Elsbeth Season 3 Episode 8 Recap: ‘Basket Case’ Breakdown, Killer Reveal, and Peyton’s Future

Peyton and Coach W, a May-December Romance that Won’t End

This is new–Elsbeth in a sports locker room and dressed as a mascot. Everything starts with a podcast of two podcast guru guys, Cole and Hank, calling out Coach W/Willoughby for the terrible season the St. Ivan’s University Basketball Team is having. Coach W was a legendary NBA Coach, and decided to come out of retirement to coach a university team back to its glory days. Things haven’t gone as expected with three losses at the start of the season. The on air mumbling is low as if they’re afraid to discuss the reason Coach W’s not doing so well. Whispers of the fact they know are heard that it’s got to be ‘her’. They don’t even want to mention her name. Peyton Ramsey bursts through the doors of the sports team lounge room and kisses Coach W. He’s glad to see her.

They are a ‘May-December’ romantic couple, and it's obvious there’s a definite age difference. Peyton is a social media manager who doesn’t hide her confidence, and is perturbed at what the podcasters and followers are saying. Coach W has no clue, and asks her to ignore it. He agrees to emphasize the media policy to his players at their next team practice. She oversteps and makes suggestions for his team players. Another kiss, and she’s off to overstep somewhere else. They are being watched by Dave Coppins, the athletic director.

Call Him a Sad, Pathetic Loser then You Die

Peyton enters the locker room and strongly advises a player about his X/Twitter account.  She states she’s managing Coach W’s Brand, and will ensure his players don’t damage it. Dave interrupts them and demands Peyton stop interfering with Coach W’s work and his players. He accuses her of taking advantage of Coach W, says she destroyed a legend,  and his legacy. She turned him into a sad, pathetic loser posing for selfies. He tells Peyton to lose his number and bans her from the premises. Peyton laughs at that. She dares Dave to tell Russell what he really thinks of him. The players are watching their confrontation, and silently applaud him. They all fear Peyton, even the podcast bros.

Later, Dave is sitting in the ice therapy bath doing his cold plunge, when someone enters the room. His last words were “....geez you scared me.” 

Peyton got home late, and Coach W was still awake. He’s concerned about her. She tells him to do his job, and let her do hers. 

Murder Investigation Begins

Outside a club, two St. Ivan’s students leave and one of them needs to pee. They decide to go down a nearby alley and do their business. The peeing one screams as she turns and sees Dave, dressed and dead on the ground. 

At the NYPD, Elsbeth is scanning the news on her phone, and almost bumps into Captain Wagner. She’s finally been identified by the gossip news as the mayoral candidate’s mysterious redhead. Elsbeth’s frustrated. A new character, Detective Taylor, a transfer from the 15th Precinct, meets Elsbeth. She’s Elsbeth’s new case detective. Taylor updates Captain Wagner on Dave Coppin’s murder, blunt trauma to the head, frostbite and women’s urine found.  Wagner tells her to bring Elsbeth along to investigate. Taylor and Elsbeth are way out of sync, Taylor doesn’t understand Elsbeth’s unique humorous way of communication….awkard. 

At St.Ivan’s University, Detective Taylor tells Elsbeth she graduated from the university in 2012. Elsbeth has her trademark bags, and surreptitiously begins investigating. They enter the team’s locker room.  Elsbeth stashes her  trademark bags, and quickly begins touching things in people’s cubbies, and takes off in another direction. Taylor recognizes one of the star players, Jason Roberts, and starts fangirling. Elsbeth tries out some of the equipment while continuing her investigation. Taylor explains about the murder. Roberts stops talking when he sees Peyton and Coach W in the locker room doorway. Elsbeth states the equipment will become evidence. Detective Taylor tells Coach W and Peyton about Dave Coppins’s murder, which elicits an odd giggle from Peyton. Elsbeth gets Detective Taylor and walks her through her preliminary deduction about what happened to Dave. They disagree on the suspect. 

A  Cyber Single Point of Failure 

A mini-story on a cybersecurity review scene is injected and is a thread that has a lasting effect. There’s a hilarious and puzzling interaction in Wagner’s office. Lieutenant Connor updates Captain Wagner on their NYPD cybersecurity stress test. Wagner’s identified as a serious vulnerability threat.  He easily fell for a phishing attempt. It’s very funny to see how Wagner talked his way out of being the single point of failure. Connor suggests he take a quick, remedial training course to resolve the problem. Wagner is offended and leaves Connor speechless in his office. How does Captain Wagner get even?

Back to the Murder Investigation and Conclusion

The investigative process continues as Detective Taylor interrogates Peyton at the NYPD while Wagner observes. He asks her to tell them what she knows. Peyton is not intimidated and asks for a lawyer. Both Elsbeth and Detective Taylor plead their case on why Peyton is or is not the suspect. Wagner tells Elsbeth she needs to find out Peyton’s whereabouts on the night of the murder. He enlists Officer Summerville’s help. Summerville also failed the cybersecurity phishing test.  Of course, Elsbeth loves them and compares them to Wordle.  

Detective Taylor returns to St. Ivan’s University and interviews another player who corroborates Coach W’s alibi. She also fangirls over this player. He honors her with a basket and does a selfie for her kids. She’s living the Dream.

Elsbeth is still fixating on the misspelling of her name in articles about her as the mysterious redhead. Summerville finds something on a sports radio guy show, The Steve Trey Show, gives them a clue. One caller has an alibi for Peyton, but Detective Taylor presents lab evidence showing she’s guilty.  Wagner tells Elsbeth she’s running out of time in proving Peyton is not a murderer.  Elsbeth follows the new clue but is disappointed, until she sees something that might help.

Why do people react negatively to Peyton? Does Elsbeth try to school Peyton on her behavior, and how does that work?  What do Elsbeth and Peyton have in common? What is Tapegate? Elsbeth  completes a play board in the locker room and has the CSI guys check the room cubbies. What do they find?  What strange clues help her solve it?  How does Peyton’s concealer locate the killer?  Who’s Thingy? Who’s the basket case? Check out the episode to find out.

Detective Taylor compliments “Elsbeth with a B” on her drive to find the answers. Elsbeth follows up on Dave’s murder.  All questions are answered and lead Elsbeth and Detective Taylor to confront the killer and solve the crime. Elsbeth does her flamboyant expose` and the killer is arrested. Liked the incorporation of the strong social media angle, sports and the investigative work. Everything worked in tandem. The cybersecurity side story was a comedic reprieve and learning experience. This episode was filled with different dead end clues, but still uncovered the cover up. Loved how they showed Peyton’s future, her success and also mentioned her possible Senator Lindsey Graham connection. That’s a new move for the Elsbeth show which definitely gets the viewer to do a doubletake. This episode is art cleverly imitating life. Elsbeth and Peyton had confidence in common but Elsbeth uses hers determinedly and subtly that achieves her goal. She was also cute as Thingy. Excellent show, and I gave it  4.9 Stars out of 5.

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