“The Good Fight” Is Far From Over

In its third season The Good Fight plays many new notes and many that are very familiar without ever striking one that feels falseamp160 It is a masterful accomplishment that belongs alongside the many mainstream motion pictures that defined the American New Wave of the late amp821660s and amp821670s when nothing was off limits on the big screen and millions of people turned out to watchamp160 To put that in TV terms it is as urgent and ofthemoment as Breaking BadSeries creators and executive producers Robert and Michelle King and their talented team never held back when it came to pushing boundaries on their CBS sensation The Good Wife from which The Good Fight was spun offamp160 But Wife was constricted by broadcast standards and burdened by the mammoth undertaking of 22episode season ordersamp160 By comparison Fight has the twin advantages of largely uncensored content and smaller episode orders that come with the streaming experienceamp160 But they have been steadily outdoing themselves on Fight not so much with Rrated language and fleeting nudity as with the condensed noholdsbarred intensity that tenepisode seasons can bring and the option to tackle topics that might not fly on broadcastamp160 It is worth noting that as with Hulu the less expensive pricing option for CBS All Access includes commercials that cannot be skipped overamp160 The content for Fight and other original series on Access seems not to be an issue for the advertisers included thereinamp160 Is the ad community finally coming of ageamp160 Might the FCC follow suitamp160 These are just two of the many questions that will have to be answered as the rise of streaming services continuesFor those who donamp8217t know The Good Fight which stars Christine Baranski chronicles the ongoing personal and professional successes and failures of formidable attorney Diane Lockhart of The Good Wifeamp160 In both shows she has overseen business at prestige law firms that bear her name On Wife it was LockhartGardner on Fight it is Reddick Bozeman ampamp Lockhart a largely African American firm at which she was jokingly referred to as a amp8220diversity hireamp8221 back in season oneBoth series are set in Chicago so in Fight Diane frequently encounters characters colleagues clients lawyers etc from Wife adding to the feeling that the sum total of her tenseasonsandcounting story is a new kind of filmed novelization about a very modern middleaged woman who doesnamp8217t take any crap from anybody amp160I may be wrong but I think Baranski is one of the four women working today who have continuously played the same role in broadcast drama for the longest period of timeamp160 Ahead of her are Mariska Hargitay of Law ampamp Order SVU and Ellen Pompeo and Chandra Wilson of Greyamp8217s Anatomy though Baranski is the only one to have entered this pantheon by way of two series crossing two mediums broadcast and streamingAnyway as I have said in the past the Kings are geniusesamp160 To their credit they never underestimate the intelligence or awareness of their audience and being great writers they arenamp8217t afraid to challenge those who appreciate their workamp160 They certainly did that in Fightamp8217s third season which explores racism and sexual politics largely in the workplace but representing so much more amp8230 along with the imminent catastrophes of climate change the dangers of renegade liberalism unchecked the perils of political correctness run amok the strengths and weaknesses of the judicial system and throughout what it means to be a halfway decent person trying to cope with the weekly atrocities that have defined the Trump presidencyThatamp8217s another thing about The Good Fight amp8211 even more than Saturday Night Live and even in its third year it refuses to pull back from its fullthrottle response to everything Donald Trump has done since taking officeamp160 Has any scripted series ever been so consistent in its repeated condemnation of a sitting presidentamp160 Nothing is safe including his marriage and the infamous amp8220pee tapeamp8221 which happens to have ended up locked away in the law offices of Reddick Bozeman ampamp Lockhart or his sonsamp8217 detestable love of biggame huntingamp160 Don Jr and Eric hire Dianeamp8217s husband Kurt to accompany them on hunting expeditions and other pursuits almost as tough a test of their marriage as Kurtamp8217s affair near the end of The Goodamp160WifeYes sometimes it seems that The Good Fight goes a bit too faramp160 Or does itamp160 Ball lightning which figures prominently in the final episode of season three titled amp8220The One About the End of the Worldamp8221 sounds like the stuff of sciencefiction silliness but it is apparently a thingamp160 Who knewThatamp8217s part of the climate change subplot amp8211 more of a backdrop amp8211 that powers through the entire seasonamp160 It rains in Chicago where the series is set throughout every episode except the end of episode nine when everyoneamp8217s secrets come spilling out along with the sunamp160 When Diane suddenly walks out of a particularly tense meeting with the firmamp8217s partners in order to catch some rays she says amp8220All of our problems will be here when I get backamp8221That is especially true of the festering racerelated issues that roil threaten to tear apart the firm throughout the seasonamp160 Every actor on the showamp8217s firstclass canvas especially Audra McDonald Cush Jumbo Nyambi Nyambi Delroy Lindo Michael Boatman and the always brilliant Baranski gets to work with the kind of material most actors spend their careers dreaming aboutamp160 Thatamp8217s also true of seasonlong guest Michael Sheen whose portrayal of a titanic legal bully had me recalling a favorite joke from Murphy Brown which had the title character asking an unctuous attorney amp8220Why did the lion chew on elephant droppingsamp8221 Her answer amp160amp8220He had just eaten a lawyer and he was trying to get the taste out of his mouthamp8221Depending on oneamp8217s sensitivities it can be argued that Sheen delivers one of the most powerful performances of the year or overplays with such explosive gusto that he blows a hole in an otherwise perfectly modulated productionamp160 Regardless like his character he is impossible to ignoreThe message of the season would seem to be that we must never give up on hope as Diane says even in times as hopeless as theseamp160 That may be too much to askamp160 The final moments of the season finale should clarify that statementamp160 My late grandmother a very practical woman once said that as long as there are two people left on the planet there will be disagreementsamp160 She would have been right at home in the writersamp8217 room at The Good FightPhotos courtesy of CBSamp160 From topamp160 Lindo and Baranski Barnaski and McDonaldamp160Boatman Lindo Baranski and McDonald Nyambi and JumboClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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“The Good Fight” Is Far From Over

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“The Good Fight” Is Far From Over

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