a rainy Monday and The Good Wife rant

Let me paint a picture.

Mondays are usually my off-days. I did just that today. I had a good sleep. I woke up itching to turn on my music player and start cleaning my apartment. This has been my usual routine. Sometimes the music fails to pump-up my energy but not today. Today, I was pumped more than ever. I was singing my heart out while cleaning my place - first my bed, then the dishes. I even cleaned every single tin can of oil in my cupboard. Talk about energy eh?

I took a shower and did my groceries. I cannot emphasize enough how doing the groceries makes me so happy. The last touch of my grocery routine involves purchasing a large glass of house-blend iced tea. This iced tea and a fresh bottle of wine will accompany me as I cook my comfort dish - plain, no-nonsense spaghetti with tomato sauce. My day was set. I cooked dinner. I downloaded the latest episode of The Good Wife. I ate my spaghetti masterpiece while watching The Good Wife. The day was supposed to end with me tucked in bed reading Lucky Peach magazine and drinking more wine. 

However, the reading and the wine had come to a full stop. The last few minutes of tonight's The Good Wife episode left me dumbfounded. I could not cry. I'm simply stunned. I'm in denial. I love this show. I love how the litigation cases are unique from episode to episode. I love the interesting dynamic between Alicia (The so-called Good Wife) and all the cast members, most especially Will Gardner. Simply-put, Alicia and Will were star-crossed lovers. They always had bad timing. They were very much attracted to each other but their circumstances, much like real-life, is no less than complicated. Again, they always had bad timing. There's a lot more to be said about the series's plot. Suffice it to say, politics, power, and love always contribute to a great story. The Good Wife is just that show - interesting, unpredictable, and addictive. 

And now, Will Gardner is gone.

As a long-time TV addict, regular characters don't usually die. Heck they don't die without notice. In Filipino TV, they don't die at all. Worse they die and come alive in the most unbelievable manner. But today, watching Will's lifeless body on-screen made me wish this show would have a deus-ex-machina. An unbelievable bizarre maneuver where someone would come and save the day. Instead, I was faced with the unpleasant version of art imitating life. How realistic it is to simply lose someone in an instant. It's sad.

The reason I watch TV is that I want to get away from life even for just a little bit. I'm slightly ashamed to admit that but it's the truth. It's like the moral lesson of The Life of Pi. We tell ourselves stories to survive. TV is no exception. TV, for me, is a distraction. 

Tonight's The Good Wife episode did not make me cry. Sad? Maybe a little bit. Stunned? Hell yes! A part of me wants to ditch the show for good but that's just me lying. As much as I hate to admit it, I think this would be a great plot stirrer. I am very much interested to see how Alicia will grieve and cope with Will's death.This reminds me of Lexie Grey's departure from Grey's Anatomy. The infamous plane crash episode that left me crying for days (not kidding on this one). Both came as a surprise. 

I'll end this post with a quote from WSJ.

"Fans turn to movies for drama, but they turn to long running TV shows for something else as well–familiarity. A TV series can be a kind of comfort food, a televised hamburger, and week after week we sit down for a TV dinner with characters we know and sometimes love. We want drama, but we don’t want too much. That’s why Capt. Kirk always beams down to hostile alien planets with a bunch of unnamed crew members. They get killed, he survives." 

I couldn't agree more. However, as upset as I am at the moment, I cannot deny that unexpected fictional deaths such as this make for a good story. It adds depth to the remaining characters. But then again, I'm still upset. Josh Charles had incredible performances in the show. I'm not just saying this because his character's gone. Nope. He's truly a great actor - great at balancing subtle and intense emotions. It just makes me more pissed just thinking about it.

If I need my "comfort" fix, it won't be The Good Wife. Tonight, it will be the stale wine that's sitting on my desk as I write this rant. Tsktsk.