Welcome back, Elsbeth fans! Though it’s only been a few weeks, it feels like forever since we last joined our favorite attorney and her friends at the NYPD. As we kick off Season 2, Episode 9 of Elsbeth, we pick up right where we left off, with Elsbeth (Carrie Preston) confronting a major personal and professional challenge.
The details of her involvement with the Van Ness divorce case have been leaked to the press, much to the shock of her friend Kaya Blanke (Carra Patterson). Meanwhile, Elsbeth, who had been planning to go after Judge Milton Crawford (Michael Emerson), has to juggle her own scandal while being thrust into a new, high-stakes case.
It’s a new year, but it’s business as usual for Elsbeth and her team at the NYPD. Episode 9, “Unalive and Well,” gives us a compelling mix of legal intrigue, personal drama, and the mysterious world of holistic wellness.
The Wellness Center Death: A Mysterious Investigation Begins
The episode kicks off at the Heiwa Zen Center, a wellness retreat that promises to detoxify not only the body but the soul. The center, founded by Tom (Eric McCormack), is a high-end holistic establishment where the rich and famous come to shed the “toxicity” of their everyday lives.
Tom guides a group through a detox program designed to cleanse them physically and emotionally. While some of the participants find solace in the group therapy exercises, others, like Billy (Michael Hsu Rosen), remain more skeptical of the entire process.
Billy, who has no faith in Tom’s wellness practices, refuses to participate in the detox exercise. He even keeps junk food in his car, which he refuses to give up for the program’s food cleanse. Tom, however, remains persistent and offers Billy a “cleansing” juice, which Billy turns down.
The tension between them grows when Billy admits he’s dealing with some deep personal darkness, and his need for something stronger than conventional therapy is revealed. That something is kambo, a potent secretion from an Amazonian tree frog. Despite its controversial and potentially dangerous effects, Tom agrees to administer it to Billy.
The kambo treatment makes Billy vomit and pass out, but when he comes to, he reveals a shocking revelation: his real name is not Billy but Cole Campbell, and he is the younger brother of June Campbell, a woman who died 15 years ago.
Cole is determined to pin his sister’s death on Tom, whom he holds solely responsible for her passing. But Cole’s dramatic revelation seems a bit over the top—he’s not just going to leave quietly with his proof, instead announcing his intentions to expose Tom to the authorities.
As he drives away from the center, it’s clear that the kambo is still affecting Cole. His face is swollen, a possible side effect of the treatment, and he begins to devour powdered donuts in a spiteful display. Yet Tom, watching from a distance, is far from concerned. He has a sinister smile on his face, which suggests that the worst is yet to come.
Sure enough, Cole’s fate is sealed when he loses control of his car while driving on the freeway, crashing into barrels under a bridge. His death, though seemingly accidental, sparks an investigation that will soon intersect with Elsbeth’s ongoing troubles.
Elsbeth’s Scandal and Her Involvement in the Case
Back at the NYPD precinct, Elsbeth arrives to find the entire floor buzzing with the news of her involvement in the Van Ness case, which has been splashed across the newspapers. Blanke, her close friend, immediately confronts her with the story.
It turns out that the press has reported Elsbeth as one of the attorneys involved in the controversial case, which also includes allegations that Van Ness’s lawyers suppressed his ex-wife’s claims of domestic abuse. Blanke is shocked and horrified, unable to reconcile the Elsbeth she knows with the actions described in the press.
When Elsbeth admits that it’s not a mix-up, that she was indeed involved in the case, Blanke’s concern deepens. Elsbeth tries to downplay the situation by citing attorney-client privilege, but it’s clear that this revelation has created a rift between them.
Adding to the tension, Chief Wagner (Wendell Pierce) arrives and demands to know if Elsbeth has any idea why a Chicago judge would unseal the records related to the Van Ness case.
Elsbeth suggests that it may have something to do with her ongoing conflict with Judge Crawford, but the conversation is quickly cut short when Wagner hands her a new case: the mysterious death of Cole Campbell.
A Wellness Center’s Dark Secrets
Cole Campbell’s death raises several red flags. Despite the apparent accident, there are enough suspicious circumstances to warrant further investigation. Elsbeth, Blanke, and Detective Smullen (Danny Mastrogiorgio) are sent to the scene of the crash, where they find that Cole’s face is swollen, likely due to an allergic reaction.
