The new Kalinda? The Good Wife has hired a new investigator in the wake of Archie Panjabi, aka investigator extraordinaire Kalinda Sharma, departing the series. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is joining the cast of Season 7 as a series regular, playing Alicia Florrick’s (Julianna Margulies) newest hire.
CBS revealed that Morgan’s newest role is Alex, “a calm, experienced hourly investigator” whom Alicia hires. (At the new law firm Michael J. Fox’s Louis Canning proposed in the Season 6 finale, or at Lockhart Agos? Only time will tell.)
“We’ve loved and admired Jeffrey Dean Morgan for years, and we were thrilled to hear that Julianna did too, so it was a no-brainer to ask him to join our troupe,” executive producers Robert and Michelle King said in a press release.
Morgan, 49, is currently starring on the CBS summer drama Extant alongside Halle Berry, and recently appeared in the miniseries Texas Rising.
Panjabi left The Good Wife after six seasons amid rumors of discord on set — she and star Margulies, whose characters were once BFFs, hadn’t shared a scene together in years, and a source confirmed to Us Weekly that the final Alicia/Kalinda scene in the Season 6 finale was actually shot separately.
Season 7 of The Good Wife premieres Sunday, Oct. 4 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS.