Elizabeth Sarnoff's writing credits include the superb Deadwood, but her own Scarpetta leaves us unconvinced. Its stars give us a reason to stay; the storytelling around them needs firmer control.
Fi1m perspective
Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis bicker in Scarpetta (2026), and their exchanges are the chief reason to stay through its eight episodes. Elizabeth Sarnoff created and wrote the series, but the two timelines, gore and chatbot pull it in different directions. It never settles on what it is for. Her work on other people's series gives us considerably more confidence than this attempt to run her own.
Her association with David Milch began with writing and story-editing work on NYPD Blue and Big Apple (2001), before she joined Deadwood (2004). She wrote four episodes across its first two seasons, becoming a producer for the second. We were gripped by Deadwood because the struggle to live together mattered as much as the violence. Ian McShane is extraordinary, although the elaborate speeches can try our patience. Milch was the showrunner, and our enthusiasm for the series cannot tell us which virtues are hers alone.
She joined Lost as a writer and producer in 2005 and had become an executive producer by its final season in 2010. That was a sustained stretch of ensemble storytelling, with Christina M. Kim among her co-writers. She co-created Alcatraz (2012) with Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt, then later wrote for the dark comedy Barry (2018). The recurring interest is in damaged people, their private troubles and their difficulties with the institutions around them. It is a useful foundation for ensemble writing, provided the plot leaves room for anyone to behave like a person.
Adapting Patricia Cornwell's novels for Scarpetta, Sarnoff makes room for women who make decisions and hold to their convictions. That is welcome, and Kidman and Curtis are allowed to be difficult company without forfeiting our attention. Yet their bickering cannot give eight episodes a clear purpose, and neither the gore nor the divided chronology supplies one. We would like to see her trust their exchanges enough to leave some of the distractions out. Start with Deadwood; try Scarpetta only if Kidman and Curtis are sufficient inducement.
Biography
Elizabeth Sarnoff is an American television writer and producer, also credited as Liz Sarnoff. She graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and began her television career writing episodes of NYPD Blue and Crossing Jordan. She served as story editor on the series Big Apple (2001).
Sarnoff joined the writing staff of Deadwood in 2004 as executive story editor and writer for the first season, later becoming a producer. She contributed episodes to Lost from 2005, advancing to executive producer by the series’ final season in 2010. She co-created the Fox series Alcatraz (2012) and has written for Marco Polo and Barry (2018–2023).
Sarnoff is the creator and showrunner of the Amazon Prime Video series Scarpetta (2026), on which she also serves as writer.
