Good Wife Season 1 Review: Priyamani's legal drama plays by the rules, but needs more depth
Review: Good Wife has a few moments that make you pause, reflect, and stay hooked to the screen – but therein lies the problem. While the standalone moments are intriguing in parts, the series is superficially dealt with as a whole. Packed within a legal setup where every case is quite strange, the series also takes us closely through the mind of Tarunika (Priyamani), whose husband, Additional Advocate General Gunaseelan (Sampath), is sent to jail.
Having left her legal career behind after marriage, Tarunika unpacks her black coat after 16 years to return to the courtroom. But the world has changed and so is her life – she's now a mother of two teens, her husband is in jail, and his scandal has also pushed her to become the gossip of the town. On top of that, she also has a new job where she is again a newbie! Layered on to this are unusual cases – like young girls being forced to freeze eggs – and some workplace battles – a judgy boss, an ex-lover & competitive colleagues. So, there's a lot happening, both in Tarunika's life and in Good Wife, an adaptation of the American series The Good Wife.
On paper, the series has several intriguing threads waiting to be picked up. But as the series wanders through anything and everything, you only get snapshots, before we jump onto the next interesting case. Eventually, despite the intrigue, everything just feels like yet another case & yet another person. So while you care for Tarunika, you're not equally invested or moved by the cases she handles. You are told too much about each case in too little time, while still focusing on her personal hurdles that everything sounds like information minus the emotional heaviness it carries.
Priyamani is fine as Tarunika, anchoring the series even when the writing falters. What works beautifully in the series is the personal struggles and how a strong sense of the female gaze is felt throughout. Take, for instance, the scene where her mother-in-law takes the children to visit their jailed father despite Tarunika's wishes. Now, when Tarunika learns about this, she has a conversation with her mother-in-law, and you get to see two women, two mothers wanting to keep their children happy – a nuanced moment of silence and shared emotion echoes several things in this sequence. A similar emotional depth comes through in Tarunika's interactions with her children, as they struggle to cope with the aftermath of their father's scandal. Such layered writing draws you in at times, as does the unusual premise of the legal cases, but you wish these were more than just fleeting moments.
Written By: Harshini SV
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