Elsbeth Season 3 Episode 18 was full of surprises, and the biggest one involved Buzz Smollett.
Buzz is one of several rotating detective partners that Elsbeth works with when Kaya isn’t available, which, disappointingly, was the case only a week after Kaya’s triumphant return.
He’s usually grumpy and skeptical, so I never imagined that a story about him almost being pushed out of the department would be one of the most compelling of the season.
Elsbeth Season 3 Episode 18 Explored The Real Issue of Mandatory Retirement
Television police procedurals love the trope of mandatory retirement when it helps support cast changes or plot development. (We won’t talk about how unrealistic it is that certain other shows have cops working in high-stress units for over 20 years.)
Mandatory retirement is a real thing — cops are supposed to retire at 65 and start drawing a pension, whether or not they feel ready to close out this chapter of their lives.
Buzz certainly wasn’t, no matter how much he smiled and said he’d have to clean out the garage that his wife had been pushing him to clean out.
I hadn’t expected this storyline to be emotional because Buzz is usually played for laughs.
He’s one of my least favorites of the detectives that work with Elsbeth because he is overly skeptical and usually finds Elsbeth and her theories to be an annoying obstacle to his desire to close the case and go home.
On Elsbeth Season 3 Episode 18, however, Buzz’s supposed forced retirement gave him some badly needed humanity. He was no longer the detective who was nothing more than a thorn in Elsbeth’s side and vice versa.
Instead, Buzz tried to hide his pain and keep moving forward with the job while giving Captain Wagner an utterly fake smile.
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For the first time, I felt for the guy. He may often be a pain, but detective work is his passion, and he wasn’t nearly ready to leave it behind.
I especially appreciated that Elsbeth was the first person to have his back with this, as well as the fact that she used her observational skills to catch Tully cheating so that Buzz’s ability to stay in the department wasn’t stolen from him.
Buzz returned the favor, too, with a heartfelt toast at his non-retirement party that thanked Elsbeth for believing in him and making him more aware of how much he loved his job.
I don’t know what Tully’s problem was, but he was determined to get rid of Buzz at all costs, and I’m glad that Captain Wagner didn’t have to sacrifice his own in order to retain his detective.
When Wagner said at the end that Tully doesn’t like to lose and is going to seek payback, for a split second, I thought he was about to announce his own retirement to save Buzz’s.
I would have hated that. I’m a huge fan of Wendell Pierce, and I like Wagner even though his tendency to constantly dismiss Elsbeth’s ideas gets on my last nerve.
However, with only two more episodes left on Elsbeth Season 3, I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re heading for a big showdown.
Elsbeth loves its season-ending cliffhangers, after all, and the words “looking for payback” and “season finale coming up” are too close together for Wagner’s warning to mean anything else.
If we’re going that route, I hope that we get a better explanation for why Tully hates Wagner so much.
Of course, this all ties into Alec Bloom’s decision to appoint Tully rather than Wagner as Commissioner of Police, because he was angry that Elsbeth had broken up with him.
Do you think Tully is helping Alec get revenge on Elsbeth, or is his problem with Wagner more personal?
Hit the comments with your thoughts, and don’t forget to share this article with your friends.
I was glad for the break from Alec being on-screen. Elsbeth Season 3 works much better without the drama of his political career and his relationship with Elsbeth.
Plus, Elsbeth Season 3 ruins Marissa’s character more every time she defends Alec, and that’s not acceptable to me.
However, I wouldn’t be surprised if those two (Alec and Marissa) resurface before the finale, considering all the trouble Tully is causing.
The Poker Game Was Ridiculous, But Why Cheat?
The idea of Buzz’s continued career riding on a poker game seemed silly. If mandatory retirement is an NYPD policy, then changing Buzz’s retirement based on who won didn’t make sense.
That said, why was it so important to Tully to ensure Buzz’s retirement that he would enlist another officer to help him cheat?
Elsbeth is usually a lighthearted show, but it has been known to dive into serious topics like police and political corruption before.
For this reason, I wouldn’t be surprised if Tully has some bigger secret that he’s afraid will come out if he doesn’t systematically dismantle Wagner’s department.
As long as it is intertwined with a case as entertaining and interesting as this one was, I don’t mind that at all.
I love stories about standing up to abuses of power, and Elsbeth can take itself seriously when it wants to.
Elsbeth Season 3 Episode 18 offered a satire of tradwives, suggesting that deep unhappiness drove Juliet to murder, alongside the more serious story about Buzz’s retirement and Tully’s manipulations.
More of this, please — just don’t put Elsbeth back in jail (or offer another musical episode!)
What are your theories about Tully?
What do you hope happens on the Elsbeth Season 3 finale?
Hit the comments with your thoughts, and don’t forget to share this article with your friends so they can join in the conversation.
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If you enjoyed this article, check out our coverage of Only Murders In The Building.
The remainder of Elsbeth Season 3 airs on CBS on Thursdays at 9/8c and streams on Paramount+ on Fridays. The season finale airs on May 21, 2026.
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