Spoilers ahead for the holiday episode of Elsbeth Season 2, called "Gold, Frankincense, and Murder," which will be available streaming via Paramount+ subscription.
Elsbeth celebrated the holiday season in the 2024 TV schedule with "Gold, Frankincense, and Murder," featuring Saturday Night Live alum Vanessa Bayer as the killer of the week. Celebrity Christmas Curator DeeDee Dashers' hopes of getting away with killing her husband were dashed by Elsbeth, but she was still sad that she'd be alone for Christmas. Kaya and Wagner saved the (holi)day by recruiting her son Teddy to show up and surprise his mom! It was a surprise for viewers as well, and new cast member Ben Levi Ross spoke with CinemaBlend about landing the role and a Wicked-esque twist.
Teddy had been mentioned on Elsbeth before, and the former lawyer told Kaya early in "Gold, Frankincense, and Murder" that he would be spending Christmas with his dad that year. The result? Elsbeth was in a Scrooge kind of mood for a decent chunk of the episode, and there was no sign that her son would arrive any sooner than the 2025 TV schedule at the earliest.
I was fortunate enough to speak with Broadway veteran and Tick, Tick... Boom cast member Ben Levi Ross about being cast to play Teddy opposite Carrie Preston's Elsbeth. Since CBS hadn't even announced that the character had been cast, I asked the actor: what was it like for him to keep the secret until the episode would air? Ross explained:
They've really kept it under wraps, which is really cool. It's been somewhat easy, just because I get to go do the job and come home. So I feel like I'm still involved in the world, even long before this episode has aired. I think the only time that it's hard to keep a secret is when you've [finished].
Ross will return as Teddy in the next episode for more than just a few moments in a Santa costume, and continuing to play the character meant he didn't have to step away from the show with nothing to do but wait. The actor went on to share how his situation reminds him of certain members of the Wicked cast. Fear not – if you don't want to be spoiled about the movie, you can keep scrolling down beyond the photo of Teddy below. Otherwise, here's what the actor told us:
I'm thinking about Wicked and I'm thinking about Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth keeping that secret for years that they had these cameos in this movie. I don't know if you've seen it yet. Spoiler alert – they do. And I was like, 'That is hard,' because they shot it so long ago and it was so anticipated. But at least with this, I got to continue to shoot in the middle.
It remains to be seen just how much Ben Levi Ross will appear in the second season of Elsbeth, and Carrie Preston's real-life husband Michael Emerson is on the way next week to cause some complications. Teddy definitely did get an introduction that sold him as the son of Elsbeth Tascioni, though! Who else would debut quite like this?
Of course, TV shows often film out of order due to scheduling. Knowing that Teddy would appear at the end of the Christmas episode as well as in the next one, I wondered if wearing the Santa costume was actually Ross' first scene of the series. He shared:
It was my first scene. So I got all up in Santa garb and got onto set and got to meet everyone that day. That was a really fun introduction to everyone. And we all knew, everyone knew that I was coming back the next week, so it was like a little sort of taste on set of meeting everyone, and then coming back for a proper episode.
The big moment at the end of the Christmas episode was Elsbeth and Teddy sharing a warm, happy, merry and bright hug, and I at least was already sold on Carrie Preston and Ben Levi Ross playing mother and son. According to Ross, connecting with the Elsbeth leading lady was "easy." He said:
It was honestly so wonderful and so natural and easy. I think Carrie is just one of the best actors we've got. I have been a fan of hers since True Blood, so coming in to just the chemistry read that we did together before I got cast felt very easy and natural right off the bat. There's something very maternal just about Elsbeth as a character, I think in general. She's so warm and Midwest, and you have that energy. For me, my job is so easy, because all I have to do is lean into that, and suddenly I feel [like a] child.
The wait isn't too much longer before we get to see more of Carrie Preston and Ben Levi Ross playing mother and son, and I for one am already on board after seeing their quick scene at the end of "Gold, Frankencense, and Murder." In case you missed it or just want to warm your heart all over again with another watch, check the scene out below:
Tune in to CBS on Thursday, December 12 at 10 p.m. ET for the next new episode of Elsbeth, which will introduce Michael Emerson's tricky new character as well as feature more of Ben Levi Ross as Teddy. You can also revisit earlier episodes of the hit drama streaming with Paramount+, as well as The Good Wife and The Good Fight with Carrie Preston's appearances as Elsbeth Tascioni prior to getting her own show.
