S02.E12: Foiled Again

[chitowngirl]

While investigating the mysterious death of a college admissions officer, Elsbeth finds herself fencing with Lawrence Grey, an independent educational consultant who promises an Ivy League future to high-paying clients and their average kids.

 

Airdate February 20, 2025 on CBS

[AnimeMania]

Matthew Broderick as Lawrence Grey

James Wilkie Broderick (real-life son of Matthew Broderick) as Carl Grey

Ben Levi Ross as Teddy 

Michael Emerson as Judge Crawford

[Js Nana]

Angus, Elsbeth's love interest from Ep11, "Tiny Town," is a fireman, and when Kaya was telling Teddy about his mother's little romance with a Scotsman, Teddy asked if he was a fireman - why?

[ItCouldBeWorse]

5 minutes ago, Js Nana said:

Angus, Elsbeth's love interest from Ep11, "Tiny Town," is a fireman, and when Kaya was telling Teddy about his mother's little romance with a Scotsman, Teddy asked if he was a fireman - why?

It sounded like this was a pattern that existed before this show.

Kays said that Elsbeth had a romance in Scotland - so I guess she returned there with Angus for a bit.

Elsbeth really needs to start surreptitiously recording conversations with bad guys.  A recording of the judge threatening "her friend," the acquitted defendant, would have landed him in a lot of trouble.

[anniebird]

Michael Emerson is Carrie Preston's husband - he makes a good bad guy.

 

[AnimeMania]

James Wilkie Broderick has zero presence on screen, he blends right into the background.

[Irlandesa]

20 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Kays said that Elsbeth had a romance in Scotland - so I guess she returned there with Angus for a bit.

I think she was talking about the guy and his location and not where they had the romance.

[EtheltoTillie]

On 2/20/2025 at 11:29 PM, Js Nana said:

Angus, Elsbeth's love interest from Ep11, "Tiny Town," is a fireman, and when Kaya was telling Teddy about his mother's little romance with a Scotsman, Teddy asked if he was a fireman - why?

I wondered that too. He also said he noticed things that other people didn’t.  Like Elsbeth. But he was attributing it to his philosophy study, not genes. He must have known something about Angus somehow.  Maybe he had seen the art exhibit. That’s all I got. 
ETA:  I didn’t clock all those fireman references. Duh. Thank you later posters. 

Edited 11 hours ago by EtheltoTillie

[TheOtherOne]

They've been establishing Elsbeth having a thing for firemen (or them for her?) all season (if not longer).

The one in episode 2

The one in the Christmas episode.

 

From TVLine's interview with Carrie Preston last week:
 

TVLINE | Even though there was tons of physical comedy for you in this episode, which was delightful, no moment made me laugh more than when Angus revealed that he’s a fireman.

[Laughs] I know.

TVLINE | What was your reaction when you first saw that in the script?

It was the most perfect way to end the episode, because here we are, thinking that this guy is so different from any of these other guys that keep coming onto her, and it turns out, that’s really how he makes his living, on top of being a musician. [Laughs] So, yeah, I just thought it was perfect, and in a way, it was surprise, but no surprise for Elsbeth.

TVLINE | Is she going to give firemen a second chance now? Because it seemed like she was really writing them all off.

I think she’s just used to guys like that coming after her for maybe superficial reasons, and then this was definitely not superficial. This was a real connection with somebody who flew all the way across the world to meet her in-person. So I don’t think she’s going to suddenly take firemen seriously now any more than she did before.

Edited Yest. at 01:54 PM by TheOtherOne

[Yeah No]

10 hours ago, Js Nana said:

Angus, Elsbeth's love interest from Ep11, "Tiny Town," is a fireman, and when Kaya was telling Teddy about his mother's little romance with a Scotsman, Teddy asked if he was a fireman - why?

It's become a running joke of the show. I guess her son was kidding because he'd heard of the other firemen in other cases she was on that flirted with her.

As for this episode, I liked it. I wondered if that was City College they used for the college set. I worked for 10 years in college admissions so I know how competitive it can get. 

Although back when Matthew Broderick and Elsbeth were young Philosophy was still not seen as a great major for a career. I oughta know, I'm older and majored in it. Even then it was seen as not the best career prep. But U. of Illinois is nothing to feel down about. I'm glad Elsbeth realized that her son did right by himself and she accepts him and his choices. It made me shed a tear because my parents were like that. I never felt like I failed them or myself. 

I didn't know there was such a thing as a "hypoallergenic cat". I'm not allergic to cats but that was news to me.

[AnimeMania]

18 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

hypoallergenic cat

[Yeah No]

54 minutes ago, AnimeMania said:

OK that's a hairless cat, though. The cat in the photos didn't look completely hairless to me but what do I know?

It appears that there are several haired breed of cat that don't produce allergic symptoms in people with cat allergies. Good to know!

https://www.petmd.com/cat/general-health/hypoallergenic-cat-breeds

[laredhead]

I loved the jacket that Elsbeth was wearing in the first scenes.  As for hypoallergenic cats, I've had many cats in my lifetime, and even though I'm not generally allergic to them, I have come in contact with some that have caused my hands to itch after petting them.    

[Quark]

What a glorious episode.

I love this show.

[Nashville]

14 hours ago, Js Nana said:

Angus, Elsbeth's love interest from Ep11, "Tiny Town," is a fireman, and when Kaya was telling Teddy about his mother's little romance with a Scotsman, Teddy asked if he was a fireman - why?

