Alicia Florrick (Cavanaugh) is the main character of the TV series The Good Wife. The wife of Peter Florrick, a disgraced state's attorney, she returns to work as a junior litigator at the law firm Stern, Lockhart & Gardner. She is portrayed by actress Julianna Margulies.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Alicia Cavanaugh was born to Veronica and Judge Cavanaugh before her younger brother Owen. Sometime in her life, Alicia's parents got divorced.
Law School[]
Alicia Cavanaugh graduated from law school at the top of her class at Georgetown University around 1994. While in law school, she met and became good friends with Will Gardner.
After Law School[]
After graduation, she went to work as a junior associate at the firm Crozier, Abrams & Abbott, where she had the highest number of billable hours for any associate. Sometime during that time, she met, and eventually married, Peter Florrick (played by Chris Noth). When they met, Peter was the Cook County State's Attorney. They met primarily because they were both attorneys, but Alicia did not seem to have Peter's political ambitions. After her two children, Zach and Grace, were born, she left work to be a stay-at-home mother and a good politician's wife.
The Series[]
Season 1[]
At the beginning of the show, Alicia had been married for fifteen years to Cook County State's Attorney Peter Florrick. Peter had been disgraced after a sex tape involving his liaison with a prostitute was leaked to the press. Allegations followed concerning the misuse of his office, and potential use of public funds to pay for his activities. Needing to support her family financially after the scandal and Peter's subsequent conviction, Alicia got in touch with old law school friend Will Gardner who hired her as a first-year associate at his firm, Stern, Lockhart & Gardner. With only one associate position open, she competes for the role with another junior associate, Cary Agos.
In Ep. 1, Alicia is given the case of a woman accused of murdering her husband and faking a car-jacking to cover it up. It is during this trial she first met Matan, a man hired by her husband during his time as State’s Attorney, currently working under Glenn Childs - the attorney whose leak of the sex tape landed her husband in jail. Their relationship is cold as Matan has lost respect for her husband Peter, and believed her to be receiving his help throughout her time on the case. However, Alicia successfully proved the guilt of another suspect, forcing Matan to drop the charges against her client.
In Ep. 2, Alicia was sent the rape case of a stripper by her husband Peter’s lawyer. While Alicia initially suspected that the woman is one of the prostitutes Peter slept with, both he and the woman denied it. During the trial, Childs revealed he had much more to release about Peter from his investigation, but released only the sex tape to save Alicia and her children undue stress. Someone leaves incriminating photographs of Peter in front of Alicia's apartment, but her children find it and decide to keep it away from their mom. At the end of the episode, Alicia finally listens to the full sex tape Childs leaked, after being sent a link to it by Cary.
Episode 3 reveals that when her husband was sent to prison, she was forced to move away from her old home in Highland Park, and subsequently cut out of her old friendship group. Her third client, Kenny Chatham, was the son of one of her former friends from her old neighborhood, accused of felony murder. Alicia saved him from receiving a murder conviction, but his mom continued to resent Alicia.
In Ep. 4, Peter's legal team began to gather new evidence to hopefully win Peter a new trial. Alicia revealed in an interview with his lawyer, Daniel Golden, that she initially found out about the affair when the story broke on CNBC. Sensing wavering loyalty to her husband, Golden started bribing Alicia and her children with generous gifts. Despite Alicia’s insistence that Golden shouldn't attempt to bribe her or her children, she provides him with videotape evidence that Peter was home on a day that he was accused of receiving bribes. Alicia also attempts to verify that a gift Peter gave her was indeed purchased by him, but when attempting to access the receipt, finds that the gift wasn’t purchased under his name. Despite these attempts, Peter’s legal team decide they need Alicia to testify at the appeal.
In Episode 5, tensions ride between Alicia and Peter’s mother, Jackie Florrick, about the children and when they would visit their father. Jackie insists that the children should visit their father on his birthday, a week before their scheduled visit, and eventually takes them despite Alicia’s wishes. This causes an argument wherein Alicia tells Jackie that she is trying her best, but needs to be the one to decide what's best for her children.
In Ep. 6, Alicia visits Peter in prison for a conjugal visit upon the insistence of Kalinda, as this is the only way she can get information on the death row case she's working on. Alicia and Peter then sleep separately.
