‘Elsbeth’ Season 2 Episode 4 Recap

Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for Elsbeth Season 2 Episode 4.

I love Ocean’s 8. I think it is criminally underrated, for being as tight, and compelling, and layered, and just plain fun as it is. So realizing that Elsbeth Season 2 was dedicating Episode 4, “Elsbeth’s Eleven,” to the Sandra Bullock-led installment of the heist franchise with a send-up of their very own? That was exactly the treat I needed this week. While the episode does also feature a few peripheral callbacks to plot points from earlier in the season, it mostly remains self-contained, letting nothing distract from the glitz and glamor of a gala heist.

The episode opens at Vivienne’s, a high-end jewelry store that is so high-end, it has a membership-only floor. Roslyn (Vanessa Williams) arrives with her friend Celeste (Jenn Lyon) for a shopping appointment, promising to also put in a good word for Celeste to receive membership at the establishment. It’s apparently so exclusive that Kate Middleton was denied access, but if I had access to centuries of crown jewels, I’m not sure what I’d do with membership at a jewelry store. But hey, whatever makes these ladies feel special. They’re greeted by Judith (Becky Ann Baker), Roslyn’s regular sales associate, to help Celeste pick out a piece and register for membership. Judith explains that she’s due to retire soon — a sudden decision — and so can no longer help with membership, but tells them Valentina (Katie Lee Hill), the new creative director, will be able to assist with that.

A VIP Client Gets Less-Than-VIP Treatment in ‘Elsbeth’ Season 2 Episode 4

While they wait for Valentina, Judith asks Roslyn if she knows which pieces she wants to wear to the reopening gala, and shows her a pair of earrings by the same designer she wore to her third wedding. They’re then joined by Valentina, who quickly and firmly informs them that she’s paused all new membership applications until after the Vivienne’s rebrand is complete, as one of her initiatives as creative director is to move forward with the times. She also denies Roslyn’s request to see a pair of earrings until Roslyn can provide her with proof of funds, which she says should have been standard practice, but was apparently something associates like Judith weren’t enforcing.

Like most people with too much money, Roslyn is offended at having to offer the proof of funds, but agrees to do so anyway. A call to her accountant reveals that Roslyn has just under $1 million left in her trust account, an unlivable sum according to her. Celeste proposes Roslyn sell her jewelry, but the idea is dismissed as ludicrous. Celeste, it turns out, is also facing financial troubles as sales of her frozen yogurt brand decline. Desperate — and a little drunk — Celeste tells Roslyn to just “take back” all the funds that Vivienne’s took from her. Roslyn initially laughs at the idea of a jewel heist on the boutique, but suddenly, the idea doesn’t seem so funny.

Roslyn meets with Judith for lunch, a first for the longtime “friends” — and reveals that she didn’t invite her out for a meal, but instead to recruit her for her heist, citing Valentina’s disrespect of herself and Judith as a motive. While Roslyn doesn’t make her proposal in so many words, Judith catches on right away and tells her to count her in. She asks Roslyn if she has a fence — someone to make the fakes and help them sell the real pieces in secret. Celeste introduces the crew to Hughie (Adrian Martinez), who makes knockoff designer bags for her, and Roslyn explains to him how they’re going to pull off the theft itself. At Vivienne’s upcoming gala, A-listers and members will be permitted to borrow pieces from the collection for one night only to wear to the party, held inside the store building. Because they don’t know which pieces they’re stealing yet, as they won’t find out until closer to the show, Hughie instructs them to keep the pieces simple for easier recreation. Roslyn’s Three has now grown to Roslyn’s Four. Their next step is to grow the crew to five with a rare gem expert who can verify the pieces for them to ensure they look real.

