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At a chic New York benefit, attorney‑turned‑sleuth Elsbeth Tascioni unexpectedly crosses paths with her old friend Marissa Gold, now running the campaign of rising mayoral candidate Alec Bloom. Meanwhile, a grim turn of events: the seasoned arts patron Dolores Feinn dies in a suspicious oxygen‑tank explosion, and journal‑editor Gary Pidgeon is front and center. As Elsbeth digs into the nonprofit world (“the arts are under attack!”), she teams with Detective Rivers to unravel what seems like a money‑motived murder. And just as the poem ends, Marissa drops an ominous request: Elsbeth’s the one who holds the city’s fate.
00:04 – Elsbeth arrives at the nonprofit arts benefit and reconnects with Marissa Gold
00:14 – Dolores Feinn confronts Gary Pidgeon about publishing her poem
00:21 – Dolores dies in an oxygen‑tank mishap orchestrated by Gary
00:32 – Gary tries to cover his tracks; Elsbeth begins her investigation
00:39 – Marissa invites Elsbeth to dinner with Alec Bloom as a campaign strategy
00:42 – Elsbeth and Rivers extract Gary’s confession with a clever stunt
00:44 – Marissa reveals her leak, tells Elsbeth the city is in her hands
We’d love your feedback—if you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast! And if you’d like to support our show financially, you can donate here: https://buymeacoffee.com/goodpod
Creators and Guests
Host
What is The Good Pod?
Calling all fans of courtroom intrigue and complex characters! Join us each week as we dive deep into the gripping world of "The Good Wife," "The Good Fight", "Elsbeth," and the entire legal drama universe created by Robert and Michelle King. Jason Reed and Marissa Garza, break down each episode, unpack intricate plot lines, and analyze the moral dilemmas faced by Alicia Florrick, Diane Lockheart, Elsbeth Tascioni, and their colleagues. Whether you're a longtime fan or new to these addictive shows, you'll gain fresh insights and catch details you might have missed.
# Elsbeth S3 E5
[00:00:00]
Welcome to the Good Pod, where today we're talking Elsbeth, season three, episode five, poetic Justice. I'm one of your hosts, Jason Reed. With me as always, the one, the only, Marissa Gara. Marissa. You good? I'm good. You good? I'm good. I'm good. Yeah. Uh, Marissa, you doing okay here in season three? I'm doing okay.
I'm doing all right. Good. I do have a poem for you. I do have a poem for you. A poem. You wrote me a poem. Okay. Wait. Just let me save for the moment before it me include anything that makes you know is not nice. Okay. Ready? One. Oh, that was so nice, Jason. Yeah. Two. That was really great. Fantastic for, I can't believe you did that for me.
Okay. You may not read it. Uh, roses are red. Uhhuh violets are blue. Mm. Uh. Pens. Love Marissa. Ooh, Marissa loves pens too. Oh my gosh, that was so good. Yeah, I know, right? I think we would totally [00:01:00] be picked up by Pigeon Press. That was amazing. Yeah, for sure. For sure. As long as we are promised to make, uh, some sort of, uh, financial endowment, uh, listen, that was off top of the dome, so yeah.
No one hate, no one hate, one hate. Okay, hit go. Uh, yeah. Uh, here we are, uh, working our way through ELs of season three. Just trudging along and, uh, finally got our long promise guest starring role. We'll talk about that when the time is right. Um, but before we get deep into the episode, we want to remind you of some free and easy ways that you out there can support this podcast.
If you choose to do so. You can do that by reviewing, rating and subscribing wherever it is you are watching or listening to this podcast. Uh, you can also, if you have any questions you want to ask us about anything, any comments you wanna leave, you can also email us at the good pod feedback@gmail.com if you want to not do free and easy.
But you know, the arts are under attack. That's right. The arts are under attack. We as a [00:02:00] creator, uh, content creators as we create art every week for you guys out there, we are creating art two times a week right now for you guys. So if you wanna support the small arts, the fine arts is what I call this podcast.
Yes, fine arts. Yes. You can always donate monetarily to us at the good pod at, uh, buy me coffee.com/good pod. Uh, those monies go directly into the pockets of the artists and a little bit, a little bit to buy me a coffee too. Well just, yeah. Yeah. It was so nice. They a tiny bit. They a tiny bit. But we get most of it.
Okay. And buy me a coffee.com/good pod. Check us out there, donate if you can. We would love you for it. Uh, Marissa, we had all that all the way. Let's dive into the episode. All right, let's do a quick little summary and then we'll talk about like who was in this episode. We had a lot of, we had a lot of starters ish people in this mix.
You had some familiar faces. Um, but [00:03:00] without further ado, in this episode, we meet Gary Pigeon, the very stressed out founder of Pigeon Press, who is watching his publishing house crumble as the arts are under attack. I should, I really think they got that home. I really think they drove that one home to us.
Well done. A plus. He is been counting on longtime patron Dolores fine to keep their lights on, but Dolores isn't having it. She reminds Gary that she's never been published by her beloved. He's never published her beloved epic poem. So she's cutting him off financially, kind of like she's just not giving to him.
Uh, Gary panics and when he finds out that Dolores must be cosing up with a, might be cosing up up with another publishing house, he decides to. Take matters into his own hands. Dolores has always carried an oxygen tank and Gary knows that she's a smoker, so she sabotages her setup and lets the oxygen flow and then conveniently calls her while she's home just as she lights a cigarette and boom goes The oxygen tank.
Not really the [00:04:00] dynamite. Well, that's all hap happening. Elsbeth is at a benefit with Dr. Yassky, who you might remember from season one and season two of Elsbeth where she runs into an old friend, long awaited. The girl who spells her name correctly, Marissa Gold. Marissa's been working with Meel candidate named Alec Bloom, and she's, uh, leaning on some of her dad's.
Her dad Eli's cl Classic political moves. She even started playing matchmaker, kind of, sort of, but also with the motive of what Marissa needs for the campaign between Alec and Elsbeth, which just say Elizabeth has some complicated feelings about. Meanwhile, Elizabeth learns about Dolores's death and convinces Captain Wagner to let her investigate.
Captain Wagner seems to have an investigation of his own going on because he is distracted by his daughter's very public relationship with Detective Rivers. So Rivers gets assigned to that case to kind of pull him away from his daughter. Together they uncover that pigeon Press has suddenly [00:05:00] gotten a suspicious financial glow up.
New furniture raises the whole thing, and later we learned Dolores only left the left her poetry and a measly $416. Eventually Rivers figures out that close can be discolored by oxygen exposure. And with that. That and some help from a doorman and a dry cleaner. They get a full con confession from Gary before the credits roll.
Marissa pulls Elsbeth aside and says, I need your help. The entire state of New York is in your, or New York City is in your hands. So we had a little bit of mo murder, a little bit of politics, a little bit of matchmaking, a little bit of nostalgia, and Elsbeth was right in the middle of it. Yeah. So, you know, we talked a little bit last week about, wow, stick this murder.
It's taken a long time, and I think that's maybe the status quo from now on. Yeah. Is that the, the murder up front takes about five, five to eight-ish minutes, uh, of, of screen time in the beginning, which, you [00:06:00] know, I think is okay. I, I think. I think maybe in the, what we lost in the Kaia Ellsworth storyline relationship is getting filled in by the murder upfront, I think.
'cause we're, we're spending less time with the, with Ellsworth's personal life and, and piling up with Kaa. And so now I think that's gone to the, the murder which it depe depending on the episode, I think you'll, your miles will vary on whether or not you appreciate it or not. Yeah. I think what was interesting or what I'm finding interesting about this new setup is we are learning a lot more about the murderer and the murdered, um mm-hmm.