In Episode 7, Alicia fights with her son as he attempts to hide that he has been searching for the prostitute in the image of Peter smoking crack. Zach instead pretends he phoned the sex line out of curiosity, and Alicia remains unaware of the photos. In an effort to win the firm's third partner, Jonas Stern, to her side, Alicia represented his daughter Anna Loeb after she was accused of not preventing an otherwise preventable accident due to her religion. Alicia soon became attracted to her co-counsel on Loeb's case, Ryan Alprin. However, all these feelings quickly died out when Kalinda informed her that Ryan had never passed the bar exam.
In Episode 8, Alicia testified at Peter’s appeal for a new trial, in which she said she will welcome Peter back home and asks for him to be returned. Her son snuck into the trial hoping to show the blackmail pictures to his father, who wasn’t present. As blackmailing continues with a video, Zach decides to try to record the person who delivers threats; his camera hidden in flower pot catches the silhouette of a man photoraphing their front door.
In Ep. 9, Amber Madison, Peter's prostitute, has been interviewed on talk shows about the book she is writing about Peter Florrick. Alicia found the interview online and watched part of it before Amber calls Alicia at work. This led to her visiting Peter in prison and asking him to make Amber Madison stop, which Peter does by threatening her with her ex, a Russian mobster. When Jackie told Alicia that Zach was with an older girl in his room with the door closed and Alicia wanted to move his computer in the living room, Zach told her that she don't trust him because she thinks he will be same as dad. Peter's threat led Amber to wait by Alicia’s car after work in an attempt to “warn” her. Ignoring everything Amber had said, Alicia drove away, walked into Peter's office, and kissed him.
In 10th episode, Alicia talks with Jackie about letting Grace to hang out with a firend whose father is also in prison. It turns out that Peter was the one who prosecuted Grace's friend's father and put him in jail.
Episode 11 introduces Ms Browning, the wife of Glenn Childs, who hired Alicia as her divorce lawyer in an attempt to scare her husband into ignoring their prenuptial agreement and giving her their house and full custody. Childs’ wife threatens to tell Alicia what her husband knows about Peter, but despite getting her ideal divorce settlement, tells Alicia that her husband tapped their phones regardless, before signing the non-disclosure.
Alicia tells Peter this in Episode 12, using a note written on papers and pretending they required Peter’s signature YAHOO Also in this episode, Jackie has a stroke and while she is recovering in hospital, Alicia hires a nanny, who finds pictures of Peter using drugs with hooker on Zach copmuter. Alicia fires the nanny when Zach and Grace lie to her about nanny discussing inappropriate things with them, including calling them hypersexualized because of their dad.
During Ep. 13, Alicia refuses to sit in the audience during Amber Madison’s testimony at Peter’s appeal, as well as telling him that he won’t be staying in her bed, but she does still love him. At the end of Episode 14, Peter is granted a new trial and is allowed to move back home.
The season ends with Peter's press conference, where he is announcing live on TV his second try for the State's Attorney's Office. Alicia agreed to show her support on the stage, but when she is called and starts to go towards Peter in front of press and cameras, her phone rings - Will is calling, meaning that he seriously wants to be with her despite all the difficulties. Alicia is thus presented with a choice - whether to continue to help her husband or to pick up the phone and choose Will.
Season 2[]
Alicia stays with her husband. Will lefts her two voice messages on the phone when she doesn't answer his call: first one is in anger as he sees her on TV with Peter, saying that they should drop whatever they might feel about each other; but immediately after, he tapes second voice mail, saying that he won't just drop it, that he loves her and has always loved her, probably ever since they have met in college at Georgetown. In the second message, he added that if that doesn't make sense to her, she should just ignore it and things will go back as they were. At press conference, Peter's campaign manager, Eli Gold, has took Alicia's phone when Will called her; he listens to both voice messages and delates the second one, leaving Alicia and Will in misunderstanding.
Later, Alicia finds about yet another betrayal - Peter has also slept with now her best friend, Kalinda, although before she knew her. Alicia separates from Peter, moving him into another apartment on Peter's election night, and starts a love affair with Will.
