Elsbeth may be winding down in the 2024 TV schedule, but the hit CBS drama has a long-awaited treat in store for fans in this week's episode. Michael Emerson, leading lady Carrie Preston's real-life husband and a TV star in his own right, debuts as Milton Crawford in the new episode on December 12. He's not coming on board as a one-off killer like Nathan Lane's character or as another fireman with eyes for Elsbeth, but a judge who Preston described as "almost untouchable." The actress spoke with CinemaBlend to hype her husband's arrival, and I'm already happy that Emerson will be back for more.
Michael Emerson's casting was announced back in October, just a couple months after he'd speculated about what kind of guest character he'd like to play on Elsbeth. Fans will have to tune in to the new episode, called "One Angry Woman," to see Judge Crawford in action, but the character should be a perfect fit for the actor. Ahead of the 2024 TV schedule, Carrie Preston confirmed that the role was written by the Elsbeth team for the Lost and Evil alum, telling me:
They knew they wanted to use him in some way. I mean, who wouldn't? I think they would be wanting to get Michael Emerson on the show, even if he wasn't married to me. But there was the added incentive to bring on the title character's husband, keep her happy. [laughs] They were just trying to find the right role for that, and they wanted to find something that wasn't just a one and done. They wanted to find something that might have a little bit more of an impact as the season goes on.
Yes, instead of dropping in and out like other guest stars, Michael Emerson is going to recur in Season 2 as the judge. Elsbeth will encounter the character in "One Angry Woman" when she's summoned to jury duty and placed on a murder trial to face off with the judge who turns out to be quite difficult.
With this being Elsbeth we're talking about, it seems like a safe bet that there's a lot more to Crawford than meets the eye. It also might be unlucky timing for Elsbeth herself after her son Teddy came to town, though! (You can find Teddy's debut episode streaming with a Paramount+ subscription now.) Preston went on:
They mapped it out while they were planning the whole second season with the hopes that Michael was going to be available to do it! [laughs] And luckily, he was. I think it's a great role, and he obviously is wonderful in it.
Michael Emerson wrapped his run on Evil back in August with that show's series finale, so perhaps the end of one show is what opened him up to recur on another. In a fun twist, Emerson was nominated for a Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his work on Evil just hours before I spoke with Carrie Preston about Elsbeth.
So, with Judge Crawford seemingly emerging as an antagonist of sorts for Elsbeth, what will she make of him as a man? I asked Carrie Preston that very question, and she shared:
She is not used to not knowing how to catch a killer, and so this is something new for her. To be able to see that has been really fun, to see her in a situation that she's kind of met her match. She also hasn't gone up against somebody that has that kind of legal power. Being a judge, as we know in the real world, is almost untouchable, and so it's going to be hard for her to bring somebody like that down. I think that's going to be really fun to watch.
Back in her The Good Wife and The Good Fight days, Elsbeth Tascioni was working as a lawyer rather than living in New York to enforce the consent decree for the NYPD. It should be interesting to see if her legal expertise comes into play when facing off against a judge more than in her usual day-to-day investigations with Wagner, Kaya, and the rest. For now, check out the promo for "One Angry Woman" as Michael Emerson's first episode:
Tune in to CBS on Thursday, December 12 at 10 p.m. ET for the "One Angry Woman" episode of Elsbeth, which will also feature Ben Levi Ross' return as Teddy. The episode airs immediately after the fall finale of Matlock, and Carrie Preston explained earlier this year why she thinks Elsbeth and Matlock pair so well on Thursday nights. If you want to revisit earlier episodes of The Good Wife spinoff, you can do so with a Paramount+ subscription now.