Before the crime happens. And that used to be where Elle's Beths really shine. So to your point in terms of, you've been talking about like how she would always find circumstantial evidence because she was trying to figure out like the motive most of the time, right? Like, why did this happen? How did this happen?
That type of thing. We now know how and why we don't. You, we used to know a little [00:07:00] bit of the what, the why and all of the how. And so now Ellizabeth has really held the task here. She had to solve this case with something that would stand up in court with something that would be definite. And she kind of coerced this confession to happen, um, by using her friends, the doorman and the dry cleaner.
Mm-hmm. And Rivers who has had a change of hearts and change of attitude and a change of direction. All good reason River Society personality glow up, that's for sure. Yeah. Um, forced or not? It, it, it's happened. Um, but yeah. Uh, we had, uh, was, uh, I'm sorry, Sean William Harper, his, his name. Yes, yes. Yeah. Gary, who's here, he played Pigeon.
Hey Gary. So, uh, if you'll remember him from The Good Place, I think, I think Good Place was such a, a moment like for, for sitcom television. Uh, if you don't remember, it was a, about, basically about people that, uh, were in the [00:08:00] afterlife and it was, uh. You know, supposedly the good place, uh, AKA heaven and things transpired from there in that, in that show, that took a lot of interesting directions.
But yeah, it was like philosophy, like a master's course in philosophy. 'cause they took like every afterlife structure from every like, religion and everything and kind of explored it. But there was always frozen yogurt and that's what really made me happy. Yes. Uh, William Jackson Harper, I got the name wrong, sorry.
William Jackson Harper. He's Gary here. Um, I thought he did a good job with what he was, was given to do. I think he has that classic kind of neurotic like, uh, sensibility about him in a way. And also that, uh, when he played Cheaty in the Good Place, it was like. He was very funny when he was very like annoyed and aggravated and he really got kind of like showed that here as well in, in every instance when he was being led onto, especially at the end where he kind of like El would kind of makes him like blow his top about Dolores and how he really [00:09:00] felt about her poetry.
And he'd goes on this like a rant about how terrible she was and how he had to do what he had to do for his, for his art. Uh, it's, it is, it is those moments where he really, he really comes into play here in the best way. Well, and I think, um, as from my perspective as someone who's worked in nonprofits, um, a plus way to go, it's such an uncomfortable feeling to be in because you're doing this thing for the good of humanity, right?
Like you're, but at the same time we live in a capitalistic society, so. I've had to have conversations and even design marketing campaigns about leaving money to an organization when you die, it's not an easy conversation to have, and it's really kind of awkward, but it is the way that that world works.
And it's just like, I cannot believe, like I, the whole time I was trying to put myself in Gary's shoes of like, oh yeah, this sex, because also we forgot to mention that Dolores is a crap poet. She, she thinks she's so great. She thinks she's amazing. But Jason's poem, the, the start of this podcast was way better than [00:10:00] anything.
We heard her, her right, recite anything like that. Um, so Gary's in this position of like wanting, seeing this woman who is giving on the. Like perception that she has a lot of money. She's got lots of jewelry. She lives in a high rise apartment, like old New York high rise apartment, and she, you know, goes to all these restaurants and lives this fancy life and all of this stuff, and has been having the conversation of like, I will leave you this stuff in my will.
So he's thinking, this lady's loaded. Let me continue having the conversation. Times are tough if you haven't heard arts are under attack. Tries to get, tries to get, um, more money out of her. She's just like, no, but you gotta put up my, my poem. And he's like, but it sucks so much. Like he can't bring himself to do it from the art standpoint.
Yeah. And I mean, Marissa, have you ever had to like, you know, put up with, uh, ordinary people or less than polite people to like, uh mm-hmm. For the betterment or for the good of, of a [00:11:00] museum or whatever you're Yes. Whatever you're doing. Yes. Because most times, especially for nonprofit workers. Who work specifically in fundraising that is a tied to, sometimes it's just like sales, like sometimes it's tied to a commission or sometimes that's tied to like a company goal and you know, you have to go through these uncomfortable conversations because you have to get the money at the end of the day.
And it's just, I'll tell you how bad it was while we were brainstorming for one campaign. When I worked for a local girl scout council, the best I could come up with was Earn your last badge. Earn. Earn your last badge. Yeah, earn like an earn. Like earn like URN. Yeah. Yes. Your last badge. Because like instead of earn like this, this is not as good of a joke as I thought it was.
If I was explaining it this much to you, Jason. But like earn, because like in Girl Scouts you earn badges. Yeah. Yeah. But if you are wait, not live [00:12:00] anymore, you, you don't To Eagle Scout here I know about. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Okay. So yeah. Yeah. But then you earn your batch. What? What? Wait, wait. What's the, what was the, I was trying to make up pun on Urn to like the whole campaign to the Earn Your Last Batch campaign to say, Hey, when you die, leave us your money.
Oh, and that's where you can, or Yeah, that's, yeah. That's where your brain goes. Yeah, Jason. Yeah. Yeah. That's like where your brain goes when you have to like, think of these things. Also, way to go as a go. A gold award. Girl Scout and an Eagle Scout on the pod. That's right's. Talk about, that's talk about leaders.
We're leaders. Yes. Yes. May earn your last badge. Woo. That's, yeah. But like, that's where your brain goes when you're in these spots and it's like, that's morbid bro. That's morbid. How are you supposed to, I mean, there's only so many ways philanthropies have been around for so long. Like there's only so many ways you can say things.
Yeah. I'll just tell you, [00:13:00] um, the team voted no on that. Yeah. But, but you know, like that's just how you sometimes and that's also how I would just get through some of these conversations. It's just like, he's like, I don't know. Earn your last badge. Yeah. Like, I don't know. Whatever. Yeah. Oh wow. That's great.
I love that. I now I'm gonna, I'm gonna be thinking all week about better pitches than earn your last Match. My God. Lemme know. Let know if you have any, I'll let you know. Um. Yeah. So I mean, not only is Dolores a crap poet, yes. But she's kind of like a crap person as well as Oh yeah. Because we find out in the whole, this whole thing, oh, she has this oxygen tank, which everyone thinks is legit and valid, and she, but we find out, because first of all, Dr.
Olansky apparently knows her and was like, yo, she never uses her oxygen tank. And then later they find out that she never refilled a prescription for oxygen. So this lady has been lugging this thing around to get good tables at restaurants, [00:14:00] and then have other people pay for them. Yeah. And she's just overall kind of like crappy toward Gary, like, yeah.
So she's not, she's not a happy person. She just, yes. Um, and you know, there's a moment where Dolores goes, I'll get this poem published if it's the last thing I do. I was like, oh, okay. So Dolores is the, uh, victim here. 'cause you know, she, when she says that, you know, she's gonna be the one to die. Um, yeah. Do you think it was gonna be the other way around?
No. No, no. I, I, you know, obviously I, I was like, oh, well obviously this is probably gonna be Dolores's Day to go. But then when she goes, oh, okay, this poem publish is the last thing I do, I was like, okay. Yeah. Heavy handed way of telling us she's about to be the victim here. Yeah. Um, let's talk a little bit about the, the murder.
The murder. Uh, murder. The murder. The murder. Um, the way, the way the murder took place. I don't, my brain tried the, the method. The murder method. Murder method. There you go. Perfect. So Gary goes, and he, well, let's also talk about it. He [00:15:00] finds out mm-hmm. That Lores might, because Gary will not publish her poem.
Mm-hmm. Dolores might be going to a different, uh, poetry. Magazine paper. Yes. Yes. Uh, to bequeath her, you know, wealth. Yes. I'll just say that. Her wealth, we don't know At this point, we are also assuming it is tons of money to bequeath all the money she has after she dies. Correct. Which is a true statement.
