Let's be honest, fans are still reeling from Will Gardner's shocking and truly upsetting death in season five. Even more shocking? The cast and crew were able to keep it a secret for over a year. Of his decision to leave the series (co-star Julianna Margulies actually convinced him to stay longer than he had originally planned), Charles said, "I thought that I felt however much I've enjoyed the experience, I was ready for the next chapter of my life, both creatively and personally."
And while The Good Wife is still going strong, and adored by critics, it's hard not to miss the passion and intensity that Will brought to the show. Also, we'll never not wonder "What if..."when it comes to Will and Alicia.
Has Charles ever returned? Only to direct the episode dealing with the fallout from Will's death. And it seems unlikely that he will, considering creators Robert and Michelle King made a point of killing Will, not sending him away.
"We could ‘send him off to Seattle,' he could be disbarred, or get married, or go off to Borneo to do good works. But there was something in the passion that Will and Alicia shared that made distance a meager hurdle," they said. "The brutal honesty and reality of death speaks to the truth and tragedy of bad timing for these two characters."