Critic’s Rating:<\/strong> 5 \/ 5.0<\/p>\n 5<\/p>\n You can pick your jaw up off the floor now. The Elsbeth episode is over, and like you, TV Fanatic is utterly in shock. I don\u2019t care how intuitive you are \u2014 NO ONE saw that twist coming.<\/p>\n Just wow. It\u2019s common knowledge that the best way to create a captivating story is to supersede viewer expectations. There\u2019s no better way to do that than by completely turning the story on its head.<\/p>\n Much like Elsbeth<\/a> at the end of \u201cI Know What You Did Thirty-Three Summers Ago,\u201d we feel like we\u2019re in an alternate reality where nothing makes sense.<\/p>\n Suffice it to say, Elsbeth Season 2 Episode 18 changed the game by introducing actual life-or-death stakes.<\/p>\n The show is trading some of its \u201cPastel Pink\u201d in for \u201cRevenge Red.\u201d<\/p>\n Normally, I save the juiciest parts of an episode for the end of the review, but we\u2019ll never be able to process what we watched until we get past that cliffhanger.<\/p>\n First, the Elsbeth writers deserve a massive round of applause. Their plotting was expert because it came right up to the edge of unbelievable.<\/p>\n Interestingly, because Delia was innocent on Elsbeth Season 2 Episode 7<\/a>, we automatically assumed she was a good person.<\/p>\n Humans are a complex species. We are capable of being mentally unhinged and a decent person at the same time. However, that\u2019s good news for Delia because she might be able to plead insanity.<\/p>\n Truth be told, even as Delia raised the gun, I didn\u2019t think she was going to shoot. Cut to half a second later, and there\u2019s a bullet in Judge Milton Crawford\u2019s torso right around where his heart should be if he had one.<\/p>\n Okay, did anyone feel a slight moment of sympathy for the character as he died beside Elsbeth? Yeah, me neither. That guy sucked. Enjoy hell.<\/p>\n He was a truly awful character and deserved a much more horrible ending.<\/p>\n A better fate would have been if Elsbeth had exposed him. Then, Milton loses everything as a disgraced former judge before taking his own life.<\/p>\n However, that\u2019s too damn dark for Elsbeth \u2014 even after this episode. Nonetheless, it was still an incredibly powerful and moving scene.<\/p>\n I have to give it up to our girl, Carrie Preston<\/a>. Miss Acting went in on those scenes. It really felt like she was distraught and perplexed by the events.<\/p>\n Granted, it was a scene where a character played by Preston\u2019s real-life husband was dying in her arms. It was probably harder for her to NOT cry during that scene.<\/p>\n The twist was like napalm to the entire vibe of the show, and it feels like the story is moving away from the campier side of things.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s not as if Elsbeth can\u2019t take itself seriously from time to time. Elsbeth Season 1\u2019s overarching plot was about Elsbeth secretly getting info on Wagner for Agent Celetano.<\/p>\n Now Agent Celetano is gone, thanks to the antics of one dead judge on the courthouse steps. However, Judge Milton\u2019s assassination may work in the dead man\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n If you have kept up with the Elsbeth Reviews<\/a>, you know I was convinced that Judge Crawford had every intention of stopping Elsbeth from working with the police and possibly even having her disbarred through \u201cThe Consent Decree.\u201d<\/p>\n To be fair, CBS made a big stink about the star-studded Season 2 Finale, which will feature multiple murderers returning for one episode.<\/p>\n The Elsbeth writers must read TV Fanatic because that is definitely where the story was heading before it suddenly took a hard left turn.<\/p>\n What\u2019s interesting is that murders happen on every single episode of Elsbeth, and yet, there was something so profound about Judge Crawford\u2019s (Michael Emerson<\/a>) death.<\/p>\n Maybe it\u2019s because the way he was killed automatically made him a martyr. It doesn\u2019t matter if he killed a girl for not being interested in him when he was younger.<\/p>\n All people are going to see is a man who was murdered in cold blood. Even worse, due to the circumstances leading up to the death, Elsbeth will certainly be implicated.<\/p>\n She was at the crime scene when the judge died; she had been seen having heated arguments with him, and worst of all, there\u2019s clear evidence that Elsbeth had been in contact with Delia since her trial.<\/p>\n With how everything is set up, there\u2019s a good chance the Finale is revving up the story for a massive change after Elsbeth Season 2<\/a>.<\/p>\n Whatever awaits us on the finale will change the series in the future. How do I know this? Decades of being obsessed with television.<\/p>\n In all seriousness, the Elsbeth writers have consistently gone out of their way to bring new and innovative ideas to the show.<\/p>\n Rather than let Elsbeth be the run-of-the-mill case-of-the-week police procedural, the hands behind the series are keeping audiences on their toes and not the other way around.<\/p>\nJust When We Wondered if Elsbeth Was Running Out of Ideas, the Writers Leave Us Flabbergasted<\/h2>\n
Carrie Preston Delivered a Stellar Performance, Perfectly Mirroring the Audience\u2019s Confusion<\/h2>\n
There Was Something Truly Compelling About Judge Milton Crawford\u2019s Death<\/h2>\n
With Elsbeth\u2019s Story Completely Upended, We Have No Idea What\u2019s in Store for Miss Tascioni<\/h2>\n
![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/cdn.tvfanatic.com\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1e-2-1024x576.jpg)
![\"Elsbeth](\"https:\/\/cdn.tvfanatic.com\/uploads\/2025\/04\/2e-768x1024.png)
![\"Judge](\"https:\/\/cdn.tvfanatic.com\/uploads\/2025\/04\/3e-768x1024.png)
![\"Milton](\"https:\/\/cdn.tvfanatic.com\/uploads\/2025\/04\/4e-1024x768.png)
![\"Young](\"https:\/\/cdn.tvfanatic.com\/uploads\/2025\/04\/5e-768x1024.png)
![\"Carrie](\"https:\/\/cdn.tvfanatic.com\/uploads\/2025\/04\/6e-2-768x1024.jpg)
![\"Teddy\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.tvfanatic.com\/uploads\/2025\/04\/7e-768x1024.png)