Previously on Elementary: Art in the Blood.

I don’t think I’ve ever felt so ambiguous about an episode of Elementary before.

Speaking in terms of narrative, it’s refreshing that the classical detective story doesn’t always end with a happy ending and society’s mores restored. That’s the core of the Classical English Detective story, and it’s not happening here, far from it. Continue reading →

Previously on Elementary: The Hound of the Cancer Cells.

Season 2, Episode 19: The Many Mouths of Aaron Colville

Both this and the next episode touch deeply personal facets of Joan and Sherlock’s lives. In The Many Mouths of Aaron Colville, Joan is confronted with a case, a patient, that as been weighing on her conscience more or less ever since. Faced with the possibility that a man innocent of the crimes of which he had been convicted died on her table with her watching and not reporting her attending surgeon for withholding treatment, Joan’s doubts and guilt from years ago resurface. It sends her into a separate investigation into Dr Jonathan Fleming, the surgeon she was assisting at the time.

Continue reading →

Previously on Elementary: Ears to You.

Loaning bits and pieces from The Hound of the Baskervilles, this episode doesn’t just give us a really creepy pre-credits murder sequence, but also a more than welcome look at what’s not only the sleek and sophisticated parts of town and hunting grounds for criminals. And then, at the end, it throws in a heart-warming moment between Sherlock and Marcus, accepting that not everything can be fixed in the great classical detective story. Continue reading →

Previously on Elementary: The One Percent Solution.

What this episode does, for me, is highlight why this Gareth Lestrade is a prat and a dick, and why we’re all glad to be rid of him. What this episode also does is annoy me that he gets room and board long enough to get his shit together and get on with it, while we never see hide nor hair of his assistant again, who, presumably, doesn’t have a lot more to fall back on than he did. Except if her parents are exceptionally wealthy or some such, in which case a mention would have still been nice. Just a line, ’cause usually neither Joan nor Sherlock are people who just let others fall through the cracks unless they’re certain whoever it is will be ok — or, unless the person really doesn’t deserve it. As it stands, we’ve seen more terrible characters than her. Like, I don’t know. Lestrade, for instance. Continue reading →

Previously on Elementary: Corpse de Ballet.

In this episode, you get to watch the writers and cast have a lot of fun as they get as many ‘cocks’ past the censors as humanly possible. Continue reading →

Previously on Elementary: Dead Clade Walking.

The — aside from the wonderfully unperturbed handling of gender-flexible sexual and/or relationships — relatively uninspired case of a dead ballerina was accompanied by a better look at Joan’s life, values, and motivations; as well as a heartwarming example of the depth of her connection with Sherlock. Continue reading →

Previously on Elementary: All in the Family.

Ancient dinosaur bones aside, this new episode presents you with the conundrum entitled, “Sherlock Holmes and the Caring Lark.” Continue reading →

Previously on Elementary: The Diabolical Kind.

Welcome home, Detective Marcus Bell.

To assuage the worries of many Elementary fans: no, Jon Michael Hill is not leaving, and either is his character. Continue reading →

Previously on Elementary: Internal Audit.

“You look tired.”
“You look evil.”

And thus, with the story of Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective and bona fide genius, becomes a conversation between women. An intelligent conversation based on wit and deception and morality — not petty jealousy or cat-fighting. Continue reading →

Previously on Elementary: On the Line.

Remember how, a couple of weeks ago, I was so happy about Gregson, Bell, Joan, and Sherlock closing ranks and becoming a family? Yeah, well. In Tremors, the writers took it upon themselves to reset the clock. Continue reading →