[Editor’s note: The following contains some spoilers for Season 2 of Elsbeth.]

The Big Picture

In Season 2 of the CBS series ‘Elsbeth,’ Elsbeth Tascioni’s unique perspective helps solve crimes in NYC, bringing a fresh take to investigations.
Elsbeth’s influence on her boss, Captain Wagner, reflects mutual respect and moments of vulnerability beyond the cases.
Elsbeth’s evolving relationships, backstory, and commitment to truth make her a compelling, impactful character.

The CBS series Elsbeth is back for Season 2 with consent decree attorney Elsbeth Tascioni (Carrie Preston), a character previously featured in The Good Wife and The Good Fight, helping to catch all sorts of murderers around New York. Her goodness is infectious to all those around her, including her boss Captain Wagner (Wendell Pierce) and detective-in-training Officer Kaya Blanke (Carra Patterson), and her unique point of view helps to close cases. In fact, once her curiosity is pointed in your direction, you’re just not going to get away with whatever it is you did.

During this interview with Collider, co-stars Preston and Pierce talked about enjoying the dynamic between their characters, their growing friendship offscreen, getting to learn more about their backstories, continuing to bring the fun and funny to a show that starts each week with a murder, whether Elsbeth is aware of the affect she has on people, and navigating their continuing evolution at work.

‘Elsbeth’s Carrie Preston and Wendell Pierce Share a Mutual Respect for Each Other
Image via CBS

Collider: Wendell, when your character told Elsbeth that he was going to have her office packed up for her, at the end of Season 1, I was so sad about that. I also loved how it came full circle and that he was the one that presented her with her new space. How did you guys feel about that moment?

WENDELL PIERCE: It’s the push and pull of it, and the conflict within him, wanting to control everything, but at the same time, he has to realize the reality of how good she is. She’s really good, and he hates it. The thing that I love is the fact that we captured the conflict of the smile at the end of the season. I cannot tell you how many people were like, “Man, I was so happy when you came into the fashion show and smiled.” I was like, “Really?” And they were like, “Yeah!” You forget, as you do it, or at least I do because I’m really bad at that. And then, I realized that was getting a reaction from people. It gives you something to play, as we go forward, when figuring out how we’re gonna navigate this new relationship. I go back and forth about whether I should have helped her and kept her here, but she’s really good. It’s a great place to be. It gives us something to play, which is wonderful.

CARRIE PRESTON: Exactly. They have this mutual respect for each other, but that was thrown into doubt when he started realizing what she’s really there for. And then, she’s trying to make her argument to defend herself by going, “This was my job. I was doing the best that I could.” Playing those tense scenes with Wendell is difficult to go through, of course, because it’s a painful thing to do. But also, this is what we love as actors, having juicy scenes like this to play. We just would dig in deeper and deeper and deeper.

PIERCE: And she made great points, too.

PRESTON: Yeah, the writing was so good for us because we were both making really good arguments. Has that trust been eroded or not? We had this reparation at the end. One of my favorite things that we shot last season was me walking down the runway and looking up and seeing Wendell. Yes, it was Elsbeth seeing Captain Wagner, but it was Carrie seeing Wendell. After what we had just gone through on our first season of the TV show, him showing up and supporting me, all those lines got blurred in the best way, to capture that moment. We didn’t even have to do very many takes. It was just right there. Everybody was like, “Okay, that’s it.”

Related ‘Elsbeth’ Season 2 Review: Same Upbeat Energy, New Stakes The CBS procedural settles into its Season 2 rhythm, setting the emotional stakes for the new episodes right away.

That moment with him smiling, when he didn’t have to do that, was particularly interesting because it made us feel like there’s more to him that we don’t know yet.

PIECE: Absolutely. We see the veil lifted every once in a while, when you see him at home and having conversations with his wife. It’s also the demeanor that police officers, in particular, and people in leadership positions put on like, “I’m gonna go by the book and try to keep my personal feelings out of it,” but it’s impossible to do that. And so, I love the fact that you saw the veneer lifted for a moment. That gives us room to play and it gives me an idea of when the veneer is lifted and when the veneer is on. It gives me a landscape to play with, as we go forward.

Because we know Elsbeth as a character, we know to expect the unexpected with her. But with Captain Wagner, we’re not sure who he really is under those layers. Will we understand him better in Season 2?

PIERCE: Absolutely. There’s a history that we both have, and all the characters have, that will be revealed, more and more. That’s the great thing about doing serial television, you get to build characters and reveal different aspects of their personalities. I look forward to that.

Carrie Preston Is Still Learning New Things About Elsbeth After All These Years of Playing the Character

Before now, we haven’t gotten to spend this much time with Elsbeth. What are you enjoying exploring that you hadn’t before?

PRESTON: A lot about her history. She’d only mentioned Teddy, her son, once, and not even by name, the first time Elsbeth ever appeared 14 years ago, and then that was gone. Now, we’re really learning a lot about that relationship and that informs so much of what the audience then learns about the character. When you picture Elsbeth as a mother, what is that? Clearly, there was some complicated stuff, but there’s so much love. They wrote in some wonderful stuff about how I protected him from being bullied and that he’s gay. There’s just a lot of rich things to mine there that I never had the benefit of knowing before because I would usually just show up to do whatever the case was. So, that’s been great. And also, just seeing her in relationships with people that are now ongoing, every day. When I would appear before, it would just be these brief little encounters that we would have. Having the longevity now, of a whole season, I’m learning what Elsbeth is like in relationships. These things are fun and exciting to play, but also informative. It allows me to just relax into that character a little more.

