Elsbeth Recap: Ferris Bueller Would Never!

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Without delay, let’s tackle the subject at hand: It’s quite amusing that following an episode starring Alan Ruck, we have another with Ferris Bueller himself, Matthew Broderick. Alternatively, you could interpret this as a continuation, where after Nathan Lane’s portrayal of Max Bialystock, we get Broderick playing Leo Bloom from The Producers. Regardless of the angle, it’s simply a pleasure to see both gentlemen on our screens.

In order to create engaging one-hour murder mysteries, it’s crucial that the antagonist is portrayed as arrogant. While not every murderer may exhibit this trait to the same extent, the act of killing another person often requires a level of self-assurance. This arrogance manifests in three ways:

1. Belief in their own ability to carry out such a heinous act.
2. Conviction that their reasons for committing the murder are valid or deserving.
3. Assumption that they can evade detection, due to their supposed superior planning and execution of the crime.

On Elsbeth, many different types of grudge-based murders are frequently depicted – these include acts aimed at settling scores, preserving reputation, enforcing acceptable theater behavior, and more. As expected, the murder in “Foiled Again” is a blend of score-settling and reputation/business preservation.

Among all the criminals Elsbeth has encountered, Judge Crawford and Lawrence Grey (played by Broderick) stand out as two of the most arrogant. While Judge Crawford reappears at the end of this episode, Lawrence Grey is not far behind in terms of cunningness. He shares a similar mentality with Judge Crawford – thinking himself too clever to get caught. To ensure his safety, he deliberately leaves clues pointing towards an innocent party (a patsy), a move reminiscent of attempting to start a land war in Asia. Furthermore, who would suspect someone like Lawrence? With his Ivy League education, successful business career, and seemingly perfect life, it’s hard to imagine why or even how he could be involved in such a crime.

For quite some time, Lawrence has been extremely proficient at assisting privileged young individuals in gaining admission to prestigious Ivy League universities, specifically and solely these institutions. So much so, that one of these students, now grown, returned to give him a verbal jab, professionally speaking – Ethan Brooks (Rob McClure), a former client of Lawrence’s college admissions company OutMatch, has risen to the position of Director of Admissions and fencing coach at Baden University, a fictitious Ivy League school. This is certainly good news for Ethan, but it could spell disaster for Lawrence. Ethan, who hasn’t even touched the snack basket Lawrence sent as a congratulatory gesture, harbors such resentment towards Lawrence for forcing him into a life he didn’t desire, that he swears never to admit any OutMatch client to Baden. This effectively blocks a significant amount of potential business for Lawrence. It’s unclear whether it’s the prospect of losing business or Ethan’s vow to tarnish his reputation entirely that bothers Lawrence more.

In this scenario, Lawrence exploits Ethan’s cat allergy, which was initially helped by Lawrence’s guidance in choosing fencing, to gain an advantage in their dispute. By lining Ethan’s fencing helmet with cat dander from his own pet and securing it with a zip-tie, Lawrence sets up a situation where Ethan will have an asthma attack during their fencing match if he uses his inhaler. Meanwhile, Lawrence invites Baden’s Instagram-famous cat into the fencing gym as a distraction, but leaves behind evidence that Elsbeth, Kaya, and Detective Donnelly can investigate further. The image of Lawrence, sitting by the fireplace with his cat, has a Bond villain-esque feel, adding an element of self-aware humor to the story.

The excessive confidence of Lawrence resulted in unfinished tasks, which the group swiftly identified. It was discovered that Quad Cat received her name because she has four toes on all her paws, not just her back ones. Additionally, she’s hypoallergenic, making it impossible for her to have caused Ethan’s deadly asthma attack. Furthermore, the scene showed distinctive paw prints belonging to Quad Cat and no signs of regular cat paw prints, ruling out an unexpected cat encounter as the cause. Lawrence soon became a potential suspect since he was working with a client on campus during the time of Ethan’s murder, and Ethan had openly expressed his intention to blackball OutMatch applicants. In an attempt to evade suspicion, Lawrence claimed that his pet cat, Veritas, had died previously. However, Elsbeth, who also suffers from cat allergies and always sneezes around Lawrence, remained unconvinced.

This week’s homicide stirs introspection in Elsbeth, questioning her approach to raising Teddy (Ben Levi Ross). Should she have engaged a college advisor for him? Might he have benefited from a more prestigious university than the University of Illinois? Did he, as Lawrence suggests, fail to launch? If so, is it Elsbeth’s fault? These concerns could be fueling Elsbeth’s compulsion to grill Teddy with intricate questions whenever they meet. Moreover, discovering that his parents’ career-driven roles as lawyers often left Teddy to fend for himself offers some explanation for why he values his privacy and refuses to leverage parental connections in his professional life.

