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

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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‘Cupertino’ Has Earned a Positive Verdict From Critics and Audiences

• Image via CBS

• Image via CBS

• Image via CBS

• Image via CBS

Image via CBS

Image via CBS

Image via CBS

Image via CBS

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.

Cupertino