6x01 The Beginning of the End

I'm going to miss this show when it's gone. It's been far from flawless, but what it has been, every single episode, is an obvious work of art. This entire series has been created in the service of such a unique artistic vision and has been given more license to hew close to its dictates than really any show that I can call to mind. It's eccentric, sometimes uncomfortably so, and yet for just once in my life that pattern of behavior hasn't been a form of pandering or an appeal to some "lowest common denominator" either. Hats off to the Kings for having the guts to make The Good Fight and the street cred to get CBS to pay for it; hats off to the cast and crew who saw something in it that was worth their time (especially Baranski, McDonald and Lindo, heavyweights all); and hats off to you, my fellow viewers, for congregating in sufficient numbers to let this little experiment persist for six wild and wacky seasons, pandemic notwithstanding—let's hope this final season ends up being the curtain call that we all deserve.

This show can always put out an unsettling, almost existential vibe at the center of its fast-paced fun like no others, and this season's Civil War-themed arc already has some unnerving bits in its premiere (background protest noises, and that elevator scene!). Plus Andre Braugher, coming in like a delightful wrecking ball, is such a great addition; best combo of actor's strength + show-writers' words in quite a while.