When I saw the capsule description of Elsbeth, I thought, well that sounds dumb. Then I realized that this was the goofy-yet-brilliant character I had loved when she appeared on The Good Fight (unbeknownst to me, she had previously been a character on The Good Wife, which I didn't watch much of).
Carrie Preston's Elsbeth is a fascinating character who uses her genuine goofiness and friendliness to make suspects underestimate her prodigious detective skills.
Not that Elsbeth is a detective. Instead, in a rather strained premise, she's a lawyer sent to investigate a police department who just pokes her nose into every murder case that comes her way.
Each episode starts with us watching the murderer committing the crime, then the rest of the episode is Elsbeth, who seems to instantly recognize the killer, pestering them until she finds the clue that reveals all.
If this sounds familiar, well, it's both the formula for the old TV series Columbo and for the current series Poker Face, which also gives us a female version of the deceptively harmless detective.
While Poker Face is a little more original in design and premise, and is arguably a more interesting series, I really like them pretty much equally. Each has an engaging star, an interesting villain, and a satisfying reveal.
I will say that Poker Face has smarter killers. Some of Elsbeth's suspects would probably have been caught by pretty much anyone. But it's always fun to watch everyone realize that Elsbeth is more than meets the eye. The trick of this series is each week there's a new killer and a new police detective who dismisses Elsbeth out of hands, but the show doesn't pretend that there aren't rumors about how smart she is.
The main difference between this and Columbo is, Columbo was from a time when no one expected a story arc. Now that such things are required, there is this whole story involving a police captain that just distracts from the fun of the investigations. But it doesn't suck up a lot of time, so it doesn't do any real harm.
The acting by the sidekick cop and the villains (who Elsbeth seems to genuinely enjoy talking to) are very good, but still, this is Carrie's show all the way, and Carrie carries it beautifully. You should watch it.
Carrie Preston's Elsbeth is a fascinating character who uses her genuine goofiness and friendliness to make suspects underestimate her prodigious detective skills.
Not that Elsbeth is a detective. Instead, in a rather strained premise, she's a lawyer sent to investigate a police department who just pokes her nose into every murder case that comes her way.
Each episode starts with us watching the murderer committing the crime, then the rest of the episode is Elsbeth, who seems to instantly recognize the killer, pestering them until she finds the clue that reveals all.
If this sounds familiar, well, it's both the formula for the old TV series Columbo and for the current series Poker Face, which also gives us a female version of the deceptively harmless detective.
While Poker Face is a little more original in design and premise, and is arguably a more interesting series, I really like them pretty much equally. Each has an engaging star, an interesting villain, and a satisfying reveal.
I will say that Poker Face has smarter killers. Some of Elsbeth's suspects would probably have been caught by pretty much anyone. But it's always fun to watch everyone realize that Elsbeth is more than meets the eye. The trick of this series is each week there's a new killer and a new police detective who dismisses Elsbeth out of hands, but the show doesn't pretend that there aren't rumors about how smart she is.
The main difference between this and Columbo is, Columbo was from a time when no one expected a story arc. Now that such things are required, there is this whole story involving a police captain that just distracts from the fun of the investigations. But it doesn't suck up a lot of time, so it doesn't do any real harm.
The acting by the sidekick cop and the villains (who Elsbeth seems to genuinely enjoy talking to) are very good, but still, this is Carrie's show all the way, and Carrie carries it beautifully. You should watch it.
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