Elsbeth is back, and our favorite police consultant is as “Elsbethy” as ever in the Season 3 premiere “Yes, And…” The episode is a microcosm of everything we love about the series, and Elsbeth (Carrie Preston) herself, and if there were any worries that Season 3 wouldn’t be able to maintain the lofty standards set by the first two seasons, consider them dashed. “Yes, And…” is one of the series’ best, filled with meta moments, warmth, fun, and the promise of some fascinating dynamics that will play out over the season.
Elsbeth Meets Late Night Murder in the ‘Elsbeth’ Season 3 Premiere “Yes, And…”
Elsbeth’s second season didn’t end on a cliffhanger per se, with Elsbeth released from prison thanks to the efforts of Captain Wagner (Wendell Pierce) and Officer Chandler (Ethan Slater). Rather, it ended in Elsbeth choosing to embrace the challenges before her, with the machinations of Judge Crawford (Michael Emerson) still very much in play and Detective Kaya Blanke (Carra Patterson) leaving New York for her task force training program in DC. “Yes, And…” picks up a few months after that point, and, slowly but surely, little nuggets of information are dropped throughout the episode to bring us up to speed.
It’s a credit to the series’ writers that they can play that slow exposition without taking away from the main story, and it’s fitting that such a well-written episode opens with Laurel Hammond-Muntz (Amy Sedaris), head writer and executive producer of late-night talk show Way Late with Scotty Bristol, entering the writers room. She’s there to give them the bad news, yet again, that Scotty (Stephen Colbert) has decided not to use their material for that night’s show. Cue the sound of the paper shredder in Scotty’s office, a regular occurrence done simply to piss off the writers.
Laurel goes from there to the green room, where a familiar face from the past, Sheryl Jacobs (Marcia DeBonis), who fans will remember as the friend Elsbeth made at the wellness retreat in Season 2’s “Unalive and Well.” She’s on the show to promote her book about her wellness journey, and Laurel is there to prepare her, as best she can, for whatever Scotty may throw her way. As she’s talking, Scotty breezes in, and a starstruck Sheryl introduces him to the friend that came to support her from the audience: Elsbeth Tascioni. Elsbeth is on the couch behind a number of bags, trying to catch a few winks before the show starts after just arriving home from Scotland (we’ll get there, promise), but still bright and bouncy enough to be an irritant to Scotty.
The episode cuts to the taping, where Sheryl is being interviewed by Scotty. She asks if he’s read the book; he has not. But his sidekick, Mickey Muntz (Andy Richter), did, and starts to engage with Sheryl before being cut off by Scotty, who uses the book to verbally abuse Mickey on air, as is his wont. After the show wraps, Laurel is seen consoling Mickey, her husband, not only over the verbal abuse but over Scotty’s refusal to allow Mickey time off for medical leave due to a heart condition. Laurel sends Mickey off and heads into Scotty’s office. They reminisce about the trio’s past as an improv group before making it big, with Scotty tenaciously holding on to fame to the point of, well, denying a long-time friend medical leave. Laurel seduces Scotty, who she spurned back then for Mickey, and backs him up against his big paper shredder, dubbed “Mickey 2.” As he leans back, Laurel jams his tie into the shredder and holds down the override button, strangling Scotty to death.
Writers Top the List of Suspects in the ‘Elsbeth’ Season 3 Premiere “Yes, And…”
Back to Elsbeth, who returns home to the welcoming face of Teddy (Ben Levi Ross). She’s evasive about why she’s come back earlier than expected, chalking it up to being there for Sheryl. Teddy changes the subject to talk about his good news, having taken a job with the New York View as an investigative journalist. This is the first sign of Crawford’s lessening impact, with Teddy having found a job he’s passionate about after giving up on becoming a lawyer. Just as Elsbeth is about to finally get some sleep, Wagner calls, asking for her to come to the crime scene.
While on the subject of being back on the job, Elsbeth asks if there’s a “new officer keeping her in line,” and there is: Grace Hackett (Lindsay Mendez), police officer by day, aspiring comic at night. There is a connection between the two, but it will be some time before it builds up to the dynamic Elsbeth shared with Kaya (but does show promise that it can get there). At the crime scene, Elsbeth looks around, and posits that Scotty must have taken out his earbuds to talk to someone, most likely the killer. In the episode’s funniest meta moment, when it’s revealed that Scotty was listening to “Merrily We Roll Along,” the Stephen Sondheim musical, prompting Elsbeth to gleefully utter how much she loves his work, because his stories always work backward – just like Elsbeth always does with her deductions. Moving on, she acts out the probability of what happened to Scotty, which is a pretty faithful observation, but it’s a mystery, given the override button has been wiped of prints.
