‘Elsbeth’ Boss & Carrie Preston Talk Big Musical Finale

SPOILER ALERT: The following reveals major plot points from the Season 2 finale of the CBS comedy Elsbeth.

Season 2 of the CBS hit comedy, Elsbeth, has come to a close tonight, and it was a musical celebration both for audiences and for Kaya Blanke (Carra Patterson), who performed for her final time on the show as a series regular. As Deadline revealed exclusively last week, Patterson has pivoted to guest-star in Season 3 of the police dramedy.

In conversation with showrunner Jonathan Tolins and star Carrie Preston, who plays the titular former attorney consulting for the NYPD, at the CBS Fest celebration last night, the pair discussed what Season 3 with Kaya could look like.

“I love Carra with all my heart, and she’s brought such value to Elsbeth and the show. But we wanted the character Kaya to achieve her dream, which is to be a detective. And the way our show works, how it’s structured, Elsbeth doesn’t work with the same detective for all the cases, so we’re sending her on a big adventure. Carra is going on a life adventure, and we’re going to welcome her back every chance we get, because we love her,” Preston shared.

Added Tolins, “The character is not gone. We’ll still see her. She’s still part of the world. She’s still an important part of the show.”

In the Season 2 finale, “Ramen Holiday,” Elsbeth is sent to the same prison as many of the people she put behind bars. The episode brings back previous guest stars Stephen Moyer, Retta, Gina Gershon, Elizabeth Lail, Arian Moayed, André De Shields, Alyssa Milano, Mary-Louise Parker, and Ethan Slater.

“Elsbeth is very nervous when she walks into that jail, knowing that all these people are not very happy with her,” Preston said. But Carrie, the actress, was thrilled. We were trying to get maybe four of these guest stars, but we got 8. They wanted to come back and play with us, which was such an honor. It just meant the world to me that they wanted to be a part of it, and they were all so game.”

Added Tolin, “In addition to the returning guest stars, we also had Donna Lynne Champlin to play the warden. She is a fabulous, fabulous performer. So it was just an embarrassment of riches.”