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S02.E01: Subscription to Murder

chitowngirl

By chitowngirl
in Elsbeth

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chitowngirl

chitowngirl

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.

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Irlandesa

Irlandesa

It was a fun episode.  Nathan Lane always delivers. 

Although I did spend most of the episode wondering who Christian Borle was going to play and he (or his voice) finally made an appearance.  I'm guessing he'll play the same person he played in The Good...franchise.  I'm curious how he'll fit in.

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sugarbaker design

sugarbaker design

6 hours ago, stonehaven said:

The biggest laugh for me was the conversation about how dull the summer break

Funny.

6 hours ago, stonehaven said:

with a random line about drunk driving in Sag Harbor.

Was this referring to something I'm not aware of?

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EtheltoTillie

EtheltoTillie

38 minutes ago, sugarbaker design said:

Funny.

Was this referring to something I'm not aware of?

Perhaps . . .  Big news this summer was Justin Timberlake's arrest for drunk driving in Sag Harbor.

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Yeah No

Yeah No

Excellent episode, I'm so happy this show is back. It's a breath of fresh air compared to some of the new stuff I've watched in the past couple of weeks.

I was just complaining on another show thread about flimsy murder motives and even though this was one, the excellent writing and acting sold it. 

That theater looked like City Center in the 50s in Manhattan. It's not to my knowledge an opera house though, but it is beautiful.

I loved Nathan Lane's character's apartment. It was beautiful. The windows in it were very churchy or collegiate and I wonder where that was. My eyes were drawn to the black painted bust of Nefertiti sitting on that long counter - I inherited one like that in white from my parents. I have often thought about having it painted. 

I hope the first scene wasn't a warning that we won't be seeing Elsbeth in her signature print jackets anymore. I've grown to like them so much. I'm hoping she stays true to her personal style in spite of fickle fashion trends.

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kwnyc

kwnyc

On a personal note, a longtime friend of mine played the dead opera star. It was his first TV appearance! So I gave a little shriek when I saw him on the screen.

Nathan Lane is awesome. Like Mateo last season, he developed a real liking for Elsbeth and was very happy that she actually did love opera.

And I call bullshit on that roadblock of needing college credits to become a detective. I'm pretty sure Danny Reagan didn't go to college, but then his father is the commissioner. ;-)

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Yeah No

Yeah No

27 minutes ago, kwnyc said:

And I call bullshit on that roadblock of needing college credits to become a detective. I'm pretty sure Danny Reagan didn't go to college, but then his father is the commissioner. ;-)

Believe it or not today you need at least 60 college credits with a minimum GPA of 2.0 to become a New York City police officer. I'm not sure if it's more to become a detective and I don't remember how many she has.

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EtheltoTillie

EtheltoTillie

(edited)

Not total BS, @kwnyc.  I just looked up some of this too. You need 60 credits or two years in the military to join NYPD at all. Danny Reagan served in the military, so he satisfied that requirement.  As to promo to detective, it appears there is no special additional college credit requirement.  You have to be a police officer for a certain amount of time and then work in an investigative area and get someone to want to advance you, which our character has. And which Danny Reagan has too lol.  
 

 There is additional credit required for promotion to sergeant and lieutenant and you take a test. I think they are somehow confusing her original joining NYPD and maybe she didn’t have the right credits to join in the first place but they are letting her fix it while working. 
 

ETA reviewed episode. The new anal retentive lieutenant found that Kaya did not have sufficient credits to join in the first place. 

Edited by EtheltoTillie
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Yeah No

Yeah No

6 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

ETA reviewed episode. The new anal retentive lieutenant found that Kaya did not have sufficient credits to join in the first place. 

If there's anything to wonder about there it's that. How did she manage to get the requirement waived? That should be an interesting story. It is also possible that Kaya joined when the requirement was temporarily relaxed for some reason, which has happened.

I don't know how long the NYPD has had that requirement but it goes back over 24 years because I found an article from 2000 that discusses Bernie Kerik relaxing it due to lower recruitment rates and as recently as 2022 articles say that Eric Adams was considering relaxing it for the same reason. I guess that never happened.

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EtheltoTillie

EtheltoTillie

(edited)
1 hour ago, Yeah No said:

If there's anything to wonder about there it's that. How did she manage to get the requirement waived? That should be an interesting story. It is also possible that Kaya joined when the requirement was temporarily relaxed for some reason, which has happened.

I don't know how long the NYPD has had that requirement but it goes back over 24 years because I found an article from 2000 that discusses Bernie Kerik relaxing it due to lower recruitment rates and as recently as 2022 articles say that Eric Adams was considering relaxing it for the same reason. I guess that never happened.

