It’s time for Elsbeth to meet the mother of all nuns — Dianne Wiest. Ahead of the premiere of Season 3, Episode 7, titled “And Then There Were Nuns” this Thursday on CBS, Collider can share an exclusive sneak peek that highlights the two-time Oscar winner in a very meta fashion. The smash-hit murder mystery procedural will take Carrie Preston’s titular detective to a failing convent this week, where she quickly makes an enemy of the nun in charge, Reverend Mother Constance Mary Cabot. Our clip shows Elsbeth’s ingenious plan both to give back to those in need through a charity drive and, perhaps, do a little sleuthing under Cabot’s nose while she has the chance.
To get inside the convent, despite Cabot expressly telling her not to show her face around the premises, Elsbeth turned to a face from last season that she knew the sisters couldn’t resist. Dominic Fumusa returns as Jack Wilson, the star of the in-universe show Father Crime, who has been enlisted by the pink-clad detective to help bring extra attention to the local charity food drive. The nuns gladly welcome such a famous on-screen priest and ask their burning questions about what it’s like playing a priest on television. Cabot is certain she sees right through the ploy of using “carnal desires” to pry open the convent for investigation, though Elsbeth swears she’s just around to help. Even if the reverend mother doesn’t quite believe her, she can’t deny the effectiveness of using star power once the convent is suddenly beset by truckloads of food for the drive, thanks to Jack’s exposure. She relents, for now, but this almost certainly isn’t the last she’ll spar with Elsbeth.
“And Then There Were Nuns” begins its case after a high-profile pop star swoops in and buys the convent amid its financial struggles. Anora alum Lindsay Normington also guest stars as the pop sensation, whose ownership of the divine real estate brings death to its sacred grounds. It’ll be up to Elsbeth to solve this latest murder, assuming she can keep finding ways around Wiest’s ever-vigilant reverend mother. Wiest is just the latest example of Elsbeth’s ability to pull in the most prestigious names, bringing a lengthy resume headlined by her Oscar-winning supporting performances in Bullets Over Broadway and Hannah and Her Sisters, as well as her nomination for Parenthood. More recently, the beloved actress was a regular presence on the Jeremy Renner-led Mayor of Kingstown until Season 3 and had a chance to shine earlier this year as Lorraine Coluca, the widow of the Arconia’s beloved doorman and latest murder victim, Lester, in Only Murders in the Building Season 5.
‘Elsbeth’ Season 3, Episode 8 Will Dig Further Into Alec Bloom’s Past
While Elsbeth solves the mystery within the convent, her son Teddy (Ben Levi Ross) will be doing some digging of his own. Episode 7 will see him continuing his investigative journalism work and looking into the past of mayoral candidate Alec Bloom (Ivan Hernandez). Thanks to some pushing from Elsbeth’s old The Good Wife friend Marissa Gold (Sarah Steele), who’s now Bloom’s campaign manager, Elsbeth and the politician enjoyed a nice outing together that may have sparked something real between the two. Episode 6 further showed how good a pair they could be together, with Bloom supporting her after a run-in with Judge Crawford’s widow. However, in an interview with Collider’s Maggie Lovitt at the premiere earlier this year, showrunner Jonathan Tollins teased that in exploring the candidate’s background, Teddy will “find things out that might put them in an awkward situation.”
Elsbeth Season 3, Episode 8 will premiere on Thursday, November 20, at a special time from 9:01 to 10 p.m. ET/PT. Check out the new sneak peek in the player above.