That expert comes in the form of Claude (Patrick Breen), a Vivienne’s employee who, among other expert duties, polishes clients’ silverware collections, and this is the excuse Vivienne seizes on to speak to him alone, after hours. She tells the rest of the crew that Claude has money troubles, and that she saw him leaving a conversation with Valentina in tears, making him the perfect final addition to their group. She tries to win him over to their side, praising his skill with gems, and drops enough hints that he figures out what she’s up to — even going so far as to reference Ocean’s 8, saying she’s looking for her “Mindy Kaling” — but unfortunately for Roslyn, Claude has no interest in taking part in her heist. He even goes so far as to say he never cared for her, calling her “trash”, and excuses himself to go call Valentina, who recently made him head of his department, and whom he respects tremendously. Why he feels the need to narrate the plot rather than go along with it until he can get hold of Valentina — or why he doesn’t just tell her everything in the voicemail he leaves — is beyond me, but he’s gone long enough for Roslyn to add silver polish — which contains cyanide — to his tea, using the spoon he was cleaning. Tea that he drinks immediately upon returning, and which kills him almost instantly.

Roslyn then leaves, but not before pouring herself a cup of tea, only to leave her lipstick mark on the rim. Judith arrives at Roslyn’s the next day, where Celeste is already waiting, to immediately learn that Roslyn is behind her colleague’s death because he wouldn’t come on board with their plan. Roslyn also tells her that the plan is still on, as their needs for funds haven’t changed, and she’s also gone the extra step to make sure it looks like she was poisoned too. Obviously, she’s got a plan beyond lipstick on a teacup rim, and if you were ever the kid with morbid interests, then you probably noticed Roslyn making herself cup after cup of apple juice in her juicer…

Meanwhile back at Vivienne’s, Elsbeth (Carrie Preston) and Officer Kaya Blanke (Carra Patterson) arrive to investigate Claude’s death, alongside Detective Donnelly (Molly Price), who is already on the scene, speaking with Valentina. Valentina tells them that Claude was an expert in verifying pieces, who also polished silver for the members who shop there, and that Roslyn was the last person to see him alive. However, Blanke joins them and informs them that CSU has ruled his death an accident, saying it’s common for jewellers to accidentally ingest cleaning solution. Claude was an expert and would have known better than to accidentally stir silver polish into his tea, but Valentina gratefully latches onto CSU’s ruling, and agrees that it must have been an accident, as she doesn’t want the bad publicity that a murder investigation would bring while the store is preparing to reopen to the public after a five-year renovation. Roslyn arrives on the scene, and tells them that she saw Claude the night before while he was polishing a pair of candlesticks for her, and that the two of them shared tea while she was there. Elsbeth notes that her teacup has lipstick on the outside rim and the inside rim — making it a tad tricky to actually get liquid in your mouth — but Roslyn’s real motive in coming soon becomes clear when she tells them all that she feels sick, and stumbles over to a couch to faint in as comfortable a fashion as possible.

Back at Roslyn’s, Donnelly tells her that her blood work showed cyanide in her system, and that she was lucky to have survived. Elsbeth agrees, and as the investigative crew prepares to leave, she goes to throw away the water bottle Roslyn gave her, and notices an extreme amount of apple pulp in the trash can. Celeste covers quickly, telling them she and Roslyn were trying to work out new flavors for her frozen yogurt company — a company, it turns out, Elsbeth is a fan of, to Celeste’s delight — but Roslyn politely throws them out before Elsbeth can ask anything more. At the precinct, Captain Wagner (Wendell Pierce) tells them all that the medical examiner has officially ruled the death as accidental cyanide poisoning, suggesting he polished the cups and didn’t rinse them out before using them. Elsbeth and Blanke don’t buy the excuse, citing how meticulous he was in his work. Besides the fact that I know better because I know he was murdered, I also wouldn’t buy the excuse purely because you don’t polish porcelain and silver with the same cleaning agent — and really, they ought to have talked to at least one other jeweler before drawing conclusions on the likelihood of accidental poisoning.