In the past when such requirements were relaxed I think they had the recruits make up the credits once on the force.
My understanding from the episode was that Kaya’s NYPD recruiter had counted her high school AP classes—more of a mistake than an improper relaxation of requirements. She had actually taken college level classes, after all.  So it was only the anal retentive lieutenant who uncovered the mistake.  If she had been admitted during an official relaxation period, they would not have been dinging her retroactively  


I read about Mayor Adams’s possible initiative as well, as he was considering what had been done in other cities. Adams is in so much trouble now, so who knows what we should think about his initiatives. Oh yeah, Bernie Kerik, another winner in the ethics sweepstakes. 

Edited by EtheltoTillie
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possibilities

possibilities

I wonder why the show wants to slow down her advancement to detective, though. They didn't have to write in this problem. It  just seems like an extra complication in a show that's already got a bunch of them.

I understand the frustration with obnoxious opera-goer, but anyone who actually follows through on the urge to murder someone like that is... well, I'm surprised he's not revealed to be a serial killer with an entire warehouse of corpses.

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Irlandesa

Irlandesa

29 minutes ago, possibilities said:

I wonder why the show wants to slow down her advancement to detective, though. They didn't have to write in this problem.

I think they like having a detective-of-the-week.  I do too.  If Kyra makes detective then it's likely she'd work with Elsbeth every week. 

I was surprised they actually put her on that path at the end of last season because it'd change the dynamic.

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Irlandesa

Irlandesa

(edited)
6 hours ago, laredhead said:

Would someone please refresh my memory.  What episode last season involved the doctor Elsbeth ran into at the opera?  I love this show, and her clothes.

He was in the episode with the plastic surgeon (Gina Gershon) who killed her rival/protege plastic surgeon.  He was in the same practice as Gershon.

Edited by Irlandesa
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kwnyc

kwnyc

7 hours ago, Irlandesa said:
7 hours ago, possibilities said:

I wonder why the show wants to slow down her advancement to detective, though. They didn't have to write in this problem.

I think they like having a detective-of-the-week

I want to see more of Molly Price. She's so much fun to watch. 

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shapeshifter

shapeshifter

7 hours ago, possibilities said:

I wonder why the show wants to slow down her advancement to detective, though. They didn't have to write in this problem.

7 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I think they like having a detective-of-the-week.  I do too.  If Kyra makes detective then it's likely she'd work with Elsbeth every week. 

I was surprised they actually put her on that path at the end of last season because it'd change the dynamic.

Ah. That makes sense. 
I wonder if they'll make use of Kyra's life in college for B plots, or if it will just mostly be Kyra exiting stage left to go finish a paper that has to be uploaded by midnight?

 

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Yeah No

Yeah No

(edited)
14 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

In the past when such requirements were relaxed I think they had the recruits make up the credits once on the force.
My understanding from the episode was that Kaya’s NYPD recruiter had counted her high school AP classes—more of a mistake than an improper relaxation of requirements. She had actually taken college level classes, after all.  So it was only the anal retentive lieutenant who uncovered the mistake.  If she had been admitted during an official relaxation period, they would not have been dinging her retroactively  

I don't know how admission into the NYPD really works but as someone that worked in college admissions for a decade I can't believe that kind of mistake would ever have been made. Someone other than a recruiter is looking over the applicants' qualifications and requiring transcripts before any admissions are granted. No transcript, no formal waiver, no proof of having achieved the requirements by the time they finish their training equals no admission. So I call BS on that.

So someone or some group in an office dedicated to that purpose is making sure applicants meet the requirements by requiring proof that they do before they are admitted and it's not up to a recruiter alone. Applications pass through many hands before they are cleared and a decision is made and mistakes like that are caught. So again, I call BS.

Edited by Yeah No
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possibilities

possibilities

I really love Kyra and her relationship with Elsbeth, so I'm hoping they are not sidelining her. If it's only 2 courses, I do think it's likely they will have an investigation of some sort flare up at wherever she's taking courses. Maybe she will stumble on something that otherwise wouldn't have come to Elsbeth's notice.

 

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ForReal

ForReal

I kept waiting for Elsbeth to suggest she do some sort of independent study on opera so she could get those units out of the way from having watched operas on this case, or maybe watching a few more with the tickets they were told they could use.

All in all, a good episode, and I'm glad the show is back.

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shapeshifter

shapeshifter

1 hour ago, ForReal said:

I kept waiting for Elsbeth to suggest she do some sort of independent study on opera so she could get those units out of the way from having watched operas on this case, or maybe watching a few more with the tickets they were told they could use.

