What started out as a fun accessory now represents so much more for the title character on Elsbeth.
While talking with reporters Saturday at the Television Critics Tour, Carrie Preston explained why her quirky character Elsbeth Tascioni carries not one, but three bags at any one time on her CBS drama.
For the uninitiated, Elsbeth’s penchant for portable storage began on The Good Wife, which was the idea of then Executive Producer Brooke Kennedy.
“She needs to always be carrying a bunch of things. We got very specific about what those bags were,” Preston explained. “She won’t carry a briefcase. She doesn’t think of herself in that way. They became a fun accessory. She has bags in her brain, she has Rolodexes in her brain. She’s picking out little things that she put there 20 years ago, and she’s like ‘I can use that here.’”
“The bags are [filled with] whatever she thinks she might need that day to help her with her work,” continued Preston, who marveled about a reporter’s inquiry about the bags and their contents. “I find it fascinating how many people are interested in what is in the bags. But are you interested in what is in her brain too?”
But there are key moments on the show when Elsbeth forgoes the excess baggage. “I’ve made the choice in Elsbeth that once I have got a killer and I’m ready to go in and frame them, I don’t have the bags,” she said. “You’ll notice in the show, in those final scenes when I come in to arrest the murderers, I don’t need those bags anymore.”
Preston also addressed her unique costuming and what it says about her character and the series. “She’s a fish out of water. That’s a good thing to always have in mind. She’s not really a detective. People will see the way she’s dressed and they think they don’t have to take her seriously — at their peril. That’s definitely by design. She stands out from all the other detectives on television. This isn’t your normal police procedure. That’s what makes it extremely special.”
Elsbeth will return for its second season on Thursday, October 17. It will air at 10 p.m. ET, after the timeslot premiere of Matlock.