The Elsbeth Season 2 finale marked Carra Patterson‘s final episode as a series regular. Her character, newly promoted Detective Kaya Blanke, has been promoted again to a special task force, and training’s beginning immediately in Washington, D.C. Kaya and Elsbeth Tascioni (Carrie Preston) said their goodbye (for now) after Elsbeth was released from jail in the May 8 finale, and Elsbeth ended the episode with a tearful cheers to Kaya at the precinct’s goodbye party.
Patterson isn’t leaving Elsbeth altogether. She’ll be back as a guest star indefinitely as the show continues. But things are going to look very different with Kaya gone in Season 3. Showrunner Jonathan Tolins detailed their plan for Elsbeth’s next companion officer to TV Insider in an interview about the Season 2 finale.
Kaya is not going to be replaced in the series, and Kaya can’t be replaced in Elsbeth’s life. Their friendship is too strong to just place another person into the empty space that Patterson’s absence creates. There were a couple of different officers who accompanied Elsbeth on her investigations following Kaya’s promotion in Season 2. That’s going to continue in Elsbeth Season 3, premiering this fall on CBS.
“I don’t want to shoehorn another character into exactly the same role that Kaya played in Elsbeth’s life,” Tolins told TV Insider. “I do think that Elsbeth usually must be working with a uniformed officer because she’s not a detective. She can’t just go to these places without someone. So we’ve started introducing some new characters.”
Elsbeth Season 3 will likely feature a revolving door of officers accompanying Elsbeth throughout New York City crime scenes.
“We had B as Nikki Reynolds and Ethan Slater as Chandler” in Season 2, Tolins said, “and I think we’ll keep introducing some more.” Slater may not be a frequent appearance, however.
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“We love Ethan. I don’t know if we’d be able to have him as often because he’s very busy,” Tolins said. “So we’re going to let things develop organically and see who will end up being there more often with Elsbeth. We may end up using our uniformed officers like we use our detectives, where we have a great stable, where you’re excited to see every one of them, but you don’t know which one it’ll be in each episode.”
Also coming in Season 3: Elsbeth’s professional life will continue to be impacted by her presence at Judge Milton Crawford’s (Michael Emerson) murder in Season 2 Episode 18. The trial of his killer, Delia Kirby (Meredith Holzman) — who was driven to this deadly act because the evil judge ruined her life by killing her lover, Andy, and framing her for the murder — likely isn’t going to be a plot point.
“I don’t think this will turn into [covering] the trial of Delia Kirby. I think that’s done,” Tolins said. “But I do feel that the way that whole experience affects Elsbeth — and the way people perceive Elsbeth because of her perceived connection to what happened — that will continue.”
Elsbeth’s jail time is also done following that glittering “Cell Block Tango” homage in the Season 2 finale. “Our show, as much as we love our beautiful prison set that we built, we kind of stay in glamorous places,” Tolins said. They’re returning to the show’s usual format, which is investigating the “lifestyles and murders of the rich and famous,” the showrunner said. But one thing they do want to pull from the Season 2 finale is the return of past guest stars.
As Tolins teased, “We are not done looking at what happens to some of our people after Elsbeth seems to be finished with them in their original episode.”
Elsbeth, Season 3 Premiere, Fall 2025, CBS
