Elsbeth Recap: Money Changes Everything

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I absolutely love stories about second chances, and they’re everywhere, aren’t they? You see it a lot in romance, but really any kind of story can benefit from someone getting a fresh start – whether it’s in love, their career, or just trying to turn things around. This story centers around Raquel Drabowski, played by Julia Fox, and she really needs one. She’s a young widow whose husband, Johnny, a New York firefighter, tragically died in a helicopter crash in Puerto Rico about a year and a half ago. There were no survivors, and now she’s trying to rebuild her life.

Raquel has cleverly turned a difficult situation into a successful career. As a firefighter’s widow, she gained a following and now works as a grief influencer, starring in the reality show Black Veil, which helps other widows find love again. In a surprising move, she chose to focus on herself – and her memories of her late husband – instead of picking one of the two men competing for her affection on the show. This decision has paved the way for a promising future, with her agent anticipating steady income from potential new projects like her own reality series, a line of dresses, and the growing value of her brand, boosted by her 15 million followers.

Despite all the good news, Raquel keeps repeating, “It won’t bring Johnny back.” Little does she know, Johnny is actually alive and appears at her door. While his return seems positive, it creates a major crisis for Raquel. How can she maintain her successful career as someone who profits from grief? What about her sponsorships? She’s consumed with the potential consequences for her life and career – he’s planning to move back in with his mother, use her money to renovate the family home, and even start a family – and because of this, she doesn’t notice that his story doesn’t quite add up.

So, he was ejected from a helicopter into a rainforest, lost his memory, and was cared for by friendly people nearby? Seeing Raquel on Black Veil somehow restored his memories. And then, for some reason, he decided to fully embrace a style reminiscent of Jeff Spicoli in 2025?

Time has a way of changing things, and as Cyndi Lauper famously sang, money plays a big role. Now that Johnny is back, Raquel’s perfect life is quickly turning into a disaster. While she could get a divorce, Raquel fears it would destroy her image as a grieving influencer if she divorced Johnny so soon after he miraculously returned. She sees only one solution: exploit the fact that she’s the only one who knows he’s alive and push him off the Staten Island Ferry during a visit to his mother, dramatically declaring, “I’m nobody’s wife!” as she does it.

It seems Johnny wasn’t telling Raquel the truth when he claimed she was the only one who knew he’d returned. He actually left a voicemail for his mother! This creates a complication for Raquel, but it’s a delightful surprise for viewers to see Jacki Weaver appear as Johnny’s mother, Marie. At the police station, Marie explains that Johnny called her the day before, which was unexpected since everyone believed he had been missing and presumed dead for the past eighteen months. Weaver delivers this line with a perfect blend of casualness, knowingness, and conciseness, hinting that she – or Marie – could be a fantastic deadpan comedian.

True to form, Raquel immediately turned the situation into content she could profit from. Johnny’s voicemail didn’t seem genuine – it was just another in a series of unwanted messages she’d been receiving. She quickly grabbed her selfie stick and filmed a video that looked like a sincere plea for privacy, carefully making sure to include the NYPD logo in the background.

I have to admit, things started feeling really strange, but the case didn’t really take off until they traced the number Johnny used to call his mom. It led them to a trucker named Darryl, who remembered giving a ride to a hitchhiker called Don in Delaware and dropping him off in Weehawken. The name didn’t ring a bell, but Darryl’s description of the guy – a surfer and bartender from Puerto Rico – matched what they already knew. Even better, DNA from some beer cans “Don” left in the truck confirmed it. We all thought this missing person case would have a happy ending, especially for Marie, but then…scuba divers found Johnny’s body resting on top of a wine rack in the Hudson River. It was a total gut punch.

While Detectives Fleming and Hackett went to question possible witnesses, Elsbeth focused on finding someone who could help with waterfront security camera footage. And who did she run into? Kaya Blanke! Yes, Kaya is back, secretly working undercover as a dockworker named Denise Jackson. Because of her assignment, Kaya is hesitant to talk at work, but they manage to reconnect at a bar, just like in “Sweet Justice.” This allows them to have the important conversation about Angus that Elsbeth has needed since returning from Scotland. Both Kaya and I feel Elsbeth might have ended things with Angus too quickly, but we both support her enjoying her newfound independence.

