The Good Fight

This article is about the U.S. legal television series. For other uses, see The Good Fight (disambiguation).

The Good Fight
Genre	Legal drama Political drama
Created by	Robert King Michelle King Phil Alden Robinson
Starring	Christine Baranski Cush Jumbo Rose Leslie Erica Tazel Sarah Steele Delroy Lindo Justin Bartha Nyambi Nyambi Michael Boatman Audra McDonald
Composer	David Buckley
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	11 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Robert King Michelle King Phil Alden Robinson Ridley Scott David W. Zucker Liz Glotzer Brooke Kennedy Alison Scott
Running time	49–53 minutes
Production companies	Scott Free Productions King Size Productions CBS Television Studios
Original release
Network	CBS (premiere) CBS All Access
Release	February 19, 2017 (2017-02-19) – present

The Good Fight is an American legal and political drama web television series produced for CBS' streaming service CBS All Access. It is CBS All Access' first original scripted series. The series—created by Robert King, Michelle King, and Phil Alden Robinson—is a sequel to The Good Wife, which was created by the Kings. The first season contains 10 episodes, and it premiered on February 19, 2017, with the first episode airing on CBS and the latter nine episodes airing on CBS All Access. The series was initially planned to air in May 2017, but was moved up after production delays forced CBS to postpone the premiere of the new series Star Trek: Discovery.

The series follows Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart, as she is forced out of Lockhart, Deckler, Gussman, Lee, Lyman, Gilbert-Lurie, Kagan, Tannebaum, & Associates after an enormous financial scam destroys the reputation of her goddaughter Maia (Rose Leslie) and Diane's savings, leading them to join Lucca Quinn (Cush Jumbo) at one of Chicago's pre-eminent law firms. The series stars Baranski, Leslie, Jumbo, Erica Tazel, Sarah Steele, Justin Bartha and Delroy Lindo, and features Paul Guilfoyle and Bernadette Peters in recurring roles. The series is executive produced by Robert King, Michelle King, Ridley Scott, David W. Zucker, Liz Glotzer, Brooke Kennedy and Alison Scott, with Phil Alden Robinson producing and co-writing the first episode. On March 15, 2017, CBS All Access renewed the show for a second season with an increased run of 13 episodes, premiering on March 4, 2018.

Premise

A year after the finale of The Good Wife, an enormous financial scam destroys the reputation of young lawyer Maia 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.

Cast and characters

Main cast

• Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart, who loses her savings after an enormous financial scam and must join Lucca Quinn at one of Chicago's pre-eminent law firms.
• Cush Jumbo as Lucca Quinn, who works with Diane and Maia at one of Chicago's pre-eminent law firms.
• Rose Leslie as Maia Rindell, Diane's goddaughter who joins Diane's firm just after passing the bar. She is Amy's girlfriend.
• Erica Tazel as Barbara Kolstad, name partner at Reddick, Boseman, & Kolstad, the law firm Diane and Maia move to after the financial scandal.
• Sarah Steele as Marissa Gold, who begins as Diane Lockhart's secretary, but finds she has a knack for investigating.
• Delroy Lindo as Adrian Boseman, an attorney who offers Diane a job at his law firm following her financial troubles, and name partner at Reddick, Boseman, & Kolstad.
• Justin Bartha as Colin Morrello, a successful lawyer in the US Attorney's office and rival/potential love interest of Lucca.
• Nyambi Nyambi as Jay Dipersia (recurring season 1, starring season 2), investigator for Reddick, Boseman, & Kolstad.
• Michael Boatman as Julius Cain (recurring season 1, starring season 2), departing managing partner from Reddick, Boseman & Kolstad, and Diane's former partner at Lockhart/Gardner.
• Audra McDonald as Liz Lawrence (season 2), former United States Attorney and the ex-wife of name partner Adrian Boseman.

