Elsbeth EP, Carrie Preston Talk Carter’s Warning: Old Case Puts Elsbeth in ‘Difficult Position With Her Friends’
Elsbeth’s past case is going to cause some very present problems for the titular lawyer.
In last week’s episode, The Good Wife/The Good Fight’s Carter Schmidt (guest star Christian Borle) paid a visit to New York City to warn Elsbeth that an old case they worked on might resurface. Elsbeth helped Carter’s firm with a messy divorce involving a client named Mark Van Ness, who is now going through a second marital split from a pop star. As a result, some questions may arise about the sports franchise owner’s first divorce, and if Elsbeth breaks confidentiality, then the firm may have to enact retribution, Carter ominously informed Elsbeth.
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Later in the episode, the second divorce made the cable news, which revealed that the pop star believes that she has legal grounds to nullify their prenup, and that her representatives want to talk to the lawyers who handled Van Ness’ previous divorce, aka Elsbeth.
“It’s more about the ramifications of it than getting into the nitty gritty of the case, though we will hear what it’s all about,” showrunner Jonathan Tolins tells TVLine about the arc. “But it’s going to put Elsbeth in a difficult position with her friends, as well as trying to make right things that she feels were not done well.”
The storyline will also shed light on what drove Elsbeth to make the move from Chicago to New York and “what she’s running away from, which I think is always fascinating to delve deeper into someone’s motivations,” star Carrie Preston shares.
Tolins is hopeful that we’ll see Borle again this season, even though the actor is currently starring as Jim Bakker in Broadway’s Tammy Faye. But even if he doesn’t return, Carter’s brief appearance has definitely rattled Elsbeth.
“Carter already pushed Elsbeth’s buttons on The Good Fight. So the fact that it’s him, he’s so sly and vindictive, I think, so that gives Elsbeth some some conflict to play,” Preston says, adding that the mystery will “deepen as we go along. It’s something we’re going to hear about, and then it’s going to be referenced throughout the season. It’s big, and it says a lot about her, and she’s very protective of her character and who she is as a person, and it’s being questioned in a big way.”
As for what made Carter the right person from the Good Wife/Good Fight franchise to bring onto the offshoot, Tolins says, “We were looking for someone with whom Elsbeth interacted in that universe, and also someone with an edge because he’s causing a little trouble for her character.”
Elsbeth airs Thursdays at 10/9c on CBS.
(With reporting by Kim Roots)
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