‘Elsbeth’: Carrie Preston on Why Michael Emerson’s Return Is a ‘Whole New Level’ of Danger
Preview
Michael Emerson returns to Elsbeth as the crooked Judge Crawford on Thursday, February 20. Emerson is always great in a villainous role, but it’s even better watching him play the Big Bad opposite his wife, Carrie Preston, who anchors The Good Fight spinoff as the eccentric Elsbeth Tascioni.
Elsbeth’s strong sense of justice has led her to this bitter rivalry with Crawford, whom viewers already know is guilty of murder and is ready to go to extreme lengths to stop Elsbeth from discovering the truth. He already tried to ruin her career by leaking the Van Ness divorce scandal to the press in the December midseason finale, but that battle’s been won as of the February 6 episode on CBS. Now, Elsbeth and her team are setting their sights on taking this judge down. But Preston tells TV Insider that it won’t be easy, as Crawford is her most powerful opponent yet before you even consider the fact that he’s capable of murder.
“Judge Crawford is a formidable foe,” Preston says of her husband’s role. “That’s why the writers couldn’t wrap him up in one episode.”
Michael Emerson in Elsbeth Season 2 Episode 12 (CBS)
“He has power that reaches beyond anything that Elsbeth’s ever gone up against, and she’s gone up against some pretty powerful people as a lawyer in the past in Chicago,” she adds. “So this is a whole new level. That just raises the stakes for her and for everyone else around her, and so you’ll continue to see that ratchet up.”
The Crawford storyline is the season’s main plot, but it’s interjected by cases of the week. When Emerson returns, so will Ben Levi Ross as Elsbeth’s son, Teddy, and father-son duo Matthew Broderick and James Wilkie Broderick join as guest stars. Broderick’s Ferris Bueller’s Day Off costar, Alan Ruck, appeared in last week’s installment.
In this week’s February 13 episode, Elsbeth gets romantic with its first-ever Valentine’s Day episode. There are love interests for both Elsbeth and Kaya (Carra Patterson) to be seen in this sweet story. Ioan Gruffudd guest stars as Elsbeth’s love interest, Angus, whom she meets in a quintessentially eccentric meet-cute, and Sullivan Jones returns as Kaya’s roommate, with whom sparks may fly. But things take a scary turn when the murder case they’re trying to solve puts Elsbeth directly in harm’s way.
Elsbeth, Thursdays, 10/9c, CBS
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“watching him play the Big Bad opposite his wife, Carrie Preston,” I DIDNT KNOW THAT! Awesome.
Now on an entirely different subject, can Elsbeth ditch the extraneous tote bags? Since they appear to be almost empty, and I never actually see her dig into them, they are clearly an unnecessary and not particularly clever gimmick. Enough with the wide-eyed jejune persona. By this time we all know just how devious and clever she is. No one is fooled by the country bumpkin look.
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I guess it pays to be married to the star of the show. He must be the only actor who could create this role as the crookedly corrupt judge, we see presiding all over the country. Mayflower corrupt.
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I wonder what it's like for Carrie Preston to watch her husband, Michael Emerson, turn himself into the Big Bad Judge? Emerson can play the nice guy (Person of Interest) but when he plays the bad guy (Evil), he scares the life out of me! He's the creepiest bad guy on the screen!
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