Elsbeth and Blanke theorize that something else is going on here, and it isn’t as simple as accidental poisoning, despite Wagner’s attempts to rein them in. They suggest that the cyanide in her system would make for a great alibi, and Elsbeth once again reiterates that people don’t press their top lip on the inside of a cup when drinking. Wagner is unwilling to entertain this any further, not because he thinks it doesn’t make sense, but because Vivienne’s has insisted they back off from investigating further due to the planned reopening. Donnelly agrees to go along with it, and before they leave his office, Wagner gives them all raffle tickets. In an attempt to inject a bit of “fun” into the workplace — looks like he took that feedback seriously after all — he tells them he’s raffling off a lunch with him, his treat.

Elsbeth and Blanke Move In Together in ‘Elsbeth’ Season 2 Episode 4

Later, at Elsbeth’s, she and Blanke move some boxes into the apartment, as Blanke is undergoing some renovations at her place, and will be staying with Elsbeth in the meantime. Elsbeth is delighted that her friend is going to be staying with her, but is surprised that Blanke wants to pay for part of the rent, and even more surprised that Blanke also included a standard rental agreement to lay down some ground rules for them staying together. Blanke insists she’d just feel more comfortable that way, but to diffuse some of the tension, she suggests they take a break and get some fro-yo. To their surprise, however, every location of Celeste’s FroYo company is permanently closed, and Elsbeth learns that the company actually filed for bankruptcy as well, meaning Celeste was lying about all the apple pulp in Roslyn’s trash can. A quick search reveals that apple seeds contain trace amounts of cyanide, and ingesting enough of them would lead to cyanide showing up on a blood test. Roslyn’s alibi is out the window, now all they need is a motive. The two of them “run into” Celeste outside her apartment to try and figure out why she would be covering for Roslyn, but don’t get much further than Celeste explaining she and Roslyn don’t bring money into their friendship, as well as Celeste indirectly confirming that her company has gone out of business.

The two head to Vivienne’s next, where Valentina is adamant that Claude’s death was an accident. She refuses to answer more of their questions until Elsbeth pulls the lawyer card and says that Roslyn could potentially sue them for the cyanide-infested tea, and it would look bad to a judge if Valentina doesn’t answer them. With her now on board, Elsbeth asks about any bad blood that might have existed between Roslyn and the company, and Valentina says Roslyn didn’t much care for her since she demanded she provide her proof of funds, though she adds that Roslyn did email her the required proof the day after Claude died. When they realize Valentina is new to the company, brought in as part of the reorganization, they’re directed to Judith, who tells them she’s known Roslyn as a client for 25 years. She also tells them, though not in so many words, that she’s being pushed out of her job at the end of the quarter as part of their new reorganization structure.

In her office, Elsbeth is going over Roslyn’s proof of funds, and tells Blanke she suspects it’s fake because people as wealthy as Roslyn is wouldn’t keep all their income in one account — and exhibits just enough knowledge on the subject of what wealthy people do with their money that Blanke realizes Elsbeth is a lot more flush with cash than she lets on. Blanke runs a quick test and confirms that the document is AI-generated, but wonders why Roslyn would go to the trouble of getting into the building if she doesn’t have the means to shop there anyway. Elsbeth suggests Roslyn wanted to be able to get in and leave with jewelry she didn’t pay for, when the two of them are interrupted by Donnelly, who, far from being upset at them investigating behind Wagner’s back, demands to be let in on whatever they’re doing, as she’s always wanted to bust a jewelry heist.

Roslyn’s Alibi Falls Apart in ‘Elsbeth’ Season 2 Episode 4

At Roslyn’s, the heist crew goes over the plan for the night of the gala, with Judith doing most of the legwork to ensure that the fakes Roslyn turns in at the end of the night are authenticated properly. The plan really wouldn’t work without her, which makes it extra insulting when Elsbeth shows up and Roslyn, in an effort to hide her tracks, shoves Judith in the closet to wait it out. Elsbeth, it turns out, has arrived with an apple pie for Roslyn, and uses the opportunity to poke around her apartment, singling out her perfectly set dining room table with fine china and silver dishes — and candlesticks — from Vivienne’s. She calls out the lack of silverware, and Roslyn makes an excuse before Elsbeth excuses herself, but not before noticing Judith’s distinctive work jacket draped over the back of one of the chairs.

