Warning: spoilers ahead for the third episode of Elsbeth Season 3, called "Good Grief" and available streaming now with a Paramount+ subscription.
Elsbeth is back in the fall 2025 TV schedule to continue blending comedy with drama with murder mystery, casting celebrities to play killers, and – as of the latest episode on October 23 – spoof another TV show. Unlike the Law & Order: SVU-esque crime procedural that featured Laurie Metcalfe and Stephen Colbert's fictionalized talk show as in-universe programming, however, the take on ABC's Bachelor Nation had me laughing from the first mention to the last.
In fact, I got such a kick out of it that I nearly missed how foreboding the end of the episode really was for Carra Patterson as Kaya. Let's start with the silly!
Elsbeth Does The Bachelor(ette)
The version of The Bachelor that exists within the world of Elsbeth Tascioni is called Black Veil, starring Staten Island housewife Raquel Drabowski (Julia Fox). Her husband Johnny had died during a rescue mission in Puerto Rico due to his work as a firefighter. Naturally, this lead to her becoming a hit grief influencer on social media, because why not? The host opened up an episode by saying:
We began with 28 young widowers vying for the chance to mend Raquel's broken heart, and their own, and now we're down to two. Florida contractor JD, whose wife was tragically killed on their honeymoon in an alligator attack. And Daniel, the Chicago veterinarian and national spokesman for D-TAD, 'Don't Text And Drive,' whose wife perished in a car crash while texting him that her cancer was finally in remission.
The season finale was supposed to then end with Raquel making her choice and lifting her black veil for one of the two widowers to start their lives together. Alas for the two gents, she decided that she wasn't ready after all, announcing that she still loves Johnny. She started weeping crocodile tears, which apparently looked real enough to JD that he wasn't triggered into flashing back to his wife's alligator attack.
In all seriousness, this was an example of what Elsbeth does so well: incorporating some ridiculousness in with the real world while still featuring plenty of murder and crime. The kicker? The end of the episode revealed that Raquel's mother in law would star in the Golden Bachelorette-esque season, having lost her husband years before Raquel killed her son in the vain attempt to keep up her career as a grief influencer. Only on Elsbeth!
What's Happening With Kaya?
Losing Kaya as her day-to-day partner has been rough on Elsbeth, so she was excited to unexpectedly cross paths with her friend during the case. They had to keep things quiet since Kaya was undercover, but found time to have a drink later on in the episode. They confided in each other that their love lives aren't going so well, which is bad news for me and any other Elsbeth fans who loved Ioan Gruffudd as Angus. The lawyer did bring back a stuffed Loch Ness Monster for Kaya, though, so the scene was more cute than sad.
But that wasn't the case for the full episode. Kaya was noticed while meeting with Elsbeth again later, and while it wasn't clear what she and the strangers were talking about as part of her undercover life, it clearly was nothing good. Later, just when Elsbeth was wishing she and Kaya could gossip about the Black Veil, Captain Wagner gifted her a burner phone that would be good for exactly one call.
Instead of the episode ending on a sweet phone call scene between the two friends, Elsbeth got this message when she dialed Kaya's number: "The number you have reached is not in service. Please check the number and dial again." Elsbeth looked troubled by the development, and now I'm just waiting for news of when Carra Patterson will be back for the drama to pick this story up again.
Fortunately, the next episode is bound to be fun, as Carrie Preston is joined by Annaleigh Ashford for a Halloween episode that will seemingly involve a couple of elaborate costume changes for the leading lady:
New episodes of Elsbeth will continue airing on Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on CBS, following the latest installments of Kathy Bates' Matlock. You can also revisit the heyday of Elsbeth and Kaya's friendship streaming, as the full first two seasons are streaming on Paramount+ now.
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