Season 3[]
Due to her worries about her children, Alicia ends affair with Will and soon starts to reconcile with Kalinda. When she is given choice of buying her apartment or moving out of it, Alicia considers buying her old family house, and at the end races with Jackie for it.
Season 4[]
Alicia deals with Kalinda's dangerous husband, a drug dealer who won't divorce Kalinda. She also gets and takes a promotion as an equity partner of the firm but at the end, starts a new firm with Cary.
Season 5[]
After Will dies in Season 5, Alicia goes into a period of mourning, and separates from Peter, maintaining their marriage for the sake of their careers.
Season 6[]
Alicia, Diane, Cary, Kalinda and others return to Lockhart & Gardner, now called Florrick, Agos & Lockhart. In Season 6, Alicia also starts running for State's Attorney and develops a friendship with prosecutor Finn Polmar. She is successfully elected but has to step down due to false accusations.
Season 7[]
Alicia restarts her law career in bond court. At the end of the series, Alicia and Peter agree to divorce.
The Good Fight
As of Season 6 of The Good Fight Alicia has started a successful law firm in New York.
Personality[]
Alicia has often been known as, if not is, a rather very complicated person.
Having spent so many years as "the good wife", Alicia finds herself at the bottom of the career ladder, trying to juggle both home and professional life with the ongoing scandal surrounding her husband with whom she has two children, Zach and Grace. However as complicated as she is, Alicia is smart, independent, fiercely protective of her children, and much more than a good wife. She is a firm mother who does her best to protect her children from the spotlight at all costs. She excels at keeping a cool exterior and is usually quiet. She is rarely ruffled and almost always thinks through what she is going to say, choosing her words for maximum impact or sting.
Alicia is often asked to hand-hold difficult clients on cases, which sometimes annoys her, but she proves good at reassuring people and remaining calm. Diane has even said that Alicia is that kind of person that tells the truth, even if it hurts.
Relationships[]
Peter Florrick[]
Peter Florrick met Alicia Cavanaugh for the first time primarily because they were both attorneys, but Alicia did not seem to have Peter's political ambitions and leaves work as an attorney to become a good political wife. They had been married for fifteen years by the beginning of the show, and had two children named Zachary and Grace Florrick, and lived in a large home in Highland Park, Chicago, for thirteen years. Alicia had never asked Peter any questions about his political activities because she did not believe it was necessary. Glenn Childs, one of Peter's political and personal enemies, revealed Peter's activities with prostitutes by leaking a sex tape to the press, and Peter was convicted on corruption charges and sent to prison.
Alicia remained distant from Peter for several months after and shied away from physical contact with him. However, she decided that she would not seek a divorce and later testified on Peter's behalf. Peter's devotion to his family was seen clearly when he threatened the prostitute from the sex tape, Amber Madison, and Amber's subsequent silence relieved Alicia so much that she kissed Peter.
While Alicia and Peter remained married, they slept in separate bedrooms while he was released under electronic monitoring. At the end of season two, after Peter won the election for State's Attorney, Alicia discovered he had slept with her friend and co-worker Kalinda Sharma before the scandal. Alicia packed up his boxes while he was celebrating the win with his team and moved him into a new apartment, paying his first three months' rent in advance. They became legally separated, and Alicia consulted David Lee, Lockhart/Gardner's family law specialist, for advice on how to protect herself financially in the face of divorce.
After David Lee reveals to Eli Gold that Alicia has been speaking to him about divorcing Peter, he questions her about it. She is outraged that David Lee even mentioned it to Eli so she says she won't be needing his services anymore, saying she has decided not to divorce. Peter and Alicia's relationship is still strained though, though it does improve in season 4. However after Will's death during season 5 Alicia decides to separate from Peter, but stay married in the public eye as it benefits both their careers
Will Gardner[]
Will Gardner and Alicia Florrick attended the same law school, Georgetown, and worked together before Alicia married Peter, had children and resigned. However, after her husband's sex scandal, Alicia presumably contacted Will, looking for a job, and Will selected her for a junior associate position at his firm. They spent many late nights together, which Jackie Florrick, Peter's mother, brought to the children's attention.
