S01.E04: Love Knocked Off

[DanaK]

Quote

Things turn deadly when elite matchmaker Margo Clarke (Retta) goes to extreme lengths to keep her socialite client from finding out the truth about her perfect new husband. When the husband goes missing, Captain Wagner assigns Elsbeth and Kaya to investigate, on ELSBETH, Thursday, April 11 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network and available to stream live and on-demand on Paramount+

 

[AnimeMania]

Retta as Margo Clarke

Paloma Garcia-Lee as Lainey Belfort

Gloria Reuben as Claudia Pace Wagner, wife of police captain C.W. Wagner

[nx74defiant]

I love the look on the Captain's face after he says Elsbeth is like that - always asking questions when she is on a case,

[Irlandesa]

The title of this episode is my favorite to date. 

And finally, the episode didn't feel abrupt when it ended with the little bit of stuff at the end. 

I hope they don't completely get rid of the guest detectives.  I kind of like seeing what character actor they get for those roles.

[EtheltoTillie]

It would have been a fun cameo if they had Retta’s husband from Good Girls arrest her. He was a cop on that show and also on Mike and Molly. 

[possibilities]

Elsbeth seems to genuinely like and be promoting Kaya. I have decided it's not an act and the trust between them is real. I just hope the show doesn't do a "shocking twist" and make Kaya turn out to be corrupt somehow.

I laughed at the "oh shit, she's investigating ME!!!" moment, but I also don't get how he didn't realize that before. What did he think she was doing as a representative of the consent decree? She is very open about how she's checking on them. Did he think he was magically exempt?

 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

I thought that Elsbeth was going to procure another cheap brass Cupid, break off the missing tip, and pretend that the fishermen found it (maybe tarnish it a bit), thereby provoking Margo to do something rash. It was not a given that the fishermen would have found the original.

The antique dealer that Margo bought the bronze Cupid from was a huge loose end.  Even if the fishermen hadn't found the original, once Margo showed Elsbeth the bronze, she would have surely thought to check back with him, as she had about the rug, which Margo knew she had done. Crazy to go to the local antiques deal.

I guess Margo was able to walk back from the bus station without being observed after leaving the victim's car there? How far was it? And there were no rug fibers or blood residue in the trunk? She could really burn that entire rug in her fireplace?  So many loose ends.

Edited April 17 by ItCouldBeWorse

[shapeshifter]

Margo was so catty with Elsbeth about her hair!

• [MARGO TO ELSBETH] We all do things to make ourselves more appealing, don't we?
  Or is that your natural color?

 

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

I just hope the show doesn't do a "shocking twist" and make Kaya turn out to be corrupt somehow.

No way!
Although there was something a tiny bit off about the way Kaya remarked about the Leaning Tower of Pisa image on Elsbeth's window/monitor:

• [KAYA] So, just different every time? Huh?
• [ELSBETH] Oh, yeah. Depends on my mood. And I have a lot of moods.

Elsbeth sharing with Kaya “And I have a lot of moods” was a bit odd. 
Maybe Elsbeth and Kaya are doing a little dance. It would make sense if Captain Wagner asked Kaya to keep an eye on Elsbeth to find out what she's up to.
But if that's the case, I want them to decide to join forces to take down the real baddies, who will be someone other than the Captain.
But I'm prepared to be disappointed too, and have Kaya and Elsbeth not be bffs. 😥 

I loved the Captain's wife, Claudia, played by Gloria Reuben, but she seemed possibly sketchy too.

[possibilities]

When the famous matchmaker is single, you have to wonder.

[HelloooKitty]

“Claudia” will always be Jeannie from ER to me. 

[Yeah No]

12 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

I thought that Elsbeth was going to procure another cheap brass cupid, break off the missing tip, and pretend that the fishermen found it (maybe tarnish it a bit), thereby provoking Margo to do something rash. It was not a given that the fishermen would have found the original.

