ELSBETH: Carrie Preston and Wendell Pierce Reflect on Their On-Screen Dynamic and Season 2 Hopes

Carrie Preston stars as Elsbeth Tascioni and Wendell Pierce stars as Captain C.W. Wagner in ELSBETH, a new drama based on the character featured in THE GOOD WIFE and THE GOOD FIGHT. The show follows Elsbeth Tascioni, an astute but unconventional attorney who, after her successful career in Chicago, utilizes her singular point of view to make unique observations and corner brilliant criminals alongside the NYPD. ELSBETH premiers in the 2023-2024 season on the CBS Television Network, and available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+. Pictured (L-R): Carrie Preston as Elsbeth Tascioni and Wendell Pierce as Captain C.W. Wagner. Photo: Elizabeth Fisher/CBS ©2023 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

In ELSBETH’s first season, Elsbeth Tascioni (Carrie Preston) partnered up with the NYPD under a consent decree to help solve crimes—and weed out corruption. What her de facto boss Captain C.W. Wagner (Wendell Pierce) didn’t realize, at first, was that Elsbeth was also there to investigate him.

Eventually, Elsbeth was able to get to the bottom of the conspiracy—Wagner was set up—and the captain invited Elsbeth to continue consulting with the police department.

Though there was occasionally tension between the characters in season 1, the dynamic between Preston and Pierce is the exact opposite: The duo—who sat down with Give Me My Remote over the summer at TCA, days before they started filming the season 2 premiere—are warm and friendly, enthusiastic about their series (which returns for its sophomore season on Thursday, October 17), and very clearly big cheerleaders of each other’s work. Read more