Carrie Preston’s Elsbeth Is the Cool Breeze We Need Now

Posted on June 22, 2024 by Charlene Giannetti in Playing Around

New York is sweltering, with no break in sight. The upcoming presidential election is stressing us out. And sports fans who watched NHL and NBA championships slip away, wonder if either the Yankees or the Mets will bring a World Series parade back to the city. We’re all spending more time indoors trying to avoid the heat, but to lower our stress levels, tuning out news and sports channels is the way to go. So what do we watch? For pure frothy enjoyment, stream the CBS series Elsbeth on Paramount+. With a stellar cast, talented guest stars, picturesque New York locations, quirky plots, and eye-popping costumes, Elsbeth is like taking a dip in a very cool pool. And with 10 episodes available in the first season, a few days of great viewing can be enjoyed.

Fans of The Good Wife and The Good Fight will recognize the Elsbeth character from those CBS shows (also available to stream on Paramount+). Carrie Preston’s performance stood out so a series focused on Elsbeth was a given. More, however, was needed to create a successful show in such a competitive environment. Enter the executive producers Robert and Michelle King, show runner Jonathan Tolins, and his writing team, and the foundation was set.

Elsbeth Tascioni (love that name!) is a smart attorney whose observational skills allow her to zero in on evidence even the best trained detectives overlook. Because of her enthusiastic demeanor and, of course, her flamboyant style, she’s often underestimated, even dismissed, by the police as well as by possible suspects. They do so at their own peril. While the cops who are outsmarted by Elsbeth try to save face, she’s never one to trumpet her success, one reason she soon begins to gain support and respect among her new colleagues. The criminals? Well, most seem flummoxed that they’ve been found out by someone they never viewed as a threat.

A new arrival from Chicago, Elsbeth can’t resist being a tourist in the Big Apple. In the first episode, she arrives at her first crime scene wearing a Statue of Liberty crown. (After taking one of those Big Apple bus tours.) And her outfits! Kudos to costume designer Daniel Lawson and his team for helping to define Elsbeth’s character by the colorful, playful clothing she wears. It’s easy to take in the mismatched blouses and skirts and the ubiquitous, oversized tote bags she carries and dub her a fashion faux pas. What it really says, however, is that she’s comfortable in her own skin and what she wears. (The last episode brings that statement home.)

Elsbeth’s assignment is the reason she’s not welcomed by the NYPD. She’s been sent to oversee a consent decree after some controversial arrests. What isn’t known, however, is that she’s also gathering evidence that the precinct captain is taking bribes. Spying on the police officers she’s supposed to be helping places Elsbeth in a difficult situation, something that she handles well. She is, after all, an attorney skilled at keeping information to herself.

While most viewers will connect Preston with “The Good” series, the actor has an impressive resume that includes roles in three dozen films, three dozen TV shows, and more than a dozen stage appearances. Elsbeth is not her first leading role in a TV series, but may turn out to be her most memorable.

Preston is backed up by a terrific supporting cast. There must have been celebrating when the Tony Award-winning Wendell Pierce, whose resume includes iconic roles on stage, TV, and film, signed on to play Captain Charles Wagner. A Julliard graduate, Pierce’s Tony Award was for 2012’s Clybourne Park. For playing Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, he was nominated for a Tony for his performance on Broadway and won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in London’s West End. Pierce brings a gravitas and elegance to any role he takes on and his Wagner is the perfect counterpoint to Preston’s Elsbeth.

Rounding out the star trio is Carra Patterson as Officer Kay Blake, who builds a relationship with Elsbeth, while also reporting back to Wagner about the lawyer’s activities. Patterson also has an impressive theater resume, having appeared in numerous Broadway productions, including Wit opposite Cynthia Nixon.

For those who remember Colombo, where Peter Falk played a disheveled police detective, Elsbeth follows that model with guest stars playing the villain. In the first season, Preston’s Elsbeth goes toe to toe with Jane Krakowski, Keegan-Michael Key, Linda Lavin, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and Laura Benati. Like Colombo, where the stars played suspects who enjoyed sparring with the seemingly befuddled cop, the well known actors who turn up in Elsbeth seem to be having the time of their lives, even when they’re arrested.

Elsbeth – no surprise – has been renewed for another season, having scored a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was the second most watched series of the season, according to Paramount+. Can Elsbeth tours of New York and an Elsbeth fashion line be in the future? We hope so!

Elsbeth can be streamed on Paramount+.

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