^Well, he is the Reaper, so it's appropriate.
ELEMENTARY - News, Reviews, and Discussion
- Thread starter Allyn Gibson
- Start date
So how many TV shows has William Sadler died on this month?
He seems to die in every show he guest stars in.
^Oh, that's right! I think I remember that movie now.
As another not-steeped-in-canon like Spot's Meow (but familiar through early reading), I like this interpretation. Also agree Ifans' recent episodes been hugely enjoyable. Have loved watching him and Miller together (and Liu). Last ep was a fun Trek-nerdout with Sadler and Biggs. I was convinced Biggs was going to be the bad guy
.
I had mixed feelings about last night's episode. Let's see if I can articulate why, and I'm not sure that I can.
The thing that bothered me was how derivative this episode was of House. It seemed like we'd get this exact set-up on House at least once a season -- House would be an asshole, he'd screw up, a patient would get hurt, and he'd have to fast talk his way out of an admin hearing. In Elementary's early days I likened the series to "House with murders," and in my opinion it had moved on from that. So it was disappointing, at least to me, to see Elementary ape House so directly.
That said, I thought this particular take on that format was done well -- Jonny Lee Miller put on a very good performance as Holmes (tetchy, arrogant, and absolutely sure of himself), the case wasn't that obtrusive -- and I was surprised at the not-happy ending -- the judge recommends that Holmes be cut off from the NYPD, Bell rejects Holmes' overtures. I hope the series doesn't lose Bell, because I like Bell as a character a lot, and I also hope that this doesn't make Holmes' relationship with the NYPD more strained that it already is.
At the same time, perhaps this development helps the series make a break away from its NYPD-centric nature. The Canon Holmes didn't spend all of his time investigating murders at Scotland Yard's behest. I'd like to see this Holmes do more private consulting work. It is there, but I'd like to see it foregrounded more often.
The thing that bothered me was how derivative this episode was of House. It seemed like we'd get this exact set-up on House at least once a season -- House would be an asshole, he'd screw up, a patient would get hurt, and he'd have to fast talk his way out of an admin hearing. In Elementary's early days I likened the series to "House with murders," and in my opinion it had moved on from that. So it was disappointing, at least to me, to see Elementary ape House so directly.
That said, I thought this particular take on that format was done well -- Jonny Lee Miller put on a very good performance as Holmes (tetchy, arrogant, and absolutely sure of himself), the case wasn't that obtrusive -- and I was surprised at the not-happy ending -- the judge recommends that Holmes be cut off from the NYPD, Bell rejects Holmes' overtures. I hope the series doesn't lose Bell, because I like Bell as a character a lot, and I also hope that this doesn't make Holmes' relationship with the NYPD more strained that it already is.
At the same time, perhaps this development helps the series make a break away from its NYPD-centric nature. The Canon Holmes didn't spend all of his time investigating murders at Scotland Yard's behest. I'd like to see this Holmes do more private consulting work. It is there, but I'd like to see it foregrounded more often.
^Well, the episode was written by Liz Friedman, who was a writer-producer on House.
I wonder if they're headed toward having Bell work directly with Holmes and Watson, even though Bell wanted nothing more to do with Holmes? As a detective, he said, he had to be able to handle a gun, but he doesn't have to if he's a consultant. And we never heard his end of the conversation with the commissioner (it was the commissioner who asked Bell for his opinion, right?). I don't think there's any way his input could have been negative.
That could help move them into more private work as you said, while still keeping Bell in the mix.
Holmes did say to Bell in the final scene that the Commissioner had decided not to take the recommendation, so he and Watson are still permitted to work with the police. Based on that, we can deduce 
that Bell advised the Commissioner not to suspend H&W. However, he's evidently still bitter toward Holmes on a personal level, so I'd assume his recommendation was based on professional considerations, the good that H&W do on the whole. Whether he'd be comfortable working directly with them in the future is another matter.
that Bell advised the Commissioner not to suspend H&W. However, he's evidently still bitter toward Holmes on a personal level, so I'd assume his recommendation was based on professional considerations, the good that H&W do on the whole. Whether he'd be comfortable working directly with them in the future is another matter.
So crazy ex-con takes loses his job because of his own omission to his boss, blames someone else for it, ends up shooting Bell and it's all Holmes' fault. Gotcha, yes his methods bend the law, but if they had gone the "legal eagle" route the end result probably would have been the same with the boss finding out and him getting fired.
