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Writer's pictureBarbara

'Elsbeth' Season 2 Episode 6 "Gold, Frankincense, and Murder" Review



Elsbeth’s Back!  Elsbeth’s Holiday Season Episode begins with a husband-and-wife reality show, “Dirk and Dee Dee Dashers:  Celebrity Christmas Curators”.  They’re a cheerful couple that dress up celebrity homes, onscreen.  It’s a deluge of holiday decorating and decorations. After taping their episode, offscreen, Dee Dee Dashers is very unhappy and states she wants a divorce.  Dirk Dashers doesn’t take his wife seriously.  They argue and Dee Dee remains adamant about the divorce.  Christmas is Dirk’s Holiday, and he really overindulges.  After Dee Dee leaves to  help with displays at their decorating company, Dress Up, Dirk devises  ways to electrocute his wife with unsuspecting Christmas decorations.  Later at the  Dress Up Christmas Tree Lighting, Dirk is electrocuted and falls off a ladder when trying to fix a burnt-out bulb on the Christmas Tree.

Enter Officer Blanke, Detective Donnelly and Elsbeth to investigate. (Why is Elsbeth wearing that hat?)  Elsbeth is seen wandering through the reindeer decorations, not believing it’s also a crime scene. 


They walk over to talk to Dee Dee Dashers, and Elsbeth recognizes an old acquaintance, Ghezala Mott.  Laird, her assistant, stops Elsbeth from getting too close.  Elsbeth can’t believe a burnt-out bulb caused Dirk’s death, and her unique investigative senses go off.  Officer Blanke introduces Elsbeth to Fire Marshall Sparks who says the exposed wiring caused Dirk’s death. Dee Dee disagreed, and says their lights never fray. 


Officer Blanke and Detective Donnelly were about to close the case and declare it an accident, but Fire Marshall Sparks discovers the exposed wiring on the Christmas Tree light  master switch.  Elsbeth inspects it and determines it was intentional. Elsbeth notices an odd interaction between Dee Dee and Santa’s elf when she leaves. They all meet at the Dashers Home.  Dee Dee tells them about home holiday decorating.  Elsbeth wants to try it.  Dee Dee is taking down their Christmas decorations after Dirk’s death.  Grayden, a Santa’s elf, shows Elsbeth, Officer Blanke and Detective Donnelly to Santa’s Workshop, Dirk’s Workshop.  Elsbeth notices a turtle dove decoration and asks Dee Dee where the other turtle dove was.  Dee Dee seemed nervous about something, especially after Elsbeth asked about the dove.





Back at the police station, Elsbeth, Officer Blanke tells Elsbeth about moving out.  She said her apartment renovation was done early.  Elsbeth is stunned.  She asks if Officer Blanke was coming over for Christmas, and she’s not.  Instead, she’s going on a cruise with her family.  Sadly, Elsbeth’s going to be alone for Christmas. CPT Wagner asks Elsbeth for some gift suggestions for his wife. Teddy’s been fired and came by to talk about Dirk’s weird behavior during the tree lighting ceremony.  Dirk wouldn’t let Ghezala turn on the Christmas Lights.  Everyone deduced that he wanted Dee Dee to do it to kill her. Dee Dee meets with her agent, Peter. Hal at his officel.  He tells her about all the new job offers she’s getting since Dirks death.  She tells him she wants her name pronounced the correct way again and pitches a new proposal.   She realizes she is never getting away from Christmas decorating. Detective Donnelly, Officer Blanke and Elsbeth go to see Peter Hall to ask him questions about Dirk.  He said he and Dee Dee will make lots of money now that Dirk’s dead.  


Officer Blanke asks Peter about his daily communication with Dirk.  They have Dirk’s phone records that show the activity.  Peter says it wasn’t him making the calls. Detective Donnelly specifies the calls were made from his office, but Peter says it wasn’t him.  Elsbeth sees Holly, the receptionist, crying,  and also sees the missing turtle dove on her desk.  They find out that she was having an affair with Dirk.  Elsbeth asks if Mrs. Dashers knew of the affair, and she’s not sure.  She also tells them that Mrs. Dashers hates Christmas.  Dirk promised that he and Holly would be together.  Detective Donnelly, Officer Blanke and Elsbeth decide to tell Dee Dee everything about the affair, after they clear it with CPT Wagner.  Elsbeth is volunteered to tell her.  Elsbeth meets her at a bar to tell her that Dirk was trying to kill her and that he had an affair. 


Dee Dee can’t believe it.  Later, she tells CPT Wagner that Dee Dee killed Dirk.  He can’t believe it.  Elsbeth walks CPT Wagner, Officer Blanke and Detective Donnelly through the proof.  It’s funny how drunken Santas are  running around the police station in the background. 





Officer Blanke and Elsbeth collect their proof, starting with Fire Marshall Sparks.  It’s too funny watching the firefighters showing off to get their attention. They asked how Dee Dee avoided getting shocked.  Officer Blanke interrupts Sparks before he awsks Elsbeth for her phone number.  They head back to Elsbeth’s house, and Kaya brought her a Christmas tree.  She tried to cheer her up.  They decorate it.   Some of the light bulbs didn’t come on, so they tested them out and found the bad one.


Elsbeth figures out how Dee Dee killed Dirk. The next day, Officer Blanke, Detective Donnelly and Elsbeth go see Dee Dee at Dress Up.  Elsbeth offers her some all red Christmas cookies and discover she’s colorblind.  They walk through the proof with Dee Dee’s unwitting help.  Grayden, Santa’s elf, found the rubber-lined gloves she wore the night of the tree lighting ceremony.  Dee Dee had hidden them. They explained the color of the bulbs proved Dee Dee’s guilt.  Elsbeth tells her what really makes Christmas special and it’s not the decorations.  She tells CPT Wagner what to get his wife for Christmas and assures him she’ll love it. At her home, Elsbeth helps Kaya move out.  Kaya and CPT Wagner surprise Elsbeth by bringing Teddy home for Christmas dressed in a Santa costume.  What a Happy Christmas Surprise!


This episode was full of mystery, firemen, celebrities, Christmas decorations, Kindness, Joy and Love! Wonderful!  



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