True statement. Can't, can't deny that. Uh, listen, we don't know. Did she ever say to anyone how much money she said did, do we know she lied. We don't know. If she lied out, she could have just been, I will leave you all the rest of my money. Which I have to say from a nonprofit management standpoint. They should have known, because there's a whole process that you have to go through when you fill all this stuff out.
It's not just a like you promise, you promise you're gonna do that. Yeah. Like there's a whole, a whole thing. But I mean, there's only so much you can do in an episode of television. I'm not gonna. Hold them to too much account. But yes, they, they [00:16:00] were, they didn't know, or their staff didn't tell them. Mm-hmm.
And so, because Gary is hemming and hawing about putting Dolores's poem in his, uh, pa, the pages of his magazine, uh, she is threatening to go to the competition, the tumbleweed. Mm-hmm. Led by Dero Fred here. Fred. And so Gary is feeling the pressure. Gary's like Gary runs to Fred Fred's on his way up to make his case to Dolores.
Giving, getting a, like a, it looked like a little charcuterie board or a gift basket that probably costs more than what Dolores ended up having to bequeath. Yeah. She died. Yes, a hundred percent. So Fred's making his pitch and Gary's like, oh, I better like, let me go check in with the accountant. Who, the accountant, the accountant could have saved Dolores's life right here.
No, but she couldn't, like, well first of all, she would have to have been a lawyer because an accountant doesn't read a law. A will at the time. Mm-hmm. Which I thought was funny. She was a state lawyer. Yes. She's, yeah. Something like that. But that's client privilege, I guess. Be like, I mean. But Gary, [00:17:00] like, trust me.
Well, no, I mean, either way she gave the right advice because when, when Gary asked her, she said, if I were you, I'd be looking for different funding, which he is reading. Like, oh my God, I'm gonna lose all this money. But she is like literally telling him There is nothing here. And also I think this is gonna save you.
It's not gonna save you. Well, I also went throwing like, don't be pressed, bro. Even if she leaves and goes somewhere else, don't Yeah, like, don't be pressed. It's okay. Like, trust me, trust me. Like big wink, like, trust me, you'll be okay without this money from Dolores. Like, you'll be all right. Um, she could have saved, saved Dolores's life right there.
But ga so she, he kind of infers from what the estate lawyer tells him that yes, this is a true thing that might be happening, that Dolores might be going to the tumbleweed other than him. So he's like, Hmm, how can I make sure that I get that? How can I make sure that this, the only transcript doesn't go [00:18:00] through?
Trigger of this workflow is someone has to die. The only way we can get it is if Dolores dies now, dies today, which is, is always, I always find it funny where these people have such leaps to murder of like their motives to murder of like. You know, you know how to fix this death. I'll kill someone, I'll murder someone.
So yeah. Gary, who you mentioned, you know, Dolores has this huge oxygen tank she lugs around and also we found out that Dolores likes to smoke when she, uh, is com composing her posts. The muse. Yes. Yes. The Mus only comes to her when she's smoking. Jason, like she's a serious artist. She cannot go without it.
Yeah. Lung cancer, it's no artist created without the Marlboro man. The ma man, the Marlboro man. Marlboro man, uh, does lung cancer inspires ORs. The camel or the camel? I missed the camel I used, I I was that, that camel was a part of my childhood. Let me tell you. I used to look at pictures of that camel, be like, oh, that's a cool camel.
And he [00:19:00] was cool, Joe. I mean, like we had like a whole. Which pro, which probably which so cool. Either one. One was Snoopy, one was the camel. I don't remember. Uh, which probably should also tell you why they decided to do a do away with the camel because it was, uh, too cool for kids. Like, I wanna be like the camel and smoke the cigarette.
Yeah. So I was gonna, the camel, the marketing worked because we remember the camel and also at least I do California raisins. These are things that I remember. Ooh, the California raisins. I had a California raisins action figure. Yeah. I don't know where I got it from, but I had it. I think my mom probably bought it for me at some point.
I don't know why. Um, but like there was a part about childhood. I remember the, the commercials, all that stuff, man. Childhood unlocked, let me tell you. And also, um, advertising works. Yes, for sure, for sure. It sticks with you, but not earn your last badge. That one was a good one. No, no, that one was not, that was not great.
Uh, it was not great Marissa. Um, but yeah, so Gary knows she likes to smoke when [00:20:00] she writes. And Gary, Gary handed to Gary because Gary decided to get himself on alibi. Not a lot of our murderers do that. He, yeah. Not a lot of murderers, but like a solid alibi. A lot of murderers. But it was also double, right.
Uhhuh, like, it was a double alibi because he showed up at the tumbleweeds benefit at the time, and then also called her at the time. So there was, he was, he was doubling up, which like, even beyond what we usually see people see, but the call did trip him up though the call, like I, I, I think he, he, I think he would've done better if he had tried to incept in Dolores's mind like a time for her to do her.
Thing. Yeah. To like, Hey, you know, I hear the best time for writing poetry is 8:00 PM or Friday night when the same time this benefits happening. I'm gonna be at, I'll publish anything you get to me by the, by 7:00 PM tonight. Oh, yeah, yeah. You know, like something like that. Because, um, he, he calls us, she's alive and he's like, I laugh.
Yeah. Well, well, because before [00:21:00] he goes to the benefit, he, he visits Dolores and he takes the one of the valves off the oxygen tank. So the oxygen, the oxygen from the tank will fill the room. Yes. So that when Dolores, the next time she does spark up to light her cigarette, it will go, boom. Things will explode because oxygen and fire, no.
Great. No, not great. No. Unless you, unless you're trying to start a fire, then great. Unless you're, if you're a survivor. Works. Uh, yeah. But, um, good luck getting your oxygen tank. Well maybe listen, that would probably, that would probably not fly, but also it should fly for accessibility purposes. We, we've had all types of survivor.
Maybe one day we'll get, we'll get some of the oxygen they're trying to run the challenge. I I, but there should be an adapted version for people. Everyone deserves to play survivor. Um, yeah. And the challenge will be who can crochet an of mid holder the fastest? Tell me the, okay, Jason next. C Any challenge I, if [00:22:00] I was running a senior center, that would a hundred percent be what I be doing, who can get their hearing aid batteries out the fastest replacement.
Yeah. But also like, let's crochet a puzzle. Let's put the puzzle together. For sure, for sure. Um, who could get to the bathroom with their walker the fastest? Yes. Yes. Uh, but yeah, so Gary made sure to un undo the vow for the oxygen. He, he had no like. He had no chill. He was just like, unscrew boom. Oh yeah.
Oxygen's like sweating. And he's like, all right, let I'm out. Cool. And while he did that, I was like, fingerprints. And then I was like, oh, it's gonna blow, blow up. Yeah. It's gonna be blown up. Nothing, nothing. Fingerprint. Uh, so you make sure that the oxygen's flowing in the apartment, he leaves, he gets to the benefit.
He called Dolores, who I, I think he was already hoping that she had gone boom at this point because he was mad when she answered. He is like, dammit. Like, why aren't you like, I thought you was supposed to be writing your poem and also, uh, sparking up a cigarette. Why you do it? And she's like, [00:23:00] what did he say to her?
He is like, uh, I hear that. You know, the nighttime is like the biggest Yeah. News for writing or something. Yeah. He said something to inspire her to go and start writing in her quote unquote nook. And when she goes right in her nook, as she said, she likes to light up a cigarette, and she does that and all we see is boom.
And then, and then, because this is how desperate he is being a nonprofit manager or Gary Pigeon. He's like, I can't wait for the body. If somebody to find the body, I can't do that. I gotta call 9 1 1 and let them do a wellness check because, and find her, because we gotta expedite this process. I need that money.
Yeah. And not, not like, because I mean, listen, uh, Gary to her apartment just exploded. I think someone's gonna call 9 1 1. Probably the person above, below or beside her. Is gonna, I, I hope he didn't act, you know, because how big of an explosion was everybody else is. Okay. I dunno. Yeah. [00:24:00] Interesting. Because listen, I, I think someone's got it.