Recurring cast

• Paul Guilfoyle as Henry Rindell, Maia's father, who is a wildly successful financial advisor and is phenomenally wealthy and universally loved. He, Lenore, and Maia are the unofficial First Family of Chicago. In the pilot, he is arrested for running a giant Ponzi scheme with Diane one of his victims.
• Bernadette Peters as Lenore Rindell, Maia's mother who comes from a tough working-class background and is a natively brilliant financial whiz. She, Henry, and Maia are the unofficial First Family of Chicago.
• Gary Cole as Kurt McVeigh, Diane Lockhart's estranged husband.
• Zach Grenier as David Lee, a name partner at Diane Lockhart's former law firm.
• Jerry Adler as Howard Lyman, a geriatric partner at Diane Lockhart's former firm, and now judge, who shows chauvinistic and stereotyping tendencies.
• Carrie Preston as Elsbeth Tascioni, a smart yet quirky lawyer.
• Heléne Yorke as Amy Breslin, an assistant state attorney and Maia's girlfriend.
• Chalia La Tour as Yesha Mancini, an attorney who represented Maia in her legal issues stemming from her father's arrest.
• Matthew Perry as Mike Kresteva, a lawyer who, after losing the 2012 Illinois gubernatorial election to Peter Florrick, now works for the US Department of Justice, in charge of an investigation encompassing Diane Lockhart and senior staff at Reddick, Boseman & Kolstad.

Episodes

Season	Episodes		Originally aired
			First aired	Last aired
1	10		February 19, 2017 (2017-02-19)	April 16, 2017 (2017-04-16)
2	13		March 4, 2018 (2018-03-04)	May 27, 2018 (2018-05-27)

