Did The Good Wife Snub Archie Panjabi at Paley Fest?

In the wake of last night’s blink-and-you-miss-it Kalinda cameo, I came across this tweet from The Good Wife star Archie Panjabi about the Paley Fest event recently:

The entire cast — sans Panjabi — was in attendance at Paley Fest recently and when probed about the character of Kalinda, star Matt Czuchry reassured fans that there would be closure around her character. Yet, it feels like we’re just being set up for a massive disappointment.

The rumors are rife from the set of The Good Wife: Since star Julianna Marguiles took over as producer, she has wanted to do away with Kalinda Sharma. Some cite jealousy (Panjabi emerged as an early favorite of fans and critics alike) and others say they simply have different working styles. Show bosses are trying to convince us that the Alicia-Kalinda split is a natural consequence of Alicia finding out that Kalinda slept with her husband. Maybe the truth is a little of everything. And honestly, whatever the reasons are, it seems like a sloppy and unjust way to bid goodbye to a brilliant talent — and a large part of what made The Good Wife so much grittier than its contemporaries.

It looks like Panjabi is excited for what’s up next:

It’s also satisfying to see such a brilliant performer take such poorly-written material and find a way to make it electric. Also a testament to Panjabi’s performance is how Kalinda can be randomly dropped into an episode 45 minutes in, given about two minutes of screentime, and still convince us that she was essential to the plotline.

Here is hoping that Robert and Michelle King wise up to how much they’re alienating fans by treating this character — and Panjabi — so shoddily as she gets ready to depart for greener pastures. She also stars in the Gillian Anderson-led series The Fall.

Meanwhile, let’s remember the good times, shall we?

Rohin Guha is an editor at The Aerogram. Follow him on Twitter, if you’d like.