Gary and Gary. This is definitely a part of what gets Gary caught. 'cause Gary calls 9 1 1, he then tells them that he tried to call Dolores back and it didn't go through. I was like, why, why the unnecessary lie? You didn't need to add that lie in there. You could have just said, never tried to call. Yeah.
Like these murders, they try and do too much. That's the problem. You didn't need to call 9 1 1 in the first place and then you didn't also need to lie to nine one operators. Why you're calling them. You could have been like, I was talking to my el elderly friend and the line went dead, so I wanna make sure she's okay.
Not like that. You call her back like, come on bro. That, that was his, that was his first big mess up and that was like. That was a lot of tv. Like we just, we could, that could have been an entire episode that we just talked about. Like that was a lot. But we haven't even gotten to the Elsbeth yet. Yeah. So we, we like, we then get to the Elsbeth Pro and we've had some interesting ways that Elsbeth has jumped into a case this season.
Mm-hmm. And this is also pretty interesting because this is a [00:25:00] case that Ellsworth kind of inserted herself into. Okay. But this is like the only time that I've been watching this, that the consent decree actually makes sense because she, first of all, because one, I know what a consent decree actually is now.
Um, but two, she like hears about this because she's at a benefit, like I mentioned with Dr. Lansky, but also Gary Pigeon is there. It's like all the. Benefiting people and also Marissa and Alec, which we'll talk about. But she finds out that Dolores has been murdered and she takes this under the, I think we judge this too soon.
Let me investigate this even more. So this is like the only time she actually uses her consent decree as opposed to already being on the case or anything like this. She's able to come in and kind of correct a mistake of the police department before it gets caught, before it goes too far. Which just kind of again, okay.
So I guess the consent decree is like still in play here. She is still the consent [00:26:00] decree lawyer. 'cause the world's longest consent decree. Yeah. 'cause we were thinking at a certain point that like the consent decree was over and Wagner had to like, pay out of his own department's budget to get SBE as a consultant.
But I guess it's still going, I guess. Okay, sure. Uh, or is it just something that uses, like, you know, when they feel like it, when they, when the, when the story fits. Because like, you know, she hears about this and she hears from Yassky that, you know, I mean, listen, she don't even use her oxygen. Like it's just a tool for her to get, uh, to get into restaurants in a, in a good table.
So Elva was like, huh, Elva gets that light bulb over her head and I guess she has nothing else to do right now. She's like, I don't have an active case going, let me insert myself into this case. And so Ellsworth being Ellizabeth decides she's found, figured out, something suspicious. And so let's investigate.
Yeah. Let's talk a little bit about what else goes on at this. Do you wanna talk about the rest of the benefit? Like what happens at the benefit? Sure. If you [00:27:00] want with Marissa and Alec. Yeah, you want to, yeah, go for it. I mean, since we're at the benefit, we might as well talk about the benefit. Yeah. So, yeah, she runs it to Marissa, just like nonchalantly.
And we were talking about this before the pod. What did you think of this Marissa? This version of Marissa? Not me, by the way. Not that I would make this about me in any way, shape or form, but she does spell her name correctly with two S's in one R. Thank you so much. Yes. We We've always loved the Marissa Gold for that.
Yes. Um, so yeah, we met, we meet Marissa, we meet up with Marissa again, and it's a, it's this heartwarming, uh, thing. She comes up, she's like, Hey, how's going on? And yeah, spunky Marissa kind of, but I think we're used to a more. Dude, witty, acerbic, Marissa. And this was like less that. And we were talking last episode about like, what is it, what is she gonna be doing?
What is, what is her role going to be? And I mentioned to you that she was working for, uh, a mayoral candidate at last. I was like, oh, that's weird. Because she was supposed to be, uh, a [00:28:00] lawyer when we last saw Marissa in the good fight. And so Elizabeth says that, she's like, oh, like I thought you were supposed to be a lawyer.
Thank you. And Marissa goes, I mean, yeah, but what is even, what did she say? Like law. When there was the law. When there was the law. Yeah. Which I thought you would appreciate Marissa. Yes. You know, you're so like you, are you? Yes. So now she's kind of decided to follow in her father's footsteps, which, and be, which, yeah.
How have feeling? I got it. I got feelings. Yeah. Because, and I, without spoiling too much of the good fight. Marissa was a defense attorney at the end of all of this. Like she, she, she was participating in the court in the back of a copy house like this, this, she was, she was such a, a lawyer. Lawyer and I thought she had gone off to fight the good fight, you know, like at the, and so if I were to put Marissa Gold anywhere in the, I mean, I, I guess in [00:29:00] this part of the good verse, we don't have the current administration, maybe, although the arts are under attack, you know, it's really hard to, I would expect Marissa to be on like the front lines of the legal battles that are happening today.
Like, and not have given up so much on the law. And, um, she also like, while she is helping Alec with this. With this, um, election, she doesn't seem into it at all, and it seems too easy for her. And I'm like, why would you do this? Like, it just, it didn't make sense to me. And I feel like we lost a little bit of, I feel like this is like, I don't know if any of you watch Peacemaker, but I feel like this is the butterfly version of Marissa.
Like she's just a little bit different. She's just a little bit off. Um, and not the Marissa I remember from the Good Fight, which is okay. It's just, you know, the first time we're seeing it. Yeah. I mean, but I could also, I mean, we kind of get this sense that the law may have beaten Marissa down. Right.[00:30:00]
Agreed. Like she may have tried to fight the good fight, right? Yep. And through, and we see it so much in the Good Wife that we watch that we're talking about right now, all the time where. The law sometimes doesn't work. The law sometimes lets you down. Well, it works for the right people. Right. Or if it works for the people who wrote the laws, not for the people, right.
That didn't write the laws. So I can see in this universe where Marissa did try her hand at being a lawyer and being a defense lawyer, but maybe she had so many, uh, cases where she felt that the law didn't work for her client when it should have, that it may have disillusioned her in the law. I mean, I get, I get that sense where she says, you know, the law doesn't exist anymore.
So it's like, yeah, I get that sense from her. Uh, but to follow, we don't get that same sense of humanity from Marissa. Yeah. That we've gotten in the good wife and fight. We also didn't really, I really didn't feel that level of like. Comradery. Fight. Fight. Oh yeah, yeah. Comradery for sure. And also that fight that wit that, like that [00:31:00] humor from Marissa Don, we didn't see her like a whole lot.
And then we got like popups from her every now and again, but we didn't, it didn't feel like the trademark Marissa Gold that we used. And maybe, and maybe listen, maybe we are putting Marissa Gold on a huge pedestal right now. And yeah, we don't know. We had such high expectations and maybe this didn't meet those, uh, but I did appreciate seeing her on the screen and seeing that arm into the good wife and fight come in.
And I also did appreciate the, the hinting after the relationship between Marissa and Elsbeth that we found in mostly the good fight. Um, so I, I appreciated that, that level of it. I just wish you could have gotten a little more of that Marissa Gold spark that we used that we're used to, yeah. Yeah, and I mean, there is a point, like I, I have only watched the Good Fight once through, I haven't watched it in a while, so we'll see on the rewatch my pedestal from Marissa is so high.
I mean, you guys gotta understand, I grew up not being able to buy license plates or stickers [00:32:00] with my names or, or pencils with my name on it. So when there was a character named Marissa and she ended up being that cool, like I would, she was shot up there on the pedestal thing for me. Um, so we'll we'll see on the rewatch if she stays up there.
But I, I think, I think Jason, in this instance, you did a lot of writing for the show. I would love to hear what struggles she came up against. I would love to hear how she became disillusioned with the law and kind of understand that a little bit more. But we just got a, a passing comment of like, and not even the, like, I'll tell you all about it later, or.
