Elementary Review: Like Father, Like Son
"One Way to Get Off" was another great episode of Elementary.
Right off the bat, I'm going to confess that I'm extremely saddened about the confession of Irene Adler being dead... if it's the truth. I am not one hundred percent convinced, however, it could be another Sherlock mind game.
This could also be me being naive about the situation and refusing to believe. I look at how Jonny Lee Miller portrayed this scene and it's hard to say he's lying when he looked so genuine. I just don't know!
Let it also be known that in the novels Adler is known to be deceiving. Is there a chance she faked her death? It would surely explain why Holmes is convinced that she is indeed deceased. (Note: this is speculation! We can just take this and add it to my already extremely long list of questions.)
Does this mean that this little reveal will lead to Moriarity? Probably not, but all it took was this one little sentence to make me want more backstory than I did last week. Watching Joan investigate his past just sucks me right into the episode because I, too, wait for that little piece of information that will help us understand Holmes just that much more.
I want (need?) to know more about Sherlock for two reasons:
- I want to see the differences between Elementary's take on Sherlock versus the fiction version of him portrayed in the original novels.
- The more Watson finds out about Sherlock the more he opens up to her which makes makes their dynamic stronger.
Whether the relationship between Holmes and Watson be purely professional/friendship or potential love-interest the greatest thing to see as a viewer is the characters learn and develop trust in each other. Tonight was a prime example of why this element is key in any show.
I don't necessarily mean this trust is that they confide in each other, tell each other all of their secrets or even know that they'll be for one another. In Holmes's case he wants Joan's insights and knowledge to help him in an investigation. We all know that Sherlock is going to figure out the truth one way or another but he trusts that Watson will guide him there. She may be oblivious to it but he has already let her in more than he has anyone else. The fact that he told her about Irene - even if it was vague and short - was more than most have uncovered about him. Well, that we've met so far.
Let me talk about the case a little bit.
I called the killer again! Maybe Sherlock is rubbing off on me. I thoroughly enjoyed this ond and I feel a little morbid saying so since it was about a serial killer. Let me re-word that: I enjoyed the clues and process Holmes took to get to the truth. How did I figure out the killer? Seeing the young man for only 30 seconds would have been a waste of time and space if he wasn't involved somehow.
Did I guess that he was the son? No. There's the twist.
It seems the saying ring true with this episode, "like father, like son" and you know I could even go for the saying, "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" but I prefer the first one. I honestly believed that the man in jail was innocent and I have to say I'm glad to see he wasn't. What a slime. Job well done, Captain, even if your past partner did plant the evidence, you got the right man.
Speaking of his ex-partner, can we have more of her please? I get the feeling that their past isn't so civil and maybe even a little bit of sexual-tension. Now, this could definitely be me filling the emptiness from the lack of love interests this show has. Whatever the reason be, I liked it. Moving on...
How about that reveal of the iconic Psycho theme being Watson's ringtone? Am I the only one that laughed extremely hard at this? When it first went off I jumped out of my chair, that sound should never happen without warning. Terrifying but extremely entertaining. Point to you Sherlock, again.
Overall I enjoyed the episode thoroughly, both the case and the usual bit of Watson going to find information on her own. I can't wait to see where we go from here and even to the season finale. I have this feeling it's going to be a whirlwind and I'm ready for it. Now that I am officially covering Elementary I get to share all of my "fangirling" with all of you and we will go on this journey together. Corny right?
No new Elementary next week, so happy holidays everyone!
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Elementary Review: The One Year Coin
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November 30th, 2012 1:14 AM
I have been a Holmes purist since I found the leather-bound novels and story collections in my father's bedside shelves. That being said, I have waited for faithful retellings of the adventures AS WELL as non-canon stories. As long as they capture the ESSENCE of Sherlock Holmes, I'm in, and actually much more than I would have expected. What I propose, as it is what I've found myself doing, is to see the current incarnations (Downey Jr., Cumberbatch and Miller) as parts of a whole. That is to say, mix all of them, and you would have him. Almost. One of the major parts of the whole is Watson, and it is vital. Liu has done her best, but frankly, her character as audience and minor annoyance has gone on way longer than Sherlock would have allowed, it's time to get her into the action. Law's Watson is picture perfect. I think that SHERLOCK has the pacing of the relationship spot on as well. I am ecstatic that Jonny has taken on the character and to be honest, in some ways I like his take b
Rank: Recurring Character
November 29th, 2012 12:29 PM
To clear up the eye color issue once and for all, eye color (like hair color) is one of the few human traits that can be inherited by degrees. In fact, eye color has so many subtle colors involved that it's rare for a child to be an exact match when one's parents have two completely different eye colors.
I am Asian with dark brown eyes. My husband is Caucasian with very light blue eyes. Our children have eye color that ranges from medium brown to hazel. They have even changed color as they've aged. So, in ELEMENTARY's case this week, it wouldn't be possible to inherit dad's baby blues unless mom also had a blue-eyed recessive gene somewhere in her DNA. Hispanics can also be blond & blue-eyed BTW. It isn't that rare.
