The Good Wife's Executive Producers Dissect the Season Finale

Spoiler alert! The jaw-dropping, emotionally wrenching fifth season of CBS's The Good Wife fittingly ended with two more delicious surprises. Who would have guessed that Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski), co-founder of Lockhart/Gardner, would ask to join rival newbie firm Florrick/Agos? Who would have imagined that Eli Gold (Alan Cumming) would toss out the idea of Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies) running for state's attorney?

Executive producers Robert King and Michelle King break down the finale and tease what lies ahead.

TV Guide Magazine: Why did Diane turn down Peter's (Chris Noth) offer to run for state's attorney?
Robert King: She thought it was sloppy seconds. Her ego was really hurt after they withdrew the Supreme Court Justice option earlier in the season. She's had a s--t of a year, losing that, then losing Will and having the firm break up. She wanted to feel in control.
Michelle King: It's the difference in getting a party invitation six months after everybody else and realizing that they must have an extra seat to fill.

TV Guide Magazine: So why ask to join rival firm Florrick/Agos, filled with people who left her company?
Robert King: There's something about the youthfulness of the firm's spirit and starting over-ness that is exciting. It reminds of her when she started out with Will, so she's channeling him in a way. Also, Canning [Michael J. Fox] told her he'd destroy Lockhart/Gardner rather than let her be general manager and not him. She didn't want to be beholden to someone she didn't respect.
Michelle King: There's also an element of looking to distract herself with something new.
Robert King: What would be so exciting is throwing Diane out of her comfort zone, surrounding her with a bunch of 30 year olds and making her the new woman on the block.

TV Guide Magazine: Would Diane come in as a name partner or a managing director?
Robert King: A lot of the fun is looking at the negotiations, tapping into emotional areas that drive everybody up the wall.

TV Guide Magazine: Would Cary (Matt Czuchry) vote her in, considering his fractious history with her?
Robert King: That's one of the problems. Cary's concern is that Diane has never respected him the way she's respected Alicia.
Michelle King: Welcome to Season 6!

TV Guide Magazine: Could this be the end of Lockhart/Gardner as a major character?
Robert King: That certainly is a possibility.

TV Guide Magazine: Could the governor's wife even become state's attorney? Of course Robert Kennedy was JFK's attorney general, but that was a long time ago.
Robert King: We were thinking about the Kennedys and the fact that this is Cook County! (Laughs). We love having Alan and Julianna together in scenes; they're so much fun.

TV Guide Magazine: Why would Alicia say yes to that offer?
Robert King: She wouldn't at this moment. There's a long road for her to travel.
Michelle King: Approximately 22 episode long.
Robert King: More interesting is who Alicia would be if she ran.

TV Guide Magazine: Being state's attorney could pit her against many of the people she cares about, couldn't it?
Robert King: That's right. (Laughs)
Michelle King: We had Cary doing that work for a season and a half.

TV Guide Magazine: And we know what that did to him.
Michelle King: We do.

TV Guide Magazine: Now that Cary knows how Kalinda (Archie Panjabi) uses him for information, is this the end of their sexual relationship?
Robert King: That's a very good question. We love their relationship, so probably not.  Can they hook up and not let it emotionally play on them? We're going to see if that's true.

TV Guide Magazine: The only true thing Louis Canning ever said is that he's dying. Will he be dead when the show returns?
Robert King: No. We have a year's diagnosis, which gives us a lot of play. What we like about that is that the usual thing that would make you sympathize with a character makes Canning dangerous.

TV Guide Magazine: Will Jill Hennessey be back as Rayna Hecht next season?
Robert King: We loved her. She plays comedy so well, so our hope is to get her back. She's funny and plays the rainmaker role so well. It's a good person to move through the storyline.

TV Guide Magazine: Finally, Peter and the sexy intern. Did they do the deed?
Robert King: The intern will be back next season. We wanted to lay out the temptation of the office. We left it up to the audience to figure out which way this would go. We won't tell you what we think.

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