Oh my gosh. Or another hint of it when they were at the bar and talking back and forth and like Elsbeth was telling her about the case, and she could have like shared a little bit more about that. I would've appreciated to have just a little bit of an intro to the world, I guess. I guess they're assuming, I don't know if they're, but it's seeming more, more that there's assuming that people who are watching Elsbeth may not have watched the other shows and [00:33:00] aren't necessarily looking as deeply as we are into these connections.
But it would've been nice just to see a little bit or hear a little bit more about why, but I, I, I could totally see that happening. You're right. Like I could totally see it happening. I just wanna know, what was it? Was it immigration? Was it, you know, like what was the thing that got her to. Not be part of it anymore.
I think it's true that the, the tr probably trying to ride a fine line of like, we don't want to get too bogged down into, uh, the good fight, the good wife, uh, lore because I do think there's probably a lot of people watching this that did not watch, definitely not the good fight. Um, because I think the good fight was on Paramount Plus.
It was very, it was very different from this show. It was very like, it was an adult themed show where this is a show for adults, but it's also on network television, which oddly enough in our Good Wife episode this, this week, we talk a lot about like network television and what's proper on network and not, and what's not.
And so [00:34:00] I I I think they do wanna, like, we want to leave this for the just Elsbeth viewers or they do think there are a lot of Ellsworth viewers that didn't see wife and fight that just see kooky Elsbeth and are like, oh, I can, like, I can get down with that character and don't want to get too bogged down.
Allure, but, well, yeah. Especially because in this interaction with Alec. Mm-hmm. Okay. So there's this Alex, the, the candidate, which you have looked up Jason, and you would find that he is connected to the good wife world. Well, the actor, the known, yes. Yeah. The actor, not the character, the actors in one episode of the Good, the Good Wife.
And neither Marissa or I could place his character name. So we've already watched and covered the episode. Yeah, we watched the episode. It was season was last season toward the end of last season. So if he didn't leave a mark on us that we remember from like, I don't know, a few months ago at the, a couple months ago at this point, then he probably wasn't that important to the story.
Um, but yeah, so he is here, he's like, apparently [00:35:00] this like really great guy. I, they're trying to mom Donny him. Like I feel like he, 'cause he like, we're here to make the city affordable for everyone, which is what Mom Donny's. Thing was, which first of all, yay, great. I don't even live in New York, but I'm happy for everyone.
Um, I and also great timing on having this episode come out after the election that happened last week, because I'm sure they would've gotten into some trouble if they didn't. Um, which is, as Jason mentioned, something we talk about on the Good Wife. Um, but he, I think there, he's trying to be positioned in this way and there's this conversation around hot dogs.
Okay, hot dogs. And there is a debate between New York hot dog and a Chicago hot dog. But the hot dog in question in here is a baby hotdog wrapped in a croissant. Mm-hmm. It is not any like. It's not a street dog. No, it's not anything like this. And Elizabeth is saying, again, this is why I think like what the producers are at least trying to tell us, deep divers like us.
Um, [00:36:00] she says, I do sometimes miss a Chicago hot dog. And Alex like, well, why don't you split this one with me and see if you miss Chicago after that? And so she like, takes a bite of this. Again, not a street dog, just a baby hot dog wrapped in a croissant, takes a bite of it says, and then she says, I don't miss Chicago anymore.
So I feel like they're, they're really trying to separate her from that because if they were going that deep, they'd have to do a lot more work. And they don't have the money to do that anymore. Because I don't know if you've heard Jason, but the arts under That's right. Under, under attack. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and, and this is really set up as kind of a meet cute with Yes.
Ellsworth and Alec, where it's like, oh, let's, let's put this, uh, mini hut. So yeah, it's. From the jump, it's like, okay, are we trying to like set something up here? And Elsworth being Elsbeth is at first a little hesitant about it, but I think by a, well, at [00:37:00] first she is kind of, she's lured by Alec. And then as we get further in, she's like, I don't wanna be used by Yeah, like this.
At first she's like, definitely there's vibes and there's vibes. Martha like picks up the vibes vibe. But then I'm like, you go from Angus to Alec. Like that's pretty similar. But anyway, but she's there. And even Dr. Bla Lansky is like, oh, look at him. Look at, I see you look at him, all this stuff. She's like, no, I'm not doing that.
No, I don't want. So there's definitely like some vibes, and Marissa uses this to her advantage in the campaign and she like sets them up on a date, which then. Gets to the point where Elizabeth, like, I didn't want this to be that kind of thing. I want this to be like, just 'cause they end up having like so much in common, not beyond the vibes.
They know all the same things, go to the same places, do like, they're quirky. They're quirky in the same way. They're they're both, they're both cringey, touristy people. Yeah. Yes. Exactly. Exactly. So yeah, a lot happened at this benefit. [00:38:00] Yeah. And I, I loved, I love when, um. Yassky says, oh, they only serve droopy salad and unseasoned chicken here.
And then we get the, which I think, I don't know. Yeah. They're starting to, they're starting to overuse this bit, I think, where they go one droopy salad later and we hear Alec making his speech about how, you know, he's so passionate about the unhoused because this is a benefit for unhoused people. He says he, he was unhoused person as a kid, so that's why he has such passion about it.
And he does, he, Esmer says, you said he wants to make the city affordable again. Uh, so that's kind of his, his shtick and his, his his thing. And, uh, yeah. And this, it's interesting like convergence of storylines. 'cause as you mentioned, Gary pops up at this, this event. Yeah. And it's like, oh, like, wow, these are storylines are converging here.
And where Ellsworth hears about Dolores and all the things that happened here and gets her, gets her ears perked up about a, a case that she can solve. I think it's, uh, again, pretty smart from a production budget standpoint. Like you have one [00:39:00] location. You can bring as many characters in as you can. So I, I assume we're gonna see a couple more of that.
'cause we saw basically a case walk into the station, you know what I mean? Mm-hmm. Yeah. We're seeing a lot more of cases being brought to SBA as opposed to SBA being brought out to the cases, which I think, and I, I just, I think it's a smart production move. So way to go Elsbeth team. Uh, I know the arts are under attack, so way to watch that bottom line.
Yes. Um, let's, so now we have, we have the case. Elizabeth knows about the case now Elizabeth is inserting herself into the case. So she's trying to tell Wagner about the case. I love this. I I love it. It's, Wendell appears at like, not his finest because he is a very, very good actor, but at his pretty much close to fi network TV finest.
Yeah. Annoyed Wagner is a fun Wagner because Wagner is busy watching Rivers and his daughter flirt, uh, in the precinct, kind of like, uh, bullpen and ELs Smith is, [00:40:00] ELs is being her like mosquito fly self, just kind of going all around and buzzing around Wagner, telling him all about this case as she wants to take Wagner's not listening at all.
He is so involved in Rivers and his daughter. 'cause I mean, if you remember from last episode, uh, at the end of the last episode, rivers and, and was her name Julia? Yeah. Yeah. And this, they started dating and Wagner's not having it. And so because Wagner wants you to break up, uh, the site of. His daughter in Rivers, he gets rivers on the case with Ell Smith.
He's like, ELL Smith. I don't even know what you were just talking about right now, but go ahead and take the case, take rivers with you. And it was, I don't know it, how'd you feel about this? Well, they are definitely a thing. Yeah, they're definitely an item. But what I enjoyed moist, moist, most outta this, what I enjoyed, moist outta this, what I enjoyed most out of this is, um, rivers [00:41:00] nose.
He could not be his old self in this situation anymore because, um, he will come in and he's like, oh, why do I have to go in this case? And then he's like, but I love learning from SBE and our, the women around me. You know what I mean? Like, he's very like, really emphasizing this and, you know, like, you know, Julia has had this conversation with him and like, like, is.
