‘Elsbeth’ Creators’ 10/10 Legal Thriller Officially Takes on Its First Murder Case

Published Nov 5, 2026, 1:01 PM EST

Ryan O'Rourke is a Senior News Writer at Collider with a specific interest in all things adult animation, video game adaptations, and the work of Mike Flanagan. He is also an experienced baseball writer with over six years of articles between multiple outlets, most notably FanSided's CubbiesCrib. Whether it's taking in a baseball game, a new season of Futurama or Castlevania: Nocturne, or playing the latest From Software title, he is always finding ways to show his fandom. When it comes to gaming and anything that takes inspiration from it, he is deeply opinionated on what's going on. Outside of entertainment, he's a graduate of Eureka College with a Bachelor's in Communication where he honed his craft as a writer. Between The IV Leader at Illinois Valley Community College and The Pegasus at Eureka, he spent the majority of his college career publishing articles on everything from politics to campus happenings and, of course, entertainment for the student body. Those principles he learned covering the 2020 election, Palestine, and so much more are brought here to Collider, where he has gleefully written on everything from the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes to Nathan Lane baby-birding sewer boys.

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When it comes to murder mysteries, Robert and Michelle King have more than provided with the past four seasons of the acclaimed Elsbeth. The Carrie Preston-led "howcatchem" series has attracted big stars left and right to fill out every new case that the unconventional titular detective takes on throughout every corner of New York City.

In Season 4, she's already solved crimes involving a Tony winner in Nicole Scherzinger and a Succession star in Nicholas Braun, and tonight, she'll go toe-to-toe with Our Flag Means Death's Nat Faxon at a country club, all while in the midst of planning her son's wedding. Now, the Kings' new legal thriller may be about to take a page from Ms. Tascioni's book.

Cupertino trades New York for Silicon Valley and Elsbeth for the duo of Michael Price (Mike Colter) and Olivia Siffre (Rachel Keller), both lawyers who have been cheated and discarded by tech giants like so many others. Together, they've formed a firm to fight for the little guy, taking on clients from a grieving mother whose son was pushed to kill his father by a chatbot to a coder blamed for a fatal drone crash, and even a sentient AI afraid of its own lack of guardrails. Despite being underdogs, they've been racking up wins against the titans who so often avoid responsibility for their actions. They haven't, however, had to defend a client on trial for murder a la The Lincoln Lawyer.

Collider can exclusively share the first images and official details from Episode 8, "Judith & Michael," which will premiere on November 19. The logline teases a case as timely as it is intriguing, reading, "Michael and Olivia defend a journalist who is framed for murder in a case that exposes the vast surveillance apparatus tracking every American. Meanwhile, Bo tries to reconnect with Christy and the team." It's right in Cupertino's wheelhouse, considering the show has been tackling some of the most prescient fears and frustrations with modern tech and the billionaires who frequently cross ethical boundaries without punishment.

Most of the shots focus on Michael and Olivia getting to work, reviewing evidence, speaking to their client in custody, and coordinating with Natalia (Busy Philipps) as they try to find a way to beat the charges. Expect more of Vik (Nik Dodani) and Christy (Ella Stiller) together too, with one final still of the two looking a tad concerned about where things are headed between the latest case and Bo (Rob McClure).

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Would You Survive? 8 questions · 5 worlds · one honest verdict

Five of the great screen futures, and not one of them is built for comfort. Answer eight questions about instinct, loyalty and the line you would cross, and the scan will tell you which one you would still be standing in. Worlds in range

▦︎The Matrix

◈︎Mad Max

◑︎Blade Runner

▲︎Dune

✦︎Star Wars

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Signal lock01 / 08

Question 01 of 08INSTINCT

The world as you know it ends overnight. What is your first move? No wrong answer. There is a wrong hesitation.

AFind out what is really going on behind all of it BGrab a vehicle and as much fuel as you can carry CKeep your head down and show up to work anyway DLearn the rules of whoever is in charge now EFind other people and start organizing

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Question 02 of 08RESOURCE

You can stockpile exactly one thing. What is it? Choose carefully. You are not getting a second run.

AInformation nobody else has BFuel CClean money and cleaner documents DWater EA ship that can get you off-world

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Question 03 of 08THREAT

Which kind of enemy scares you the most? Be honest about what keeps you up.

AOne that can be anywhere, wearing anyone's face BA convoy of people who want what you are carrying CSomeone who looks exactly like you DA rival family that has been planning your downfall for generations EAn empire with unlimited resources and no patience

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Question 04 of 08AUTHORITY

How do you handle the people in charge? Every world has them. Even the ones that pretend otherwise.

AAssume they are lying and work around them BNobody is in charge where I am CFollow the orders, file the report, stay invisible DStudy them, get close to them, outlast them EJoin whoever is fighting them

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Question 05 of 08ENVIRONMENT

Pick the place you would rather wake up in: You will be there a while.

AA grey city that feels slightly too perfect BAn endless desert highway CA rainy neon street at three in the morning DA dune sea with a fortress on the horizon EA crowded spaceport full of strangers

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Question 06 of 08ALLIANCE

Who do you want standing next to you? Pick one. You only get one.