When Teddy discovers that Captain Wagner was the one who facilitated him getting his present, challenging position, he logically infers that Teddy’s mother must have informed Wagner about the job opportunity initially. As he angrily departs from Elsbeth’s party, thrown to honor Kaya for finishing her final undergraduate courses, Teddy’s displeasure and fury are evident, with his hope of seeing Kaya out of uniform by the end of the season remaining unchanged. (Congratulations, Kaya! Keep up the excellent work, and I look forward to seeing you in civilian clothes soon!)

Elsbeth finds herself in a whirlwind of doubts concerning her parenting decisions, fueled further by her temporary employment of Lawrence as an advisor on how to boost the chances of her future grandchildren gaining admission into highly competitive universities. Their discussions don’t sway Elsbeth that attending Ivy League schools is the ultimate path, instead exposing Lawrence as a pretentious elitist with a regrettably narrow understanding of the value and purpose of higher education. Additionally, it becomes evident that he lacks the cunning and deception skills to outmaneuver Elsbeth, especially after she encounters and allies herself with his daughter Mandy (Cassidy Layton).

It’s quite ironic that Mr. Only The Ivy League Matters, who seems to believe that a college education from an elite institution is essential for his child’s success, has a daughter who has been on a gap year for 19 months after high school and hasn’t yet enrolled in college. It’s as if he’s taking a supplement without knowing its nutritional value. So, what’s going on with Maddy? Is she defying her father or simply not academically inclined enough for the prestigious universities of the world? Not exactly. Instead, it appears that she questions the worth of achievements for their own sake. Even if she were to embrace the culture of achievement, she feels that her parents would receive all the credit for it. I suppose some parents can boast about their accomplished children without taking credit for their success, but I wasn’t brought up by a competitive college admissions consultant. Mandy’s situation is unfortunately unique and specific to her!

It seems that when it comes to Veritas, Mandy finds herself incredibly driven to learn and accomplish as much as she can. Discovering her father’s deceit—not only murdering Ethan but also lying about Veritas being dead while he was likely at a no-kill shelter—only fuels this determination even more. This revelation adds some clarity to Teddy’s pain and anger, prompting him to visit the precinct and make amends with his mother. Accompanying him is Roy (Hayward Leach), who waits in an interrogation room before speaking with Elsbeth. I must admit, Teddy’s witty humor always leaves me entertained.

Teddy has been concerned that Roy might find it overwhelming to spend time with his mother, Elsbeth, due to her unique personality. However, it turns out there’s no need for worry as they have a wonderful rapport, chatting for 83 minutes straight! As expected, Roy is charming and kind, reminding one of the Philadelphia 76er’s promising rookie, Jared McCain, until his season-ending injury. Intriguingly, it’s Roy who sparks an idea in Elsbeth to suggest to Mandy that Veritas might be thriving on a peaceful farm (or a secure shelter).

After wrapping up the case, Roy settling comfortably at home, and Teddy and Elsbeth making peace again, Teddy visits his mother one last time before returning to Washington D.C. It’s rumored that Mark Van Ness is getting a rough deal in his divorce, which brings Elsbeth great relief, as she considers the end of her association with the mysterious black car with tinted windows as a positive step forward in her life.

It appears that another car like hers is about to become part of her life soon, and we need to act swiftly on this prediction because only moments after, the ominous Judge Crawford arrives, threateningly offering her a ride. He subtly criticizes her for escaping trouble in the Van Ness case and what he suspects are her breaches of ethics. Furthermore, he hints that Delia, the original defendant in the murder case he presided over, will be subjected to intense examination now that the case is being reopened. Naturally, Judge Crawford himself will also face close scrutiny for his numerous oversights, given his extensive background and expertise. Elsbeth can’t help but wonder why such mistakes might have occurred in this situation.

In This Week’s Tote Bag

After Elsbeth’s whirlwind romance with Angus in the Highlands came to an end, he’s back to his usual firefighting and songwriting life in Scotland. Yet, Elsbeth remains optimistic that they’ll reconnect at a suitable moment. As a fan, I can’t help but express my wish for their reunion to unfold as a captivating multi-episode storyline – perhaps even wrapping up the season! Of course, this is just an idea floating around.

Matthew Broderick’s friendly demeanor is often delightful, but it was intriguing to watch him portray such casual rudeness. His tone when saying “Well, as long as he’s happy” upon discovering Teddy works for a nonprofit is so gentle that you might not initially catch the sharp sarcasm. Similarly, his feigned confusion with “Do they still do that?” in response to Teddy being a philosophy major is also worth noting. Parents, beware of allowing your children to become like this character. Instead, inspire them to pursue studies in humanities.

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2025-02-21 10:54