The antique dealer that Margo bought the bronze cupid from was a huge loose end.  Even if the fishermen hadn't found the original, once Margo showed Elsbeth the bronze, she would have surely thought to check back with him, as she had about the rug, which Margo knew she had done. Crazy to go to the local antiques deal.

I guess Margo was able to walk back from the bus station without being observed after leaving the victim's car there? How far was it? And there were no rug fibers or blood residue in the trunk? She could really burn that entire rug in her fireplace?  So many loose ends.

Yeah I agree with you, I was thinking those things too.  Margo's first mistake was throwing the cupid in the water near the body.  And there's no way her fireplace would have looked that good after burning a rug like that in it, which I agree with you would have produced more evidence than just a faint smell.  She did try to clean it up but that just looked too perfect to me if a rug had been burned in there.  That would have left a real mess.  And no rug fibers in the trunk?  Yeah, another issue.  Plus why Margo thought she didn't also have to pay the antique dealer to keep his mouth shut was another thing, although she seemed a little too sure of herself.  I guess criminals are desperate and will not consider those things, although she seemed pretty intelligent.  And the show has to be resolved within an hour so it can't be that complicated, but it did seem like there were a few too many loose ends.

For some reason this episode was reminding me of the Jennifer Doulos case, which if anyone is familiar with that had some similar elements in it, like cars being moved around, being caught on camera and evidence of having cleaned up a mess, etc.  BTW, Jennifer's body has never been found although she was recently declared legally dead.  Her husband, the suspected killer, committed suicide while out on bail.

Also, people keep mentioning Elsbeth's name like it's so strange but I actually knew an Elsbeth once. She was a friend of my father's from his senior center.  I never knew anyone else with that name so perhaps it must be rare or out of circulation for a long time.

Edited April 13 by Yeah No

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Margo's first mistake was throwing the cupid in the water near the body. 

So said we all!
(Battlestar Galactica reference?)

3 hours ago, Yeah No said:

And there's no way her fireplace would have looked that good after burning a rug like that in it, which I agree with you would have produced more evidence than just a faint smell.  She did try to clean it up but that just looked too perfect to me if a rug had been burned in there.  That would have left a real mess. 

Having heated homes with wood-burning stoves for 15-20 years in the rural Pacific Northwest, I was so confused by the pristine fireplace.
So Margo burned an entire room-size rug in her f'in' fireplace?!?
And she was going to do a little cleanup with a bottle of stuff that fit into her pocket? 
Don't get me started.🤬🤯🫠

 

4 hours ago, Yeah No said:

For some reason this episode was reminding me of…

Not familiar with that reference, but I think there is a Columbo episode I watched in the last year in which a body was disposed of similarly.

 

4 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Also, people keep mentioning Elsbeth's name like it's so strange but I actually knew an Elsbeth once.

Cool!
From a branding and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) perspective, the writers have been (IMO) very smart and clever to repeatedly work her unique name into the early episodes in clever ways, especially since, as of this moment, Google is not suggesting "Elsbeth" when I search "Elspeth."

And it was very intriguing to me that  the killer in the previous episode (played by Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and the chief's wife in this episode both were the exception to the rule in that they made a point of pronouncing her name correctly — with the camera taking a beat on the killer's face in the last episode and on Elsbeth's face in this episode while they noticed.

It's almost like her name is a litmus test. 

[Yeah No]

20 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Having heated homes with wood-burning stoves for 15-20 years in the rural Pacific Northwest, I was so confused by the pristine fireplace.
So Margo burned an entire room-size rug in her f'in' fireplace?!?
And she was going to do a little cleanup with a bottle of stuff that fit into her pocket? 
Don't get me started.🤬🤯🫠

When I first got a fireplace friends clued me and my husband in on what not to put in them.  We had a friend that put all kinds of painted or finished woods and other substances in his fireplace that totally wrecked it up not to mention the toxic fumes that were generated by certain items and I'm sure a fine rug like that would emit a lot of those!

23 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Not familiar with that reference, but I think there is a Columbo episode I watched in the last year in which a body was disposed of similarly.

