Prestigious industry mag "Variety" gave "The Good Wife" a big pat on the back for, essentially, making the best of a bad situation when the writers killed off Josh Charles's character, Will Gardner, this past season. It was a bad situation because it wasn't the writers who prompted the decision, but Charles himself, who had decided he wanted to leave the show.

"Variety" reviewer Brian Lowry said the emotional responses required of the other actors produced some of their best performances, and so "in the 'If life gives you lemons' department, 'Good Wife' show-runners Robert and Michelle King, who wrote Sunday's episode, appear to have more than made the best of it, while positioning the show, and perhaps particularly star Julianna Margulies, in an extremely favorable manner heading into the period that will overlap with the close of the Emmy eligibility window."

And just a few weeks ago, Margulies did, in fact, win the Emmy for best actress in a drama.

Charles's decision was a creative one -- he just wanted to move on to new things. He's since booked a number of roles and has already starred in an offbeat indie film, "Bird People," that premiered at the Cannes film festival this year to great acclaim.

For his part, he's happy with how his character departed. "It has been such an important part of my life and my career, and it was such a great way, obviously a very dramatic and shocking way, but a great way, to say goodbye," he told the entertainment website GoldDerby.com.

As for why nothing's been said about it, part of that is because everyone had to keep it under their hats. He told the show's producers of his intention to leave more than a year before his final episode aired, but his official departure was never announced, so that the writers could write it as a surprise for the audience.

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