ELSBETH Post-Mortem: Jonathan Tolins on Elsbeth’s Blast From the Past
October 17, 2024 by Marisa Roffman
“Subscription to Murder” – When a womanizing finance executive is found stabbed to death after a night at the opera, Elsbeth suspects an obsessed opera lover (Nathan Lane) was driven to murder because of a ringing cell phone. Meanwhile, Elsbeth, Captain Wagner and Kaya must adjust to changes in the precinct as the consequences of Noonan’s wrongdoing continue to loom, on the second season premiere of the CBS Original series ELSBETH, Thursday, Oct. 17 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs)*. Pictured (L-R): Carrie Preston as Elsbeth Tascioni and Carra Patterson as Kaya Blanke Photo: Michael Parmelee/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
[Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Thursday, October 17 season premiere of ELSBETH.]
“Get in, Miss Tascioni.”
The season 2 premiere of ELSBETH ended with Elsbeth (Carrie Preston) being approached by a mysterious black car—and an order to get inside.
“I will say that it’s connected to her past life in Chicago and her career there,” ELSBETH showrunner Jonathan Tolins teases to Give Me My Remote. “But it is not a specific plot continuing from the GOOD [WIFE/FIGHT] universe. Though it might involve people from that universe.”
Will anyone viewers know actually pop up, though? “We will see one person from the past,” he previews, before noting he didn’t want to say too much.
Already things are a bit different for the CBS procedural, after spending the first season with a serialized arc (as Elsbeth tried to figure out if Wagner was corrupt), season 2 will utilize its ongoing story elements “a little different.”
“We do have some longer arcs,” Tolins previews. “The first one begins with that last moment you saw [in the premiere]; in the [writers’] room, we refer to it as our ‘black car plot.’ That goes somewhere.”
“There’s another plot which will start being established a little later in the season where we give Elsbeth, in a way, a Professor Moriarty,” he continues. “The[re is a] character who is not brought down as easily as most of her murder suspects.”
Elsbeth isn’t the only person with an ongoing issue: Kaya (Carra Patterson) learned she didn’t have enough school credits to qualify for a promotion to detective. Later, the officer tried to figure out what classes to take—and to see if she should take something fun or something she could use on the job—but Elsbeth had a surprise for her friend: She made her a “back to school” tote bag.
“The character is so lovable and she’s particularly moving when she’s up against challenges,” Tolins says. “And watching her rise to the challenge that happens at the beginning of this season is something we enjoy. It’s something that felt real to us. It’s not just an easy path to everyone getting what they want all the time.”
“We ended season 1 in a kind of happy place, so we needed to throw some obstacles to set things up a bit,” he continues. “We’re all hopeful Kaya will achieve her dream, eventually, of being a detective.”
ELSBETH, Thursdays, 10/9c, CBS
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