Rank: Regular Character
November 20th, 2012 10:22 PM
@CPC, I like your distillation of The Mentalist as Sherlock meets Moby Dick.
The eye thing was a giant fail (no contacts, genetics doesn't work like that). I suspected that he was his son right away. After Victor was cleared, the only other suspect was the son.
Sherlock never considered Gregson's partner for the fraud? I figured it was her right away.
Joan didn't suspect any subterfuge by Sherlock when he "went for coffee"? it was obvious.
November 18th, 2012 12:14 PM
I love the show, but the whole blue eyed thing in this episode is bothering me. The show implies that the kid's parents are of mexican decent and therefore have the dominate trait of brown eyes (carrying no recessive trait, or blue eyes). If the mother did indeed have an affair with a blue eyed man, that child would only carry the recessive trait and not physically show it, meaning he would still have brown eyes?
Rank: Recurring Character
November 18th, 2012 11:57 AM
I was kind of wondering if the show didn't say Irene was dead because Watson is a female and not the original concept of a close and dear friend (but add modern sexual tension to the mix)? Also, the original Holmes existed in an age when there were opium dens and medicine cabinets generally might contain laudanum/morphine or about anything. Today, we need a "story" to explain addictions and we associate them with a fall from grace rather than the dark boredoms in the original -- so, possibly Irene Adler, whom they might not need having Watson, could have been offered up as the "story."
Of course, I think what writers like about Irene Adler is that she's a tragic and sympathetic figure who is lately played as a con woman which means they can do anything with her, including bringing her back from the grave!
Rank: Extra
November 18th, 2012 9:55 AM
Sorry my comment was cut out, here's the rest :
Of course the episodes won't have the same pace, they don't have the same time in each episode! (unless Elementary had two episodes back to back, that would be interesting)
And to the person who said "we don't need Irene and Moriarty in this show"... it's a Sherlock Holmes based show, what do you expect? They are supposed to have this characters at some point, they are important in the original material... If they don't bring them in, then it's just another cop show, no need to call the characters Sherlock and Watson and say it's based on the books.
I also don't know what to make of Sherlock's confession. The first thing that came to my mind when he said Irene was dead was "He's lying!' but that's just because I don't really want her dead. i like your theory that she faked her death and he believes she truly is dead, that would be very interesting!
Whatever the truth is, I can't wait!
Rank: Extra
November 18th, 2012 9:54 AM
I really liked this episode... like all the other ones. I love seeing Holmes and Watson's relationship evolve/grow. I agree Watson's behavior can be seen as intrusive but I kinda see where she's coming from. As a sober companion she wants to understand what made Sherlock use in the first place or at least she wants to know what might trigger him into using again so she can help him get over it and not ever use again.
I'm also very tired of the BBC comparisons. I mean, how can you compare two shows that are so different? I mean, BBC's Sherlock (that I absolutely love) has two seasons of 3 episodes of 90 minutes each, and Elementary is a weekly 45 minutes (I don't count commercial breaks) TV show that has already more episodes than the BBC version. Of course thay can't be the same. Of course the writing can't be as good, because thay don't have as much time to write the episodes in the first place! Of course the episodes won't have the same pace, they don't have the same time i
November 17th, 2012 10:45 PM
I like this show just as a stand alone procedural. I love the BBC's Sherlock, but I am not a Sherlock Holmes person so to me I don't care about all the history and sticking to the stories. I just enjoy Elementary as it is. It is different. But I loved Monk, Colombo, the Mentalist, Law and Order, so I am a crime show fan, and really enjoy the ones with humor and cleverness. I think this show will get even better with time.
The episode tonight had one thing that bugged me. the villian, ( the kid) did not have blue eyes. Those eyes are brown.
November 17th, 2012 8:33 AM
Oh, also - in the original story (A Scandal in Bohemia) Irene Adler never faked her death.
November 17th, 2012 8:27 AM
CPC House is an interpretation of Sherlock Holmes, yes. But what I love about BBC's Sherlock is that they stick to the core substance and dynamic of the original, but in modern times. When ACD published his stories Sherlock Holmes was a modern man. He was forward-thinking and innovative. If you've read all of the stories and heard what the creators of Sherlock said, you'll see that the purpose of Sherlock was to get modern-day viewers the same experience people got when reading the stories back in Victorian times. The mythology of Holmes had been too caught up in the Victorian era with the hats and the horses and people were forgetting about what the Sherlock Holmes stories were truly about (and no, not necessarily the mysteries). Gatiss and Moffat captured the ESSENCE of Sherlock Holmes and brought it to the 21st Century. THAT is why it's brilliant. In that way, it's more faithful to the original than any other reinterpretation of holmes I'd ever seen. House was great, I love that sh