Elsbeth – Season 2 Episode 1 Recap & Review

Subscription to Murder

Episode 1 of Elsbeth Season 2 begins with a wealthy widower attending an opera. His peaceful evening is soon interrupted by a young man—a broker—who clearly has no appreciation for art or culture, let alone opera etiquette.

The widower realizes that the man is the grandson of an old lady who used to sit in front of him. As the night progresses, the widower grows increasingly frustrated with the broker’s obnoxious behaviour. When the young man takes a phone call during the performance, the opera lover finally snaps. He returns home, grabs a knife, and kills the broker in his apartment, liberating himself from the nuisance once and for all, before smashing the man’s frustrating cell phone.

Elsbeth and Officer Blanke arrive at the crime scene shortly after. The detective suspects a robbery due to the missing wallet, while Elsbeth and Blanke find the multiple stab wounds and the broken cell phone suspicious.

Meanwhile, the precinct experiences personnel changes with the arrival of a new lieutenant, replacing Lieutenant Noonan. The team interviews women who attended the opera with the victim, all of whom confirm that he was insufferable.

Later, the police find the victim’s wallet in a public place, emptied of cash. The detective reaffirms money—or possibly a jilted lover—as the motive. While Officer Blanke and Detective Smullen investigate the location where the wallet was found, Elsbeth examines the broker’s phone. In some of the pictures, she notices the old man looking particularly unhappy in the background behind the broker.

This clue leads Elsbeth and Blanke to attend the opera that night, where Elsbeth reunites with Dr. Yablonsky from Episode 6 of Season 1. They discover that the widower is Phillip Cross, a former attorney fired for being too argumentative.

Meanwhile, Blanke learns that the broker had taken a 30-minute phone call during the opera, which Elsbeth agrees could have “annoyed people around him,” though they both feel it’s not a strong enough motive for murder.

After the opera, Elsbeth convinces Phillip to introduce her to his opera collection. Elsewhere, the police investigate the second phone call the victim received, but it leads nowhere.

Later, Elsbeth visits Phillip’s house and is mesmerized by his opera collection, especially the knife from his first performance of Tosca in 1969. After four hours of nonstop opera discussion, Elsbeth inquiries about Phillip’s wife, only to be surprised that she is a myth.

Phillip reserved two seats when he began his subscription, but when friends and family showed no interest in opera, he decided to attend by himself. Pleased with Elsbeth, he even gifts her a pair of opera glasses from his collection.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Connor, strict about rules and regulations, discovers that Blanke had missing credits when she joined the academy. Captain Wallace advises Blanke to resolve the issue, with Connor adding that her promotion to detective is on hold.

While listening to an interview with actors from the 1969 opera, Elsbeth learns that the retractable knife used in the performance was faulty—it did not retract properly. She finds it suspicious that Phillip hid this detail from her. Fortunately for Phillip, the DNA on the opera glasses doesn’t match the DNA found on the victim.

Elsbeth later tries to persuade Phillip to hand over the knife for investigation, but he refuses and demonstrates that the knife does, in fact, retract. However, while reflecting on the DNA and the hilt mark on the body, Elsbeth has a eureka moment.

She and Blanke visit Phillip’s house with an archivist who is interested in his collection. It turns out that Phillip killed the broker after visiting a restaurant to establish an alibi. The knife, though retractable, left a hilt mark during the first stab. But Phillip pressed the button enough times while stabbing the broker to make the knife fatal.

The DNA found on the glasses belongs to the actor who was accidentally stabbed during the 1969 performance. The archivist provided a DNA sample from the unwashed costume the actor had worn.

Back home, Elsbeth comforts Blanke and helps her pick out classes to complete her college credits. Later, while walking her dog, a sleek black car pulls up, and a man inside tells Elsbeth to “get in.”


The Episode Review

This episode feels more like an introduction to the changes happening at the precinct, particularly with the arrival of Lieutenant Connor, who is the polar opposite of Noonan. His first target is Officer Blanke.

Amidst these transitions, we are introduced to the culturally rich world of opera. And, of course, our quirky, cheerful, and sometimes odd counsellor is back! Elsbeth is as charming as ever, and it’s no surprise that she has charmed her way into a murderer’s opera seat!

In terms of the murder and investigation structure, the episode feels a bit simplistic, but it maintains a light-hearted, bubbly tone throughout, keeping us entertained. With the curious new development at the end of the episode, we are definitely looking forward to what comes next in Elsbeth’s adventures.

 

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Expect A Full Season Write-Up When This Season Concludes!

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