They also discover an EpiPen in his car, which leads them to wonder why he didn’t use it when he realized he was having a reaction. As the investigation continues, it becomes clear that Cole was likely headed to a diagnostic lab, not a hospital, raising more questions about his mysterious behavior.
The team’s investigation takes them to the Heiwa Zen Center, where they meet Tom and his assistant, Starlight (Cailen Fu). Starlight reveals that she knew Cole as Billy, the name he had used when checking into the center.
Tom, meanwhile, is quick to provide a backstory, claiming that Cole had been seeking closure over his sister June’s death, which had occurred at the center 15 years ago. June had died of a gallstone infection, but Tom’s explanation is too convenient, and Elsbeth suspects there’s more to the story.
The team digs deeper, and it’s soon revealed that June’s death was not as straightforward as Tom claims. June had fallen ill during her time at the center, and when Tom was alerted, instead of taking her to a hospital, he administered the controversial kambo treatment to her.
This decision led to her death, and Tom later reached a settlement with her family. But Cole, still a child at the time, was left to deal with his grief alone. The trauma from his sister’s death and Tom’s role in it likely motivated him to seek revenge, which ultimately led to his own demise.
Elsbeth’s Investigation Takes a Personal Turn
Determined to get to the bottom of the case, Elsbeth goes undercover at the Heiwa Zen Center, posing as a participant in the program. She’s paired with Cheryl (Marcia DeBonis), who is more than willing to open up about her own experiences at the center.
Cheryl reveals that while the center’s detox programs claim to offer holistic healing, many participants, like Billy (Cole), resist engaging with the practices. Despite her initial skepticism, Elsbeth begins to take the program seriously, finding solace in the meditation sessions and connecting with Cheryl on a deeper level.
However, it isn’t long before Elsbeth’s suspicions resurface. She becomes increasingly wary of Tom’s behavior and his tendency to control the narrative. When Elsbeth asks Tom why he called Cole by his real name, he tries to brush it off as a form of respect for Cole’s journey. But Elsbeth isn’t buying it, and she becomes more determined than ever to uncover the truth behind Cole’s death and Tom’s shady practices at the center.
Meanwhile, Blanke and Smullen continue to uncover more information about the center’s questionable practices. They discover that Tom has been involved in several medical emergencies at the center over the years, including the death of June Campbell.
Even more concerning is the fact that Tom has partnered with a private ambulance service owned by the local sheriff to cover up these incidents. The waivers participants sign at the center have also been altered after June’s death to protect Tom from any legal consequences.
The Final Confrontation
With the investigation closing in on Tom, Elsbeth takes matters into her own hands. She tracks him down at the center, confronting him about his role in Cole’s death and the ongoing use of kambo at the facility. Tom tries to deny his involvement, but Elsbeth isn’t backing down.
She reveals that she knows Cole had called his lawyer, saying he had “everything he needed” to expose Tom. Elsbeth also connects the dots between mustard seed oil and sesame oil, explaining that Cole’s anaphylactic reaction was likely triggered by Tom’s use of mustard seed oil in his snacks.
As Elsbeth lays out her case, Starlight, who has been quietly observing the situation, refuses to let Tom off the hook. She takes control of the group, leading them in a healing meditation to help them move on from the trauma Tom has caused.
Back at the precinct, Blanke and Smullen continue to piece together the evidence, confirming that Tom’s negligence and criminal actions led directly to Cole’s death. With the evidence stacked against him, Tom is arrested, and the wellness center’s dark secrets are finally brought to light.
Healing Personal and Professional Wounds
In the aftermath of the case, Elsbeth and Blanke try to mend their strained friendship. Elsbeth admits that she needs Blanke’s help and opens up about her own personal struggles, including her feelings of guilt surrounding the Van Ness case.
Blanke, despite her earlier shock, agrees to support Elsbeth, but she demands the full truth about the Chicago case in return. It’s a bittersweet moment of reconciliation as the two women work through their own challenges together.
Meanwhile, back in the city, Wagner (Wendell Pierce) continues to investigate Judge Crawford, who played a pivotal role in the Chicago case. Wagner’s suspicions about Crawford deepen, and he encourages Captain Kearnshaw (Jen Colella) to reopen the case, as the evidence against Crawford continues to mount.
It’s clear that Elsbeth’s legal battles are far from over, and the shadow of Judge Crawford’s influence looms large over her future.
