"Mourning Will Gardner"

     "Make them beg for more, and then don't give it to them!"  

     Do you recognize that movie dialogue?  It is Mama Rose to her daughter Gypsy Rose Lee, in the movie Gypsy.    I believe that, in actuality, this is the mantra of the writers of  The Good Wife.  They have been teasing the viewers for years with the on again off again romance between the show's protagonists, Alicia Florrick and Will Gardner.  Last year, viewers were encouraged to vote team Will or team Peter, and we could even buy our chosen team's T-shirts!  

     I, and many others like me, have been waiting in eager anticipation for Alicia and Will to reunite this season.  My hopes were cruelly dashed last Sunday, when Will, the Zoe Barnes  of  The Good wife, was killed off, shocking viewers.  I am bitterly disappointed.  I know Alicia is married to a S.O.B., and I wanted to see her happy, with a good guy.  Okay, with Will. On the other hand, Alicia is a survivor, and she is sure to grow due to yet another life altering experience.

      I know, I am too emotionally invested in the TV shows I watch.  I'm not the only one...my BFF called me after the show so that we could "mourn" Will.  Many of my friends and I were buzzing all week about the shocking episode, lamenting Will's death, and pondering the rippling effect his absence will have on the other characters.  Many of us also expressed anger at this turn of events.  I even posted a comment to the show's FB page to that effect, indicating that I may never watch the show again.  (That was a knee jerk reaction. I intend to, of course.)

     The Good Wife has been my favorite show since it inception five years ago.  The characters have become friends who are invited into my home every Sunday evening without fail. I manage my Sunday evening schedule based on whether or not the show is on, and also at what time it airs.  I curse the football games that delay its prompt start, and would not go out on a Sunday night if I had a date with a millionaire.  (Okay, that is a bit of a stretch.)  I share in the characters' happiness, I relate to their challenges, and I mourn for them when they are gone. 

     It is with mixed emotions that I will watch tonight's episode.  I have to wonder if Alicia's last voice mail message from Will is going to be reminiscent of a scene from My Foolish Heart,  where Eloise Winters is reading a letter from her lover, soldier Walt Dreiser, who was in the midst of writing it when he was killed.  In the letter, he asked her to marry him...She breaks down sobbing, finally realizing that his love for her was true, but also grieving for the life they would never share. I'm sure that Alicia's scene will be equally emotional.

     I will have a box of tissues at my side tonight, knowing that saying goodbye to Will saddens me.  But life (and TV shows) go on, and like it or not, we will adapt.  The writers gave us no choice. Unless  Alicia had a Pamela Barnes-Ewing moment, and it was all a dream.  We can only hope...