The arrival of Matthew Goode in The Good Wife was a bit of a lightning strike. Honestly, the show was reeling. Josh Charles had just exited in a shower of gunfire and heartbreak, leaving a massive, Will Gardner-shaped hole in the center of the narrative. Fans were devastated. The chemistry was gone. Then, in walks Finn Polmar. He wasn't a replacement for Will, but he was exactly what the show needed to survive its fifth season.
He was different.
While Will Gardner was all sharp edges and high-stakes ambition, Finn Polmar brought a certain rumpled, weary integrity to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office. He was a prosecutor who actually seemed to care about the law, not just the win. Matthew Goode played him with this understated, charismatic exhaustion that felt incredibly real. You’ve seen that look before—the guy who has seen too much but hasn't quite given up yet.
The Impossible Task of Following Will Gardner
Let's be real about the situation Robert and Michelle King were in. Killing off a lead character is a massive gamble. It usually kills the show. When Will died, the central romantic tension of The Good Wife evaporated instantly.
Matthew Goode didn't try to be the new romantic lead, at least not at first. He entered the frame in the middle of the chaos of the courtroom shooting. He was the one who tried to save Will. That’s a hell of an introduction. It linked him to the tragedy without making him the cause of it.
The writers were smart. They didn't force a romance between Alicia Florrick and Finn Polmar right away. Instead, they built a partnership based on shared trauma and professional respect. It was slow. It was nuanced. It was actually grown-up television.
Goode’s performance is a masterclass in "less is more." He has this way of looking at Julianna Margulies that says everything without a single line of dialogue. It’s in the eyes. It’s in the way he leans against a doorway. He made Finn feel like a person who had a whole life off-camera, someone with a messy past and a quiet moral compass.
Why the Chemistry Worked (and Why It Hurts)
The tension between Alicia and Finn was palpable. It wasn't the fiery, illicit passion she had with Will. It was something deeper and, arguably, more sustainable. It was two people who actually liked each other. They shared drinks. They talked about law. They navigated the murky waters of Chicago politics together.
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But then, there was the "will they, won't they" of it all.
Actually, it was more of a "they probably shouldn't, but we really want them to."
Finn was the State’s Attorney’s office’s rising star, and Alicia was... well, she was Alicia Florrick. The optics were terrible. The professional conflicts were a minefield. Yet, every time they were on screen together, the show felt energized. Matthew Goode brought a British sensibility—that dry, self-deprecating wit—to a very American legal drama. It refreshed the palate.
The Abrupt Exit of Finn Polmar
If you're still salty about how things ended for Finn Polmar, you're not alone. It was weird. It was sudden.
By the end of Season 6, it felt like the show was finally ready to commit to the Alicia/Finn dynamic. They were starting a firm together! The path was clear! And then, Finn just... left. He decided he couldn't be around her because the attraction was too much, or his ex-wife was a factor, or the writing was just on the wall.
The truth behind the scenes was more practical. Matthew Goode is a busy man. He had Downton Abbey calling. He had movies. He was a guest star who became a series regular but was never quite anchored to the show's long-term contract structure in the same way the original cast was.
His departure left a void that the show never quite filled again. The final seasons struggled with a rotating door of love interests and partners for Alicia (looking at you, Jason Crouse), but none of them had that specific, soulful connection that Finn Polmar brought to the table.
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What Matthew Goode Brought to the Table
Think about his acting style. It's precise.
In The Imitation Game or A Discovery of Witches, he plays characters who are incredibly intelligent but often emotionally guarded. He brought that same energy to The Good Wife. Finn Polmar wasn't a "shouter." He didn't do the big, theatrical courtroom speeches that Peter Florrick did. He won his cases with logic and a sort of quiet, devastating persistence.
- The "Rumpled" Aesthetic: He often looked like he’d slept in his suit, which made him relatable.
- The Moral Conflict: He was constantly torn between his career and his conscience.
- The Eyes: Seriously, the man does more with a squint than most actors do with a monologue.
The show thrived on complexity. It wasn't just about good guys and bad guys. It was about "the good wife" trying to find her own agency in a world designed to suppress it. Finn Polmar was the first man in the series who seemed to genuinely view Alicia as an equal, not a trophy, a rival, or a forbidden fruit. He just... saw her.
The Legacy of Finn Polmar
Even years later, fans still debate whether Finn was "the one."
Most legal dramas follow a template. You have the hero, the villain, and the love interest. The Good Wife subverted that by making everyone a bit of a villain at times. Except Finn. He was the closest thing the show had to a pure heart in its later years, which is probably why he couldn't stay. Chicago law would have eventually corrupted him, or Alicia would have.
By leaving when he did, the character remained untainted.
Matthew Goode’s stint on the show was relatively brief—just about a season and a half—but his impact was massive. He saved the show from a post-Will Gardner depression and gave Alicia a reason to keep fighting.
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If you're rewatching the series on streaming now, pay attention to the shift in tone when he arrives. The lighting seems to change. The pacing picks up. It’s the "Matthew Goode effect." He has this innate ability to make everyone around him better.
Key Takeaways for Fans and Writers
If you're looking for lessons from the Finn Polmar era, here they are.
First, never underestimate the power of a "rebound" character who isn't a carbon copy of the predecessor. If the Kings had cast a Josh Charles lookalike, the audience would have revolted. By casting Goode—a tall, lean, British actor with a completely different energy—they forced the audience to move on.
Second, chemistry isn't always about sex. It's about shared values. Alicia and Finn's best scenes weren't the ones where they were flirting; they were the ones where they were arguing about a case in a dimly lit office.
Third, sometimes a short, brilliant run is better than a long, mediocre one. Finn Polmar didn't stay long enough to become a caricature of himself. He came, he saw, he won our hearts, and he exited stage left before the show's eventual decline.
Actionable Next Steps for Enthusiasts
If you want to dive deeper into why this character worked or just want more of that Matthew Goode fix, here is what you should actually do:
- Rewatch Season 5, Episode 15 ("Dramatics, Adn0"): This is Finn's intro. Watch how he reacts during the shooting. It tells you everything you need to know about his character's DNA.
- Compare Finn to Jason Crouse: When you get to Season 7, look at how Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s character interacts with Alicia. It’s a totally different vibe—more "bad boy," less "partner." It highlights exactly what was lost when Goode left.
- Check out A Discovery of Witches: If you missed the chemistry, Goode brings that same intense, simmering energy to his role as Matthew de Clairmont. It’s supernatural, but the "Goode charm" is the same.
- Analyze the "Finn Polmar Exit": Look at the final scene between Alicia and Finn in Season 6. It's a masterclass in subtext. They are saying goodbye to each other, but they are also saying goodbye to the audience.
The reality is that Matthew Goode in The Good Wife was a fluke of perfect casting and desperate writing that somehow resulted in one of the most beloved characters in modern legal TV history. He wasn't supposed to be the lead, but for a moment, he was the heartbeat of the show.