Those brave and clever creators of The Good Wife really dropped a surprise on loyal fans Sunday night.
Major character Will Gardner, played by Josh Charles, died in Episode 15, "Dramatics, Your Honor." After the pivotal "Hitting the Fan" episode in the fall, the series' fifth in Season 5, the Kings said that they were writing the season in increments of five.
As fans expressed disappointment, horror and even awe at how the series has developed, the Kings were set to release a statement in anticipation of the reaction.
It's posted on the show's section of CBS.com. Here is the message to fans:
Dear Loyal Good Wife Fans,
We, like you, mourn the loss of Will Gardner. And while Will is gone, our beloved Josh Charles is very much alive and remains an integral part of our family.
The Good Wife, at its heart, is the "Education of Alicia Florrick." To us, there always was a tragedy at the center of Will and Alicia's relationship: the tragedy of bad timing. And when faced with the gut punch of Josh's decision, made over a year ago, to move on to other creative endeavors, we had a major choice to make.
We could "send him off to Seattle," he could be disbarred, or get married, or go off to Borneo to do good works. But there was something in the passion that Will and Alicia shared that made distance a meager hurdle. The brutal honesty and reality of death speaks to the truth and tragedy of bad timing for these two characters. Will's death propels Alicia into her newest incarnation.
Death also created a new dramatic "hub" for the show. We're always looking for these turning points—some event midway through the season that will spin everybody's lives in new directions. These turning points keep the show from slipping into a numbing sameness, and keep the characters fresh: because you see how they react to a completely new status quo. Will's death in many ways becomes a hub for the whole series, violently spinning everybody innew directions.
Finally, we chose the tragic route for Will's send-off for personal reasons. We've all experienced the sudden death of a loved one in our lives. It's terrifying how a perfectly normal and sunny day can suddenly explode with tragedy. Television, in our opinion, doesn't deal with this enough: the irredeemability of death. Your last time with the loved one will always remain your last time. The Good Wife is a show about human behavior and emotion, and death, as sad and unfair as it can be, is a part of the human experience that we want to share.
Thank you for listening...and watching and caring and inspiring us to rise to the level of your passion and intelligence. There are seven wonderful episodes to follow this season and Josh will be directing one of them. We think you will enjoy them. It's not all tears -- there is comedy too. Michael J. Fox is back for four episodes. Dylan Baker. Dallas Roberts. Stockard Channing, as well as amazing new guest actors. And of course, Julianna does some of the best work of her life. Archie, Christine, Alan, Chris and Matt as well. Life does go on.
We've always taken as a guiding principle of this show that drama isn't in the event; it's in the aftermath of the event. We think you'll find that true of this episode
Thank you for your devotion to the show – we are continually grateful.
With all our thanks,
Robert & Michelle King
And to get an idea of how emotional fan reaction has been here is some of what some famous viewers had to say on Twitter:
Joshua Malina of ABC's Scandal, which also had a character death in last week's episode, expressed his relief at having survived the episode. "Whew. I'm so relieved to have survived tonight's episode of #TheGoodWife ."
Jill Hennessy, who appeared on a recent episode of The Good Wife, said she felt like she was
"punched in the gut."
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