Kind of coaching him in this way and all of that stuff based on especially what happens at the end of the episode because he says, you know, nice things and he gets a little pat, little pat on the butt. Yeah. So, so I think things that's, that's what I enjoyed most, most out of this. And it is also alluded to that River says to some extensive HR training about how to act in the workplace, uh, especially around women.
Because if you remember River's first, uh, appearance last season, it did not I Good at all. No, we did not like him at all. Did not, did not. So they're really trying to, uh, rehabilitate river's image image here, [00:42:00] uh, by making sure that he is, uh, making sure to respect all women and all women's opinions and all, all these things.
So good. Autumn, you know what I learned, which is again, I don't wanna make it all about me, but the actor's last name is Dela Garza. Oh, there you go. So he is of the Garzas and I Garzas are like. Huron. Her Hurons. Yeah. The birds, you know, like the birds that hang by the lake. Uh, yeah. That's what I'm named after.
I'm named after a bird or a stork and he is of the storks. But I am the stork. I am the stork. I'm not of the storks. I am the stork. Yeah, the stork. Yeah. So this is, that's how rivers kind of gets on it because Wagner just wants him away from his daughter. So he is like, go play with Ellizabeth and be away from my daughter for a while.
Yeah. And I mean, I think in the, the case of this, he does do some actual reconnaissance work. We don't see the scenes that play out, but he brings some work in, not like a lot, but he does say like, Hey, here are some photos from other [00:43:00] explosions that happened and this is what happens to the clothing here.
He contributes to the case in a way. And also lets Elba do her thing. Yeah. Like really gets out of her way. Really allows her to like go and have all these questioning times with Gary. 'cause we see her go and like talk to the staff who apparently, you know. Made from money from her family, but still works from, works at the, at the paper, you know, for the art of it all, um, and checks in on him when they get the new, like furniture and everything.
So she's able to do all of this and he's the one holding the camera while she is getting this confession at the end of the episode. So he has kind of learned to kind of take a little bit of a, a back, a back take a step back seat, backseat somewhere back there. Um, he, he has been able to do that. And I think, you know, it's also yes, extensive HR training, but you know, when you have someone like Julia as well, he's like, he's not worried about his ego anymore because he's got Julia as well.
Yeah, true. [00:44:00] And I, you know, I, I think it's also a, a note that the Ellsworth writers have taken as well. Like, we don't need, no, a lot of baggage with Ellsworth. Ellsworth can carry this on, on her own. So I think they have worked to make sure that the detectives are not. As prevalent in the story. Like they're not all over Ellsworth, they're not all in Ellsworth Grill.
They don't have to have this back and forth of the detective having a theory and then Ellsworth having to prove the detective wrong. I think now they're just like, we just want ELLs Smith out in her natural habitat doing her natural thing. That's fine on its own. We don't, we don't, yeah. We don't need a, a opposition force to Elsbeth just let Ellsworth do a thing and that's enough for the show.
So I think they've really taken that note. Uh, 'cause we had rivers here that's doing his thing in the background, kind of. He is there at pivotal moments, but mostly it's Elsbeth and which I think is the strength of this conceit is ELLs Smith and whatever guest, actor, murderer you have going toe to toe facing off.
Yeah. Yeah. That is what, that's what the show's [00:45:00] built around. And I think that's where the, that's where they let the show shine. It's like, we don't want, we don't need a third character messing with that flow and that like chemistry. Yeah. And I think, um. At the beginning, we needed to, of course, set the scene.
And again, this, this project was written with a budget they thought they were gonna have. Like they've, they've had to make a lot of adjustments. 'cause even we talked about in previous seasons, they had, like, they designed a season for 12 seasons, but then had to like expand or 12 episodes and then had to expand it.
Like they've had so much thrown at them that they, I think are learning to keep things simple so that way you can add things in as opposed to having to delete them as they've had to do in this season specifically. And I think it's working, I think we know enough about Elsbeth and why she's in New York.
We also, again, like I said, this episode was the clearest example of what a consent decree is and why like somebody, or why the police department might need them in a way that isn't getting us to [00:46:00] think, well what about the police corruption? Which again, would be great to see and have like addressed, but we don't need it to necessarily have like a great show.
This isn't really that show, right? Like Right. We, we can have. Uh, call outs to it every now and then, but this isn't the good fight where, right. This is a good fight. We would, this, that would be the main topic of the story, but it feels like this is a more, this is a lighter tone show. This is a very, like, easy breezy.
I mean, this is a show about murder, but it's an easy breezy show about murder. Uh, so that's not really where we're at. They, they, you know, kudos to the writers for, for giving winks and nods to it in this. Vehicle that is supposed to be digestible for everyone. They do do their work to like, yeah. You know, hey, we're also saying this about this, but we're not putting it in your face as, you know, as opposed to a good fight.
But in this, so we get the first meeting kind, the first face off between Ellsworth and Gary, where Gary is, he is in his mourning stage. Right. He is just like, oh, Dolores, I'm [00:47:00] gonna miss her so much. Her pro you was so great. Meanwhile, he's already spending the money he doesn't have yet by getting expensive furniture in his office.
Uh, giving Hannah his assistant raise. So he is already spending the money he hasn't got yet that he thinks is on the way, and Ellsworth kind of is pretty early, giving him the, like, I'm kind of onto you, where she kind of tells him, like, so you were at her, you knew about her cigarette issue. You knew she used smoke cigarettes while she, uh, did her poetry.
You were at her apartment a lot, as you say, you were, you were closest to Dolores, so, huh. And I think Gary's is, Gary's like, oh, like crap. I've said too much. And he tries to also, he's like, oh, well, you know, Fred also wanted her money and Fred was also kind of like this guy, but me and Fred are cool, which is the second big mistake saying that he and Fred were just like good at competitors when we know he and Fred hit each other's guts, which Fred will tell Ellsworth about when he gets questioned.
Yeah, I mean that does open up some [00:48:00] things for them, and I think it's. Like his, their competition. So of course they're, they're gonna play nice in front of the, you know, in front of the audience, but not necessarily behind the scenes. And I did enjoy when Gary tried to show how great of a poet Dolores was and read her poetry out loud.
Oh no, that's because Elsbeth made him. Yeah. It was a, it was a brilliant move because it was, she had, she knew it was crap and it was like, oh, well if you have like such a reverence for the art and like really support her, why don't you just read this poem that was about, well, and I gotta tell you, this lady was writing about her wo like being in her mom's womb.
Yeah. And wolf was, many times, multiple times wolf wolf's bleeding on the moon. Something, which is like, I have to say, not all poets, you know, poets write what you wanna write and some, you know, obviously are gonna do, but not every poet is like that. Like, I don't, don't believe the stereotype poetry's cool.
Go read some poetry. But it did, it did feel like. You know, these, uh, [00:49:00] these people that are in this part of society where they're like, oh, you just don't get it. Where? Because that's, that's because when Elvis is like, when he reads the poem and Elvis is like, huh, I don't, what, what is you talking about? I don't get that.
He's like, oh, well, you know, you just, it's about the cathar catharsis of the work, and if you don't get that, then that's on you. It's like, I feel like I've gotten that before, like, oh, yeah, I know what this thing is trying to say. Like, oh, you just, you don't get it. Oh, for sure, for sure. I mean, I went to an art museum yesterday and I was like, some of them, I was like, I get it.
I get it. Others, I was like. Huh. And so what you said that it's only like, huh? Philistine, you don't Yeah. Well, like, I don't know. Yeah, there was the a while, a while ago, a couple years ago, maybe a decade ago, I don't remember, but do you remember when like there was a banana? Oh yeah. It was like the, the banana and it like was gonna be sold for thousands of dollars or whatever.
