In the TV show Elsbeth, Elsbeth Tascione (Carrie Preston) is a colorful lawyer who works with the New York Police Department (NYPD). The show could easily be what is derisively known as “copaganda,” in which cops are presented as relatable heroes who for the most part mean well and go to heroic lengths to get justice for victims.
In a copaganda TV show, the dirty cop is an aberration, an exception who proves the rule. Once the other cops discover what he’s doing, he’s arrested and thus removed from the force.
But at least dirty cops do show up on copaganda shows. The occasional dirty cop makes for an interesting storyline without upsetting the fantasy that most cops are morally upstanding heroes.
Such shows also sometimes depict the rookie whose temperament is rather unsuited for the job, and therefore doesn’t do such a good job. Presumably he will wash out.
I’d be very surprised to see on such a show a cop unsuitable temperament not wash out and instead rise through the ranks. And even with Elsbeth I was surprised to see precisely that character on last week’s episode, titled “Doll Day Afternoon.”
The episode starts with David Cross (Nolan Hurst) meeting up with a shady doll dealer and winds up killing him without meaning to. Elsbeth Tascione is now working with Officer Mike Summerville (Angus O’Brien), a rookie whose judgment leaves a lot to be desired. Precisely the kind of cop you would not want to be in a hostage situation with.
Since I want to discuss the whole episode, I am legally obligated to give a spoiler warning. I will give away the ending of the episode, so there’s at least one spoiler ahead.
For those of you who have been watching this show through the two seasons completed so far, it’s not a spoiler to tell you that Elsbeth immediately hones in on Nolan as the killer. That happens in a toy store, giving Elsbeth the opportunity to be goofy with toys.
It probably is a spoiler to tell you that Nolan grabs Summerville’s gun and takes the toy store employees hostage.
This is where Captain Cyrus Tully (Campbell Scott) comes in. Tully is in charge of hostage negotiation, but he’s not the right man for the job: his trigger finger is too itchy, even though he’s not actually directly handling any weapons in this episode.
Series regular Captain Wagner (Wendell Pierce) shows up and lets Elsbeth know that he’s had some disagreements with Tully in the past.
This suggests to me that Tully was once a rookie who should have washed out but instead rose to the rank of captain.
Fortunately Elsbeth figures out a way to de-escalate the situation without killing Nolan. A valuable doll gets a bullet in the head, though.
Summerville gets his gun back, saying his arm feels complete again. Will he learn anything from the experience, or will he grow up to be like Tully?
Of course given that the protagonist of Elsbeth is a police consultant rather than a police officer, the writers perhaps feel freer to question the usual assumptions about cops. On a show like Boston Blue, the sequel to Blue Bloods, the writers are more constrained. Though perhaps casting Sonequa Martin-Green as Donnie Wahlberg’s partner was a bold choice.
On tonight’s episode
When “grief influencer” Raquel Drabowski’s presumed-dead husband makes a miraculous return, their reunion takes a fatal plunge; Elsbeth’s surprise reunion with an old friend could expose a dangerous [scheme].
Elsbeth airs Thursdays on CBS at 10 p.m. Eastern.