The Doulos case took place here in CT.  The couple was divorced and living apart but the ex husband, who was the suspect, lived only a couple of miles from me.  It made the national news a few years ago.  His girlfriend was recently found guilty on charges of helping him dispose of evidence, which they were photographed throwing in public wastebaskets along a major route in Hartford. Some of the evidence was actually recovered and was incriminating.  She is currently attempting to appeal the case.

I would have thought there would be more camera evidence in this episode, though.  But I guess I can buy it given that this was the Hamptons.

[Driad]

Popularity of the name Elsbeth.  During this Elsbeth's lifetime the frequency of babies being named Elsbeth has been about 8 per million or fewer.  (Carrie Preston was born in 1967 so Elsbeth is probably about the same age.)

[love2lovebadtv]

On 4/12/2024 at 4:05 PM, possibilities said:

Elsbeth seems to genuinely like and be promoting Kaya. I have decided it's not an act and the trust between them is real. I just hope the show doesn't do a "shocking twist" and make Kaya turn out to be corrupt somehow.

I laughed at the "oh shit, she's investigating ME!!!" moment, but I also don't get how he didn't realize that before. What did he think she was doing as a representative of the consent decree? She is very open about how she's checking on them. Did he think he was magically exempt?

I guess he was thinking about how the consent decree covered the department and, of course, his leadership. But not his non-police activities. I'm excited for this to unfold!

21 hours ago, possibilities said:

When the famous matchmaker is single, you have to wonder.

Yes, I was waiting for a mention of the matchmaker being a widow. In my head, she was happily married for years before her husband passed. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 4/12/2024 at 10:20 PM, possibilities said:

When the famous matchmaker is single, you have to wonder.

Except she always has to get her way. Doesn't work well with the police, and possibly not with potential love matches.

[Yeah No]

12 hours ago, Driad said:

Popularity of the name Elsbeth.  During this Elsbeth's lifetime the frequency of babies being named Elsbeth has been about 8 per million or fewer.  (Carrie Preston was born in 1967 so Elsbeth is probably about the same age.)

Thanks for that, that was interesting.  It looks like it had most of its popularity in the early 20th century and has been going down ever since with a brief resurgence in the early '80s.  But it's a pretty rare name as they go anyway.  In the single digits per million.  My own name is not that common and I rarely meet anyone with it, but even that had 3369 per million in its most popular year (1967) and in recent years has had between 130 -140 per million.  So Elsbeth is actually very uncommon by comparison.

[mammaM]

On 4/13/2024 at 5:31 AM, Yeah No said:

 

Also, people keep mentioning Elsbeth's name like it's so strange but I actually knew an Elsbeth once. She was a friend of my father's from his senior center.  I never knew anyone else with that name so perhaps it must be rare or out of circulation for a long time.

I only knew Elsbeth from that weird little poem. 

"Elizabeth, Elsbeth, Betsy and Bess. They all went together to seek a bird's nest. They found A bird's nest with five eggs in it. They all took one and left four in."

And after my mother to explained to me that all the names were nicknames for Elizabeth, I started calling my sister all of those nicknames and telling everyone her name was Elsbeth not Elizabeth. Could never understand why I kept getting yelled at😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[Yeah No]

59 minutes ago, mammaM said:

I only knew Elsbeth from that weird little poem. 

"Elizabeth, Elsbeth, Betsy and Bess. They all went together to seek a bird's nest. They found A bird's nest with five eggs in it. They all took one and left four in."

And after my mother to explained to me that all the names were nicknames for Elizabeth, I started calling my sister all of those nicknames and telling everyone her name was Elsbeth not Elizabeth. Could never understand why I kept getting yelled at😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Thanks for that, I never heard that poem but it reminded me that when my father first started mentioning his friend Elsbeth I thought it sounded like it could be a lesser used nickname for Elizabeth.

[mammaM]

1 hour ago, Yeah No said:

Thanks for that, I never heard that poem but it reminded me that when my father first started mentioning his friend Elsbeth I thought it sounded like it could be a lesser used nickname for Elizabeth.