And it's just like, it's a banana, but it's also like a banana that was like spaced in a certain [00:50:00] way and like, uh, lit a certain way and like all that, like that's the argument from, you know, from the thing. And also makes a statement about art by the fact that it was gonna be sold for thousands of dollars and it's literally just a banana.
There was also like a shop vac that was like sold and stuff like that. So I think it has always been part of the art conversation 'cause it is subjective. Like the art that you like gonna be different than I like The shows that you like are different than shows that I like all the time. So. And one of my favorite, like what we, it's not a, it's not like a fairytale or fables.
Like the emperor has no clothes, right? Yeah. Uh, where, where the emperor is, like, he's naked, but he says he has clothes on. Everybody's like, oh, like, because he is the emperor, we have to say that he has like the finest clothes on when he has actually no clothes on. Which I think is part, is part of that, like that parallel where we're supposed to like this, like we're, we're told we're supposed to like this, so we're gonna say we like it even though we don't understand it at all.
So I think that's part of where this comes from. Yeah. Yeah. Um, before, 'cause I just wanna make sure we also talk a little [00:51:00] bit about Alec. Is there anything else on the murder and everything that you want to get to before we talk about, because you're signed back there, Jason is making a claim and I wanna make sure we get to that claim.
I just think I, I think they, they did so much to hit us over the head with, oh, Alex such a good guy. Alec is this, Alec is that he's, he's doing all this stuff. I'm like, Hmm. Alex's a bad guy though, right? Like, Alec is not, Alec is not all he's cracked up to be because he can't be like this pure and sweet.
And especially in the, in the fact that at the end of this episode, Marissa, because like Ell Smith does not want to be used by Alex campaign. 'cause there are papers written about who is this mysterious redhead with Alec? Yeah. And she's, she asked Marissa to have like, to make a statement saying that Ellsworth is not, uh, Alex's, uh, girlfriend or they're not dating or whatever.
And Marissa at first is. Nah, son. Like she, she is the daughter of Eli Gold. Eli in, in that moment. She's like, Nope, I'm not doing that. Which a again, a, [00:52:00] a faux pa not to even mention Eli Gold in, in this, these, yeah, agreed. Agreed. Come on. Um, but she, she, at first she's like, nah, I'm not doing that. Like, that will, it'll work for us if people think that he's out with some mysterious lady.
That's let's, we're gonna use that to our advantage. And Elvin, Elvin was kind of like, bro, like that is not the Marissa Gold that I remember. And I know I, we were friends. Yeah. Why lemme do this and that. Like, again, it was delivered in such way, but I don't know. It the then, uh, Marissa's just like, you're right, I don't wanna be that person.
And I'm like, was that enough to get you to switch? Like, I don't know. And then I also like didn't know if she had an ulterior motive at that point and was just saying that to, you know, to appease Elsbeth in the moment. And, you know, later she does come to Elsbeth with this like. Everything is on your shoulders type of thing.
Like we need, and I don't know if that's because she did research, like the Marissa that I know would've been like, oh, I've done some research on Alec help. Let me [00:53:00] help you expose him. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, 'cause, because like you said, Lizabeth and Marissa meet back up and ELL was like, I thought you were gonna like print a a statement.
And those Marissa's like, actually no, I can't do that because I need your help. Because the fate of New York City is in your hands. So I'm thinking like you, that maybe Marissa's not working for this guy. She's trying to expose this guy. And that would be more in line with who Marissa is than Marissa character.
So we'll see. Well, yeah. Especially because she does make a comment in this episode because Lizabeth like, I wish I had, I could just prove things like that when, um, someone, a constituent comes up to. Alec and is like, I like you, but I'm not gonna vote for you because blah, blah, blah, blah. And Marissa has like this, she has proof of blah, blah and blah on her phone.
Yeah. And, and she says, take it from me. Make a record of everything, or document everything. And so, and it's really interesting to me that she even had, 'cause one of the things also [00:54:00] that Elsbeth talked about was like, she loves the Lion King and Alec's, like, I love the Lion King. I've seen it four times.
And Marissa, for some reason, on her phone has four pictures of Alec in front of the Lion King Marquee. And if we know anything about Marissa, and maybe this is just a way to introduce Marissa to the new audience, but the Marissa that we know started out well first as a receptionist, first as a teenager, and then a receptionist.
Mm-hmm. But then an investigator. And so she has the skills, like she, she's like Kalinda 2.0, you know, like she, she has, for those who watch the Good Wife, at least that's a frame of reference. There. But I think, I think there is more to this, and I don't know, I, I hope Marissa's like, I couldn't tell you at the beginning, but really I'm working, you know what I mean?
Like undercover. Or maybe she's like teamed up, what if she's teamed up with Kayah and she works for the FBI? Like, I don't know, I don't know. Something like that. Like yes, I know I wrote the show there, but I just think there's [00:55:00] definitely like, there's definitely more to it. And I found it weird that she just had all of those pictures on her bra.
Yeah, there's something afoot here. There's something afoot. Or maybe she, you know, took a picture and now's looking at the pictures and realized that something is not right about one of the pictures that makes Alec a not good guy. So maybe she needs Ella's help with that. So we kind of were left on a cliffhanger there to figure out what's going on with Marissa and Alec and what, what that's all about.
Quick question. What do you think it is if she did find something in the photos, do you think? I know it could be like anything. Yeah. But like do you think it's connected to something we've already seen or do you think it's like something new? Because I think what if it has to finally you get your Wagner's wife thing in there?
Uh, yeah. I've almost given up the ghost on that. Um, but I do think it might possibly be sur uh, centered around him lying about his past, because we hear so much about his past as an unhoused kid. He grew up with [00:56:00] nothing and blah, blah, blah. I do wonder if it's has to do with like, he's lying about his background.
Maybe he is really, he's using, he's using the story to try and relate to, to New York citizens, New York voters. Or maybe he's like, really a rich trust fund kid or something. I don't know. Yeah. I, I have a feeling it might be that. And connected to a character we already know. So I wonder if it has to go back to anything with, I can only think of the, the judge that's her husband in real life.
What was his name? Uh, but you know Yeah. The guy who died on, the guy who died on the stairs, the courthouse. 'cause he got shot, that guy. Um, and he was also in lost and is actually married to Crawford. Yes. Yes. Crawford. Crawford. Crawford, yeah. Yes. Like I wonder if it has to do with that stuff or any of. Of Bakay stuff like, I don't know.
Um, but I have a feeling it's something about his character and also something that's tied into Ellsworth's world because what if Marissa's been, like, if she is an investigator, what if she's been [00:57:00] watching Elsbeth for all the time too? She's under what if she's undercover, right? Yeah. Yeah. Like, I don't know what she working for that ano guy that sent Elsbeth.
Yeah. You know, who knows? Who knows. So I, I do think we're now building it up to more than the problem is. Sure. Yes. Which is what we do all the time, but it's fine. Yes, yes, it's fine. Um, so yeah, that is, that's kind of the Marissa, Alex story. Let's, let's wrap up the, the case of the week, uh, and how this was found out.
Oh, the confession? How? Yeah. Okay. Not confess. No. So after like finding out that he was only left the work of Dolores. And Yes, ushered up. Us assure up because I mean 'cause he's, he's spent, he's spending the money. He is, he is like, we're set for life. And El was like, well, I'll see you at the, at the rework will.
Yeah. Because apparently you can go to those. They're public. I don't know. But, um, the lawyer slash accountant slash whatever she was in Dolores's Life does let them know at this point, like we have, she has bequeathed [00:58:00] her work of poetry to you, pigeon press and $416 and they're like. That. That's, that's it.