In Episode 17, Heart, After Will lost an important case, Alicia comforted him, telling him he did all that he could, and he kissed her. However, Alicia stopped it there and left the building. Then she seemed to change her mind and returned upstairs, only to find him gone. Their "bad timing" is a refrain throughout their relationship, from Georgetown to the present.
They agree to have dinner to discuss their relationship, however struggle to do so as a result of their ‘bad timing’. At the end of the first season, Will called Alicia and told her that he did want to be with her, to which Alicia responded by challenging him to come up with a plan. He called back a few seconds later, but when she didn't answer, he left two voicemail messages. The first one said that she was right--he was her boss, and she was his employee, and they should leave it alone. The second, more emotional, message said, "The plan is 'I love you,'" that he had been in love with her since Georgetown and that he would meet her anywhere and they could make a plan. Unbeknownst to either of them, Peter's campaign manager Eli Gold erased the second message, presumably because Alicia's departure would harm Peter's future chances of running for political office. Because Will ended the second message by telling her that if she didn't understand what he was saying, she should ignore it, he did not question her lack of response.
Alicia discovered the existence of the second message the next year when she listened to wiretap recordings and heard Will talking to his friend Henry Baxter about his relationship with her. However, when she asked him what the second message said, he lied and told her it was similar to the first.
Alicia separates from Peter when she finds out about his affair with Kalinda, and begins to think romantically about Will again. After winning the Judge Ellerbee murder trial, Will and Alicia celebrated by doing tequila shots. She asked him about his girlfriend Tammy, and he explained their recent breakup. Will went on to ask her, "What if we were to suddenly have good timing? Just for an hour?" and they got a hotel room together.
Following their night in the hotel room, Will and Alicia embark on an affair for the first half of season 3. This stays mainly sexual and they refrain from speaking about their feeling for each other, however in episode 10 Will tells Kalinda he wants more and she suggests he talks to Alicia. Before Will gets chance Alicia ends the relationship after Grace goes missing and Alicia blames herself for being distracted by her relationship with Will. When she walks away from him she is seen crying, so she might have strong feelings for him. Will later tells her he doesn't want things to be weird, and they go back to the way things were before. However, it is still strongly hinted that Will is in love with Alicia.
The two remain friends for the rest of season 3 and majority of season 4, however in s4 episode 14 their built up sexual a tension cuases them to share a kiss in Alicia’s office during a fight about her conduct in court. They both admit this is a mistake afterwards and agree to avoid eachother however they seem realize this is not feasible due to their close working relationship. In episode 18 Alicia reveals to Will that she has got back with Peter and they need to end whatever they have in order for them both to move on. However, Alicia does have dreams about making love with Will and being with Will and appears jealous at his relationship with Laura . After Alicia agrees to renew her vows with Peter, her mum visits Will and encourages him to confess his feelings to Alicia. In the next episode they share another kiss in Wills car and Will demands they find the time to finally properly discuss their relationship. In the last scenes of the season we see Alicia arranging to might someone, however this turns out to be Cary, who she agrees to leave the firm with. It is implied she does so to escape her feelings for Will, now that Peter has been elected governor.
Will considers it a massive betrayal when he discovers Alicia’s plan to leave the firm and in an explosive encounter in her office, he swipes her desk. They enter a bitter rivalry with their firms competing on many cases. In episode 14 they have a discussion after Alicia’s keynote speech and Will admits he doesn’t hate her but just doesn’t like her very much and insists his reaction has nothing to do with their history. This seems like a small moment in rebuilding their friendship and in episode 15 Alicia comes to the courthouse to warn Will of a disloyal client and in a brief moment of reconciliation he thanks her for her help. This is the last time they interact as the next day Will is gunned down by his client in court and dies as a result of his injuries. Alicia is devastated by his death and finds he left her a voicemail asking to talk minutes before his died. In episode 16 Alicia agonizes over what it could have said, fantasizing at the end of the episode of him calling to tell her he loved her. Alicia splits from Peter as a result of her grief for Will telling him her relationship with Will meant something unlike Peters affairs with prostitutes.
in season 7 episode 10 Alicia is furious with when Eli reveals to her about the voicemail he deleted of Will confessing his love. She expresses her regret at not choosing to be with Will, and later breaks down to Luca about how she ‘was loved, and it’s over.’ In the series finale Alicia has a series of hallucinations of Wills presence, telling him she misses him to which he quotes back her own words that their relationship ‘was romantic because it didn’t happen.’ In their last scene together in Alicia's mind, Will encourages her to go pursue a relationship with Jason so as not to be alone, to which Alicia replies ‘Jason’s not you.’ Alicia tells Will she’ll ‘love him forever’ and they share one last embrace.
