This episode opens with Lawrence Grey/Matthew Broderick, working as an Admissions Consultant at Outmatch. They prepare students from wealthy families for admission to Baden University, an Ivy League University. He receives a call from one of the students’ parents about his son being denied admission to that prestigious university. There were messages from other parents with the same issue. Lawrence talks to the Baden University’s Director of Admissions, Ethan Brooks.
Ethan is setting up his office. He still harbors animosity against his parents and Lawrence for pushing him into a university and career path he didn’t want. He wanted to attend a drama school. He was forced into fencing to get into Baden. Ethan has asthma, and shooed a cat away that had gotten in his office’s open window. He takes a few inhaler puffs. Ethan threatens to reject any other students from Outmatch. He didn’t care for the shifty methods used to get students admitted to Baden. He vows to expose Lawrence as a charlatan, and throws him out of his office. Lawrence challenges Ethan to a fencing match in exchange for Bobby Shane Jr.’s admission to Baden University. Ethan can’t resist the offer. That night, Lawrence sits at home with his cat in his lap devising a plan. The next day, he administers a practice LSAT exam to a Baden student with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) in the Baden Library.
He gives the kid some ear plugs so he doesn’t get distracted. He warns he’ll restart the exam if he’s distracted. Lawrence sets the timer for 1H:10Min, and sneaks out of the room. He meets Ethan at Baden University’s Fencing Gym for their match. Lawrence adjusts a fencing mask and puts something inside. He then places something in his suit. He hands the mask to Ethan, and helps him put it on. He zip ties it on the back. They begin.
Being the school’s expert fencing coach, Ethan toys with Lawrence, showing off his fencing prowess. Lawrence gets a couple of touches in, but Ethan outmatches him. Suddenly Ethan starts struggling for breath and collapses. He asks Lawrence to get his inhaler. Instead Lawrence steps on his chest, while Ethan struggles and dies. Lawrence removes the orange zip tie and sprinkles dust on the cabinet near an open window. He leaves and returns to the Baden Library at the end of the student’s exam.Enter Officer Blanke, Detective Donnelly and Elsbeth.
They are at the crime scene as Detective Donnelly tells them about the victim. They surmise Ethan was practicing alone and just died. He wore a medical alert bracelet because of his asthma, and they assume something triggered it. Elsbeth looks into the mask and sees a light blue thread. She sneezes when she gets close to it cuz she’s allergic to cats. Detective Donnelly says a cat was near the body, but it jumped out the window. Elsbeth searches through Ethan’s bag and finds his inhaler. She asks why he didn’t pull off his mask and get his inhaler when he felt an attack happening. She also asks why a cat was in the gym. Officer Blanke makes a clever joke. Elsbeth finds the dust on the cabinet top, and thinks it’s oregano. Elsbeth sees two scores on the scoreboard and asks if they were from Ethan’s last match. She pulls out an epee sword and Officer Blanke asks why the other person didn’t help Ethan.
They wonder what kind of person watches someone die. In the meantime, Lawrence tells Bobbie’s Dad his son has a good chance of attending Baden University. Officer Blanke, Detective Donnelly, LT Connor, and Elsbeth meet in CPT Wagner’s Office to discuss Ethan’s case. CPT Wagner says the death of a college admissions director is a significant event, amazing everyone. Detective Donnelly’s glad her kids are dummies. She tells them about the bruising on Ethan’s chest, which isn’t from fencing injuries. Elsbeth says something or someone kept him from getting his inhaler. Donnelly also says the ‘oregano’ dust on the window sill was actually catnip. Elsbeth thinks someone lured the cat into the gym to trigger Ethan’s asthma. Toxicology report identifies cat dander inside Ethan’s mask. The lab’s still trying to identify the mysterious, light blue thread. Elsbeth keeps looking over Detective Donnelly’s shoulder while she reads this information.
They assume someone had to put the cat dander in the mask. Officer Blanke shows them a picture of the cute cat that tried to enter Ethan’s office the other day, Quad Cat. She’s a Baden University celebrity. CPT Wagner sends Elsbeth, Detective Donnelly and Officer Blanke back to school. Officer Blanke announces she successfully completed all her training courses, and Elsbeth invites everyone over to her place to celebrate. She also shares what happened with her Scottish beau, Angus. They leave the captain’s office, and Teddy’s waiting for Elsbeth outside her office. He’s there to help Roy move into his new place. (Yay! Teddy’s Back!) Elsbeth invites Teddy and Roy to the party. Detective Donnelly talks to the Admissions Secretary, and asks about the “No Way” applications on Ethan’s desk. She said Ethan had his own way of doing things. Elsbeth searching the office finds Lawrence Grey’s gift basket and asks why it’s not opened. The secretary tells her about Lawrence Grey, an admissions consultant, someone people hire to get their kids into Baden. Elsbeth questions the ethics. The secretary shares the Lawrence and Ethan history. Officer Blanke introduces Kelly Davis, the Quad Cat IG Account creator. She explains the cat’s unique four toes on each front paw. Detective Donnelly tells her the cat was seen in the fencing gym, and asks if it could have triggered an asthma attack.
