist".

The second season has a 96% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 28 reviews, with an average rating of 9.43/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Angry but still fun, The Good Fight confidently elaborates on current political events with its deftly fictionalized plots." On Metacritic, the second season received a score of 70 based on reviews from five critics.

The third season has a 96% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 23 reviews, with an average rating of 9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Good Fight's third season pulls no punches, doubling down on the social commentary while maintaining the show's sensational delights to create one of the best dramas on TV." On Metacritic, the third season received a score of 83 based on reviews from eight critics.