Elsbeth Season 2, Episode 12 adds Matthew Broderick to its star-studded guest lineup while introducing the likes of Rob McLure, James Wilkie Broderick, and Sullivan Jones.
The new episode of the hit CBS comedy-drama series, "Foiled Again," sees Elsbeth investigating the death of a well-renowned college admissions professor from Baden University after being killed by a controversial Ivy League recruiter.
Elsbeth Season 2, Episode 12 premiered on CBS on February 20.
Elsbeth Season 2 Episode 12 Cast Guide
Vandit Bhatt - Dave
Vandit Bhatt appears as Dave, Lawrence Grey's client in the opening moments of the episode who was persuaded by him to accept the contract for the betterment of his young son's future.
Bhatt also starred in FBI: Most Wanted, New Amsterdam, and God Friended Me.
Madia Hill Scott - Melanie
Madia Hill Scott plays Melanie, Dave's wife who agrees to enroll their son with a success trainer for Outmatch Consulting.
Scott can be seen in A Party to Die For, Dear Edward, and FBI.
Olivia Elease Hardy - Beth
Olivia Elease Hardy stars as Beth, one of the success trainers in Outmatch Consulting.
Hardy is a theater performer and Elsbeth is her on-screen acting debut.
Martin Barabas - Hank
Hank (played by Martin Barabas) is a person of interest in the case and a former client of Outmatch Consulting.
Barabas previously starred in Sully, 79 Parts, and Limitless.
Maggie Bofill - Denise
Maggie Bofill joins the cast of Elsbeth Season 2, Episode 12 as Denise, a disgruntled mother who is disappointed over the fact that her daughter was not accepted into Baden University.
Bofill has credits in FBI: Most Wanted, Hightown, and The Path.
Rebecca Watson - Mrs. Larkin
Rebecca Watson appears in Elsbeth Season 2, Episode 12 as Mrs. Larkin, the secretary of the deceased college admissions officer from Baden University.
Watson has credits in The Night Agent, Fallout, and The Gilded Age.
Louis Reyes McWilliams - Rudy
Louis Reyes McWilliams plays Rudy, one of the persons of interest in the case who tells the detectives why he despises the victim because of being rejected into Baden University.
Elsbeth is McWilliams' first major on-screen credit.
Stella Wunder - Kelly Davis
Stella Wunder stars as Kelly Davis, the social media manager of Baden University's quad cat.
Similar to McWilliams, Elsbeth is also Wunder's first major acting credit.
David Wayne Britton - Martin the Doorman
David Wayne Britton joins the cast of Elsbeth Season 2, Episode 12 as Martin, the doorman of Lawrence Grey's apartment.
Britton also starred in Zero Day, American Gangster, and Law & Order.
Juan Carlos - William
William (played by Juan Carlos) is Lawrence's client whom he used as an alibi to cover up the murder.
Carlos can be seen in Grey's Anatomy and The Sex Lives of College Girls.
Sullivan Jones - Cameron Clayden
Sullivan Jones returns as Cameron Clayden after making his debut in Elsbeth Season 2, Episode 8.
Cameron works in the coroner's office and eventually becomes Kaya Blanke's new roommate and love interest.
Jones previously starred in The Gilded Age, Interior Chinatown, and Harlem.
James Wilkie Broderick - Carl
Carl is a "success trainer" working for Lawrence Grey. The character is played on-screen by James Wilkie.
Wilkie is the son of Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker. As an actor, he has credits in Lady in the Lake.
Rob McLure - Ethan Brooks
Rob McLure guest stars as Ethan Brooks, the Director of Admissions and Fencing Coach of Baden University who was killed by the suspect.
McLure is best known for his roles in Person of Interest, Evil, and Foul Play.
Ben Levi Ross - Teddy
Ben Levi Ross reprises his role as Teddy Tascioni, Elsbeth's son, after making a prominent appearance in Elsbeth Season 2, Episode 7.
He appears in the episode to open up about his job while introducing his boyfriend to Elsbeth.
Ross has credits in Tick, Tick... BOOM! and Acting for a Cause.
Hayward Leach - Roy
Hayward Leach makes his debut as Roy, Teddy's boyfriend in Elsbeth Season 2, Episode 12.
Leach's notable credits include Tom Swift, Love Life, and Sneakerella.
Cassidy Layton - Mandy Grey
Cassidy Layton guest stars as Mandy Grey, Lawrence's daughter who returns to confront his father about the death of Veritas (their family cat).
Layton can be seen in Severance, New Amsterdam, and On the Case with Paula Zahn.
