Elsbeth is an American police procedural comedy drama television series that premiered on February 29, 2024, on CBS. It is a spin-off of The Good Wife (2009–2016) and The Good Fight (2017–2022), from which Carrie Preston originated the role of Elsbeth Tascioni, an unconventional attorney who ends up working as a de facto detective. In April 2024, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on October 17, 2024.
Most, though not all, episodes of Elsbeth use the "howcatchem" mystery format rather than the traditional "whodunit", showing the audience from the start who the killer is, how and why they commit the crime, and how they are caught.
Premise[]
The series focuses on the offbeat Elsbeth Tascioni, an unconventional but astute attorney who, after a successful career in Chicago, uses her singular point of view to make unique observations and corner criminals alongside the NYPD. Ostensibly assigned by the United States Department of Justice to oversee a monitorship or consent decree after some controversial arrests, her real mission (revealed over the course of the first season) is to investigate Captain C.W. Wagner for corruption. Nine of the first 10 episodes use the inverted detective story format.
Cast[]
- Carrie Preston as Elsbeth Tascioni
- Carra Patterson as Kaya Blanke, a young NYPD officer who befriends Elsbeth
- Wendell Pierce as Charles Wallace (C. W.) Wagner, the Captain at Officer Blanke's precinct