As predicted, Elsbeth Tascioni’s (Carrie Preston) eccentric quirks wore thin in the show’s second season. This week’s season three premiere proved that the ability to score top-notch guest stars remains the show’s greatest asset.
Stephen Colbert starred as a more toxic, egotistical version of his Colbert Report persona, Scotty Bristol. He brought his former improv partners, Laurel (Amy Sedaris) and Mickey (Andy Richter), with him for his ride to the top on Way Late With Scotty Bristol. Laurel and Mickey are married. She’s the show’s head writer, and he’s the overly-abused sidekick. Bristol is a bad boss and a worse person. The character exudes all of Colbert’s charm, but his eyes are dead, and there’s venom behind his 1000-watt smile.
Bristol refused to give Mickey time off to deal with the serious heart condition he has developed over the years of being abused on the show. So Laurel took matters into her own hands and strangled him by feeding his tie into his industrial-sized paper shredder. When Mickey discovered what his wife had done, he died of a massive heart attack, creating a convenient scapegoat for Laurel, who thinks she may have committed the perfect murder.
There’s no such thing on Elsbeth. The truth always reveals itself. The hero of the episode is the Way Late page, who hears everything and knows everybody’s secrets. He clues Elsbeth into some of the behind-the-scenes dynamics, which helps her solve the case. When one of the writers takes over hosting duties, the page is elevated to sidekick. And thus the cycle begins again.
The episode is full of improv references and meta-commentary about showbiz. Elsbeth and Laurel played a round of The Question Game and Yes, And… (title!) And Colbert’s character seemed to reference his real-life show’s demise with the line “You’ll miss this show when it’s gone.” The episode, and that line, were written before it was announced that The Late Show will be ending this season, but the line still hit.
Carrie Preston is a bottomless well of energy and enthusiasm. I have no doubt she could play Elsbeth for many years before getting tired of her. Murder, She Wrote went for twelve seasons and Monk for eight. However, both of those shows surpassed the limits of the initial setting in Murder, She Wrote ’s case by having Jessica Fletcher travel and Monk’s severe OCD. I’m not sure how many seasons of jokes about Elsbeth carrying around too many bags the audience has capacity for.
Carra Patterson, who played Kaya, has exited as a series regular. She’s been replaced by an officer played by Lindsay Mendez (All Rise). She seems nice enough, but Elsbeth and Kaya had really strong chemistry, and Patterson’s presence was missed in the premiere.
Wendell Pierce and Daniel K. Isaac, who returned as Captain Wagner and Lieutenant Connor, respectively, were having a good time in this episode. Hopefully, that bodes well for the rest of season three. But the overwhelming theme of the squad room scuttlebutt was about how budget cuts have affected the precinct (no more free stationery supplies, and coffee is $1 a cup on the honor system). Wagner is clear with Elsbeth that her salary is the cause of the cutbacks everyone is suffering through. Unless the showrunners come up with some strong, out-of-the-box ideas this season, “budget cuts” would be a convenient and realistic way to end the show if they chose to.
Until then, new episodes of Elsbeth air Sunday nights on CBS.
