Directed by: Nancy Hower, Robert King, Rosemary Rodriguez, Rob Hardy, Tyne Rafaeli, Kevin Rodney Sullivan, Ron Underwood, Fong-yee Yap
Distributed by: CBS
Written by Jeff Sparks
60/100
In “Elsbeth,” Carrie Preston reprises her supporting role from “The Good Wife” as the titular quirky, upbeat lawyer in this spinoff series. No longer in Chicago, she now works alongside the NYPD in the Big Apple. On the surface, she’s there to observe the police and report on their behavior as part of an investigation into corruption by the Department of Justice. But secretly, she’s been placed there to investigate the police captain as the source of the corruption. The good-natured Elsbeth uses this opportunity to focus on getting to the truth for once, since she was so used to often defending crooks and gangsters as a high-profile defense lawyer. In each episode she investigates a murder case, with many of the murderers being played by recognizable actors that make guest appearances. Since each mystery that she solves is a one and done, the installments with the more charismatic actors tend to be the most interesting of the bunch. The segments with Gina Gershon and Keegan-Michael Key stand out in particular.
In “The Good Wife,” Elsbeth was always a bright spot in her occasional appearances that were too far and few between. If you wanted to see more of her, this spinoff is worth seeking out for that purpose. The showrunners prefer it to be viewed as its own show, but it’s hard not to caterogize it as a spinoff when they name drop a major character from “The Good Wife” twice in the first episode. Nonetheless, “Elsbeth” is perfectly watchable by itself and does not require any prior viewing, though “Good Wife” fans will likely get more out of this show that thrives on the lively performance from Preston, that is endearing, innocent, caring, curious, and comedic all at once. While Preston’s much-deserved prominent screen time earns the price of admission alone, her character’s turn in the starring role did leave me partially unsatisfied. We don’t know enough about her by the time season one concludes. With Julianna Margulies’ Alicia Florrick, we got to see her life as a lawyer, a mother, a daughter, a wife, a friend, and as a public figure. But with Elsbeth, we don’t know anything about her except that she’s divorced and has an estranged son. Seeing a different side of her would go a long way in future seasons.
With each episode following the same structure, the show begins to feel repetitive before the season is even half over. In each episode, she faces off against the city’s dumbest criminals who fall into her traps every time as the rotating cast of detectives continues to doubt her, even though she solves every case single-handedly. Admittedly, the formula does work as it’s always a pleasure to see Elsbeth navigate each case and be the hero who unmasks the killer, even though we know who it was the whole time. Filmmaking-wise, the show is serviceable and solid, except for some inconsistent lighting that can make Preston’s Cabernet-colored hair almost look brown. “Elsbeth” isn’t the best show of 2024 by any means, but it is worth seeing to witness Preston’s energetic and inspired performance which is supremely entertaining.
“Elsbeth” Trailer
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