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The second season of the comedy-drama Elsbeth aired on October 17, 2024, on CBS. The first episode of this installment is titled Subscription to Murder and it takes viewers straight to the opera for a new murder mystery.
This episode follows the conventional style of the show and viewers are made aware of what the crime is and who is the killer in the first few minutes of it.
Elsbeth, the lawyer turned detective cracks the first case of the season with the help of DNA evidence. Officer Kaya Blanke also played an important role in helping the titular detective get to the murderer.
The official synopsis of Subscription to Murder reads:
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"When a womanizing finance executive is found stabbed to death after a night at the opera, Elsbeth suspects an obsessed opera lover was driven to murder because of a ringing cell phone."
What is the crime committed at the beginning of Elsbeth season 2 episode 1?
The first episode of the second installment introduces viewers to Eddie, a Casanova who, following the death of his grandmother, has acquired a subscription to the opera. Eddie lacks proper opera etiquette and arrives at the venue with several women.
Phillip Cross, an opera aficionado and critic, is unfortunately seated behind Eddie and finds Eddie's actions at the opera annoying and disruptive.
When Eddie's cell phone rings during one of the opera's musicals, he answers it and begins talking loudly. To ensure that he can enjoy the opera without any interruptions in the future, Phillip goes home, drinks some whiskey, and later finds and stabs Eddie to death.
What does Elsbeth think about the case?
The titular detective, Kaya, and others are introduced to this case in the first few minutes of the episode Detective Fleming, a seasoned detective who appears to be unmotivated at work, assumes that the murder was committed for s*x or money. Detective Fleming is correct in his theory because Eddie's wallet is also found missing from his corpse.
Though Eddie's wallet is eventually found, it is emptied of its cash. The titular detective therefore wants to learn more about the case because she doesn't think any of Fleming's theories are true.
The titular detective next searches the victim's phone and discovers pictures of him attending the opera with several women. He notices Phillip Cross sitting directly behind Eddie in every photo, wearing an uncomfortable and unhappy expression. Elsbeth speculates that Cross might have something to do with the murder, and therefore, goes to the opera to pay him a visit.
The titular detective's first night at the opera turns out to be cathartic, as she sobs during and after the performance. She takes the seat of the victim and sees Phillip Cross right behind her. She tries to strike up a conversation with Cross after the show, but he initially seems uninterested before giving in and praising Elsbeth's glitz and cleverness.
Next up, Elsbeth goes to Cross’s home to learn more about the opera. After the first four-hour lesson, Cross gives her opera glasses as gifts. Elsbeth however takes them to the lab, hoping the glasses will have Cross’s DNA on them, to match it with the foreign DNA found on the victim. However, it does not match.
Elsbeth cracks yer another case with an impeccable coup de grâce
Elsbeth comes across a retractable knife at Cross’s residence, which was gifted to Cross by the now-deceased Gino Gozzi (a star performer). A mishandled prop led to Gozzi being stabbed with this knife during an opera performance in 1968. The knife did not retract and Gozzi was inadvertently stabbed by it by his fellow performer on stage, almost killing him.
After this tragic performance in 1968, the knife was gifted to Cross. Elsbeth thinks that this knife could be the murder weapon, and asks Cross to give it to her for a day, for medical examination. However, he refuses and also proves that it is a retractable knife, therefore it cannot be used to kill anyone.
The titular detective next discusses the case with Blanke, who is feeling very pessimistic. When Blanke mentions the suit she has been wearing and how there might be traces of her left on it in the future, Elsbeth connects that to the crime and thinks that since Gozzi was the one who was stabbed initially, there may be traces of his DNA on the dagger he was stabbed with, which is now with Phillip Cross.
The dress that Gozzi wore in 1968 is soon found and its DNA is matched to the foreign DNA found earlier on the victim's body. When Cross stabbed the victim with the knife, Gozzi's DNA, which was there on the knife from 1968, got transferred to the victim, resulting in the DNAs being a match.
Later in the episode, the titular detective visits Cross at his home one last time and informs him that a DNA match has solved the case. She tells him exactly how he committed the murder and even Cross appears to be impressed by the lawyer-turned-detective's perspective and accuracy.
Cross is next taken into custody and imprisoned. Before going to prison, he offers the lawyer-turned-detective his opera subscription, which she refuses.
What are your thoughts on this episode? Let us know in the comments below.