Season 1 (2017)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	1	"Inauguration"	Brooke Kennedy	Phil Alden Robinson and Robert King & Michelle King	February 19, 2017 (2017-02-19)
Diane Lockhart watches the inauguration of Donald Trump in stunned silence and is motivated to make a change. She plans for her retirement and signs an exit agreement with her firm. She meets with friends to celebrate, including the Rindell family, headed by the powerful and respected Henry Rindell, a financial consultant who has invested money for many prominent businesspeople in Chicago, including Diane and many of her clients. Diane is godmother to Rindell's daughter, Maia, who has just passed the bar, and through Diane's connections, has secured a starting position at the firm. Diane heads what will be her final case at the firm, a police brutality charge, in which she is representing the state. Opposing her is Adrian Boseman, the head of a rival firm, hoping to secure a large settlement for his client. Boseman is assisted by Lucca Quinn, who has joined Boseman's firm after leaving Diane's employ. Before Diane can close the case, Henry Rindell is arrested for orchestrating an elaborate ponzi scheme, and Diane finds herself broke and unable to follow through with her retirement. However, when she attempts to return to the firm, she is rebuffed. Joining another firm also proves difficult, as Diane is seen as complicit in the scam, having directed many of her clients to invest with Rindell. Diane is told that her assets may be seized as evidence, and she is advised to divorce her husband, Kurt, to prevent his assets being seized as well. Having separated from Kurt after the discovery of his affair, Diane puts the option to him, but he refuses to file for divorce, still hoping for a reconciliation. Meanwhile, Boseman realizes that there is an opportunity to gain Diane's services for a fraction of her value, and he offers her a junior partner position at his firm. With few other options, Diane accepts Boseman's offer, and when Maia is fired, in part due to her father's financial scandal, Diane brings her along to her new firm.
2	2	"First Week"	Allan Arkush	Ryan Pedersen & Joey Scavuzzo	February 19, 2017 (2017-02-19)
Maia Rindell arrives at her new firm trying to ignore multiple anonymous calls and texts from angry clients of her father, who swear revenge for the money he stole from them. She meets Julius Cain, a managing partner, and Lucca Quinn, a third year associate. Cain brings all the lower level associates to a local union headquarters to offer free legal advice as part of their retainer with the union. While there, Maia ends up taking the case of Frank Gwynn, a man who is unfairly having his wages garnished due to charges of theft from his place of work. Meanwhile, Diane is visited by Maia's mother, Lenore, who asks Diane to meet with her husband, Henry. Lenore claims that they are innocent of the charges, laying the blame on their business partner, Jax, Henry's brother.During arbitration, Maia loses the case, but Lucca steps in to accuse the company of false imprisonment, as they had detained Frank for seven hours to question him about the theft. When the firm decides that the case is too small to invest resources in, Lucca proposes that they open a class action lawsuit against multiple companies who have garnished wages after accusing their employees of theft. Meanwhile, Diane moves into her new office, assisted by Marissa Gold, who has been demoted at Diane's old firm. Marissa decides to help with the class action in hopes of being hired as Diane's new assistant. She tracks down multiple employees who have had their wages garnished and adds them to the suit. Grateful, Diane accepts Marissa as her new assistant. Diane meets with Henry in jail, who claims that Jax framed him to escape prosecution. Diane promises to look into the matter, and as they part ways, Henry mentions that Lenore has terminal breast cancer. At Frank's trial, the prosecution uncovers evidence that Frank had been involved in an earlier theft at a previous job, casting doubt on his story. Frank loses his case, and the loss causes the firm to pull out of the class action lawsuit.Maia learns of her mother's condition from Diane, and despite her lawyer's advice to stay away from her parents to avoid being caught up in their financial scandal, she visits her. However, Maia learns that her mother lied about the cancer so that she would come see her. Although angry at her mother, Diane advises Maia to forgive her, since she is obviously lonely with Henry in jail. Maia visits her mother to make amends, but discovers her mother carrying on an affair with her uncle Jax.
3	3	"The Schtup List"	Marta Cunningham	Tegan Shohet	February 26, 2017 (2017-02-26)
Barbara forces Diane and Lucca to work together on a case against assistant district attorney Colin Morello. The case involves a doctor who was arrested for performing surgery on a known terrorist. The partners have a meeting about their financial status and it turns out that a significant client has not paid their retainer this year. They are worried he may be moving firms now that Trump is in office. The firm investigator approaches Marissa to introduce himself. He is upset that she took it upon herself to round up the class action members last week. Maia visits her father in prison. She wants to warn him about her mother and Jax. The partners rush to find someone in their office who voted for Trump. Lucca has an unexpected run-in with Colin. Marissa works with the investigator to track down a crucial witness. The court rules in Diane and Lucca's favor, but the doctor is immediately arrested again. The partners make the individual who voted for Trump bid to the client. Maia visits her uncle where she finds evidence that could help her father. The court case turns again when a terrorist on the most wanted list gets involved.
4	4	"Henceforth Known as Property"	Alex Zakrzewski	Joey Hartstone	March 5, 2017 (2017-03-05)
Strange comments in elevators make Maia suspicious. She and Marissa discover someone has made a fake Twitter profile for her. Diane is handling a fertility case with a clinic that has closed and donated 11 of 12 eggs for research. The 12th egg has been fertilized and is being prepped for implantation. Diane brings suit before that can happen. Mike Kresteva, the head of a task force hoping to curb police brutality, stops by to meet with Adrian. Diane warns Adrian that Kresteva is not always straightforward. Maia and Marissa track down an old boyfriend they think is responsible for the Twitter impersonation. Adrian, Diane and Lucca are served with subpoenas to testify before a grand jury being prosecuted by Kresteva. At Lucca's request, Colin speaks with his boss about Kresteva. With Marissa's help, Maia finds a way to retaliate against her old boyfriend. The fertility case has Diane and Barbara thinking back on what could have been. The two women bond for the first time while Diane considers reaching out to Kurt. Kresteva is undeterred and pushes forward with his intentions. The judge rules on the owner of the embryo.
5	5	"Stoppable: Requiem for an Airdate"	Ron Underwood	Marcus Dalzine	March 12, 2017 (2017-03-12)
