Elsbeth Tascioni is many things — a mother, a former lawyer, a detective, and a relentlessly upbeat ray of sunshine played by an Emmy winner. One thing she is most definitely not, however, is a poet. Collider can exclusively share a new sneak peek at Elsbeth Season 3, Episode 5, titled “Poetic Justice,” that shows exactly why Carrie Preston’s titular sleuth isn’t likely to end up published in a literary magazine anytime soon. The scene pairs her up with The Good Place alum William Jackson Harper, who plays the founder of a prestigious poetry journal who, in the middle of Elsbeth’s digging, is subjected to her interesting writing style.
In the footage, Elsbeth gushes over her love of Gary’s (Harper) journal, The Pigeon Print, while in the publisher’s office. It inspired her so much that she tried picking up the pen herself and, with an impassioned plea and an assurance that more donors may come in, she gets Gary to relent and listen to what she’d written down. Harper’s facial expressions say it all, looking almost incredulous after hearing her title, “Emotional Whole.” It only gets worse upon hearing the poem itself, which includes nine utterances of the word “father” at various levels of emotional pain in a row and concludes with one very gravelly “Saddam Hussein.” With wide eyes and looking like he’s on the brink of laughter, Gary tells it to Elsbeth straight — it sucks. At least she’s willing to learn, but lessons will have to wait with another murder of the week to solve.
Elsbeth can bring the laughs, but the detective also has to get serious to solve a high-stakes crime in New York’s nonprofit arts scene. One of Gary’s friends, a donor, is found dead, leading the pink-clad detective to start questioning the motives of the poetry journal founder. The Emmy and Tony-nominated Harper brings his talents to the murder-mystery procedural fresh off his latest television gig in The Morning Show Season 4, in which he plays the network’s head of the sports desk. Although he’s best known for his role as Chidi Anagonye on The Good Place, he’s also made appearances in Ari Aster’s haunting Midsommar, Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson, and the HBO Max anthology series Love Life.
‘Elsbeth’ Is About to Host a ‘Good Wife’ Reunion
Harper isn’t the only notable name appearing in this week’s episode, though. Episode 5 will also see Elsbeth reunite with an old friend from her days practicing law — Marissa Gold, played by Sarah Steele. Steele will become the second major player from the wider universe of The Good Wife and The Good Fight to crossover into the procedural spin-off after Christian Borle, and her arrival will be most welcome. After spending time as a private investigator under Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski), she’s now following in her father Eli’s (Alan Cumming) footsteps and serving as a campaign manager for New York mayoral candidate Alec Bloom (Ivan Hernandez). The new gig sets up a run-in with Elsbeth and, perhaps, Teddy (Ben Levi Ross), given his new role as an investigative journalist.
Elsbeth Season 3, Episode 5, premieres on CBS on Thursday, November 6. Check out our exclusive sneak peek in the player above.
