There’s going to be a big Good Fight reunion on Elsbeth season 3 as a popular character from that hit show comes to its spinoff. We have all the details you need to know.
Elsbeth isn’t quite like other TV spinoffs. Most of them are offshoots of a show featuring a main character and often continuing the same storylines and themes. Elsbeth is different as Elsbeth Tascioni (Carrie Preston) wasn’t a regular character on The Good Wife or its sequel series, The Good Fight. She was a recurring character, albeit one so popular that Preston earned an Emmy award for the role, and fans loved her.
The current spinoff took the odd direction of Elsbeth moving to New York City and becoming a police consultant, where her quirky mind helped her solve murders. The series has become a hit with a third season arriving this October.
There haven’t been too many connections between Elsbeth and The Good Wife/The Good Fight aside from mentions of Cary Argos and a brief appearance from Christian Borle as Carter Schmidt. However, it’s now confirmed by Entertainment Weekly that Elsbeth season 3 features the return of Marissa Gold (Sarah Steele) and her unique reunion with our titular character.
Get a first look at Sarah Steele's Marissa Gold reuniting with her 'Good Wife' and 'Good Fight' colleague Elsbeth Tascioni (Carrie Preston) in season 3 of 'Elsbeth.' https://t.co/83ToVgCIfl
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) September 15, 2025
Why is Marissa coming to Elsbeth?
First introduced on The Good Wife, Marissa Gold is the smart-mouthed daughter of often ruthless campaign manager Eli Gold (Alan Cumming). The character's great humor and sass won fans over, leading to more appearances.
In The Good Fight, Marissa became a regular as she worked as the private investigator for the Reddick, Boseman, & Kolstad law firm. That had her meeting with Elsbeth, where their dual offbeat natures made them fast friends. The series ended with Marissa getting married to her self-defense instructor and following Diane (Christine Baranski) to a Washington D.C. law firm.
In the exclusive peek from Entertainment Weekly, an upcoming Elsbeth season 3 episode titled “Poetic Justice” shows Marissa is now following in her father’s footsteps as a campaign manager for Alec Bloom (Ivan Hernandez), who's running for mayor. She and Elsbeth meet up at a charity gala.
The episode also features William Jackson Harper as “the founding director of a New York City-based poetry journal that’s in dire need of funding.”
Creators Robert and Michelle King expressed how Marissa was one character from The Good Fight they were dying to have back.
“Sarah Steele was at the top of the list of actors from The Good Fight we wanted to have back. She can read a medical chart and make it funny. And Marissa Gold is one of our favorite characters, so it was a thrill when [Elsbeth showrunner] Jon Tolins wanted her back too.”
Having Marissa on board will be fun as she can give an update to what Diane, her dad and other Good Fight characters are now up to. It also looks like Marissa will aid Elsbeth in whatever murder takes place (perhaps with Harper’s character) and seeing her as the Watson to Elsbeth’s Sherlock Holmes will be a sheer delight for fans.
It’s unclear if this will lead to more Good Fight characters popping in, as Marissa makes more sense than others working a campaign and investigation with Elsbeth. Still, it’s a great moment for fans of The Good Fight to see this reunion for a quirky mystery-solving pair.
Elsbeth season 3 premieres on Sunday, Oct. 12 at 9:30 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT on CBS, before moving to Thursdays at 10/9c.
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