Spoilers ahead for Episode 9 of Elsbeth Season 1, called "Sweet Justice."
Only one episode is left before Elsbeth comes to an end in the spring 2024 TV schedule, and "Sweet Justice" raised the stakes sky-high for the leading lady. The final minutes initially delivered what seemed like a happy ending for Elsbeth, Wagner, and Kaya... until Wagner dropped a bombshell on the lawyer-turned-observer that means facing some dire consequences.
It's hard to blame anybody involved, but very easy to be happier than ever that Elsbeth has already been renewed for Season 2. Read on for how "Sweet Justice" set up the finale and what one star told us about what comes next!
Elsbeth's Consequences For The Season 1 Finale
Over the course of Season 1, Elsbeth's not-so-secret mission to investigate Wagner went from him seeming guilty to Kaya finding out to the reveal that Noonan was truly the bad guy and Wendell Pierce's character was being framed. Elsbeth and the NYPD captain set up a sting operation at the end of "Sweet Justice" that resulted in Noonan admitting his guilt while being recorded, and they even stepped in to prevent a murder. Case closed on Elsbeth's investigation into Wagner with a happy ending, right?
Not quite! When Elsbeth and Kaya were ready to start celebrating after Wagner broke the news that Noonan was being indicted by the Department of Justice, he revealed that "mission accomplished" for Elsbeth doesn't mean staying with the NYPD indefinitely. He told her that she could now go back to Chicago, and after clarifying that he rather than Celentano was making it happen, he said:
You've been investigating me behind my back while smiling to my face, and you've done this for months. How could I ever trust you, Ms. Tascioni?
As much as viewers know that Elsbeth was just doing what she needed to in order to catch the traitor within the NYPD and didn't always feel great about her deceptions, Wagner truly does have a point. Elsbeth's cheerfulness and friendliness easily hid that she had a secret mission behind everybody's back to start, and it's hard to blame Wagner if he feels hurt personally as well as the need to protect himself professionally. I don't want Elsbeth to be sent back to Chicago, but can anybody fault him for not wanting to continue working with her at this point when the trust is gone?
All in all, even with the major arc of the season wrapped up with one episode to go, the stakes between Elsbeth and Wagner are quite high and there is a lot that needs to be resolved sooner rather than later.
What Carra Patterson Told Us About The Elsbeth Finale
One of the strongest bonds of Elsbeth Season 1 has been between Kaya and Elsbeth herself, which only strengthened after Elsbeth no longer had to keep her investigation secret. When I spoke with Carra Patterson, who plays Kaya, earlier this season, she addressed her character's trust in and respect for Elsbeth. Given that the finale was written before the show was renewed for Season 2 in an industry in which renewals are rarely guaranteed, I asked the actress if it felt more like a close-ended series finale or a season finale with the expectation of more, and she previewed some questions:
It feels like a season finale. I think our writer [and] our showrunner Jonathan Tolins is extremely smart and he knew what he was doing and it leaves the door wide open for more to unfold. The last episode is one of my favorites. There's some really cool things that happen. Elsbeth is wrestling with some really big questions about her future in the department potentially coming to an end. I mean, right up until the very last scene of [Episode] 10, there's a lot of suspense. I think people are really going to love what's to come even in this season.
If the Season 1 finale does answer many of the "really big questions" that fans are asking after Episode 9, then it sounds like we shouldn't expect everything to be revealed early on! Some suspense can be a great thing even if it extends beyond the finale, given that Elsbeth and Co. will return to Thursdays in the fall. As it turns out, the cast actually got the renewal news during filming for the finale. Patterson shared:
In the middle of filming the season finale, like mid day, we found out about Season 2. So it was crazy because the first half of the day was very sad. You know, the crew, the cast, we were just kind of saying goodbyes. We started filming the first half of the scenes and it was very somber in tone because it's really like the end. And then around lunchtime we found out we got a Season 2 and then it turned into one big party and then it got hard to go back and film serious scenes after that. [laughs] But it's a good problem to have. We're all so excited to be able to come back together and continue telling this really awesome story.
For now, fans still have one episode left to look forward to before summer hiatus begins. Tune in to CBS on Thursday, May 23 at 10 p.m. ET for the Season 1 finale of Elsbeth, and revisit earlier episodes streaming with a Paramount+ subscription. The series will return to that 10 p.m. time slot in the fall, with with Kathy Bates-led Matlock replacing So Help Me Todd in the 9 p.m. slot, as I expected following Todd's cancellation.
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