Elsbeth Season 3 Episode 4 Review: ‘Ick, A Bod’ Serves Up a Killer Halloween Mystery

Sharon Norman goes to see her new next door neighbor to welcome her to the neighborhood with a delicious-looking welcome walnut pie. Sharon is the head of the Neighborhood Welcome Committee. Her neighbor is feeling very welcomed as she accepts the pie. The neighbor is Beryl Nix. Sharon tells her she knows all about her, because she’s also a member of the Garden Club and Social Committee. Sharon tells Beryl she can tell she’ll be fun. Sharon gives her a notebook on the community calendar and the suggested guidelines. They don’t have an HOA. Beryl mentions the Towering Maple on the edge of her drive is blocking all the natural light of her studio. Sharon tells her it’s been grandfathered in, and can’t be cut down. Beryl thanks her for all her guidelines and returns the notebook to Sharon before shutting her front door in her face.  She does take the pie. 

The next morning Sharon catches her husband, staring out the window at their new neighbor working in her studio, who's in the nude. Sharon is perturbed with their new neighbor. She calls a friend to get some shades for her new neighbor’s windows. That anxiety grows to straight out anger with the continued infractions Beryl commits next door. She parties many times, completely frustrating Sharon. Her husband and daughter find Beryl interesting and she sends them notes and tasty snacks. Sharon is against all of this bribery.  Beryl’s arrival disrupts Sharon and her husband’s peaceful life. The Towering Maple is a symbolic part of their family.  Later, that very tree is ruled dead and has to be cut down. Beryl consoles Sharon.

At the community meeting, Sharon finds that Beryl is becoming a bigger influence. She seems to be undermining her authority with all the ladies in the meeting. Beryl wants to change and spice up the Halloween Maze for this year. All of the ladies are excited and agree, against Sharon’s wishes. Oddly, Sharon volunteers to help Beryl set up the maze. Halloween night, Sharon chops off Beryl’s head after her daughter, Avery, leaves for a party. Beryl recognized Sharon dressed in hospital scrubs and wearing a mask, before she’s murdered. Sharon uses a chainsaw to commit the murder. The next morning, Sharon talks to a maintenance man outside Beryl’s house. Beryl’s not there, so Sharon signs the authorization form for the maintenance crew to  clean up the Halloween props in Beryl’s yard. 

At the NYPD’s station, Detective Donnelly is elated when their IT whiz, Julia Wagner, shows her a trick to help improve her use of an app on her cell phone. Detective Rivers isn’t impressed. He tells Julia they need to upgrade all their computer equipment. Elsbeth makes a surprising appearance in the squad room dressed like Eliza on “My Fair Lady”. She even uses a Cockney accent that rivals a real one. Captain Wagner interrupts them with news of a case outside the city. He chastises Elsbeth for showing up dressed in costume and tells her Halloween is over. She tells him her costumes arrived late and now she’s trying them out for a week, calling it “Halloweek”. Elsbeth looks pretty cute in her Eliza costume. Captain Wagner tells Elsbeth she’s going to love this murder mystery. Detective Rivers thinks it’s cool.

Guess where the murder took place? Why is Elsbeth going to love this murder? It’s perfect for the place where the murder occurred. Elsbeth’s Halloween episode can’t get any better than this! 

The team arrives at Beryl’s house as the maintenance crew clears away all the props in the yard. Elsbeth hasn’t changed, and kinda fits right in. She talks with the maintenance crew leader, Chop. Detective Donnelly asks him who let them in to do all the scooping of the props and Sharon shows up just in time. The leader points at her. Elsbeth introduces them to Sharon, and quietly observes her as she answers Detective Donnelly’s questions. Donnelly explains why they are there doing the investigation. Elsbeth points out to Sharon she didn’t even ask how Beryl died before blaming Chop. This makes her wonder about Sharon's involvement.  Sharon continues to lie to the police, as Elsbeth toys with the wind chimes. They irritate Sharon and she grabs them from Elsbeth to silence them. Another erratic characteristic Elsbeth notices.

Annaleigh Ashford’s portrayal of Sharon Norman is perfect. She is so good at playing a nosy, slightly neurotic, know-it-all, annoying neighbor. Beryl Nix is played perfectly by Kate Jennings Grant as the free-spirited, artistic creator, wild child that challenges the norm, brings out Sharon’s antipathetic feelings toward Beryl slowly until they boil over. Love the way this murder is played out, and the sleuthing skills exhibited by Elsbeth, and this week’s investigative team of Detectives Donnelly and Rivers. The rotating of the detectives is also a unique stroke of genius in the Elsbeth show.  They are all great to see, and haven’t found one combination I haven’t enjoyed seeing working together with Elsbeth.

Like how Julia and Cameron work together. They are both nerds in their own fields and seem to bond over tech. Julia can tell Cameron how the software works in Beryl’s fitness tracker heart rate monitor, and Cameron is happy it can give him Beryl’s exact time of death. This is an interesting tool that helps with solving the murder mystery, and possibly starts a new romance. One, Captain Wagner is not pleased to see. 

Elsbeth plays close attention to Sharon as she begins investigating the murder. It’s interesting to see how Elsbeth’s character is improving her interrogation techniques of closely studying the possible murderer during casual conversation and still seem unassuming. Donnelly and Elsbeth both study the footage of Beryl’s home, back at the station. Elsbeth has also done another costume change, but it doesn’t phase Donnelly at all. Liked them discussing how knowing thy neighbors is different in the city compared to the suburbs and small towns.  

What characters add a new puzzle piece to this beheading mystery? Where was Avery Norman on Halloween? What is MFT? Where did they find the murder weapon? Why does Captain Wagner talk to Cameron? Why does Sharon have a meltdown that tells on her? Who and What really killed the Towering Maple Tree? 

Elsbeth is determined to prove Sharon Norman killed Beryl. It’s wonderful to see how well she and Detective Donnelly prove it. The recreation was done with fantastic flair, like Elsbeth. Everyone in the community contributed their part that helped show how Beryl was killed.  

This was a scary and fun Halloween episode with community involvement and flair.  Loved how the investigation rolled along and interwoven with Elsbeth’s numerous costume changes. She even had a Halloween bag as an accessory. There were also some excellent and surprisingly cute scenes between Julia and Captain Wagner, and Captain Wagner’s exasperation when he finds out who Julia chooses to date.  Julia is a definite scene stealer, and so is Detective Donnelly. The episode’s title was very apropos, and I found myself laughing out loud at some scenes. It was very entertaining and I gave it 4.7 out of 5 Stars. 

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