Elsbeth Fall Finale: Carrie Preston Suspects Laurie Metcalf of Murder

Carrie Preston has a familiar suspect during the Elsbeth season 2 fall finale as Laurie Metcalf makes her debut on the CBS drama.

In Us Weekly‘s first look at the Thursday, December 19, episode, Preston’s character questions Metcalf, 69, who plays a fictional TV actress.

“I’m sorry. It is just that Cal and I were very close. He changed my life by casting me. I owe him everything, Detective,” Metcalf’s character Regina says before Elsbeth clarifies her job title, “I am more of an overseer or consultant.”

After the creator of her show gets killed, Regina tries to point the police in a specific direction.

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Michael Parmelee/CBS Carrie Preston‘s role as Elsbeth Tascioni on the CBS spinoff has allowed her to cross paths with some familiar faces, with cameos from A-listers and reprisals from The Good Wife fan-favorites. After originally being introduced on The Good Wife and The Good Fight, Elsbeth returns in her own show as an attorney who […]

“Our fans are very dedicated,” she mentions. “I don’t know where they came up with the idea that Watts and Garvey were ever going to be lovers [on the show].”

Elsbeth, however, gets distracted by a photo of Regina and her former drama school classmates. “What was in the water at your school? All together this group has a PGOTKCH,” she adds. “Peabody, Emmy, Oscar, Tony and Kennedy Center Honor. And, of course, you have this show.”

According to the synopsis for the midseason finale, Elsbeth “is thrown into the world of television after the showrunner of a long-running police procedural is brutally murdered” in his office. Signs initially point to a disgruntled fan until Elsbeth gets involved and starts to question whether Regina could be the one to blame after yearning for “artistic fulfillment” on set.

The first half of the season will also check in with Judge Crawford, played by Preston’s real-life husband, Michael Emerson. Elsbeth first crossed paths with the judge in a prior episode when she ended up on jury duty. Elsbeth initially tried her best to get out of sitting for the case but changed her mind once she started to question Judge Crawford’s intentions.

“Elsbeth is on the jury in a murder trial where the proceedings seem questionable. Can she go head-to-head with the judge and bring order to the court?” Preston, 57, and Emerson, 70, said in an exclusive statement to Us. “We’ve had so much fun waking up together and going off to work playing these courtroom adversaries on Elsbeth! It’s a tremendous battle of wits with life and death in the balance. Then we get to go back home and snuggle it off.”

Elsbeth, which debuted in February, is a spinoff series based on Preston’s character from The Good Wife and The Good Fight. The series usually introduces one-off cases where the audience knows who the killer is while watching Elsbeth try to prove it. However, Emerson’s appearance marks the first time justice isn’t served right away.

The couple, who have worked together many times since getting married in 1998, hinted at the outcome of the case.

“She’s not going to jump to conclusions, but he is definitely involved,” Preston told TV Insider about Elsbeth’s eventual reunion with the judge after he let a key detail of the murder slip. Emerson also weighed in, adding, “It’s a very small slip and it comes from hubris. He thinks he’s on top of it. So much so that he lets his guard down for a second. He’s careless just for a second.”

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The situation will only get more complex once Captain Wagner (Wendell Pierce) gets involved.

“That’s about Captain Wagner feeling uncomfortable at high society events. It’s not really his scene. And the judge, I think, instinctively gets that. In fact, he makes some reference to who gets in and who doesn’t,” Emerson previewed the upcoming scene. “And it’s very mean on the part of the judge. He feels immune and entitled and he doesn’t realize that he’s making another dangerous adversary in the process. So it’ll come back to haunt him.”

Elsbeth airs on CBS Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET. New episodes stream the next day on Paramount+.