‘Elsbeth’ Season 1 Review — Elsbeth “Columbo” Tascioni, Esquire.

If any character was tailor-made and begging for a spin-off, it’s the wholly refreshing and utterly delightful Elsbeth Tascioni, the beloved character from The Good Wife Universe. (Here at Geek Vibes Nation, we are desperately trying to make the “TGWU” phrase and acronym, you know, a thing.) Starring in the spin-off Elsbeth and stepping back into her Emmy award-winning role is Carrie Preston, who is terrific here.

The new network series puts a retro spin on the classic CBS procedural. Firstly, you are presented with a clever murder in the opening sequence of every episode. The other aspect is how the audience is on board with the mystery, and the main character is not. That makes Elsbeth a thoroughly enjoyable weekly journey with one of television’s unique character creations.

The series follows the character of Elsbeth Tascioni (Carrie Preston), a former litigator from Chicago. Elsbeth is turning the page on defending the guilty and has been sent to New York City under the “consent decree” to supervise a legally binding performance improvement plan set by the Department of Justice. This is a job she desperately wants, but if she fails, Cary Agos is waiting in the wings, per police officials.

Her boss, Agent Celetano (Boardwalk Empire’s Danny McCarthy), assigns Elsbeth to work with Captain C.W. Wagner (The Wire’s Wendell Pierce) to ensure his investigative unit follows the rules. On her first day on the job, she takes an NYC tour bus to the murder scene, where she encounters Officer Kaya Blanke (Carra Patterson). Blanke finds Elsbeth’s communication and investigative style unconventional but endearing.

And from there, Elsbeth becomes your typical CBS procedural. Except for The Good Wife and The Good Fight, creators Michelle and Robert King commence the episode with a crime, and you immediately know who the murderer is. Then, half the fun is watching Preston’s character stumble or cleverly stumble upon evidence of the killer and piece the mystery together.

You are witnessing almost a carbon copy outline of the iconic detective series Columbo, which aired on rival networks ABC and NBC for a decade (and a series of television movies). The first three episodes were made available to critics, and they boast an impressive lineup of guest stars. These include Preston’s former True Blood castmate Stephen Moyer, 30 Rock’s Jane Krakowski, and Modern Family’s Jessie Tyler Ferguson.

Elsbeth is worth watching for the performance of Carrie Preston, who holds her own as the attorney and is now one of the first neurodiverse female characters to lead a show on network television. Preston gives a wonderful performance because Elsbeth is now evolving as a character. That was something that was not possible in the original incarnation.

Before the spinoff, we previously experienced the character in short guest appearances. The hurdle may be whether this character will flourish in a starring role. However, until we cross that bridge, Elsbeth is a throwback to 70s-style television with a modern-day twist. CBS may as well call the series Elsbeth “Columbo” Tascioni, Esquire because of how the protagonist cleverly puts the mystery together in such an entertaining fashion.

You can watch Elsbeth on CBS on Thursdays at 10 p.m. EST/PST. You can stream Elsbeth on Paramount+ one day after the episode airs on CBS.