PUBLISHED
June 28, 2026
There are two kinds of murder mysteries. One is where you do not know who the killer is until the end. The other is where you know who the killer is from the start, and the excitement is in watching the detective figure it out.
Elsbeth definitely belongs to the second kind, where you learn who the murderer is in the first act and then watch Elsbeth Tascioni, the quirky lawyer-turned-investigator, uncover tiny mistakes that ultimately prove the crime was anything but perfect.
This way of solving a crime is called the “howcatchem” or the inverted detective story. It is different from shows like The Mentalist, where you have to figure out who the bad guy is. In a howcatchem show, the question is how the detective will catch the guy, since you already know who committed the crime and how.
Elsbeth is not the first show to follow this format, and it won’t be the last. The show that began this tradition on TV was Columbo, in which Peter Falk played a police lieutenant who was always the smartest person in the room, but since he wasn’t a clean freak or organised, many thought of him as a nobody. Yet Lt. Columbo always got his man or woman, because he disarmed his opponents with his antics. What made the show popular was that it didn’t make the bad guys look stupid, which is why it is still considered one of the best TV shows of all time.
Columbo aired from 1968 to 2003, and its clever killers included popular actors of the time, who played doctors, lawyers, authors, and politicians, all with blood on their hands. What made the show so good was watching Lt. Columbo quietly dismantle the killer’s confidence. Elsbeth follows the same pattern.
Renewed for season 4
Unlike the feature-length Columbo, Elsbeth is a forty-minute battle between the cops and the criminal, with Elsbeth on the cops’ side as their consent-decree lawyer. Rather than trying to surprise you with the killer’s identity, the focus is on the other aspects, such as the how and the why. This is one of the many reasons it is more fun than other shows on TV right now.
The other reason is that the show is designed to feel lighter and more fun than many crime dramas. The murder is rarely depicted as a gruesome act, and the murderer is not portrayed as a psychopath. The suspects are often famous people whose perfect images start to crack when Elsbeth starts asking them questions.
The show was recently renewed for its fourth season, partly because it offers a break from the usual murder mysteries. All the cases are different, from a murdered TV star to a whistleblower, and each time the killer thinks they can outsmart Elsbeth.
The makers of Elsbeth — Robert and Michelle King – know what kind of TV they want to put forward: fun, stylish, and character-driven. It does not try to be something different every week. Instead, it relies on charm, writing, and the fun of watching self-important people get caught. Relatable, isn’t it?
Living the part
Carrie Preston is the heart of Elsbeth, and it should be a crime to imagine anyone else in the role. She first played Elsbeth Tascioni on The Good Wife and later in The Good Fight before getting her own show, and given how she is performing, it will be a long time before the network even considers canceling it.
Preston portrays Elsbeth as a happy-go-lucky character with her own issues to deal with, beyond the de facto detective she likes to play. Yes, she is a little socially awkward, overly curious, and quite irritating at times, but that’s all an act to make the suspects underestimate her. The only time you see the real Elsbeth is when she falls in love with a mayoral candidate, but even that didn’t materialise because of who she is.
From previous seasons, we know that Elsbeth is a mother who wants everything to be perfect, a friend who knows how to take a stand, and a colleague who likes to bring everyone along, even her toughest detractors. In the third season, she gets to be all that as she is forced to think about her son’s future, her best friend’s absence from the scene, and the job of her toughest critic. Only a good actress can pull all that off while chasing suspects, and Carrie Preston does it all with ease.
The third season gave Wendell Pierce a lot to do as Captain Wagner. In the first two seasons, he hardly left his office, but in this season, the writers gave his character an upgrade, and he had to deal with his daughter, incompetent subordinates, and superiors with ulterior motives. He helps keep the show grounded when Elsbeth gets too quirky. Carra Patterson’s character, Kaya Blanke, is also really good, even though she isn’t part of most of the cases. However, it is nice to see her come back in the last few episodes.
This season also has some issues that need to be highlighted. First of all, it becomes predictable as the writers follow the same pattern every week. They need to throw the villain-of-the-week format in the dustbin and come up with something that’s not boring, because some of the episodes here were.
Unlike Columbo, where the murders were always clever, and the detective’s methods always changed, Elsbeth can feel a bit repetitive. Also, some of the themes, like the Mayor lying to Elsbeth about his past and her son being gay, feel a bit forced, as if the writers were trying to check off all the boxes.
