‘The Good Wife’ Preview: Alicia Debates Her Opponent, Fans Speculate On Kalinda’s Exit

Last week’s episode of The Good Wife ended with Alicia Florrick, played by Julianna Margulies, planting an unexpected kiss on her campaign strategist. The spontaneous display of passion came moments after her friend and law firm partner, Cary Agos, was freed from prison after a hard-fought legal battle. On tonight’s episode, Alicia seems to still have that kiss on the brain, as she’s seen in a teaser video asking after her strategist’s whereabouts.

You can see that preview in the video below.

Cary’s legal victory in court was obtained by legitimate means, but not until after investigator Kalinda, played by Archie Panjabi, illegally hacked a computer in an act of desperation. As fans of The Good Wife probably know, Panjabi is set to leave the series at some point this season. She has a development deal with 20th Century Fox Television and is expected to star in a new drama series.

Show-watchers are, therefore, waiting for the storyline that will see Kalinda’s departure. As Cinema Blend points out in its analysis of last week’s episode, the Cary prison storyline gave Kalinda the opportunity to get into a whole lot of trouble. Any one of her problems could signal her Good Wife exit. She made a deal with drug lord Lemond Bishop to protect Cary in prison — protection Agos no longer needs. The computer hacking was, of course, illegal, and could result in her own time behind bars.

Kalinda was also at the center of a tug-of-war between the two main law firms on The Good Wife and has been vocal about wanting to quit her job. The stress on her relationship with Cary, played by Matt Czuchry, now that he’s no longer facing incarceration, could also send her packing — of her own accord.

Czuchry praised Panjabi in a recent interview and expressed his intent to enjoy working with her while she’s still on the show.

Tonight, Alicia will debate her State’s Attorney race opponent, played by David Hyde Pierce. She is seen preparing for that debate in the preview clip. Real-life news personality Chris Matthews is set to guest star as the debate moderator.

The Good Wife is in competition for viewers tonight with the 2015 Golden Globe Awards. Both the show and Margulies are nominated, for Best Television Drama and Best Actress in a television drama. Margulies will be on-hand to present a special award to her former ER co-star, George Clooney.

[The Good Wife image: CBS]