Why Doesn’t Captain Wanger Like His Full Name? A Deep Dive into His Disdain
From all the cases and mysteries that we’ve seen Elsbeth (Carrie Preston) help solve throughout Season 1, there’s one that outlived the first season and continues to intrigue fans as Elsbeth Season 2 kicks off: why doesn’t Captain Wagner (Wendell Pierce) like people asking what his initials C.W. (Charles Wallace) stand for?
During an interview with Collider’s Maggie Lovitt at New York Comic Con in the Collider Studio, the cast teased several things to come for Season 2. When it came to Captain C.W. Wagner, though, Pierce was quick to hop on a joke when Lovitt mentioned a possible reference to A Wrinkle in Time:
“‘ A Wrinkle in Time?’ I had not thought about that. So yes, it’s that! [Laughs] No, it sounds so much more like a strong leader. In my mind, I’ve created in his mind that having the initials is better than having the name. I have a friend, Eric; he spent his entire childhood going by Eric, but his first name was Lolis. Then he became a journalist and he embraced Lolis because he thought it was so beautiful and melodic and different. So, I think one day Wagner will embrace his name, eventually, when he becomes a better leader, but he’s trying to put on a good front right now.”
Who Is Charles Wallace in ‘A Wrinkle In Time’?
Charles Wallace is the name of one of the characters from best-selling novelA Wrinkle In Time. In the story, CW is a child genius who goes on a magical adventure with his sister Meg. The novel by author Madeleine L’Engle was first published in 1962, and was adapted twice into feature films. The most recent adaptation was helmed by Ava DuVernay (Origin), written by Jennifer Lee (Frozen) and starred by Oprah Winfrey (Selma), Mindy Kaling (Ocean’s Eight) and Reese Witherspoon (The Morning Show). In the adaptation, Charles Wallace was played by Deric McCabe (Home Before Dark). So, in the Elsbeth universe, it would kind of make sense that the NY police captain wouldn’t want to be associated with a children’s book character.
Elsbeth has just returned for new episodes and fans are gearing up to watch a super-sized Season 2 with 20 episodes. This time around, we’ll get to discover the details of why Elsbeth decided to abandon her Chicago life and start over in New York, and some elements of her past will come back to haunt her. This season’s guest stars include Nathan Lane (The Gilded Age), Michael Emerson (Lost) and Vanessa Williams (Desperate Housewives).
CBS airs Elsbeth on Thursdays. You can stream the series on Paramount+.