All in all, a good episode, and I'm glad the show is back.

Ooo. I like the idea of Elsbeth doing some sort of independent study with Kaya.
Elsbeth has a JD (Doctor of Jurisprudence degree) so that should work.
But it seems they would've written that into this week's episode if they were going there.
I was wondering if this plot point meant Carra Patterson might be taking a maternity leave. It all seems so random. Stay tuned…

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seacliffsal

seacliffsal

I think in this episode it really was justifiable homicide...  Actually, would they have asked the guy to exit while on his cell phone or for some of his other actions?  It seems like they would have escorted him out for some of his shenanigans.

Nathan Lane always seems to bring the fun to his guest starring roles.

Liked the shout outs to previous episodes and really liked seeing Daniel Davis again.  He, like Nathan Lane, can do very little wrong in my opinion.

Was happier to watch this episode than I thought I would be-I must have missed this show more than I thought.

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txhorns79

txhorns79

58 minutes ago, seacliffsal said:

Actually, would they have asked the guy to exit while on his cell phone or for some of his other actions?  It seems like they would have escorted him out for some of his shenanigans.

I do think there were probably steps Nathan Lane's character could have taken to get the guy ejected or at least have him put on notice that his behavior was inappropriate for the setting, so in that sense, he did go from zero to murder fairly quickly.  

Still really enjoying the show, though!   

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Chaser

Chaser

After meeting the victim I had Cell Block Tango stuck in my head. “He had it coming…it was murder but not a crime…he ran into my knife, he ran into my knife 10 times.”

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shapeshifter

shapeshifter

3 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

I think in this episode it really was justifiable homicide... 

LOL. I don't think that's what is meant by "justifiable homicide."

But he could go for an insanity defense. He had invented a non-existent wife, among other peculiarities. But if his lawyer is successful in winning such a case, I would expect him to still be incarcerated in a mental institution because he is a danger to society.
Maybe Elsbeth could visit him in a future episode that involved opera.

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shapeshifter

shapeshifter

4 hours ago, kaygeeret said:

does this mean that the new guy whose job is to find errors is going to stay around to cause trouble over the season?

1 minute ago, AnimeMania said:

Yes

Usually these types of characters will have some eye-opening experience that makes them more likeable. 
But not always. 

 

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Yeah No

Yeah No

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

Usually these types of characters will have some eye-opening experience that makes them more likeable. 
But not always. 

Exactly. Or they are short-lived like the previous lieutenant. Mr. "by the book" might end up guilty of something like the last person in his position. Or the Captain will grow tired of him and beg to have him reassigned somewhere else.

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jah1986

jah1986

So who was in the car at the end of the episode? Is Elsbeth running away from something in Chicago?

Really enjoyed this episode, so glad to have the show back. 

Someone upthread asked about this season's episodes, and they are available the next day on Paramount+

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sugarbaker design

sugarbaker design

20 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

so in that sense, he did go from zero to murder fairly quickly.  

Quickly?  In the montage there were several girlfriends and operas with no assistance from the opera house staff.  What's an opera queen to do?

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kwnyc

kwnyc

22 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

does this mean that the new guy whose job is to find errors is going to stay around to cause trouble over the season?

Hello! My name is Lieutenant Exposition! You can count on me to deliver the plot point, obstacle, or describe important off-screen action.

 

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Calvada

Calvada

On 10/20/2024 at 3:05 AM, possibilities said:

I really love Kyra and her relationship with Elsbeth, so I'm hoping they are not sidelining her. If it's only 2 courses, I do think it's likely they will have an investigation of some sort flare up at wherever she's taking courses. Maybe she will stumble on something that otherwise wouldn't have come to Elsbeth's notice.

 

Will Kaya be taking classes at Hudson University?  Isn't that place a hotbed of homicide?  

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Lovecat

Lovecat

On 10/21/2024 at 4:44 PM, sugarbaker design said:

Quickly?  In the montage there were several girlfriends and operas with no assistance from the opera house staff.  What's an opera queen to do?

I have to admit it took me a second to figure out it was a montage; I wasn't paying attention to the girlfriends, just the music.  I actually said out loud, "Those arias aren't from the same...oh.  Duh."

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PurpleTentacle

PurpleTentacle

Is it me or was that motive a little weak? I know how annoying people can wear on you, but that ticket subscription must have run out eventually, right? If it was the same as the plastic surgeons it would have been 11 times. And it's unlikely that finance bro would have renewed the subscription on his own dime, as he clearly hated it and had probably other ways to impress women.

Other than that, it was an enjoyable start to the new season.

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