She returns to the precinct, and along with Blanke and Donnelly, looks through the evidence box from Vivienne’s. She finds the spoon with the cyanide residue — which in my opinion should have dismissed the whole “the cups had cyanide on them” theory from CSU but what do I know — and notes that it’s from the same Vivienne’s collection as the rest of Roslyn’s dining set. She suspects that the reason Roslyn didn’t lay out the silverware was because the collection was now noticeably incomplete, and the presence of this spoon points the murder more firmly in Roslyn’s direction. She and Blanke go to find Captain Wagner and tell him they suspect Roslyn is planning to rob Vivienne’s.

They explain about the cyanide in the apple juice, and how Roslyn lied about seeing Claude polish her candlesticks, as both are still tarnished. Elsbeth tells him that instead, they suspect what Claude was actually polishing turned out to be the murder weapon, and that Claude was likely killed after Roslyn tried to recruit him for her heist and he refused. Between Roslyn and Celeste being strapped for cash, and Judith being forced into early retirement, the heist squad has plenty of motive for a robbery to go around. Though he’s still skeptical, Wagner gives them the go-ahead to bring Judith in for questioning. Wagner and Donnelly interrogate her, playing “good cop bad cop” and telling her that unless she confesses, she’ll be an accessory to murder. Judith confesses that she was a part of the heist crew, and adds that she knows Roslyn killed Claude, but isn’t sure how. They ask if she ever sold Roslyn any silverware, and she says she didn’t, causing the one snag in their otherwise airtight solution, but while they puzzle that out, Judith writes out the details of the planned heist. A call to Valentina confirms that no one else sold her the silverware either, which makes the whole thing difficult to prove, even with Judith’s confession, until Blanke suggests they try and catch the heist in the act. Elsbeth and Wagner visit Valentina, who is skeptical that Roslyn would try something like this, but she suggests they all show up to the gala anyway, to ensure nothing goes wrong.

The night of the gala, Roslyn’s plan kicks off, with her signing out her loaned pieces with Judith’s help as planned while Celeste distracts Valentina. She is startled, however, to see Elsbeth at the gala, and doesn’t linger with her for very long before excusing herself to carry out part two of her plan, which is to cause a flood on the 15th floor — where the members normally shop — in order to sneak Hughie as a handyman. With Valentina’s authorization, Judith shuts down the entire floor so Hughie can replace the stones. As he wraps up and leaves, Roslyn can’t leave well enough alone and steals the missing spoon from her collection off the display on the wall, lingering just long enough to be caught by Elsbeth, Blanke, Donnelly and Wagner. They lead her to the conclusion that she was behind both the heist and the murder, filling in the blank about how she came to own the silverware by revealing it was purchased for her by her mother off her wedding registry. They arrest Roslyn, with Elsbeth cheerfully telling Judith that they reached a deal for her with the DA within Roslyn’s earshot, before arresting Hughie too.

As they leave, Elsbeth shows Blanke their amended lease agreement, which she kept largely the same, only working in a provision for mandatory fro-yo nights. The next day, Celeste calls Elsbeth and Blanke to Roslyn’s place, and explains that she was supposed to sell all Roslyn’s jewels to pay for their defense, but her entire collection is missing. Blanke asks if anyone else had access to the room — though she and Elsbeth don’t seem overly concerned — and a flashback reveals that after Judith was shoved in the closet to hide her from Elsbeth, she took it upon herself to relieve Roslyn of her jewelry collection, which she then sold. Using the funds, the episode ends with Judith living the high life in Paris.

The first four episodes of Elsbeth are out now. New episodes premiere on CBS on Thursdays, and stream next day on Paramount+.

Watch on Paramount+