Elsbeth is coming back to primetime with another killer for Carrie Preston and Co. to try and take down, and fans of The Good Wife may recognize the show's first murderer of the 2026 TV schedule. Hamish Linklater, who appeared in two episodes of the Emmy-winning drama in its day, will be back opposite Elsbeth, but not as that same character. Ahead of the winter premiere on February 26, Preston spoke with CinemaBlend about her show breaking the "rule" set by The Good Wife and The Good Fight about not reusing the same actors.
The winter premiere is called "Ol' Man Liver" and will feature Gen V's Hamish Linklater as Archer Kopunek, making Elsbeth his first return to the world of The Good Fight since he played a character by the name of David LaGuardia back in the original series' fourth season. Carrie Preston previewed what to expect from his Elsbeth character, saying:
Well, he's a bio hacker, who is somebody who wants to extend his life and keep himself from aging by any means possible, including an extreme diet, extreme exercise, and extreme murder. [laughs] And so that's where Elsbeth then comes in. Because she's somebody who's so game to try anything, when he puts these challenges that he's up against in front of her, she's willing to give it a try. And therein lies some fun and some comedy, and also some situations that will help Elsbeth to get him to drop his guard.
Nobody in primetime can successfully needle killers into dropping their guard quite like Elsbeth Tascioni, usually with hilarious results to justify the show being switched from drama to comedy for awards consideration. The humor is just one of many elements that separate Carrie Preston's show from the two that came before. Of course, The Good Wife and The Good Fight have never been considered necessary viewing to enjoy Elsbeth, although all three shows are currently available with a Paramount+ subscription.
Elsbeth has brought back actors from the other shows to reprise their roles, including Sarah Steele as Marissa Gold this season and Christian Borle's Carter Schmidt last season, but that's not the only option to recruit actors to return. Nathan Lane arrived to play somebody entirely separate from his role on The Good Wife, and Modern Family's Jesse Tyler Ferguson did the same in his arrival on Elsbeth after The Good Fight. Now, Hamish Linklater is up next. Carrie Preston went on to tell me her thoughts on Elsbeth bringing him back, along with others:
I love that we're continuing the tradition set by shows like Columbo, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, all those things. Law and Order here in New York, they will use the same actors, but have them play different characters. Knowing that the audience loves to see that, and also trusting that the actors are going to be able to transform in a way that makes them believe there are some things totally different than the last time.
Carrie Preston definitely isn't kidding about Law & Order, as we have a whole list of notable actors who played multiple Law & Order roles. Plus, Nathan Lane's episode of Elsbeth remains one of my favorites of the entire show, proving early on that it was definitely worth recycling actors.
And as it turns out, it was no coincidence that there were no repeats across the years of The Good Wife and The Good Fight, but a rule that Elsbeth hasn't held back from breaking. Carrie Preston went on:
I think it's wonderful that The Good Wife and The Good Fight, that pool of actors that were used in that universe we can dip into, because they had a rule on The Good Wife and Good Fight that you couldn't appear as a different character. If you came back on the show, it had to be as the character that you were already playing. And so that meant that if you did a guest spot on Good Wife in Season 1, that was it. For 14 years, you wouldn't be able to come back. [laughs] We scrapped that because they wouldn't be able to sustain that.
Therefore... welcome back, Hamish Linklater! Preston noted that while she didn't think they "would run out of actors" if they followed the old rule, they "would have to do a wider search." She went on to praise Linklater for what he brings as an actor, while still not spoiling the events of the winter premiere:
I think it's a testament to Hamish, that the universe that we are an extension of wanted to find another way to bring him in.
Fortunately, the wait is nearly over for the first episode of Elsbeth since the Christmas-themed murder mystery fall finale back in December 2025. The winter premiere will air on Thursday, February 26 at 10 p.m. ET on CBS, directly after the winter premiere of Kathy Bates' Matlock at 9 p.m. ET. You can also stream episodes next day on Paramount+.
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