I was 9-10 when it happened, and HAD to find ALL the nicknames, and Elizabeth has dozens😂 Betty, Bette, Liza, Eliza, Beth, Liz, Zetta, and more I can no longer remember😂 

FYI, if you like one of the nicknames and have a child, name them that, don't name them Elizabeth and assume they'll like the same nickname you do. I've known many Elizabeth's (including the one I'm related to), and its never happened, not once😂😂😂😎

[RedInk]

11 hours ago, mammaM said:

FYI, if you like one of the nicknames and have a child, name them that, don't name them Elizabeth and assume they'll like the same nickname you do. I've known many Elizabeth's (including the one I'm related to), and its never happened, not once😂😂😂😎

That’s so true! My daughter is Elizabeth, and we called her Beth. She’s now an adult and has gone by Ellie since grade school.

[EtheltoTillie]

On 4/13/2024 at 10:17 AM, Yeah No said:

When I first got a fireplace friends clued me and my husband in on what not to put in them.  We had a friend that put all kinds of painted or finished woods and other substances in his fireplace that totally wrecked it up not to mention the toxic fumes that were generated by certain items and I'm sure a fine rug like that would emit a lot of those!

The Doulos case took place here in CT.  The couple was divorced and living apart but the ex husband, who was the suspect, lived only a couple of miles from me.  It made the national news a few years ago.  His girlfriend was recently found guilty on charges of helping him dispose of evidence, which they were photographed throwing in public wastebaskets along a major route in Hartford. Some of the evidence was actually recovered and was incriminating.  She is currently attempting to appeal the case.

I would have thought there would be more camera evidence in this episode, though.  But I guess I can buy it given that this was the Hamptons.

That Doulos case was a horrible doozy.  It was widely covered in the metro area. 

[Yeah No]

2 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

That Doulos case was a horrible doozy.  It was widely covered in the metro area. 

It sure was!  I pass the house he lived in (and committed suicide in) which was their house when married all the time so unfortunately I think about it often.

[EtheltoTillie]

8 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

It sure was!  I pass the house he lived in (and committed suicide in) which was their house when married all the time so unfortunately I think about it often.

Oh, how ghastly.  And even worse was the other CT case with the wife and daughters and the home invasion who were raped and killed and the police knew about it didn't go in the house.  I hate even thinking about that case. 

Edited April 15 by EtheltoTillie

[Yeah No]

Just now, EtheltoTillie said:

Oh, how ghastly.  And even worse was the other CT case with the wife and daughters and the home invasion who were raped and killed and the police knew about it didn't go in the house.  I hate even thinking about that case. 

Oh, I remember that well too.  That poor man.  Weird story but I was referred to him and supposed to see him when he was practicing medicine but it was canceled on me and I rescheduled with someone else.  I didn't realize until looking over old emails much later that it was supposed to be with him.  I wasn't told the reason why but when I looked at the date I realized why.  Incidentally he stopped practicing medicine and became a state representative, which I think he still is, but he has decided not to run for another term.  He also runs a non-profit foundation and is sometimes featured on local news for all the good things he's doing.  At least he has been able to move on and bring about some good after all his suffering.

[Gyproselee]

The original girl friend ignorance bothered  me.  He gets out of jail,gets this big makeover but she she is like whatever. Most likely the wedding was in the paper too.  How long would he be " at  work?" Bit too convenient.

[MerBearHou]

I had to carry 3 totes and my shoulder handbag to the office on Monday — you can imagine how I thought “oh my gosh, I’m like Elsbeth”.  Thank goodness, it’s not an everyday thing!  

[ferjy]

Ha, sounds like Elsbeth got a few staples stuck in her patootie while getting frisky on her desk with someone, back in the day!

I’m liking Elsbeth in this, and the ongoing story, but I find the cases of the week pretty lame. I liked her better as a lawyer than a would be sleuth. 

 

Edited April 28 by ferjy