Adrian wants to take on another anti-Trump case. The firm is worried they may start to get a reputation but he has ulterior motives in that he wants to branch out in to the entertainment industry. Maia is approached by Kresteva about the fake news stories that were started about her. She is surprised when he knows about her visits to her father, as is her attorney, who wants an explanation. Barbara asks Diane for her capital contribution. This forces Diane to reevaluate her living expenses and look for room to cut back. Kurt visits Diane at the office. He is giving a speech and wants her help. Hoping to support him, she shows up to watch him give the speech. The firm's partners interview attorneys to defend them against Kresteva. Lucca has an unorthodox idea but she and Adrian decide it's worth a look. Diane runs into Neil Gross who has some interesting news for her. Kresteva makes a visit to the prison and shortly after, Henry is back home after being bailed out. Maia happily meets him at home until she sees her parents acting like nothing has happened. Later, an attorney makes her question whether her father would turn on her. A potential attorney for the firm confronts Kresteva not once but twice, the second time in a very personal way that scares him a bit. Colin stops by the courtroom to see Lucca in action. The two of them finally go on their date where Lucca opens up about Alicia.
6	6	"Social Media and Its Discontents"	Jim McKay	Robert King & Michelle King	March 19, 2017 (2017-03-19)
Neil Gross immediately puts the firm to work when he wants hate speech, and the people responsible for it, removed from his websites. Maia takes the assignment personally when the hate speech sounds like threats she has been getting. Colin talks to his supervisor again about Kresteva. Marissa thinks about getting into investigating. Maia's uncle stops by the office to see her. He warns her that her father is up to something. She reaches out to Elsbeth for advice. Things are heating up between Colin and Lucca until he asks her to go to dinner. After the firm decides to implement an appeals process for banned users, one such user has a field day presenting his narrative. Information from the firm's discussions about the appeals process is leaked. Online users use it to their advantage. Lucca arranges a date so that they'll run into Colin but it doesn't produce the results she's expecting. When she confronts him later, she's surprised again. Maia shows up for a meeting with her dad and finds a party in progress. She's nervous when he tries to speak with her in private. Marissa steps in when the investigator needs some help tracking down a very specific kind of online user. Not surprisingly, she's good at it. Elsbeth stops by to warn the firm about the newest fake news story. Julius makes a surprising decision about his future with the firm.
7	7	"Not So Grand Jury"	So Yong Kim	William M. Finkelstein	March 26, 2017 (2017-03-26)
Lucca tells Maia about Colin's warning. Kresteva introduces his case to a Grand Jury. Evidence is seized from Elsbeth's office. Henry is approached by Kresteva about Maia lying to him. Henry wants to talk to his daughter and the two of them finally have an honest conversation. Elsbeth figures out a strategy and tries to get the firm on board. Mike scrambles to change course. The investigator takes a look at the schtup list Henry asked Maia to get for him. Colin is asked to represent Kresteva in a civil law suit brought by the firm. Things get awkward when Lucca takes second chair. The firm investigates and discovers who the real target of Kresteva's wrath is. Maia confronts her father about some new information. Colin and Lucca discuss the consequences of their relationship. Marissa and Jay analyze the schtup list, the former making a startling discovery. Diane faces her day in court but is surprised when an important witness' testimony is not what she is expecting.
8	8	"Reddick v Boseman"	Michael Zinberg	Keith Josef Adkins	April 2, 2017 (2017-04-02)
Carl Reddick returns to the firm and immediately starts criticizing how Adrian and Barbara have been running it. An old friend needs help with an eviction and Diane steps up. Lucca and Colin make plans to meet at an art gallery where they run into an unexpected female. What was supposed to be a simple eviction goes in a completely different direction when Diane shows up at Paul Johnson's door and he makes some shocking allegations. Shortly thereafter, his attorney contacts the firm. Marissa helps Jay investigate the allegations and finally wins him over. Henry tries to talk to Maia, calling her and Amy multiple times and even showing up at the office. The two of them finally get worried and rush off to find him. Lucca joins Colin at a birthday party. Things get complicated fast and Lucca bolts, as she tends to do. Maia is upset when Henry ends up in the hospital and Lenore shows up with Jax. Diane continues to go toe-to-toe with Paul's attorney until Marissa and Jay find the evidence they need to expose him. The firm votes on who should be the managing partner -- Carl or Adrian. Lucca makes a decision about her relationship with Colin.
9	9	"Self Condemned"	Jim McKay	William M. Finkelstein	April 9, 2017 (2017-04-09)
Lucca and Maia have a meeting with the FBI. Maia has offered to tell them everything she knows about the ponzi scheme as long as she's granted immunity. Diane and Adrian get wind of a new police brutality case but are surprised when they see the victim. Maia works with the FBI agent to recover memories from her teenage years that may shed light on who is behind the scheme. Diane and Adrian's victim is having a hard time finding sympathy in the justice system given his criminal history. Jay finds evidence to show that the police officer has a history of bad conduct. Maia struggles to remember key moments in her life and possibly the ponzi scheme. Diane and Adrian grow closer as friends and colleagues. Lucca offers guidance as Maia is confronted with uncomfortable truths about her past.
10	10	"Chaos"	Robert King	Robert King & Michelle King	April 16, 2017 (2017-04-16)
It's time for bi-annual reviews at Reddick, Boseman and Kolstad. Lucca gets good news while Maia has some mixed reviews. Diane gets a call that Kurt has been in an accident. A former client, Dylan Stack, returns. Henry meets with the Department of Justice but isn't offered the deal he was hoping for. He reaches out to a mysterious old friend for help. The firm finds out about a potential attack on the power grid and goes to the DOJ looking for an immunity deal. Things go awry when Lucca is arrested. Maia wants to be more assertive so she picks a partner to shadow for the day. Colin tries to resign but ends up being promoted. Marisa works with Jay to find the real person behind the cyber terrorism. Jay continues to be impressed by her investigative skills. Mr. Staples returns to cause more destruction. The city of Chicago has a blackout. Maia, Lenore and Henry enjoy a last meal together as a family, at least for a while. Diane and Kurt reconcile. Maia's dad flees after agreeing to a 35 year plea deal and Maia is arrested in connection with the ponzi scheme.

