‘Elsbeth’: Showrunner Jonathan Tolins on Judge Crawford’s Connections to the Van Ness Case as Suspicions Grow (Exclusive)
Elsbeth’s meta fall finale included more information about Judge Crawford and a cliffhanger that will have fans wanting more and showrunner Jonathan Tolins spoke to PopCulture.com about what the aftermath could look like, including something more for Kaya. In “Toil and Trouble,” Elsbeth and co. had to deal with the murder of a showrunner of a long-running police procedural, and while on set, Kaya and Elsbeth ran into a guy working for the coroner. He and Kaya got to talking about apartments, as she was looking for a roommate and he was in need of a change.
By the end of the episode, Kaya wound up accepting Cameron’s application, and it seemed like there could be more going on between the new roommates. In regards to this possible relationship, Tolins said, “Cameron seems to be a really good guy. He’s also in an adjacent business, you can say, working for the coroner. They are both adorable, and they have wonderful chemistry and I think, if anything, the challenge will be to get these two sort of shy, guarded people to take a chance on each other. I will say we do have a Valentine’s Day episode coming up, so we’ll see what happens.”
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As for Michael Emerson’s corrupt Judge Crawford, Elsbeth shared her suspicions with Wagner, who was a bit on the fence about the whole situation, but he knew that she would be good for it, as Tolins explained, “At this point, Elsbeth has solved so many murders that it wouldn’t make sense for him to think she was crazy. She is going to share with him what her suspicions are, and he is going to stick his neck out for her because they’re good friends now, and they care about each other. And it triggers Wagner’s own sense of justice and what is fair and what isn’t, and how powerful people can abuse their power.”
Judge Crawford is not all that Elsbeth will have to worry about come 2025. Earlier in the season, The Good Wife’s Christian Borle returned as Carter Schmidt, warning Elsbeth about a messy divorce case she handled back in Chicago. Court documents from the case were released, naming the lawyers involved, including Elsbeth. And evidently, Crawford is involved, but in another slimy way.
“What’s interesting is that this happened organically in the writer’s room as we had two big stories: the Van Ness divorce and then we have the judge story,” Tolins shared. “And then we found a way that just sort of happened where the judge sort of stepped into the first story and sort of took it over. So, as one is resolved, another one sets the stage. The judge is a formidable adversary, and it’s gonna take quick thinking and real investigative work to figure out how to bring him down. I think it’s gonna keep us on our toes for quite a few episodes.”
Between the Van Ness case, Judge Crawford, and likely many more interesting relationships, 2025 is going to be a busy one for Elsbeth and co. New episodes of Elsbeth return on Thursday, Jan. 30 at 10 p.m. ET on CBS.
