SummaryElsbeth Tascioni (Carrie Preston) uses her skills to help NYPD's Captain C.W. Wagner (Wendell Pierce) and Officer Kaya Blanke (Carra Patterson) investigate cases in this spin-off of The Good Wife.
SummaryElsbeth Tascioni (Carrie Preston) uses her skills to help NYPD's Captain C.W. Wagner (Wendell Pierce) and Officer Kaya Blanke (Carra Patterson) investigate cases in this spin-off of The Good Wife.
We’re suckers for the “howdunit” format of Elsbeth, and Preston has such a good handle on the character that we are looking forward to watching her catch wily killers week after week.
Columbo is one of my favorite mystery shows; it's unique in that it was not a "whodunit" but "howtocatchem." Nine times out of ten, Columbo latched onto the culprit and the show as spent with him noticing discrepancies and getting in their business while try to shut him down (they never do, clearly his bosses have his back).
Life is Murder tried to do Columbo the first few episodes but got it wrong and thankfully abandoned the premise, becoming a much better show in its own right.
Elsbeth, on the other hand, has wholly and perfectly embraced it. The character does the full Columbo, while being uniquely and distinctly herself, and we are really, truly enjoying it for this.
I Loved her character before and still do. Cant wait for more episodes. If you aren’t familiar with her character, she’s an attorney who is very quirky on the outside. Seems like someone you would never hire. However, she always pulls a rabbit out of her hat because she’s extremely intelligent in every way, reading people and figuring out things that no one else sees.
In their new dramedy, “Elsbeth,” with the ingenious Carrie Preston reprising her role as the quirky attorney, the Kings are proving that network TV and the procedural drama, when well-written and perfectly cast, can be outlandish, witty and full of joy.
You may be inclined to casually dismiss her as too flighty and frivolous. Butkeep watching—the show but also Preston’s masterful performance—and you’ll find a comfort watch the likes of which they don’t make that often anymore. Now let’s just hope the show, a rainy-day binge if there ever was one, gets renewed for plenty more seasons.
There are no particularly savage sendups of either the principals or the police. The show favors mild bemusement over withering satire or heavy judgment. That’s a fine and appealing tone that builds (again) on a long tradition.
Preston remains a delight. .... The first three episodes plant the seeds for a larger mystery the show may need to grapple with, and perhaps that ultimately will make Elsbeth appointment television. But right now? It’s just a disappointing letdown.
Preston is as talented as they come, but she has little to work with here. Patterson and Pierce are given even less. This can’t be creatively fulfilling for anyone, with Elsbeth reduced to a collection of tics and unbridled enthusiasm. .... It’s baffling to see the Kings embrace such blatant copaganda.
This is based purely upon the pilot - shows are subject to change. In a strange way, I almost feel compelled to rate this show higher, merely based upon comparison. But it's not good. Not only is it not good, it's illogicism makes it basically unwatchable. All of the clues in the pilot could have easily been misconstrued. It's far from the logic of Holmes, r even the inhterpretations of Monk. It's lowest common denominator, airport literature crowd type deductions. Not to mention, her mere citizen role of outside council or whatever being allowed access and time with witnesses is problematic. She can just talk freely to witnessess and suspects, and they all let her. Not only that, they humor and even try and placate her. The show shows you who the antagonist is, right **** the worst thing is, is that this is the show that was focused **** live in a bundling age, and regular television is a true backburner. But good God, this is average at best. Except it's not, under an objective microscope, this show kind of ****. Just because a ton of other shows are worse, does not increase the score of this one.