Matthew Broderick - Lawrence Grey
Joining the cast of Elsbeth Season 2, Episode 12 is Matthew Broderick as Lawrence Grey.
Lawrence is the head of Outmatch Consulting, a business that utilizes success trainers to pair with students to ensure that they will end up in an Ivy League university down the line.
Broderick is part of the cast of Painkiller, No Hard Feelings, and 1998's Godzilla.
Michael Emerson - Judge Milton Crawford
Michael Emerson, who is Carrie Preston's real-life husband, briefly returns as Judge Milton Crawford.
As Elsbeth's rival, Crawford threatens her to be careful after he learns that the case where she was part of the jury was reopened.
Emerson was part of the cast of Fallout Episode 2 where he played Dr. Siggi Wilzig. The actor can also be seen in Saw, Lost, and Person of Interest.
Here are the main characters who appeared in Elsbeth Season 2, Episode 9:
- Carrie Preston - Elsbeth Tascioni
- Carra Patterson - Officer Kaya Blanke
- Wendell Pierce - Captain Wagner
- Daniel K. Isaac - Lieutenant Connor
- Molly Price - Detective Donnelly
Elsbeth Season 2 Episode 12 Plot Recap & Ending Explained
A Fencing Kind of Murder
Elsbeth Season 2, Episode 12, "Foiled Again," begins with Lawrence Grey, the head of Outmatch Consulting (a firm that uses success trainers to elevate children and ensure that they end up in Ivy League schools someday), trying to convince new clients to get their child (who is still a toddler) into his program.
While they open up their concerns about the price, Lawrence finally convinces them to agree by telling them that the program has a high success rate since it already produced graduates who went on to have impressive careers in their chosen fields.
After the successful meeting, one of the success trainers, Carl, informs Lawrence about a disgruntled client who is mad at them because his son was rejected at Baden University, meaning that the reputation of the firm is at stake.
As a result, Lawrence decides to visit Baden University's Director of Admissions: Ethan Brooks.
It turns out that he is a former product of Outmatch Consulting and he is bitter over the fact that Lawrence denied his chances of getting into drama school and pushed into applying for fencing to boost his application for the Ivy League school.
Lawrence, though, wants to look at the positives, telling him that fencing helps alleviate his asthma. Ethan, however, dismisses him since he points out that his asthma is still a problem.
After Lawrence's plan to pacify Ethan doesn't work, he resorts to a much sinister plan: murdering him.
He invites him to a fencing match. If he wins, Ethan will reconsider accepting the son of his client, but if he loses, he will leave him alone forever.
Of course, Ethan agrees and the pair engage in a fencing match. Before that, Lawrence administers an LSAT practice test to his client, William.
He uses him as an alibi by setting him up with earplugs to make him believe that he is still sitting behind him while he plots the murder.
Before the match, Lawrence can be seen rubbing something inside the helmet while also ensuring that Ethan will not be able to take it off.
During the fencing match, Ethan is clearly winning, but it seems that what Lawrence rubbed inside the helmet irritated him, causing him to have difficulty breathing and eventually die.
After Lawrence watches him die, he spreads some sand on the windowsill to attract Baden University's quad cat and make it seem that it is the cat's fault.
As William's LSAT practice test ends, Lawrence makes it back in time as if nothing happened.
Elsbeth Dives Deep Into Ethan's Death
Elsbeth, Officer Kaya Blanke, and Detective Donnelly arrive to investigate the crime scene. While the detective initially believes that there is no foul play involved, Elsbeth thinks otherwise.
Elsbeth points out that Ethan would've reached for his inhaler once he realized that has trouble breathing. She also noticed that the scoreboard was displaying a score, meaning that someone else must've been in the same room as Ethan when he died.
During a debrief, Captain Wagner points out that the death of a college admissions official from a high-profile New York university like Baden is a big deal so they need to solve it quickly and efficiently.
Based on the autopsy, it is revealed that Ethan has some unusual bruises on his chest and they found cat dander in his lungs and inside the fencing mask.
Elsbeth deduces that there is someone who killed him, but Kaya shares that Baden University has a campus cat named Quad that could tie it back to the case.
Before heading to Baden, Kaya announces that she successfully completed her courses and the credits needed to become a detective, leading Elsbeth to invite everyone for dinner to celebrate.
Teddy, Elsbeth's son, unexpectedly shows up at the precinct to visit her because he is helping his boyfriend, Roy, to move in over the weekend. Elsbeth invites him and Roy to Kaya's party.
Elsbeth Connects Lawrence to Ethan's Death
At Baden University, Elsbeth, Officer Blanke, and Detective Donnelly ask questions to Mrs. Larkin, Ethan Brooks' security, to learn if her boss has enemies.
