Remember that time at the end of Season 4 of THE GOOD WIFE where we all thought “oh she’s calling Will” only to realize that Alicia actually called Cary, and she’s made the decision to leave Lockhart/Gardner for her own firm (Florrick/Agos)?  When Season 5 premieres tonight at 9/8c, we’re thrown right into the immediate aftermath of that decision, and what comes next, and for lack of a better term, is wonderful.

Now that the decision is made, and that Peter is the Governor-elect, Alicia is thrown immediately into a death-row case for self-proclaimed-innocent man Malik Yoba, whose execution is botched at the 11th hour, setting in motion an urgent trial to get this innocent man pardoned.  While Alicia struggles with how exactly (and when) she’ll tell Will and Diane that she’s leaving them, they all (the whole gang – Diane, Will, Alicia, Cary, Robin, and Kalinda, among others) work together in a classic and fun way, much to the chagrin of prosecutor Faith Yokas (Molly Price) and reluctant delight of guest judge Jeffrey Tambor, proving that they’ll do anything to fight for their clients. On the Governor side of things, ethics mastermind Marilyn Garbanza (Melissa George) is causing Eli some stress because she’s hot and Peter’s got an inability to work with hot ladies without bedding them.  Plus, Zach Florrick continues to be awesome, and Grace continues to be less so, while smarmy David Lee is smarmy.

The return of the show is a welcome one, as I’ve missed all of the characters (except maybe Grace, sorry Grace), and it’s the one show that I really thought about over the summer – what will happen with Alicia and Will?  What about with Alicia and Cary, and Alicia and Kalinda, and my head starts spinning when I really get going.  The show continues to be one of the best shows on television and it breaks my heart into little pieces every week when like, 8 million more people don’t tune in.  The performances are without question unrivaled, and I’m so invested in what happens next that it hurts my heart just thinking about it.  In short, tune in, fall in love with these characters and the whip smart writing, and thank me later for my advice!