Elsbeth Recap: A Hard Nut To Crack

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It’s common for TV shows to explore the trope of overly involved parents, especially those living vicariously through their children’s talents. This is the second time the show Elsbeth has used this storyline in its 40 episodes, and it seems the writers are aware it’s a sensitive subject. Given the likely emotional impact on young Noelle (Willow McConnaughy) when she discovers her father, Harris (Andrew Rannells), was involved in a bizarre and tragic accident involving a theatre director and a giant nutcracker, the episode “A Hard Nut To Crack” seems to be making a valid point about the dangers of such parental pressure.

It’s important to support children’s dreams, but Harris has gone way too far – attempting to frame his ex-lover for a crime is unacceptable. While he may look polished and stylish, he needs to get a grip and listen to his husband! Rich, though often unpleasant and demanding, is right about one thing: a little disappointment can be good for kids. However, I don’t trust Rich, given his lack of self-awareness and wealth, to know how to deliver that disappointment without being overly harsh and damaging his child’s confidence.

Things are a mess right now, and it’s clear our guy needs to quickly figure out how to manage things – especially after Harris was arrested for trying to sneak a peek at Noelle’s performance in The Nutcracker. It happened right at the end of the first act, during the beautiful “Waltz of the Snowflakes.” Honestly, you could point fingers at Tchaikovsky or even the choreographer George Balanchine, since his version of the ballet is still so popular, but I think the real problem is Harris. He just pushed things too far trying to live vicariously through his daughter, and now Donovan Chase, the theatre director, is dead. It’s all on him.

Like the other people Donovan has harmed, he’s a difficult person to work with. His ideas for a new take on The Nutcracker – actually, he’s retitled it Drosselmeyer’s Revenge (a great name for a metal band, by the way!) – are both shocking and unpleasant. He wants to turn it into a “modern, gothic pop ballet” about the struggles of adolescence, complete with so much fake blood that the ballet company would need to buy it in huge quantities! (Apparently, it’s a special, carefully made substance – interesting!) This is a problem for The Midtown Ballet Company, which depends on traditional Nutcracker ticket sales to stay financially stable. Switching to Drosselmeyer’s Revenge less than a year before performances – and replacing the usual 100 child dancers with no children at all – feels like a really bad decision.

Okay, so this guy Donovan, he’s seriously unlikeable – totally arrogant and pushes his way into leading the ballet company, with only two people – the dance instructor Olivia and another board member – voting against him. Little does he know, this ‘win’ is going to be his downfall! Honestly, his directing style is awful – he just yells at everyone, but I’ll give him this: he knows what he wants for the ballet, and he gets his vision across, even if it’s in the most abrasive way possible. The ending is completely over-the-top. He’s in his element, spouting lines like, “She’s experiencing blossom. With that blossom comes horror” and “As the mouth closes, she goes in a girl, she comes out a woman. This is a transformation. It’s a transmogrification!” It’s ridiculous and melodramatic, but you definitely can’t call it dull. It’s a train wreck you can’t look away from, honestly.

That’s when the inventor’s own creation, The Contraption, bites him! The workshop is left a mess of real and fake blood, and everyone there, especially the ballet’s technical director, Keith (Brooks Ashmanskas), is deeply traumatized. It’s heartbreaking for Keith – he worked so hard to control the inventor’s wild ideas and keep the dancers safe, only for everything to end in disaster. To make matters worse, Keith’s ex-boyfriend, Harris, learns the security code for the safety system Keith built and deliberately sabotages it during a demonstration, ensuring The Contraption will cause maximum damage.

I can understand Harris’s feelings a little. He pushed Noelle to be her best, and it’s heartbreaking to watch her dream of playing Clara disappear as she gets older. However, Olivia has even more to worry about. As a teacher, she knew she’d face a lot of anger from parents when they found out there were no children’s roles in the new show. But she didn’t resort to murder! Harris’s desire for Noelle to perform has turned into a desperate obsession, and many people are suffering because of it. Donovan’s death unexpectedly led to the ballet company using their old sets and Noelle getting the part, so Harris seems to think everything is okay despite the terrible crime. That’s where my sympathy for him ends!