She ends up giving them a list of disgruntled clients, leading them to invite some for interrogation. She also tells them that Lawrence Grey is someone "rich people hire to get their children into Baden" and they have a "long history."
Before that, Blanke brings in Kelly Davis, the social media manager of Quad Cat (Baden University's campus cat). She tells them that Quad Cat is hypoallergenic, meaning that it is impossible for the cat to cause Ethan's asthma.
During the interrogation, one of the persons of interest, Hank, spills some details about Outmatch Consulting and the hefty price that comes along with their services.
The fact that Ethan and Lawrence share a strong connection is more than enough reason for them to visit Outmatch Consulting.
At the Outmatch HQ, Lawrence offers high praise to Ethan in front of Blanke and Elsbeth, telling them that he is one of his early success stories while also noting Ethan's asthma (which is a detail only a select few know about).
As Lawrence continues to talk about Ethan, he mentions that he has heard that Ethan's asthma was triggered by Quad Cat. This is unusual because only the investigators know this.
Elsbeth snoops around the office and she literally sneezes when she gets too close to Lawrence, suggesting that he may have a cat at home, but he denies it.
To recap, she also sneezes at the same time when she is close to Ethan's fencing helmet, meaning that whatever Lawrence has in his jacket could be the key to solving the case.
It turns out that Lawrence is lying and he has indeed a cat named Veritas in his apartment. In order to not connect him to the murder, he has to get rid of poor Veritas.
A Fencing Duel
At Ethan's funeral, Lawrence and Elsbeth reunite to talk about Teddy and fencing.
Part of Elsbeth's plan to know if Lawrence is really the killer is to hire him for a special consultation for Teddy's future.
As they continue to talk about fencing, Elsbeth directly asks him if he was there during the night of the murder, but he uses the LSAT practice exam with his client as an alibi.
The pair then suit up to have an unplanned fencing match, and this is where Elsbeth realizes the automatic points in the scoreboard during the match and how easy it is to remove the helmet.
The match ends after Lawrence inadvertently twists his ankle after Elsbeth hits him when she mentions his estranged daughter, Mandy.
During Kaya's party, Elsbeth and Teddy get into an argument that makes things awkward since he finds out that Captain Wagner used his connections to get him a job. Teddy is offended and he storms off the dinner, much to Elsbeth's dismay.
Back at Lawrence's place, he is surprised to learn that his daughter, Mandy, is now back and she is promptly looking for their cat, Veritas.
Lawrence tells Mandy that Veritas has passed and he shows her the cat's ashes as proof. Mandy is clearly distraught from the news, and she even calls Lawrence "the worst father ever."
Elsbeth Receives an Unexpected Help
The next day, Elsbeth pays a visit to Lawrence's apartment to apologize for his twisted ankle, but she ends up meeting Mandy instead and the pair hit it off.
Mandy tells Elsbeth that it's odd that Veritas suddenly dies because she was fine a month ago. This revelation makes Elsbeth realize that Lawrence is lying about the cat since he earlier told them that the cat had been dead for a while.
Back at the precinct, Teddy and Elsbeth patch things up after Roy's urging. Elsbeth even meets Roy for the first time and the pair has a long getting-to-know session in the interrogation room.
During the said session, Roy mentions that his parents went far to lie to him about how his pet died. This triggers Elsbeth as she finally finds a breakthrough in the case.
Inside Lawrence's office, Elsbeth lays out how he is the suspect behind Ethan's murder, explaining that he orchestrated everything (the LSAT practice test alibi and the Quad Cat dilemma).
The final nail in the coffin comes from his own daughter, Mandy, when she brings in the still-alive Veritas alongside his favorite blue mouse toy that has fibers matching the one in Ethan's helmet when he died.
Ultimately, Lawrence gets arrested. Trying to frame another cat for murder is pretty disappointing and lame for a smart guy like Lawrence.
Back at her apartment, Teddy is preparing to leave (again) before telling Elsbeth that Mark Van Ness is now being "taken to cleaners" in his divorce case, meaning that her troubled past in Chicago is now behind her.
The episode ends with an unexpected reunion with Elsbeth and her rival, Judge Milton Crawford.
After the case involving Andy's death was reopened since Elsbeth believed that Crawford had something to do with the murder (spoiler alert: he is the real killer), the shady judge threatened her to back off while threatening the acquitted Delia.
New episodes of Elsbeth Season 2 premiere every Thursday on CBS at 10 p.m. ET and can be streamed the next day on Paramount+.