Honestly, even if Denise doesn’t find anything helpful down at the docks, Cameron came through with some really strong forensic evidence. It all shows Johnny died on the Staten Island Ferry. The problem is, we can’t prove Raquel was even on that ferry, or that she and Johnny ever met up in Manhattan, so we’re stuck and can’t make an arrest yet. We did find some distinctive orange paint under Johnny’s nails that matches the ferry, and a worn-out FDNY harness and carabiner were attached to his suitcase – which is interesting, but could have come from anywhere, unfortunately.

Thankfully, Officer Hackett has a brilliant way of organizing the evidence – a large board with photos, a map, and red string connecting everything. This “Theory of the Case” board is leading them to focus on Luisa Torres, a woman Johnny became close to while at the resort. A short video call with Luisa revealed a lot about Johnny’s time in Puerto Rico, including that he was involved with many women, often complained about his wife Raquel, and crucially, wasn’t actually on the helicopter that crashed – he’d been drinking heavily that day.

While Raquel and Marie were grieving, Johnny was secretly living a new life for himself. He hadn’t had a near-death experience or lost his memory, and didn’t seem to care about the pain his supposed death caused his family. To make things worse, he was essentially pretending to be a hero. Johnny only decided to return home after seeing Raquel and her newfound wealth on Black Veil. What a selfish move! As I mentioned earlier, divorce is definitely a better option than murder.

For someone obsessed with keeping up appearances and the life she’s built around her supposed grief, murder might seem like a simple answer. When the team visits Raquel’s Soho apartment, we understand better what she fears losing. Her agent, Sidney Finn, greets them – and it’s clear he both knows and dislikes Kidder Hawes, another agent who represents widows. The apartment is incredibly large, a stark contrast to the much smaller house on Staten Island where Raquel and Johnny lived before the helicopter crash.

Raquel is handling multiple things at once, answering questions while trying on dresses for her new line. The way Elsbeth talks to her without seeing her feels like Dorothy speaking to the Wizard of Oz, and Raquel herself seems similarly mysterious. It’s hard to say what’s more upsetting for Raquel – the shattering of her image of her husband, or the public reveal of just how much Johnny cheated. Even if her online sadness seems staged, her feelings about Johnny’s betrayal are genuine. It feels like losing him all over again.

Elsbeth sympathizes with Raquel, but still believes she’s the main suspect in Johnny’s murder. Raquel is desperately trying to prove her innocence by pointing to a livestream she did around the time of the crime, claiming she was at home with her memorial to Johnny. However, Elsbeth starts to doubt this alibi, and a tip from Hackett about an app called LiveClock—which allows users to schedule prerecorded videos as if they’re live—gives her the breakthrough she needs. Combined with the discovery of a brand new climbing harness and carabiner replacing Johnny’s old ones, Elsbeth realizes Raquel’s story doesn’t add up. This leads to a dramatic confrontation on the set of Raquel’s interview for Behind the Black Veil, where Elsbeth essentially acts as a prosecutor disguised as a reality show host. Raquel’s plan to turn her grief into a profitable ‘betrayal influencer’ career is foiled.

Regarding Kaya’s secret work, her offer for her disguise, Denise Jackson, to investigate the activity at the waterfront is both helpful and potentially risky. Captain Wagner clarifies that she’s involved in Operation Starboard, a large investigation into dockside corruption—a plot reminiscent of season two of The Wire. He warns that any connection to Elsbeth or their team would be incredibly dangerous, jeopardizing everyone involved and the entire case.

Wagner, despite his tough exterior, really cares and tries to reconnect Elsbeth with Kaya, even giving her a disposable phone. Elsbeth gets excited, but her hopes are quickly dashed when she discovers Kaya’s number is disconnected. This was stressful to watch! Beyond that, it’s becoming clear that Elsbeth is struggling to form close bonds with her other coworkers. While Officer Hackett is great, she’s not Kaya, and it looks like her comedy career and connection with Detective Fleming are her main focus right now. That’s understandable, but I really hope Elsbeth can feel better and also find out what’s going on with Kaya.

From the Tote Bags!

Here’s a fun detail: Raquel mentions a moisturizer from Elle Même, the same brand featured in the episode where Elsbeth and Angus initially connected.

When Elsbeth, Hackett, and Fleming came to Marie’s house, she was a fantastic host. She offered them Entenmann’s baked goods – I remember it being popular in the 80s and 90s – and donuts seemed like the natural choice.

Elsbeth’s jacket features a large, almost abstract pattern of red lips and teeth that’s reminiscent of a striking Marimekko design – it’s fantastic!

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2025-10-24 06:56