Most detective stories center around disproving suspects’ alibis, and “A Hard Nut To Crack” really emphasizes this with Elsbeth and Officer Hackett’s investigation. They check out the physical therapy office connected to the suspect Harris’s story, getting a hand from Flash Rob, the dance instructor Elsbeth knows. The office is always packed and behind schedule because it’s near Broadway and offers affordable rates. However, money isn’t Harris’s issue – he married into wealth. This makes his presence at the office all the more puzzling.

The three investigators also visited Harris at his house, but the case really took off when Elsbeth and Officer Hackett started looking into footage from the “Orphan Walk” segment of Harris’s popular play, Orphan Girl. While it’s unknown how successful Harris’s other play, Drosselmeyer’s Revenge, would have been, Orphan Girl was a huge success. The “Orphan Walk” – filmed live on the sidewalk outside the theater and shown to the audience during performances – captured the performers and their camera operator passing right by Harris’s physical therapy practice at the exact time he needed to be seen entering. And sure enough, the video showed him doing just that. Case closed.

I realized the elaborate musical details weren’t just for the mystery – they were a way to show viewers how professional musicals are made. It was like a behind-the-scenes look, explaining terms like “swing” and even offering a lesson on the difference between a soundtrack and a cast recording – who knew TV could be so educational? Footage of a rehearsal walk-through, along with 45 minutes of additional recording, proved crucial, revealing Harris secretly leaving and returning to the physical therapist’s office. Finally, tests confirmed a red stain was actually fake blood from the musical workshop. Harris had a clever plan, but his obvious desire for Noelle’s approval and a small mistake were ultimately his downfall, and Elsbeth and her team solved the case.

This week’s secondary storyline follows up on Teddy’s suspicions about Alec, introduced in a previous episode. Teddy believes something isn’t right with Alec’s past and asks Captain Wagner to investigate. The investigation reveals a puzzling detail: Alec’s parents lived in the same apartment their entire time raising him, with no breaks in their residency. While this doesn’t definitively prove Alec was never homeless, it casts doubt on his personal story. Elsbeth is clearly worried as she now views Alec with suspicion, despite his seemingly genuine demeanor. Could he be deceiving everyone and be a dishonest person, after all?

From The Tote Bags!

Rich was surprised to learn that sugarplums are actually real, and Detective Donnelly joked they weren’t a modern treat. She was right – historically, there was a difference in how ‘sugarplums’ and ‘sugar plums’ were spelled, referring to the fruit versus the candy. The term ‘sugarplums’ for candy dates back to at least the 1600s, and originally meant a type of hard candy, not a plum coated in sugar. A quick online search shows that many different kinds of sugarplums are available to buy today.

Interestingly, the delicate, piano-like sound you hear in Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” comes from an instrument called a celesta. Tchaikovsky was one of the first composers to use its bright, bell-like tones.

While Elsbeth’s colorful outfits were lovely this week, the most memorable costume definitely belonged to Mother Ginger. Harris created a truly wild and unsettling look as he moved from the workshop to the control console. Traditionally, Mother Ginger appears as shown in this Boston Ballet clip, but Donovan’s version was much darker, fitting his overall style for ‘Drosselmeyer’s Revenge.’ It was a huge, blood-red gown covered in doll heads painted silver and gold – a bit creepy, but brilliantly done!

It was funny to hear Donovan calling for ‘Kevin’ (when he meant Keith) while they were still figuring things out with The Contraption. Knowing Donovan originally played Elder Kevin Price in The Book of Mormon, I half-expected Andrew Rannells to instinctively turn around when he heard the name.

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2025-12-19 06:56