Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Elsbeth's midseason finale.
The end of autumn Elsbeth, titled "Toil and Trouble", it offers a comedic glimpse into the workings of Hollywood. Season 2, Episode 8 "throws Elsbeth into the world of television after the showrunner of a police procedural is murdered in his office." Given that the series focuses more on the why than the who, it doesn't take long for the lawyer-turned-consultant to realize that the show's lead actress, Regina Coburn, is guilty. In typical Elsbeth Fashion, the investigation makes for a hugely entertaining hour of TV, even with the killer revealed before the title.
The meta installment ends on a major cliffhanger as Judge Crawford officially declares war on Carrie Preston's character. He unseals court documents that name her as one of the lawyers involved in the controversial Van Ness case. Elsbeth tells Wagner the truth and, in a sincere moment, he makes it clear that he protects her. Despite the danger of facing such a powerful man, the captain asks Elsbeth how they can take Crawford down.
TelaRant interviews showrunner Jonathan Tolins about the inspiration behind the fall finale, Kaya's new roommate, and what to expect when Elsbeth season 2 returns on Thursday, January 30th.
Elsbeth's production team was excited when they saw the set of Father Crime
"There were pens that said Father Crime Season 2. There were more swag produced for Father Crime than ever for Elsbeth."
You made a meta episode with the fall finale taking place on the set of a police procedural. Given all your experience in the world of TV, what were some aspects you wanted to cover?
Jonathan Tolins: I love meta things. I actually wrote a play years ago that was incredibly meta called The Last Sunday in June, which was about all the characters imagining what their life would be like in a play, so I love that stuff. When we talk about the tone, we always say it's like East New York with Elsbeth involved. And East New York was a CBS police procedural that was my last TV job before I did Elsbeth, actually, right before the strike. It only lasted one season, unfortunately.
So to do a show about a murder that takes place on a show filmed in New York and that's a police procedural was just delicious for us. And we did a show about a police officer who teams up with a consultant just like our show. I would say this opens a hole in the space-time continuum. One of the things that was really exciting for me is that when we started casting the episode, it suddenly occurred to me to ask Billy Finkelstein to play the showrunner of the show.
Billy Finkelstein was the showrunner for East New York. He was also a producer and writer on The Good Fight with me, so we were friends and he was my boss in East New York. He was a showrunner on shows like LA Law and worked on NYPD Blue. For me, it was like having Sydney Pollack in Tootsie. He brought so much authenticity from the beginning. Everyone on the program really understood the task. The production team went crazy when we walked onto the set of Father Crime's office.
We had posters for almost every season of the 20 seasons that Father Crime was on the air. There were bucket hats that said Father Crime, season 6. Our line producer was annoyed because there were pens that said Father Crime, season 2. There were more swag produced for Father Crime than ever for Elsbeth. It was like walking through the looking glass and seeing this alternate universe where Father Crime is the big TV show of the time. So we loved it. We had a lot of fun.
Kaya is going to have a new roommate. There seems to be some sparks between them, so can you suggest anything about what that living situation would be like?
Jonathan Tolins: I'll just say that Cameron will be with us for a few more episodes, and also, because he works for the medical examiner at the coroner's office, he'll come to the station from time to time. And we have a Valentine's Day episode coming up.
The Van Ness case could affect those close to Elsbeth when season two returns
“We like the fact that all the stakes are raised and that we have surprising new alliances at the precinct.”
The Van Ness case was revealed. Crawford now takes personal aim at Elsbeth. What will your moral dilemma be like from now on?
Jonathan Tolin: One of the things that happened that was really cool is we had two long-term stories that we were investigating, which was the Van Ness case, which was Elsbeth's past in Chicago that led her to New York, and we have the judge , and we suddenly realized there was a way to get them to cross paths when the judge is the one opening the case in Chicago, but through their connections.
And then one seamlessly transforms into the other, which made us very happy. Even though she is not practicing now, Elsbeth is still a very smart lawyer, and she is committed to the truth now, and she will try to find a way to save her reputation and fix what she considers wrong and what she was . leaves against his will.
Captain Wagner helping Elsbeth take down Judge Crawford says a lot about their relationship. What is he potentially putting at risk by doing this?
Jonathan Tolins: First of all, the judge is a very powerful man, a formidable adversary, and Wagner really sticks his neck out for Elsbeth, probably because he trusts her, because he's seen how effective she's been at the station and solving so many cases, and also because they started to care about each other. We like the fact that all the stakes have been raised and that we have some surprising new alliances at the precinct, and we're having fun watching where this takes us.
Kaya saw the report. Could this get in the way of the friendship she and Elsbeth have formed?
Jonathan Tolins: Yes. What comes out publicly is really hard for Kaya to process because it seems like Elsbeth was part of something bad that hurt an innocent woman. She won't be quick to judge, but she wants to know. She wants Elsbeth to tell her how to make sense of all this, and let's watch them work it out. I love their relationship. I think it's a very beautiful friendship.
I think you can feel the chemistry that the two actresses have. In front of the camera it's the same as what they have off camera. I like to think we can go places you don't expect to see often in a network police procedural, especially one that's also a little wacky. But we love our characters and I love giving them time to have this kind of story.
More about Elsbeth Season 2 on CBS
Based on the character featured in The Good Wife and The Good Fight
Emmy Winner Carrie Preston is back as Elsbeth Tascioni, the cunning but unconventional lawyer who works with the New York Police Department to capture New York's wealthiest killers using her unique point of view. The second season of the critically acclaimed series brings new cases and challenges as past mistakes come back to haunt Elsbeth, her boss Captain Wagner (Wendell Pierce), and detective-in-training Kaya Blanke (Carra Patterson).
Check out our others Elsbeth season 2 interviews here:
Elsbeth Season 2 returns Thursday, January 30th at 10pm ET on CBS and is available to stream the next day on Paramount+.