Yeah, I agree -- the person at fault for an act of violence is the person who chooses to commit it. Maybe Holmes could've avoided provoking him, but it was still the shooter's fault for choosing to react to the provocation in such an extreme way.
Up until this point I never had any problems with the developments on the show. But I felt Bell blaming Holmes' for what happened and telling him to stay out of his life felt really forced. I will be interesting to see how this develops over the course of the next few episodes, but it did feel like a low point to me.
Sure, Holmes should not take the blame for someone else's actions, but when you fear losing your ability to lose your hand and your job, and that could have been avoided if your friend had been a little more cautious, you can easily react irrationally. The same with Holmes' guilt. And it wasn't just that, his decision not to visit and his decision to ask for a thank you in the middle of the trial are a worthy of such reaction too.
Last night, Moriarty returned. And Captain Robau made an appearance in the 21st-century.
This was an episode that I was surprised to see in January. In a lot of ways, this felt like a February sweeps episode. A coworker thought this was a mid-season finale, but there's another new episode next week.
This episode was light on plot but heavy on incident and character. I liked the way the relationships between the characters played, and I intrigued by the way the three principle characters last night (Holmes, Moriarty, Watson) were analyzing the other two.
I did not see the fourth act plot twist coming.
I think Joan was wrong when she said that there is no Irene, that there's only Moriarty. To me, the conversation between Holmes and Moriarty at the end suggested that Irene was less of an act than Joan believed, that Irene is the person that Moriarty aspires to be if she can get there. (And, of course, the word "Irene" was never used.)
My fear last night was that Moriarty would escape at the end. I had a sense of dread throughout the episode that she would, especially when she told Robau that she had worked out seventeen ways out of her prison. (A reference, perhaps, to the seventeen steps to 221B? Okay, no, maybe not.) I was pleasantly surprised when she did not escape captivity.
I was afraid at the end that Holmes was going to burn the correspondence. And I was happy that he did not.
In light of last night's episode, I've begun to wonder if Holmes has resumed his correspondence with his teenaged friend, the one from earlier this season.
This was an episode that I was surprised to see in January. In a lot of ways, this felt like a February sweeps episode. A coworker thought this was a mid-season finale, but there's another new episode next week.
This episode was light on plot but heavy on incident and character. I liked the way the relationships between the characters played, and I intrigued by the way the three principle characters last night (Holmes, Moriarty, Watson) were analyzing the other two.
I did not see the fourth act plot twist coming.
I think Joan was wrong when she said that there is no Irene, that there's only Moriarty. To me, the conversation between Holmes and Moriarty at the end suggested that Irene was less of an act than Joan believed, that Irene is the person that Moriarty aspires to be if she can get there. (And, of course, the word "Irene" was never used.)
My fear last night was that Moriarty would escape at the end. I had a sense of dread throughout the episode that she would, especially when she told Robau that she had worked out seventeen ways out of her prison. (A reference, perhaps, to the seventeen steps to 221B? Okay, no, maybe not.) I was pleasantly surprised when she did not escape captivity.
I was afraid at the end that Holmes was going to burn the correspondence. And I was happy that he did not.
In light of last night's episode, I've begun to wonder if Holmes has resumed his correspondence with his teenaged friend, the one from earlier this season.
I'm disappointed at how easy the clues were to figure out. I guessed why the bad guys killed the cops and took the phone straight away, and when the kidnapper put the girl on the phone to plead to her mother, the significance was rather obvious considering who was in the room at the time. It shouldn't have taken Holmes so long to figure it out.
Still, nice to see Dormer's Moriarty again. And I loved that scene establishing that Watson is basically Moriarty's "The Woman" -- the one puzzle she can't solve. Given that Moriarty was "Irene" here, I love the symmetry of that.
Oh, it's too bad PBS doesn't get new Sherlock episodes the same day they premiere in England, since we've gotten new episodes of both modern Holmes shows on consecutive days but don't get to see them consecutively. I believe this is the first time we've had new Sherlock since Elementary began, so it would be an interesting juxtaposition.
Still, nice to see Dormer's Moriarty again. And I loved that scene establishing that Watson is basically Moriarty's "The Woman" -- the one puzzle she can't solve. Given that Moriarty was "Irene" here, I love the symmetry of that.
Oh, it's too bad PBS doesn't get new Sherlock episodes the same day they premiere in England, since we've gotten new episodes of both modern Holmes shows on consecutive days but don't get to see them consecutively. I believe this is the first time we've had new Sherlock since Elementary began, so it would be an interesting juxtaposition.