Why Columbo still matters
Few TV detectives are as influential as Peter Falk’s Columbo. He changed crime TV by showing that you do not need secrets to be suspenseful. The audience saw the crime from the start and watched Lt. Columbo slowly catch the guy.
Columbo never used scientific methods until it was necessary; patience, psychology, and his famous way of talking were his tools for disarming the bad guys, who usually thought they were belittling the detective, when, in fact, it was the other way around.
That is why his catchphrase, “one more thing…” is so iconic. It always signaled that the suspect’s plan was about to fall apart.
Many TV shows believe that complicated stories are better, but Columbo showed that simple stories can be just as good when done well. Elsbeth, following that pattern, is a welcome addition for viewers and fans of intelligent storytelling.
Updating the formula
If Columbo was a bit rumpled and low-key, Elsbeth was colourful, quirky, and a bit weird. Even though they look different, they are very similar.
Both detectives rely on people underestimating them. Both use their quirks to distract suspects. Both solve crimes by noticing what others miss.
While Columbo was old-school and dark, like TV shows from the last century, Elsbeth is modern, brighter, and more fun.
It is less about being serious and more about having fun with the characters. That makes it more relatable to audiences today while preserving the essence of the howcatchem format.
Why it works
Even though Elsbeth can be a bit predictable at times, it still works because it knows what audiences want from this kind of show. The creators and actors know that the audience is more interested in the characters than in the murder mysteries, which is why both the bad and the good guys get backstories. The only difference is that the bad guys usually have just one episode to showcase their talent, while the good guys have the whole season.
That’s why, when Elsbeth enters a room full of self-important people and quietly takes them down, viewers cheer with her. They cherish the moment when the bad guy realizes they’ve been outsmarted.
The third season may not be as clever as the previous ones, but the makers experimented with a lot of things, the most notable being Carrie Preston making Elsbeth more lovable. As long as TV shows keep making detectives that audiences love, the howcatchem format will keep going.
Shows In Columbo’s Shadow
Columbo has influenced many TV shows over the last thirty years, in which the culprit is known, and the suspense comes from apprehending them. While many shows tried to copy the ‘howcatchem’ format and failed, a few have been as successful.
Poker Face (2 seasons, 2023 – 2025)
Before Elsbeth, it was Poker Face that came closest to Columbo. Created by Rian Johnson and starring Natasha Lyonne, it follows Lyonne’s character, Charlie Cale, as she travels across America solving murders like Angela Lansbury did in Murder She Wrote.
There is a backstory to her travels as well, but that’s for another day. However, what I can tell you is that, unlike any detective before her, she is very smart because she can detect when someone is lying. Interesting, isn’t it?
Motive (4 seasons, 2013 – 2026)
This Canadian show also used the howcatchem format, but not in the same way as Columbo. In fact, it began by showing the victim and the murderer in their respective offices or homes, and by hinting at the murder before the title card appeared.
That way, when Kristin Lehman’s Detective Angelika “Angie” Flynn entered the scene, the story focused on both how and why the murder was committed, giving the plot an emotional side.
Monk (8 seasons, 2002 – 2009)
Long before it was common for people to use wet wipes, Tony Shalhoub’s Adrian Monk made it so. Not because he was a clean freak, but because his character suffered from OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). Since he was a brilliant homicide detective before the diagnosis, the only thing he could do was solve crimes.
Not only did the show complement Columbo, in which a harmless-looking detective takes down a seemingly powerful opponent, but it also drew inspiration from it. Introducing the OCD angle was a brilliant way to introduce a Watsonesque nurse to Monk’s Holmes, who always caught the bad guy, no matter how high up he was.
Diagnosis: Murder (8 seasons, 1993 – 2001)
Even though he is still considered the nicest guy in Hollywood, Dick Van Dyke is one of the few actors who first played a villain in Columbo and later played a detective on his own show, Diagnosis Murder.
He portrayed Dr Mark Sloan, Chief of Internal Medicine at Community General Hospital, who also served as a consultant to his detective son, Steve (played by Barry Van Dyke, his real son). While the doctor brought both logical and medical theories to the table, his son was the muscle, and together they combined medicine and detective work. It was a heartfelt show that was fun for the whole family.
The writer is a freelance contributor who writes about film, television, and popular culture
All facts and information are the sole responsibility of the writer