‘You Can’t Escape Your Past’: ‘Elsbeth’ Star Carrie Preston Teases Season 2 of CBS Dramedy (Exclusive)

Season 2 of Elsbeth finally premieres tonight on CBS, and Carrie Preston spoke to PopCulture.com about the new episodes. While the premiere will be going into the world of opera, the season will see the aftermath of the D.O.J. investigation from Season 1, which cleared Captain Wagner and fired Lieutenant Noonan. With 20 episodes to get through and the season digging deeper into the characters fans love, there is no telling what will happen. Preston gave PopCulture some details about the upcoming season, which will include Elsbeth finding herself and dealing with the past. (Interview has been edited for length and clarity).

PopCulture: What will the aftermath of the D.O.J. investigation look like for Elsbeth in terms of her relationships and her job?

Carrie Preston: We have this moment where we feel like, “Okay. Great. We’re through that. We got through that situation, and Wagner kept his job, Elsbeth kept her job.” But there’s a new lieutenant that’s coming who’s gonna have some questions about what it is that Elsbeth is doing and why it is that she’s given such a long leash. Nothing can ever be too comfortable in this world where I’m playing somebody who is acting like a detective, and she is not. Does not have the authority to do that.

PC: One of my favorite things about the first season was seeing her friendship with Kaya and how that grew throughout the first season. What can fans expect from the two of them in Season 2?

Preston: Well, there’s an overall theme that’s going on in this season that’s about you can’t escape your past. So there will be some little bumps in the road that will come up for each of our three main characters. So you’ll see that Elsbeth and Kaya are coming together to sort of help each other through those little bumps in the road. It’s really a lovely working relationship between Kaya and Elsbeth, but it’s also a lovely working relationship between Carra [Patterson] and myself.

PC: What does her relationship with Wagner look like, especially after everything that happened? He wasn’t much of a fan when he found out what she was up to. Then he started to come around a little bit at the end of the finale.

Preston: I think there was a level. There’s a level of forgiveness that Wagner has for Elsbeth. I think it helps that Kaya came to the defense and said, “Look, she’s only doing what she’s required to do.” And so I think he comes around to understanding that. And in the finale, he’s the one watching her doing this runway show and that sense of joy that Elsbeth feels when she sees Wagner come in that room.

And it just says to her that he’s the type of person that she knew he was, which is an outstanding, kind, generous person who is willing to give people the benefit of the doubt. And so I think that was a pretty healing episode for them. And so I think we’re starting off on that foot. I don’t think that there’s a level of doubt that was there that had been there previously. I will say, though, that there’s gonna be some little bumps along the way that they’re gonna have to get through. But the fact that they have a stronger friendship now is gonna help that.

PC: What are you most excited to explore with Elsbeth in Season 2?

Preston: I love that I learn as much about the character as the writers do. We were learning and discovering her together each episode because we’re putting her in all of these different situations. It’s not like a show that is serialized, and you’re pretty much in the same world. Every episode, I’m going from the opera world to a billionaire’s space camp to, you know, the Halloween episode. There’s, like, all of these different worlds that I get to explore.And with those come new revelations about the character. So I guess that’s my favorite part is, just seeing what she’s like in in lots of different scenarios.

PC: Is there anything else you can tease about Season 2?

Preston: We have so many fascinating and incredible guest stars. I definitely feel like you should tune in to the show just for that because each episode, you’ll go, “Oh my god. I love that person.” Because getting actors that have really rich careers. And it’s fun to see them in these one-off scenarios and play characters that maybe they wouldn’t have normally gotten to play. So, I would say keep tuning in to see the guests.

Elsbeth Season 2 premieres tonight, Oct. 17, at 10 p.m. ET on CBS.