Elsbeth seems to want to see the good in everybody.

PRESTON: She does, even when it’s bad.

Related ‘Elsbeth’s Carrie Preston Will Face Off With Husband Michael Emerson in New Guest Role The episode airs December 12 on CBS.

Even when she knows someone has done a bad thing, she still seems to fight wanting to like them. Is that going to cause her problems?

PRESTON: I would think it has to. If anything, it just might cost her a little bit emotionally. We saw that, even in the pilot. She really liked that guy, who was a terrible murderer, and was slightly conflicted about seeing him go. But what wins, every time, for her is truth and justice. That’s what she’s there for. Before, she had to be pretty duplicitous in her career as a lawyer. She had to defend a lot of real nasty people and sell them as good people to get them off. This time, she’s not doing that. She’s trying to right some wrongs.

PIERCE: I love that she actually makes the person consider what they’re doing. People always rationalize awful behavior. And she goes, “No, consider what you did, because the reality is, it was awful. You took a life, and no matter what your rationale is, that’s awful.” I love that we had that throughout the first season. It’s that moment of her making the person realize that their rationale can never justify their action. I love that conversation that always happens.

PRESTON: Yeah, in the little gotcha moments. There will be a line like, “I know a lot of people died, but didn’t we have so much fun?” It’s a really great way to look at our show.

PIERCE: It really is emblematic of our show. This summer, I met so many people who were like, “Oh, man, I love that show. It’s such a family show.” And I go, “You know it starts with a murder, right?” And they’re like, “Yeah, we realize that, but it’s such a family show.”

Wendell, do you think there was a moment that softened your character toward Elsbeth, or was it something that creeped up on him and he didn’t realize it until it had already happened?

PIERCE: It was art imitating life, and vice versa. I would tell friends, “I’m doing this murder mystery show on CBS.” And then, while we were working and were two or three episodes in, I was like, “Man, there’s some humor in this. She’s funny. There’s a lot of fun in this show. She’s this quirky character that draws people into her. I like that.” On set one day, I remember saying, “You know, this show is funny.” And everybody was like, “Yeah, where have you been?” And that was while Captain Wagner was like, “She’s a pain in the butt, but she’s good.” Her appeal, as an actor and character, is one of those things where you just go, “Wow.” Almost everyone I know is like, “Man, I really like that Elsbeth.”

PRESTON: People are watching it over and over, and they’re quoting lines to me. It’s wonderful.

‘Elsbeth’s Carrie Preston and Wendell Pierce Believe in the Importance of Goodness
Image via CBS

Carrie, do you think Elsbeth is aware of the effect that she has on people, or is she surprised when she wins people over?

PRESTON: I don’t think there’s anything manipulative about her. That’s not how I think of her. However, she’s very aware of how she’s being received, the same way she’s very aware of how many stripes are in that chair without even looking at it. She’s just aware of everything that’s happening, all at once. And so, I like to play her in a way where she can see that somebody is underestimating her and she’s gonna use that, but it might hurt a little too, even though she’s very comfortable with who she is. It’s this really wonderful, textured thing that’s happening in this very singular person and very singular character. There really isn’t another character like it. She is in the long line of characters, like Columbo and Monk and Sherlock and Jessica Fletcher, and all these characters, but she stands out because she’s unusual. So, to answer your question, I think she does know, and she either uses it or doesn’t, depending on what the situation is.

PIERCE: What I recognize in her is that she comes from the church of treating people right and fair. That’s the thing that keeps Wagner in there. With all the things that may bug him and that he’s mistrusting about, she’s fair, and that’s common ground that they have. She reminds him of what made him become a police officer, in the first place. Do what’s fair and do what’s just, and he recognizes that.

PRESTON: And her instinct upon meeting him was that he’s a good man. So, when she’s told that he’s not, she didn’t believe it at first. She was going to look at all sides, which makes her a great lawyer and now makes her a great detective.

Related ‘Elsbeth’s Past Is Coming Back To Haunt Her in Season 2, Says Carrie Preston “What is Elsbeth like as a mother? What is Elsbeth like as a friend?”

How do you think their dynamic will continue to evolve?

PIERCE: There’s still the challenge of trying to navigate what their relationship is going to be. He worked really hard to extend her stay, but he’s gonna have days of doubt. She’s gonna help his department and his detectives, but he’s the one who decided to do that. There’s gonna be that yin-and-yang. To navigate that will be the journey we’re on [in Season 2]. He still has to navigate how this is going to work, and not just have their be this impulsive thing that kept her here. I’m sure there will be times that he regrets it.

PRESTON: And I think she lit a fire under him to want to maybe get his own detective skills sharpened again.

PIERCE: Yes, she reminded him of the officer that he always wanted to be.

Elsbeth Tascioni, an unconventional attorney, gives her singular point of view to make observations to catch criminals alongside the NYPD.Release Date February 29, 2024 Creator Creator(s) Michelle King , Robert King

Elsbeth airs on CBS and is available to stream on Paramount+. Check out the trailer:

Watch on Paramount+