It’s become one of the show’s running jokes that firemen have a pronounced tendency to fixate romantically upon Elsbeth - presumably on account of her hair inspiring incendiary associations…?

Elsbeth’s own reaction to such displays generally appears to be bemused frustration, which gives the definite impression Elsbeth has gotten (a)very used to this behavior over the years, and (b) pretty skilled at deflecting such attention - but it is also worthy of note Angus is the first firefighter Elsbeth hasn’t immediately rejected out of hand as a romantic prospect.

[Js Nana]

6 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I didn't know there was such a thing as a "hypoallergenic cat".

I didn't either, so I googled "hypoallergenic cats" and these were the breeds that were listed: Sphynx, Siberian, Balinese, Cornish Rex, Devon Rex, Russian Blue, Oriental Shorthair, Javanese, Siamese, Burmese, Ocicat and Selkirk Rex.

16 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

A recording of the judge threatening "her friend," the acquitted defendant, would have landed him in a lot of trouble.

Not sure if recording a conversation with someone without that someone knowing about it is illegal in New York.

[seacliffsal]

So, maybe Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane will end up in the same prison and decide to put on Broadway musicals together-maybe something like Springtime for Hitler?  

[DearEvette]

Fun episode.  Matthew Broderick's character reminds me of his character from the movie Election.  He does stuffy but sinister well. 

Also he really must have been a garbage person if his daughter isn't the least bit upset he was arrested for murder. I am so happy the show didn't have him kill the cat.  Whew!

I continue to love the callbacks on the show, with Elsbeth promising not to make duck at her dinner party.

Aww, look at Lt. Connor being part of the team/family and even making jokes you can't even tell are jokes.

[EtheltoTillie]

4 hours ago, Js Nana said:

I didn't either, so I googled "hypoallergenic cats" and these were the breeds that were listed: Sphynx, Siberian, Balinese, Cornish Rex, Devon Rex, Russian Blue, Oriental Shorthair, Javanese, Siamese, Burmese, Ocicat and Selkirk Rex.

Not sure if recording a conversation with someone without that someone knowing about it is illegal in New York.

One party consent is legal in NY. But lawyers aren’t supposed to use it as it violates the ethics rules.  

[Yeah No]

1 hour ago, DearEvette said:

Fun episode.  Matthew Broderick's character reminds me of his character from the movie Election.  He does stuffy but sinister well. 

I love Matthew Broderick and this episode but I have a minor nitpick with the way he played this role. Pretty much no one in admissions is "stuffy". Most are gladhanding, outgoing "people people", similar to a salespeople. Now sinister is something I have witnessed in college admissions. The director I worked under was a malignant narcissist that favored certain candidates over others based on how much money their parents contributed to the school, etc. The admissions committee had to be made up of people that would defer to that. And they did. I saw grades and SAT scores that never should have been accepted. He later went to another university and when he was fired from there went into business for himself doing just what Matthew Broderick was doing here. I saw him interviewed online a couple of years ago talking about how ethics is very important in that business but why do I not believe him? I could have seen him play this role very easily. No offense to Matthew but I can't get that out of my head.

[Js Nana]

21 hours ago, anniebird said:

he makes a good bad guy.

Lost is the first time I can remember seeing Michael Preston, and then I had to follow him on Person of Interest.

[tinderbox]

22 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

James Wilkie Broderick has zero presence on screen, he blends right into the background.

I didn’t know Matthew’s son appeared in this episode.  What part did he play?

[AnimeMania]

1 hour ago, tinderbox said:

I didn’t know Matthew’s son appeared in this episode.  What part did he play?

There is a picture of him and who he played at the top of the thread.

[MerBearHou]

1 hour ago, tinderbox said:

I didn’t know Matthew’s son appeared in this episode.  What part did he play?

James Willkie played the nondescript assistant / receptionist at Lawrence’s firm.  He greeted arrivals and at the end, he had a quiet, brief line when he said he’d help the candidate while Lawrence was being arrested and taken away.  He shrugged like “why not?” — it was a little bit funny.  Is his character supposed to be Lawrence’s son — I think IMDB shows Lawrence and him having the same last name.  

[EtheltoTillie]

On 2/20/2025 at 11:49 PM, AnimeMania said:

James Wilkie Broderick has zero presence on screen, he blends right into the background.

Talk about nepo baby!  Doesn’t have his parents’ star quality. Matthew B is also the son of a star. I used to watch his dad on that Seventies TV show, Family. But both Matthew and SJP started acting very young and succeeded on their own merits. 
They didn’t seem to make much of the son in the episode, whereas the daughter was a more important character. Sort of an odd imbalance. 

[shapeshifter]

10 hours ago, Js Nana said:

Lost is the first time I can remember seeing Michael Preston, and then I had to follow him on Person of Interest.

Michael Emerson is married to Carrie Preston.😉
But yes, everytime I see Michael Emerson, I flash back to his first scene in Lost, tangled up in a tree, pretending to be wholesome and innocent.

[tinderbox]

9 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

James Willkie played the nondescript assistant / receptionist at Lawrence’s firm.  He greeted arrivals and at the end, he had a quiet, brief line when he said he’d help the candidate while Lawrence was being arrested and taken away.  He shrugged like “why not?” — it was a little bit funny.  Is his character supposed to be Lawrence’s son — I think IMDB shows Lawrence and him having the same last name.  

Thank you. (Anime, too)  I never would have guessed. He looks nothing like either one of his parents.