Through her relentless positivity and keen senses from her days as a lawyer in Chicago, Elsbeth has been able to find cracks in the armor of many a potential suspect, from killer cruciverbalists to bloody ballet choreographers and everything in between or beyond. What happens when she runs into a suspect who not only knows her game but can completely deconstruct everything about her, from her fashion choices to her past, though? That’s the question for Season 3, Episode 17, “High Class Problems,” airing next week. Collider can exclusively unveil a new sneak peek that pits the vibrantly dressed detective up against a wealth therapist played by Crazy Rich Asians star Constance Wu, who finally stops her dead in her tracks with some scarily accurate observations.

The sneak peek opens with the outgoing Elsbeth doing what she does best, using her friendly demeanor to learn all about her target. In this case, she eagerly asks about how Wu’s Dr. Malory Ryan got into her line of work, treating the upper crust of New York City. Kaya Blanke (Carra Patterson) even makes her much-anticipated return to provide her former precinct bestie with back-up. However, they quickly find that, despite not being from a “legacy family,” Dr. Ryan is supremely confident that she belongs among the very people who did grow up with wealth, and she loves what she does. With her ability to read people, she’s able to back that confidence up, too, seeing through Elsbeth and easily picking her apart.

Ryan starts with addressing Elsbeth’s extravagant wardrobe choices — in this case, a sharp, ornately-patterned suit — and how it speaks to her own fortune, before essentially figuring out her entire past from The Good Wife and The Good Fight. All the sleuth can do is nervously stammer as the therapist deduces her history as a lawyer in Chicago, the nature of her cases, the messes she had to clean up, and even her divorce. For once, Elsbeth has found the tables completely flipped on her and had her own background, flaws, and tastes laid bare, and that makes Dr. Ryan a particularly intimidating foe. Her recollection of her patients’ deepest secrets may have led to murder, and the high-profile motorcycle crash of a billionaire’s son may have put the spotlight on her, but it’ll be hard for Elsbeth to crack a character who is seemingly prepared for whatever plan of attack she has.

The show that claimed the most of your answers is the world you were built for. If two tied, both are shown — you’re complicated enough to straddle two Sheridan universes.

You are a Dutton — or you might as well be. You understand that some things are worth protecting at any cost, and that the modern world’s indifference to history, to land, to legacy, is not something you’re willing to accept quietly. You lead from the front, you carry your family’s weight without complaint, and when someone threatens what’s yours, you don’t escalate — you finish it. You’re not cruel. But you are absolute. In Yellowstone’s world, that combination of ferocity and loyalty doesn’t make you a villain. It makes you the only thing standing between everything that matters and everyone who wants to take it.

You thrive in the chaos of high-stakes negotiation, where the money is enormous, the margins are thin, and the wrong word in the wrong room can cost everyone everything. You’re a fixer — the person called when a situation is already on fire and needs someone with the nerve to walk into it. West Texas oil country rewards exactly what you are: sharp, adaptable, unsentimental, and absolutely clear-eyed about what people want and what they’ll do to get it. You’re not naive enough to think this world is fair. You’re smart enough to be the one deciding who it’s fair to.

You are a Dwight Manfredi — someone who has served their time, paid their dues, and arrived somewhere unexpected with nothing but their reputation and their wits. You adapt without losing yourself. You build loyalty through respect rather than fear, though you’re not above reminding people that the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Tulsa King is for people who are still standing when everyone assumed they’d be finished — who find, in an unfamiliar place, that they’re more capable than the world gave them credit for. You don’t need a throne. You build one, wherever you happen to land.

You carry the weight of a system that is broken by design, and you do it anyway — because someone has to, and because you’re the only one positioned to do it without the whole thing collapsing. Mike McLusky’s world is for people who are comfortable operating where there are no good options, only less catastrophic ones. You speak every language: law enforcement, criminal, political, human. That fluency makes you invaluable and it makes you a target. You’ve made your peace with both. Mayor of Kingstown belongs to people who understand that keeping the peace is not the same as being at peace — and who do the job regardless.

Whatever plans Elsbeth has for her upcoming case, the return of Kaya will be most welcome. Patterson proved to be the perfect partner for Preston throughout the first two series of the cozy mystery series, so it came as a shock last May when the actress was written off as a series regular ahead of the sophomore outing’s finale. The last time viewers saw Kaya, now working for a special task force in DC, was back in Season 3’s third episode, when she and Elsbeth came together amid the investigation into Julia Fox’s killer grief influencer, but their reunion was far too fleeting. This time, she looks to be more directly involved in the case and ready to give her friend the boost she needs to take down a seemingly impenetrable foe.

Elsbeth Season 3, Episode 17, brings Wu to New York on Thursday, April 30, on CBS. After that, only three episodes will remain until the wait begins for Season 4. Check out our exclusive sneak peek in the player above.

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CBS

Nancy Hower, Robert King, Lionel Coleman, Rob Hardy, Robin Givens, Ron Underwood, Rosemary Rodriguez, Aisha Tyler, Bille Woodruff, James Whitmore Jr., Joe Menendez, Kevin Rodney Sullivan, Lily Mariye, Nick Gomez, Peter Sollett, Sam Hoffman, Tyne Rafaeli, Darren Grant, Fong-Yee Yap, Mary Lou Belli

Carrie Preston

Wendell Pierce