The Big Picture

• Retta will guest star as a top matchmaker in Elsbeth Episode 4 on April 11, 2024.
• Gloria Reuben will also join the cast as a New York socialite.
• Elsbeth will return on April 4, 2024, after a short hiatus.

The Good Wife fans barely got a taste of the new spin-off series Elsbeth when CBS announced the show would be taking a five-week break until the second episode. As we count down the days for the return, the network decided to share with Collider a first look at Episode 4, which welcomes Parks and Recreation star Retta as a guest star. Her episode, entitled “Love Knocked Off” debuts on April 11—one week after Elsbeth returns.

In the episode, Retta will play Margo Clarke, the top matchmaker to New York’s rich and impossible-to-please people. Her life turns south when one of her socialite clients pressures her in order to find out secret information about her allegedly perfect new husband. After she goes to extreme lengths to protect her husband’s secrets, Margo becomes a suspect when the man goes missing. Enter Elsbeth Tascioni (Carrie Preston) to investigate the case alongside Officer Kaya Blanke (Carra Patterson).

Episode 4 will also introduce Gloria Reuben to the cast of Elsbeth. Reuben will play Claudia Payne, a mainstay of New York society and the wife of police captain C.W. Wagner (Wendell Pierce). The duo will form a New York City power couple, with Claudia being known in Manhattan for her famous charitable work. Reuben has previously integrated the cast of Mr. Robot, Falling Skies, and City on a Hill.

The images that CBS shared with Collider suggest that Elsbeth will have a pretty good time attending a social event with Reuben’s Claudia and her husband. The event is probably a charity, and from the looks of it, the socialite made a generous donation to a youth cause. The energy is not quite as light in the Retta images. The matchmaker is visited by Elsbeth and Kaya and doesn’t seem too keen on collaborating with them.

Who Is The Team Behind 'Elsbeth?'

Elsbeth is the second spin-off of The Good Wife. The new series is also co-created by Robert and Michelle King, with Robert King serving as director for some episodes, including the pilot. The series is showrun and written by Jonathan Tolins, who debuted in the franchise on the spin-off The Good Fight. Tolins previously wrote for Queer as Folk and East New York.

Once it returns, Elsbeth has nine more episodes to roll out. The Kings and Tolins haven’t confirmed if former The Good Wife cast members will guest star in the first season of the spin-off, but it’s likely that this ends up happening – especially if CBS decides to pick up the show for a second season. The option seems likely, though: With just one episode, Elsbeth ranked among the most-watched titles on Paramount+, and this kind of turnout has already earned other popular shows like Tracker and CSI: Syndey a renewal.

Elsbeth returns to CBS on April 4, with Episode 4 arriving on April 11, 2024.

Elsbeth

Elsbeth Tascioni, an unconventional attorney, gives her singular point of view to make observations to catch criminals alongside the NYPD.

Watch on CBS

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