Anna Camp is in her traditional wife era for a new murder mystery case on Elsbeth.
In Us Weekly‘s exclusive first look at the May 7 episode of the hit CBS show, Camp, 43, is introduced alongside Carrie Preston‘s Elsbeth. Behind-the-scenes photos show Camp and Preston, 58, being directed by Pamela Adlon, who previously guest starred on another episode of Elsbeth.
“When an ambitious filmmaker dies in a suspicious cleaning accident, Elsbeth focuses on the subject of her final documentary: a ‘trad wife’ whose from-scratch lifestyle included a deadly ingredient,” the official synopsis reads.
Elsbeth, which premiered in 2024, reintroduced the title character after she originally appeared on The Good Wife and The Good Fight. The first two seasons showed Elsbeth becoming a de facto detective helping the NYPD investigate cases. Preston stars alongside Wendell Pierce and Carra Patterson.
Fans were in for a surprise when season 2 ended with Patterson, who plays Kaya, departing the show as a series regular.
“It’s been in development since the beginning of season 2,” Preston exclusively told Us in May 2025. “We wanted to honor her and elevate her to detective. So it was very exciting when that happened for the character. Not as exciting for us though because we love Carra. I love Carra and I obviously love playing with her.”
Preston promised that wasn’t the last fans would see of Kaya, adding, “She’s still on the show — it’s just in a different capacity. It’s nice because it adds some conflict and it adds some stuff for Elsbeth to wrestle with. It’s going to deepen my character.”
The series has already been preparing for Elsbeth to have a new partner by pairing her off with a handful of other cops.
“With Elsbeth having to deal with this person not being there who she really leans on, it’s a real testament to the writers that they did it in such a gradual and beautiful way,” Preston told Us. “It’s the good thing about Elsbeth, [she] is so positive and never met a stranger.”
The actress didn’t rule out potential “growing pains” as Elsbeth adjusts to “flying solo” in season 3, saying, “The writers have already started introducing other uniformed officers that Elsbeth really relies on to get onto the crime scene. The way our show is structured, it’s not the same detective with Elsbeth on every case.”
Preston continued: “So that always adds a little breath of fresh air as well by having different points of views and different people for her to either partner with or go head to head with in the pursuit of justice.”
More recently, Preston opened up about how the show was able to expand for its third season.
“It suddenly feels like, ‘Oh, right. The NYPD has lots of people and it’s not just this small group.’ It made the show feel in some ways bigger,” she told Us in February. “I wasn’t altogether sure how we were going to do that without it seeming like we were trying to replace Carra — and yet we did and we still get to have Carra back. It’s been the best of all worlds.”
Elsbeth airs on CBS Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET. New episodes stream the next day on Paramount+.
