In the first episode, Elsbeth is standing near a curb and gets splashed by a passing car driving through a puddle (a clip that was also heavily used in the promotion for the show). Instead of reacting with anger or disgust (as a more stereotypical New Yorker might, and as Sarah Jessica Parker's Carrie Bradshaw does in the opening credits for Sex and the City), she looks absolutely overjoyed. In an April 2024 Washington Post interview with Carrie Preston, journalist Emily Yahr explained Preston's thought process behind the reaction: "Preston read the script and knew exactly how to play the scene where she gets soaked by the car. Obviously, Elsbeth is a huge Sex and the City fan, and therefore thrilled to experience a Carrie Bradshaw moment in New York. 'I decided that Elsbeth would find that absolutely 100 percent delightful,' Preston said in a recent interview on set in Brooklyn. On the show, Elsbeth has just moved from The Good Wife's universe of Chicago to work as a court-mandated legal observer of the New York Police Department-and she is truly dazzled by all the Big Apple has to offer. 'She's like, "Yes, I'm here, I've been splashed . . . I'm a New Yorker!"'"
