Elsbeth Season 3 Episode 1 Offered a Compelling Case That Almost Fell Flat

Critic’s Rating: 4 / 5.0

4

It took guts for Elsbeth to take on CBS’ budget cuts and cast Stephen Colbert as both villain and victim shortly after he was fired from late-night TV.

Elsbeth Season 3 Episode 1 started out strong, but something felt off as the story progressed.

Maybe I was missing Kaya as much as Elsbeth was, but this felt like little more than an average episode, and I expected something bigger for the season premiere.

That Death Was One Of The Most Creative Murders Ever

Colbert’s character was a late-night talk show host who aggravated his writing staff enough that his head writer and ex-bestie killed him.

The murder sequence took me by surprise. I knew one of them would end up dead when Lauren came to Scotty’s office in the middle of the night, but I thought she would poison his drink.

Nothing so mundane was acceptable to this murderess. Instead, she chose a more complicated, but symbolic path.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think this victim is the only one in television history to die from a murderer catching his tie in a shredder and turning it on.

It was as brilliant as it was meaningful.

Anyone but Elsbeth would have assumed it was a horrible accident, but in reality, Lauren did to Scotty what he had done to her hard work too many times to count.

Would This Story Have Worked As A Traditional Mystery?

While Elsbeth Season 1 offered a Columbo-like story every week where we knew who did it and had to wait for Elsbeth to catch up, Elsbeth had recently gotten out of that habit and offered a handful of real mysteries alongside that format.

I prefer whodunits to Columbo-style.

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It’s not as much fun if we know the answer and can’t play along while Elsbeth investigates.

Scotty was a perfect choice for a whodunit, too, because he had made enemies out of most of his staff.

Unlike the real Colbert, who reportedly cared so deeply about his staff that he didn’t want to tell them that they’d be out of a job come 2026, Scotty antagonized everyone.

He rejected his writers’ ideas in favor of submissions by amateurs and berated one of his closest friends on the air nightly, picking on him for his weight and health issues.

That would have given Elsbeth and us a lot of suspects to sort through if it hadn’t been made clear from the beginning that Lauren had tangled his tie in that shredder.

At least it wasn’t Captain Wagner who rolled his eyes at Elsbeth’s completely correct theory of the case.

In fact, he wanted her on the job even though Detective Smollett insisted that Elsbeth was wrong and Mickey was “clearly” guilty.

I’ve always found the dynamic with the cops to be the most annoying aspect of Elsbeth.

We’re 3 seasons in, and Elsbeth has been right every time. I know it would be boring without conflict, but at this point, we need something beyond the cops being skeptical of her theory.

Colbert’s late-night show was supposedly cut because of budget concerns, and that has also been the reason that CBS canceled popular scripted shows like Blue Bloods.

Lieutenant Connor’s budget cuts, which included things like eliminating free coffee and garbage services, seemed to mirror the mood of many in the industry, including audience members who enjoyed the axed shows.

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The cuts seemed arbitrary and annoying, and they almost caused a riot in the police station — but in the end, Wagner agreed to them because he didn’t want to have to fire Elsbeth.

If that wasn’t symbolic of how CBS cut some shows to save others, nothing was, especially considering that Scotty’s final guest quipped that she was old enough to remember when the words “network TV” meant something.

I’m Sorry, But The New Detective Didn’t Impress Me

No one can replace Kaya, especially not after one episode.

I didn’t expect the new detective to be Elsbeth’s best friend right away, but I did expect her to make an impression.

I felt like she was just there, with little personality yet.

Hopefully, this will change in future episodes.

Elsbeth Season 3 Episode 1 made it clear that Kaya isn’t coming back anytime soon — Elsbeth isn’t even supposed to speak her name aloud because she’s undercover.

Hopefully, we’ll be able to warm up to her replacement at least somewhat. The best thing I can say is that at least they didn’t try to replace Kaya with Detective Edwards, but that’s not saying much.

What Did You Think, Elsbeth Fanatics?

Your voice matters. Without you, we’d be talking to ourselves, and it would be weird if we got an answer!
Sound of in the comments about whether. you liked the Columbo format, how you felt about the budget cuts subplot, and anything else on your mind about the Elsbeth Season 3 premiere.

Vote in the poll below to rank the episode.

If you enjoy Elsbeth, you might also like our coverage of other CBS mystery dramas like Watson or Matlock. Only Murders In The Building also has a similar vibe, and we cover that too.

Elsbeth airs on CBS on Thursdays at 10/9c and streams on Paramount+ on Fridays.

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