What ‘Elsbeth’ Taught Me About Friendship

The CBS comedy-drama showcases a moving and relatable connection between Elsbeth Tascioni and Officer Kaya Blanke.

I didn’t start watching “Elsbeth” until May 2024 ― a few months after its premiere, but its timing was perfect.

After I had my first child prematurely, she was in the NICU for a month. While she was being cared for, I stayed home, pumped milk every three hours, and shuttled back and forth to the hospital. I was up during parts of the night and morning while the world slept, binge-watching “Elsbeth.”

The CBS crime procedural series — a spinoff of “The Good Wife”— moved its well-liked, unconventional lawyer Elsbeth Tascioni (Carrie Preston) from Chicago to New York City and gave her a new purpose. She was overseeing the NYPD homicide cases after the department was sued for a wrongful arrest. Elsbeth isn’t received well initially, but she quickly charms her co-workers, especially Captain C.W. Wagner (Wendell Pierce), and the more serious, straight-laced officer Kaya Blanke (Carra Patterson), with whom she forms a fast connection.

Watching “Elsbeth” poked at a part of me I had withdrawn from my social circles. For years, I’d been dealing with infertility, and I’d distanced myself from close friends and social settings. I cherished my close female friends, but when life became painful, it felt easier to disappear into my bubble. As a new mom going through postpartum, the possibility of descending into deeper isolation loomed. But “Elsbeth” inspired me to better nurture and reinforce my bonds with the women I cherished most.

The series is a comforting watch that took some stress away from my ’round-the-clock responsibilities and my baby not yet being home. But it was really Elsbeth and Kaya’s friendship — the backbone and heart of the show — that has had the biggest impact on me.