Elsbeths Carra Patterson Makes Season 3 Return — And It Wont Be Kayas Final Appearance – TVLine

The NYPD’s most dynamic duo has been reunited at last.

Thursday’s hour of CBS procedural “Elsbeth” welcomed back former series regular Carra Patterson as DetectiveKaya Blanke, who returned to her usual precinct for some garden-variety sleuthing after her first undercover assignment ended.

“Elsbeth” viewers who’ve missed Kaya’s regular presence may have picked up on her allusions in Thursday’s episode to potentially staying out of undercover work for a while. Her first long-term assignment was not only unnerving, but it left her with an identity crisis after using theDenise Jackson alias for months, and it seems she craves normalcy for the foreseeable future.

To that end, a CBS source confirms to TVLine that Patterson’s Kaya will pop up again in the show’s Season 3 finale, airing Thursday, May 21, at 10/9c. There’s currently no word, though, on how often Patterson might appear in thepreviously announced Season 4.

Carra Patterson, who has been with “Elsbeth” since its pilot episode, first departed as a series regular at the end of Season 2, which coincided with new detective Kaya’s foray into undercover work.

“Kaya is still such an important part of the show and is not leaving the world of the show. She will be back. We love her and love the character, and she’ll be back as often we can have her,” showrunner Jonathan Tolins told TVLine at the time. “Female friendship is very important to our show, and I think we will still honor female friendship as a major part of this show, even though we’ll be seeing a little less of Kaya.”

Indeed, Kaya has remained top of mind for Elsbeth (Carrie Preston) while she’s been undercover, and Patterson previously guest-starred in the Season 3 episode “Good Grief,” where Elsbeth first encountered Kaya’s Denise Jackson persona. In Kaya’s absence, Elsbeth has worked more cases withOfficer Grace Hackett (Lindsay Mendez),Officer Nikki Reynolds (b), andDetective Jackie Donnelly (Molly Price), among other colleagues.

“Elsbeth”fans, how much did you love having Kaya back? Hit the comments!