In this spin-off of The Good Wife and The Good Fight, quirky lawyer Elsbeth Tascioni (played by Claws/True Blood's Carrie Preston) is assigned by the DOJ to monitor the NYPD after some of its practices fell under scrutiny. She immediately proves to be really good at solving murders.
This is a Columbo-style howcatchem like the recent Poker Face. You know from the beginning who committed the murder, and the whole story is about how Elsbeth will prove they did it as well focusing on the character of the perpetrator and Elsbeth's cat-and-mouse interactions with them.
Poker Face is a good show, but it is also definitely trying to be a bit more offbeat than your traditional howcatchem. If you wanted something more along the lines of a traditional Columbo show, this may be up your alley. The show is straight-forward in looking at a new criminal and situation. Admittedly, some people may be disappointed that Elsbeth is not more ambitious. (Not to say that the show doesn't have any clever ideas. There are two episodes in particular that are a bit different.) Also, like Columbo, you're constantly having the suspects talk to the investigator in situations where they don't have to, and you always wonder why none of them get violent or try to take the investigator out.
Since every story is an hour long with commercials, you don't get to know the perpetrators as much as you would in a longer format like Columbo. The storytelling feels a little more simplistic than GW and GF, since the episode are more self-contained and there isn't much room for ongoing drama. There is an on-going storyline in this, but it isn't particularly good or bad.
The best part of this is the casting. Preston's Elsbeth is why you watch the show. She is such a friendly and quirky person, and it's interesting to see how she can just generally get along with a suspect and get them to talk and when they don't mean to. In the pilot episode, she admittedly comes on too strong, but she's immediately toned down to acceptable levels by episode two, so I recommend you make no judgments till then.
You get a fine selection of guest murderers, often played by known or semi-known actors, including several actors known for comedy giving real departures from what they usually do. (Modern Family's Jesse Tyler Ferguson's performance in particular is a real 180 from playing Mitchell Pritchett.)
Supporting cast ain't half bad either. Carra Patterson is Officer Kaya Blanke, the cop assigned to Elsbeth. Admittedly, she's mostly there to react to Elsbeth and doesn't have a lot of agency herself, but Patterson has a great chemistry with Preston. The always reliable Wendell Pierce (from The Wire) does a fine job as Captain Wagner, an entertainingly no-nonsense fellow and the only person who's really able to curtail Elsbeth's excess energy.
An interesting aspect about this show is that the various cases have a rotating crew of detectives (like the assistants on Bones). It's a little frustrating at the beginning of the season having every single one of them be initially dismissive of Elsbeth but that problem disappears by the second half. Got a few good performances in the bunch, especially one by Micaela Desmond.
Recommended. I'm not saying this is the best written howcatchem or that it's perfect for everyone, but Elsbeth is a delight, and I think a lot of people who like light crime shows will like this.
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