Kelly says it’s not possible cuz Quad Cat is hypoallergenic. Interesting. Elsbeth questions what or who had it in for Ethan. The secretary suggests they look through the rejected applications. They interview the parents of the rejected student applicants. They finally admit paying a fee for their kids to get into Baden University to Outmatch.Officer Blanke and Elsbeth visit Lawrence Grey at Outmatch since the rejected applicants were all their referrals. Lawrence explains what they do. He lets it slip that he heard Ethan’s demise was triggered by Quad Cat. Officer Blanke tells him the cat was hypoallergenic. Elsbeth tells him she’s allergic to cats, too, and only sneezed when she got near Ethan’s mask. Officer Blanke tells him about the mysterious fiber, too. Officer Blanke tells Lawrence the story of Quad Cat, while Elsbeth tries to sniff him. He’s a little perturbed with Elsbeth getting too close. She sneezes, and he gives her his handkerchief. It’s blue. He lies when Elsbeth asks if he has a cat. Later, Lawrence gets home that night and tells Veritas, his cat, it has to go.
Lawrence and Elsbeth meet again at Ethan Brook’s Memorial display in the Baden Fencing Gym. She asks him for a consultation for future grandchildren. Elsbeth asks to fence with him as part of her consultation. Elsbeth and Lawrence fence in the gym. She points out the mask is easy to put on and take off, and wonders why Ethan couldn’t do that. They begin. He taps her twice, and she gets one in. Elsbeth points out the scoreboard, and both their scores. They continue a fierce battle. Elsbeth gets Lawrence to talk about his daughter, Mandy, and he suddenly twists his ankle ending their match. That night, they have Officer Blanke’s Celebration Party at Elsbeth’s apartment. LT Connor suggests Elsbeth file a report for injuring a suspect, but CPT Wagner tells them to wait. Teddy arrives.
Everyone talks about their past educational memories. Teddy points out to Elsbeth that she wasn’t around much while he grew up. CPT Wagner lets something slip about Teddy getting his job, Oh OH. Teddy leaves angry. Lawrence is surprised by the return of his daughter, Mandy. She had been in a hiking and creativity program. He tells her about the death of her cat. She tells him he’s the worst father ever. Elsbeth delivers a gift to Lawrence, and gives it to his doorman, Martin. The gift is an apology for Lawrence’s accident. Mandy comes in just as Elsbeth drops off the gift, and invites her upstairs. They get to know each other, and Mandy tells Elsbeth about her cat dying.
Lawrence comes in and rudely asks Elsbeth to leave. She returns his handkerchief, and he asks if it matched the mystery fiber. She tells him no. Elsbeth and Officer Blanke review more rejected Baden applications. Teddy arrives, and Officer Blanke leaves them to talk. Roy made him come apologize, and brought Roy to see Elsbeth. She hugs Roy and basically interrogates him. 83 mins later, they are still not done. Teddy’s worried. Officer Blanke tells Teddy about Angus. Teddy asks if Angus is a fireman. Interesting.Elsbeth has Roy telling her everything he’s ever done in his past. He mentions his dog dying and his parents not telling him. This sparked something in Elsbeth, and she tells him might have solved her case. Elsbeth revisits Lawrence and tells him she was very proud of her son, Teddy, and that he turned out just fine. She tells Lawrence that Mandy helped solve Ethan’s murder. She tells him how he killed Ethan. She motions to Officer Blanke and Mandy to come in. Mandy has her cat, Veritas. Lawrence couldn’t kill him, and Mandy found him at a shelter. They found the origin of the blue fiber, a cat toy mouse. Lawrence lies and claims that’s not his cat. Elsbeth tells him they can compare the cat ashes on his mantle to the sandbox in his office. Lawrence snidely tells Mandy she finally did something.
Elsbeth defends her. Officer Blanke arrests him. Teddy tells Elsbeth about the latest on Mark Van Ness. He’s proud of what she did. She tells him she may not have done everything right when raising him, but she ended up with the perfect son! They hug, and he leaves with her LSAT book. Elsbeth’s out walking Gonzo, when Judge Milton Crawford pulls up and tells her to get into his vehicle. He’s been keeping an eye on her, and admires how she got out of the Van Ness scandal. He threatens Delia, and a determined Elsbeth tells him she won’t stop searching for the personal stake he has in the case. He lets her and Gonzo out and drives off. They’re confrontation is coming to a head, and it will be Spectacular to see them Together Again! This episode was So Very Good, and it was interesting to see kitties, fencing and asthma as a central parts of the case. Returning to the Wonderful halls of education is always Fun! Loved seeing the fencing matches. Kitties foiled the murderer. Elsbeth and Matthew Broderick fencing was fantastic! It was Great to see Teddy again, too.
We finally got to see Roy, just when I thought he didn’t exist. He breezed through Elsbeth’s grueling interrogation. It was a delight to see Detective Donnelly, too! She adds a calming, determined, shrewd, no nonsense, clear, focused perspective to crime solving. LT Connor is getting more and more adorable. He’s becoming a blended, loved member of the team despite his pretense of a cold, standoffish persona. The characters and guests were Great mix in this episode. It worked Well!
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