And that’s a wrap on Elsbeth Season 2. Last night, the curtains came down on the second installment of the quirky police procedural series. It was an emotional season finale as the final moments saw the cast bid farewell to one of their own at the precinct. With toasts and heartfelt speeches, the team said goodbye to Kaya Blanke (Carra Patterson), who in the penultimate episode learned of her surprise promotion to detective from Captain Wagner (Wendell Pierce). Kaya is departing the NYPD for Washington, DC, for a new challenge that will see her undertake several undercover assignments. Thankfully, audiences will get an occasional glimpse of her new chapter as she’ll continue to feature in the show as a recurring guest in Season 3.
The Season 2 finale, “Ramen Holiday,” opens with Elsbeth (Carrie Preston) behind bars, where she reunites with a number of the criminals she helped put away in previous seasons. Back at the precinct, the team is worried about her, but no one is more frustrated about the situation than her best friend Kaya, who, among other reasons, fears Elsbeth won’t make it out on time for her farewell party. This emotional stake lingers right until the very end, when Elsbeth’s release is secured just in time for the mini-event. During an interview with ScreenRant, showrunner Jonathan Tolins was quizzed about a few creative decisions on Kaya’s departure, including if the pair’s uneasy separation was intentional, to which he replied:
“I don’t know if that was the case or it’s just that we knew we had Elsbeth in prison, and we had Kaya leaving. It just felt like a natural way to add stakes to the story. Obviously, our characters wanted to get Elsbeth out as soon as they could, but that just added a little extra motivation to that. As you may have heard the expression, “a ticking clock,” to get her out.”
While it’s bittersweet that Kaya will no longer be working alongside Elsbeth as closely anymore, Tolin shared that this shift paves the way for the character’s growth, as the promotion marks the realization of a long-held dream. Elsbeth echoed this sentiment during her speech, raising a toast to a new chapter for her best friend. “We’re thrilled that the character is actually achieving this dream that the character had from the very first episode of becoming a detective,” Tolin continued. “And so it does feel organic that there is some shift because they’re not going to be on the same cases all the time. But again, I don’t want people to get too worried. Kaya is still a part of the Elsbeth world, and we love her, and we love Carra, and we will have her back as often as we can.”
Is ‘Elsbeth’ Setting up Kaya Blanke’s Replacement in Season 3?
Kaya’s departure opens the door for greater involvement from other characters on the show, and one who has notably stepped up is Reese Chandler, played by Ethan Slater. Chandler has begun partnering with Elsbeth, and the chatty officer played a key role in the finale, joining Captain Wagner for his second meeting with Judge Edwin Dousant (John Carroll Lynch), wherein they secure Elsbeth’s release by blackmailing the judge with his dirty little secret, forcing him to budge.
While it might feel like the show is propping him up to replace Kaya, Tolin maintains that’s not the case. Though the showrunner promises more development from Slater’s character, he clarifies that he’s not meant to fill Kaya’s shoes, saying: “The one thing I will say is I have no intention of shoehorning someone into being “the new Kaya,” because that was a very special character and relationship, and again, she’s not disappearing from the world. But I’m sure we’ll have some new relationships that Elsbeth is going to build in Season 3.”