Back at the station, Elsbeth has gifts she brought back from Scotland for everyone, personal gifts that she put thought into, plus a number of novelty pencils to give to those that she doesn’t know well. But it’s a station that has changed since Elsbeth’s been gone, with those budget cuts, another fallout from Crawford, forcing Lieutenant Connor (Daniel K. Isaac) to make budgetary decisions, like charging $1 for coffee and cutting back on how often garbage is collected. The efforts irritate Detective Smullen (Danny Mastrogiorgio) to no end, but that will have to wait as they gather to try and figure out who might be responsible. Smullen theorizes, or outright declares, that it must be the writers. So back to the crime scene, where a page walks Smullen and Elsbeth down the hall, pointing out Scotty’s office where they found him dead (it mimics the opening moments of the episode when the same page is giving a tour, one of many fun details in the episode). They question the writers, but it becomes unlikely that it’s any of them: none of the writers were in the office at the time, and while they might have been angry with Scotty regularly, the writers assert that any writer isn’t going to rock the boat, but rather be thankful they have a job.
Amy Sedaris’ Laurel Gets Caught In a Lie in the ‘Elsbeth’ Season Premiere “Yes, And…”
Speculation turns to Mickey, after video footage from the elevator shows him visibly angry and hostile after the embarrassment suffered on the show, just before he heads back and finds Scotty’s body. Only it’s something he does routinely after any show, building up the courage to quit before calming down, as evidenced in additional elevator footage. Elsbeth’s attention then turns to Laurel, who regularly took the brunt of the writer’s hostility towards Scotty, and would have been upset over Scotty’s poor treatment of Mickey. As they’re talking, Elsbeth drops one of those nuggets we talked about, adding that her ex narrowly escaped disbarment, yet another of Crawford’s machinations to fall. Their talk turns to the trio’s past as an improv troupe, giving Elsbeth the idea that Laurel should teach her improv, as it could really help her in her work. She does, and the improv lessons, led by the most important lesson of “yes, and…”, are the highlight of the episode, a brilliantly funny scene that also serves to draw Laurel deeper into Elsbeth’s suspicions.
But it’s Mickey that actually picks up on Laurel’s murderous act first, after confronting her about lying to the police about him wanting to quit. Only the realization is too much, and Mickey dies on the spot. It’s the perfect opportunity for Laurel, who pins the blame on Mickey, and Smullen figures that’s it, end of story. Except she uses the phrase “yes, and,” a fatal flaw that Elsbeth catches, all but confirming her suspicions. But that’s still all they are, suspicions, and after getting an update from Detective Jax (Ruffin Prentiss) on Kaya (she’s doing well and is on her first undercover assignment, and has a plushy Loch Ness Monster waiting for her), Elsbeth goes into her office. Meanwhile, Wagner, after watching Connor being utterly berated by the officers angry over his budget cuts, comes to his rescue, saying any concerns about the budget need to go through him. His standing up for Connor makes the episode’s quietest, yet most powerful moment, as Connor’s face is visibly relieved and thankful.
In her office, Elsbeth notices that Smullen has tossed his shortbread cookies, a gift from her, into her wastebasket. It’s a lightbulb moment, and Elsbeth rushes off to the studio. She confronts Laurel there, giving her a list of reasons why she would hate Scotty enough to kill him. Laurel asks how she knew all this, and the answer comes around the corner: the page. Pages know and see all behind the scenes, and are responsible for emptying out paper shredders, as he did before Scotty’s demise. Only there was paper in Mickey 2, meaning someone put the shredded paper in after the fact, and the spacing between the shreds matches the shredder in Laurel’s office perfectly. It’s a wrap as Laurel is walked out, saying that she didn’t kill Mickey, but Elsbeth points out to her that she did, just not directly.
Having successfully solved the case, Elsbeth uses the opportunity to grab a box of now-unusable Way Late with Scotty Bristol-branded office supplies for the precinct. It’s a short-term solution, but before Elsbeth can voluntarily step away from the office, Wagner stops her, saying that if it comes down to getting rid of her or the budget cuts, he will never entertain the thought of the former. Now, finally, Elsbeth gets some sleep. Ah, but we promised you the scoop on her Scotland visit, so here it is: Elsbeth is hesitant to call Angus (Ioan Gruffudd) her boyfriend, claiming she’s not sure what to call what they have, and was evasive when asked by Teddy. It could just be the weight of keeping up a long-distance relationship, but I swear I will take back the love for the writers here should they break the pair up.
New episodes of Elsbeth drop on Thursdays starting October 16 on CBS in the U.S.