Season 2

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
11	1	"Day 408"	Brooke Kennedy	Robert King & Michelle King	March 4, 2018 (2018-03-04)
12	2	"Day 415"	Jim McKay	William M. Finkelstein	March 11, 2018 (2018-03-11)
13	3	"Day 422"	James Whitmore Jr.	Joey Hartstone	March 18, 2018 (2018-03-18)

Production

Development

Promotional poster.

In February 2016, Michelle and Robert King, when asked about a spin-off, 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 mentee 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 the new series, Star Trek: Discovery. After months of speculation, CBS revealed the title for the spin-off series, which was revealed to be The Good Fight, on October 31, 2016. It was announced that The Good Fight would premiere on February 19, 2017. CBS released the first trailer for the spinoff on December 18, 2016, featuring footage from the premiere and later episodes.

Casting

Christine Baranski plays the lead role of Diane Lockhart.

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. Deadline reported on October 27, 2016 that the show had added Paul Guilfoyle and Bernadette Peters for recurring roles as Maia's parents. Guilfoyle will 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 Lawrence, reprising her role from The Good Wife season 4, and that Michael Boatman and Nyambi Nyambi had been promoted to main cast.

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 U.S. broadcast premiere of the series would be simulcast by Corus' 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 Europe and HBO Nordic began streaming all 10 episodes of the first season on June 1, 2017, in Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland, while India’s Zee Entertainment Enterprises took exclusive pay-TV rights to The Good Fight for its English-language general entertainment channel Zee Café, which was also the Indian home of The Good Wife.

In Australia, SBS picked up the series which premiered on Wednesday August 2, 2017 with a double episode.

In Southeast Asia, the series broadcasts on Star World but later moves to Fox Asia starting Season 2.

In Greece the series first aired on Cosmote TV beginning in December 2017.

Critical reception

The Good Fight has received positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes awarded the series with a rating of 100% based on reviews from 44 critics and an average rating of 8.1 out of 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 series received a score of 80 based on reviews from 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

External links

• Official website
• The Good Fight at IMDb