Johnny Elfman[]
Jonathan and Alicia had a one night stand.
Alicia decides to run for state's attorney, but she is not prepared to hear all the dirt that Johnathan, her campaign manager has gathered about her own family and career. Johnny wants to bed Alicia from the moment he laid eyes on her in "Oppo Research".
In "Hail Mary", Alicia kisses Johnny in a parking garage after finding out Cary's case had been dismissed with prejudice. In "The Debate" is insinuated that Johnny has grown feelings for Alicia, and few episodes later they shared a passionate kiss in front of an elevator in the end scene. Later they had sex.
Alicia goes to Johnny's apartment later the day
Alles.
After. Alicia and Johnnyx.ng the night Tryst.
Diane Lockhart[]
Diane acts as a sort-of mentor for Alicia throughout the series. She initially doesn't respect Alicia, but soon finds out that she is a smart, kind, and diligent lawyer. In season 3, Diane and Alicia have an awkward tension because of her affair with Will, which Diane worries compromises their judgments and the integrity of the firm. Shortly after Will's death, she left Lockhart/Gardner along with several other department heads and joined Alicia and Cary's new law firm, Florrick/Agos, leaving LG to David Lee and Louis Canning .
Kalinda Sharma[]
Kalinda was Alicia's best friend throughout the first two seasons. She helped Alicia settle in at Lockhart/Gardner and they worked together on numerous cases. After avoiding being indicted, an investigator for the State Attorney's office pursued information about Kalinda and discovered that she had in fact slept with Peter before the sex scandal. The investigator Wiley turns up during the celebration of Peter's election and tells Alicia of the affair. Alicia breaks down in her apartment. Days later, she confronts Kalinda and says their entire friendship was a lie. Kalinda walks away and cries in the elevator. From then on Kalinda and Alicia had a strained relationship.
Kalinda helps find Alicia's daughter when she went missing and returns her home. Kalinda asks Grace and Zach not to tell their mother that she had helped, though she eventually found out. When Kalinda is arrested by Cary, Alicia makes an effort to find her and free her. When they are sitting in Alicia's car, Kalinda says thanks and Alicia thanks her for finding her daughter.
Alicia wants to rebuild their friendship but says that she can't be the only one being honest. Kalinda agrees and the two start to be friends again.
Owen Cavanaugh[]
Owen is Alicia's younger brother. Although personality-wise Owen is the polar opposite of Alicia, they do love each other very much. Additionally, her brother being gay never bothered her. Owen very much loves Alicia but often clashes with Peter.
Eli Gold[]
In Eli Gold's first scene with Alicia, he realizes that she isn't just another politician's wife, and respects her caution and intelligence. At the end of season 1, Alicia asks Eli to have some of his clients switch to her firm, out of fear of being fired. At the end of season 2, Eli joins Lockhart/Gardner and, in season 3, he hopes to restore Peter and Alicia's marriage so Peter can run for the governorship successfully. He also managed to convince Alicia to run for States Attorney.
Kenny Chatham[]
Kenneth Chatham's mother and Alicia Florrick had been good friends during the days when Peter and Alicia were still together regularly, and Kenny always saw Alicia as sort of a "fun mom." Kenny showed up at Alicia's office and everyone assumed that he was her son. Having been caught picking up marijuana, he had come to Alicia because he needed a lawyer. Alicia told him that he had to go to the police instead. Kenny told her that she had once been "much cooler" than she had become. Soon, however, Kenny was accused of murder and Alicia was forced to accept his defense. She won the case and prevented Kenny from being jailed. After the case was won Kenny's mother approached Alicia but Alicia pointed out that their friendship was not going to rekindle and Kenny's mother was not going to call her, this refers to earlier in the episode when Alicia tells Kalinda that after the scandal Kenny's mom was the first to stop calling.