AA guide who knows far more than they are telling you BOne person you trust and nobody else CNobody. You work alone DA loyal circle you grew up with EA crew of misfits who argue the whole way

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Question 07 of 08MORALITY

Which line would you cross to survive? Everybody crosses one.

ALying to the people closest to you BTaking what you need by force CLooking the other way DPlaying a long game that costs other people dearly EBlowing something very expensive up

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Question 08 of 08PURPOSE

What are you really fighting for? Last question. Make it count.

AThe truth, whatever it turns out to be BTomorrow. Just tomorrow CSomething that finally feels like a real life DYour family's name EEveryone who cannot fight for themselves

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Scan completeYou would survive

▦︎ The Matrix The Resistance, Zion You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.

You would survive The Matrix because you were never fully sold on the version of reality you were handed. You notice the seams. You ask the second question. In a world built to keep people comfortable and incurious, that instinct is the whole fight, and it is why Morpheus would have found you long before you found him. From the Collider file

• The Wachowskis' 1999 film won four Academy Awards, including Visual Effects and Film Editing.
• Bullet time was shot with a rig of roughly 120 still cameras firing in sequence around the actors.
• Keanu Reeves trained in martial arts for about four months before a frame was shot, recovering from neck surgery the whole time.
• It opened the same year as Fight Club and eXistenZ, in a run of films about not trusting the world in front of you.

Red pill energy Pattern spotter Built to question

◈︎ Mad Max The Wasteland Oh, what a day. What a lovely day.

You would survive the Wasteland because you do not waste energy mourning the world that ended. You move, you improvise, and you are very good with whatever is bolted to the thing in front of you. Furiosa would let you drive. That is not a compliment anybody earns easily. From the Collider file

• Mad Max: Fury Road won six Academy Awards in 2016, more than any other film that year.
• George Miller storyboarded the entire film as roughly 3,500 panels before there was a script.
• The chase was shot almost entirely practical in the Namib Desert, with real vehicles and real stunt performers.
• Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth carried the prequel, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, in 2024.

Keeps moving Improviser Good with engines

◑︎ Blade Runner Los Angeles, 2049 All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.

You would survive 2049 because you know how to be small in a very loud city. You keep your head down, you do the job, and you hold onto one private thing that belongs only to you. That quiet stubbornness is exactly what both Deckard and K run on, and it is what keeps either of them going when the case stops making sense. From the Collider file

• Blade Runner 2049 won Roger Deakins his first Oscar for cinematography, on his fourteenth nomination.
• The film also took Best Visual Effects, 35 years after Ridley Scott's 1982 original.
• Villeneuve shot it on large-format film and kept the fog and rain practical on set wherever he could.
• Three short films by Luke Scott and Shinichiro Watanabe bridge the 30-year gap between the two movies.

Keeps her head down Private Noir soul

▲︎ Dune Arrakis Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.

You would survive Arrakis because you think in decades while everyone around you thinks in weeks. You read the room, you learn the customs, you wait. The desert does not reward speed. It rewards people who understand that patience is a weapon, which is the one lesson the Fremen never had to be taught. From the Collider file

• Denis Villeneuve's Dune won six Academy Awards in 2022, including Cinematography and Original Score.
• Hans Zimmer turned down Christopher Nolan's Tenet so he could score Dune instead.
• Dune: Part Two arrived in 2024 and brought in Austin Butler, Florence Pugh and Christopher Walken.
• David Lynch's 1984 version and Alejandro Jodorowsky's unmade one are both their own legends by now.

Plays the long game Reads the room Patient

✦︎ Star Wars A Galaxy Far, Far Away Rebellions are built on hope.

You would survive the galaxy because you never try to survive it alone. You collect people. You end up in the middle of other folks' problems and you stay anyway. Every version of this story, from the Falcon's crew to the Ghost's, runs on somebody exactly like that holding the group together. From the Collider file

• The 1977 original won six Academy Awards plus a special achievement award for sound effects.
• John Williams' score was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra and became the best-selling symphonic film soundtrack ever.
• Andor took the galaxy somewhere colder and earned Emmy nominations for drama series in both seasons.
• The saga now runs across eleven feature films and a growing shelf of series on Disney+.

Collects people Shows up Hope merchant

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'Cupertino' Has Earned a Positive Verdict From Critics and Audiences

Cupertino's mix of case-of-the-week legal battles with an overarching sci-fi storyline of an AI seeking to sue its creators has been a winner so far for CBS. The series still has a perfect 100% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, including a 7/10 review from Collider's Therese Lacson, who particularly praised the "dynamic duo" of Colter and Keller. It's also been performing admirably in terms of ratings.

According to The Wrap, it ranked as one of this fall's top two most popular new shows alongside NCIS: New York through its second week, drawing in 6.8 million viewers from November 12 through 18 in Nielsen's live-plus-seven-day big data and streaming and doubling its live viewers from its premiere. CBS is going all in on getting it in front of more eyes, too, airing a new episode, "Harper," alongside encores of the first two episodes this Sunday, November 8, in place of Tracker and Marshals.

Cupertino Episode 8 airs on CBS on November 19. Check out the exclusive images in the gallery above.