Elsbeth Season 2, Episode 18, killed off the season's big bad in an unexpected twist, and some fans expressed concern over the show's handling of such a major character. Throughout a good chunk of Elsbeth Season 2, the titular lawyer has made it her mission to prove that Michael Emerson's Judge Crawford killed Andy Mertens and framed his girlfriend, Delia, for his death.
Season 2's latest episode doubled down on Elsbeth's efforts to take down Crawford while also showing the shady judge's backstory and motivation behind targeting Mertens.
A flashback showed a young Milton Crawford murdering a girl named Sherry inside a country club pool, and the only witness is Andy Mertens. While Crawford managed to convince young Andy to stay silent about his gruesome act, an adult Andy eventually reached out anonymously to the Senate Judiciary Committee to report him, prompting Crawford to kill him.
Crawford's act of killing Andy essentially set his rivalry with Elsbeth in motion in Elsbeth Season 2, Episode 7 (read more about what happened here) and the pair engaged in several tense back-and-forth confrontations that took a dark turn in Episode 18.
After the shady judge caught Elsbeth and Captain Wagner's efforts to expose Crawford, the people closest to Elsbeth suffered due to the judge's actions to ruin their respective lives.
Elsbeth then decided to confront Crawford personally, but what happened next was unexpected. Delia took action by killing Crawford in broad daylight in front of Elsbeth.
Judge Crawford's shocking death didn't sit well with some Elsbeth fans, noting that it was anticlimactic and that it avoids the judge being held accountable and punished for his crimes.
Some claimed that Elsbeth should've recorded her conversations with Crawford before his death because he essentially confessed to his crimes.
Others even compared Elsbeth Season 2, Episode 18's ending to some of the Law & Order ones, where the defendant gets shot on the courtroom steps, while some thought that the writers backed themselves into a corner because they didn't know how to get rid of a complex villain like Crawford.
Still, killing off Crawford is an easy way out for the character, and it is Elsbeth's way of reinforcing the message that people in power get away with everything.
With two episodes left (Elsbeth Season 2 has 20 episodes), the final two installments could explore more of the ramifications of Crawford's death and how it will impact Elsbeth moving forward.
Here’s How Crawford’s Death Will Impact Elsbeth's Future
Judge Milton Crawford is the perfect rival for Elsbeth in Season 2, considering he was always one step ahead and efficiently carried out his plans to ruin the life of the titular lawyer and those closest to her.
While his death is quite anticlimactic, the horrifying look on Elsbeth's face suggests that it will haunt her moving forward, and it is widely expected that it will influence her actions and thought processes in the remaining episodes of Season 2.
Speaking with TV Line, Michael Emerson teased what lies ahead for Elsbeth after bearing witness to Crawford's death, pointing out that "she wished [it] had ended differently:"
"I think it’ll always be a thing that she wished had ended differently. I think she believes in her heart that, given enough time, she would’ve brought him down through conventional police work."
Ahead of the final two episodes, Elsbeth's mindset about finding the necessary ways to take down criminals in a conventional approach is set to be challenged.
Elsbeth stands out because it is anchored by its fight against injustice within the system in whatever way it can.
As Captain Wagner points out in the episode, there is no harm in trying to fight the system.
All in all, one way for Elsbeth Season 2 to address fans' disappointment is for Elsbeth to be at the forefront of exposing Judge Crawford's dirty actions to the public by whatever means necessary.