That's it. She's like, yeah, that's it. Isn't that funny? Isn't that funny? That's all she had. That's all she had. Like, she paid $250 a month for a rent because she was in a rent controlled apartment and you guys paid for all of her meals all the time. Isn't that hilarious? It's hilarious. Mm-hmm. Oh, so then Gary goes to go pick up the poetry from the apartment building, and the doorman is like, oh, it, they must be treating this as a homicide now.
Interesting. And, and Gary's like, where'd you hear that? Like, what's going on? And the doorman says, well, the redhead lady was here. And she basically talked about how they are looking for evidence on close, because oxygen burns can fade or discolor clothing. And this gets Gary to run out the door. Run to the dry cleaners.
The dry cleaner cannot find his suit jacket anywhere to be [00:59:00] found because ELs Beth has already confiscated it and is hiding behind all of the dry cleaning and pops out. She's like, ah, well I legit thought that the lady was gonna like, click the button and the jackets would wear, like, elsworth is like hanging from it, hanging, hanging on one on the, one of the rails.
And she just like, just like starts, she's like hanging off the rails. She's like, she comes around little carousel. Oh, that was gonna be it. But she does. Pop out from like, from behind. So I was like, okay, that's like, that's second best to what I thought it was gonna happen. Yeah, she does. And River's there like recording the whole thing, documenting everything, making sure.
And she, Elit does a really good job of basically saying, we got a warrant. She does lie. She's lying in this instance. Mm-hmm. She says, we got a warrant for your coat. 'cause we wanted to see if it was discolored in any way, because that's what can happen. And we know you were in the apartment before there was, uh, before the explosion.
So we we're just, you know, checking everything out. And then Gary's basically like, yep, I did it. Do you know how annoying my life is? Like blah, blah. And [01:00:00] there's rivers with his phone, like recording everything. And so ELs put this like, basically I didn't have enough. To like convict you of anything, but you could fuss on camera.
So bru, bru. So when, when she goes, oh, you're the sleeves of your jacket, were faded. So that's our proof. I was like, oh, here we go. More circumstantial evidence. I won't actually convict anyone in a court of law. And then when we find out that ELs was lying to him, like, don't forget guys, cops lie. Okay. Yeah.
They're, it's a, they're allowed to lie to you. Don't, don't, well, don't forget that. And she did that as a defense attorney. So Yeah, for sure. You know, like she has the skills. So she, she presented him this fake evidence that says you are the one that did it. He gets pissed that he got caught and admits to everything on Camera River's just taping is we're like, Hey, cool.
You just confessed and we're good to go. We're done. Yeah, we're done. I was like, okay. Like that's at least like. [01:01:00] Un contributable evidence that this man did the, did the crime. If we can present this as a court of law, he's going, he he's gonna do the time. He's gonna do the time. Yeah. Um, I did enjoy, like a little bit before that when Ellizabeth was still kind of like doing her thing, picking at him.
She, she, she wants to read him a poem that she wrote. Oh yeah. And, you know, to she dangles out there that she will, she's willing to donate some money if he prints her stuff. She gives him the poem, which is terrible. I forgot even what it's, what it was. She just kept saying, what did she keep saying father over and over again?
Oh, no, no, no. Yeah. Father, father, father and Sue Mac mouth something, something just ridiculous. Dribble, nonsense. And Gary like, explodes. He's like, how dare you dangle your support. I have standards to uphold. Like, I, how dare you, like think I would take something for money just because you, you wrote something, you're, you're giving your support.
El just goes, oh. That's funny 'cause uh, it's actually a poem from Dolores that you [01:02:00] printed in your paper before. It is like, that's just more of like a, like, oh, it's, it's more of unmasking this guy who is, who says he's something but actually is all about like, money, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah. I mean, she knew what buttons to push and what to say to, to kind of make that happen.
And dangling money in front of someone who just isn't gonna make the money he thought he was gonna make is an easy way to do that. But overall, what'd you think? It was a solid episode? I'd say, uh, you know, I, I think it's, it fits the vibe of all the other episodes from this, from this season. Uh, interesting murder, uh, good way that Ellsworth solved the case.
And I, I, I think I'm, I'm a, I'm kind of new to the, uh, what do they call these? How done its or what, who done it? Well, not who does, because we know who done. It's the, oh, how wide on it, how kechum, how Kechum? Is that what it is? Well, I don't know. I think you're just making stuff up [01:03:00] long though. It's, it's the genre of like, Colombo, of like, we know, we know who did it.
Like we know the crime. It's all about how the detective figures out how, how, how they did it. So I think I, I'm new to this genre, so I'm still trying to like, yeah, we're three seasons in, but I'm still trying to like, well they switched up the genre a couple times. Yeah. I'm still trying to like, get, get with it.
I'm, I'm getting there. I'm getting there. It's just, I, the in, there's no real intrigue because we, we already know that, I mean, this is Ellsworth. She's gonna catch the guy, the person at the end. Mm-hmm. It's, it's more about how Ellsworth figures it out, which is like not entirely captivating all the time, but the character of Elsbeth is what really drives the, the show for me.
So that's in place. Yeah. And I think that they're moving her more and more to the center as they've kind of cleared out some of the stuff that they had set up in seasons one and two. Mm-hmm. So in order to kind of, I mean, again, just being [01:04:00] real, stay on the air. Mm. They, I think they're, they're doing a great, they're having a great response and I think like, like if we look at this episode in a vacuum, it's in a very entertaining episode of television.
It deals with a lot of stuff they put in the arts are under attack like 15 times to like really drive it home. So they're still having some fun. We get to see some characters that we've known before. If, if you're part of, you know, the good verse. So I'm interested to see, I mean, this is only episode five and I know, I think we're getting 20 whole episodes, so we're.
Only a fourth into the season. So let's, let's see how it goes. And you know, how they weave in, I, I know the kiaa storyland can't be gone because we can't just like leave it that way. Right. But, and we know Marissa's gonna be back next episode because, or at least in a couple some time because she's needing Ellsworth's help in some way.
So I think they're doing a good job kind of reestablishing their foundation and going from there. I was actually like, I was like, alright, this is a pretty good one. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Um, [01:05:00] Marissa, do you wanna fill the good folks on where they can find you and what you're up to nowadays now a day? What a day these are.
These are some days, lemme tell you. Oh boy, boy. Uh, how we made it to November? I have no idea, but I'm sure am glad we did. Uh, you find me at it's me marissa g.com where you'll find links to all the podcast I am on, including this one, the Good Pod where I talk about Elsbeth. And good wife with Jason Reed.
Uh, you can find links to both our audio and our video podcast, which is the same podcast, but just on YouTube. I know it makes it sound like super fancy, but you can find links at, uh, it's me meci.com. You can also find links to, uh, my other podcast that I'm on, which is Previous Little Liars over on the whirlwind podcast, where we're watching Pretty Little Liars, one podcast or one previously on at a time.
And then I'm watching Star Trek, the Next Generation with my sister on our podcast, the USS Sisterhood. Jason, what's changing, what's going on in your [01:06:00] world? Uh, yeah, me and Asia, we. Asia Welch are talking about the show made at first sight over in our podcast, A perfect Match. You can find that over on the Love at First Sight Feed.
So if you type in Love at First Sight, you'll find the feed Where Made at First Sight is where our talk about love is. Blind is. So you'll find all those podcasts in that same feed. You can also find us on Patreon Talk Made at First Sight over on the Our Perfect Match Patreon, where we are talking to past mass participants about how they feel about this season, how it, uh, compares to the seasons they were on.
So if that's your, that float your vote, come on over. You can also find me talking about Nine Day Fiance the other Way. This week I was a guest on the We Know 90 Day Podcast hosted by ku. So, uh, if that's the show you're into, come on over, check that out. Uh, yeah, and that's where I am, uh, this week and, uh, for the foreseeable future over on the, uh, perfect Match podcast.
So check all that stuff out and until next time, stay good.