She's back. The kookiest character on TV, Elsbeth Tascioni, is back in action on The Good Fight, The Good Wife's spinoff, and her return is as much a surprise as her final appearance was to Carrie Preston, the Emmy-winning actress behind the character. When Preston did her one-episode appearance in season seven of The Good Wife, she had no idea that would be it for her time on the show—and the show itself.
"Yeah, I definitely did [mourn the character] because I wasn't sure if there was going to be a spinoff and if there was, there was no guarantee that I was going to be a part of it, although I prayed that I would be. I threw myself at the feet of any and all people who could've possibly made that happen, begging them [Laughs.] to let me be a part," she told E! News.
And just like Diane Lockhart's (Christine Baranski) phoenix brooch, Elsbeth rose again, this time for three episodes.
"It was definitely something that made me sad, thinking I might not be able to do it again. I didn't know the show was ending when I did my episode in that final season. I just walked away going, ‘Oh, OK. Hopefully there will be another season' and then it was over. I was very happy when the spinoff invited me to come and spend a little time with them," she said.
It's been over a year since Preston put on the ruffled shirt and slipped back into Elsbeth's world. The time in between performances presented a bit of a challenge.
"It always takes a little moment to get back up to her speed. She is definitely operating on a different, higher vibration than us mere mortals. I did have to spend a little extra time with the script to just get back into her rhythm," she said. "But once I was on set and back in [costume designer] Dan Lawson's amazing clothes, and with the crew—there's a whole lot of the same crew, producers, directors, etc.—it came right back."
This time around, Elsbeth is called in to help Reddick, Boseman, & Kolstad after they become the target of Mike Kresteva (Matthew Perry). See their first meeting in the clip above.
"It's fun because [Perry's] character is so duplicitous and not to be trusted. Elsbeth actually thrives in that world, working with people who she can in some ways match or manipulate or parry with, no pun intended," she said with a laugh. "That felt exciting and it was good to have something for Elsbeth to go up against that isn't easy. You like to see her trying to figure things out."
When viewers first re-meet Elsbeth, she's just been released from the hospital…for unknown reasons, even to Preston.
"No, they didn't! [Laughs.] Nope, they didn't say. I just had to kind of make that up myself," she said. " I don't know if it would be fun to tell people what I thought, I think everyone should just remain mystified by her as always."
Preston already said goodbye to the character once—are these her final three episodes in the character fans have come to know and love?
"I mean, I hope not. In the third episode that I did there's some sort of indication that things aren't over. You just never know," she said. "I would hope the firm is always going to be getting into hot water and need somebody to think outside of the box to come in and save them. I would hope that they would want to call on Elsbeth again."
The Good Fight releases new episodes on Sundays on CBS All Access.