Kalinda Sharma (Archie Panjabi) will make her final appearance on "The Good Wife" in season 6 finale titled "Wanna Partner?" and viewers are eager to watch her exit on CBS this Sunday, 10 May, at 9pm.
Ever since showrunners Robert and Michelle King revealed the character's departure in October, fans started speculating on how she would bid adieu to the show. Initially, there was a buzz that the detective will be killed off towards the end of the season.
When the executive producers made it clear that they are not planning to repeat Will Gardner's (Josh Charles) sequence, several spoilers hinted at a jail term for the enigmatic investigator. The rumour gained strength after episode 17 titled "Undisclosed Recipients", in which the law firm Florrick/Agos/Lockhart fell victim to a cyber hack.
But once again, the creators proved all the predictions wrong after making Panjabi's character say goodbye on camera; viewers assumed that she may appear in guest roles for the rest of the sequels. Recently, actor Matt Czuchry revealed that episode 22 will be her last in the legal drama. "I think this is the best way to get closure to that character," he told Entertainment Weekly.
Meanwhile, many of "The Good Wife" fans thought that Kalinda's appearance in the finale will be through a flashback. But Robert revealed that there are no flashbacks in the sequel and said: "It was all present day with Archie. It's, unfortunately, complications that have come out of Kalinda leaving. What we kind of wanted to do was play this kind of as if it were an encore."
He even teased that a little surprise is waiting for viewers in episode 22. "We thought people would think that was very abrupt two episodes [ago] when Archie left the scene, and wouldn't be prepared for it, and we wanted to have a little surprise, but also a little emotional jiggle, and then have her come back in these last two [episodes]," he told Yahoo.
Nevertheless, Panjabi believes that the time is perfect for her character to make an exit. "We had a couple of episodes where we tease my leaving, and everyone has known that I'm leaving for some time. People are sad to see her go. I kind of knew I wanted to go around season four. It's very hard for creative individuals to be professionally satisfied and I'm happy that I've been able to achieve that on the show, but I felt that if I stayed on longer I'd lose that balance. There's been a massive evolution of the character arc, too, and we just tie a nice bow on it," she told The Guardian.
The final prediction that can be made about the character's exit is that she could begin a new career in another city and decide to stay there forever. However, viewers will have to wait until Sunday night to know more about the consequence.
