Elementary Season 3 Episode 11 Review: The Illustrious Client

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The troops rallied around Kitty on Elementary Season 3 Episode 11 after the man who kidnapped, tortured and raped her made his presence in New York known through a dead woman whose injuries mimicked Kitty's. This was an episode that many of us had been waiting for and it mostly delivered.

Mostly because it was obvious that Simon De Merville wasn't Kitty's true kidnapper, but it was still an intense hour with a few good twists and turns.

Kitty got suckered punched by the news that her torturer was in New York and responded in typical Kitty fashion with a little bit of shock (probably more than she actually showed) and a lot of aggression. She was ready to hunt down her real life boogey man.

We got a little more backstory on what happened to Kitty. We know she was held for three days and escaped by breaking her kidnapper's fingers. She never saw him, but his voice sounded American. She's prickly and tough today but also very vulnerable. Of course, who wouldn't be?

Ophelia Lovibond did a wonderful job of portraying Kitty's varying emotions. From her breakdown after listening to Sonia's awful tale to her anger when Sherlock gently suggested she might be denial. To her willingness to cross the line with Violet De Merville.

This iteration of Sherlock Holmes isn't afraid to be physical, but he always leads with his brain and deductive skills. Violence isn't his first means to get answers. Kitty was willing to lead with violence.

When she turned off the lights and pulled out her baton on Violet, I was simultaneously shouting "don't do it" and cheering her on. Kitty couldn't wait for Violet to potentially lead them to Simon, not when a few good baton whacks could get the answer now.

It's a dark and yet believable thing for Kitty to do. She has suffered through something unbelievably horrible, and her tolerance or pity for someone protecting a monster who inflicts pain on others is nil. It's a divisive action with repercussions, which I'm glad they are not shying away from either as that is what makes things interesting.

Sherlock: Perhaps we should go to a meeting.
Kitty: Yours or mine?
Sherlock: Yours.

Sherlock felt both the pressure to solve the case and protect his new partner and friend. The caring part was still a bit new to him.

Sherlock: My name is Sherlock and I have allowed empathetic thoughts to clutter my mind and reduce my perception.
Watson: So you called in the bees to crowd out caring.
Sherlock: To no avail.

I love the more caring Sherlock, although I suspect we will some day see an episode where he questions whether his newfound caring and empathy negatively affects his deductive skills, which require a certain amount of distance. But today is not that episode.

His attempt to help Kitty with any potential denial she had over Simon being her kidnapper only made her angry.

You hurt yourself. Someone hurt me. You don't know anything about how I'm feeling.

Kitty

I understood her anger, even though I know Sherlock meant no disrespect and was trying to be helpful. Their circumstances are similar while also very different too.

It did surprise me that Sherlock was so readily convinced that Simon was her kidnapper. He was obviously a bad man; no question there. He just didn't feel like the right bad man. Perhaps, because we didn't really get to know Simon, which made him more of a throwaway bad guy.

If they wanted to give us a red herring, which is fine, I just wish it had been a more credible one. Whomever was going to be this big bad from Kitty's life would not be brought down by the Albanian mob. No way. Sherlock and Kitty would get the satisfaction of a face-to-face confrontation.

As Sherlock noted in the beginning, there was a reason why Kitty's kidnapper decided to make his presence known in New York now. He left Melanie's body as a calling card to start the game, not anger the Albanians. They are not his target. 

No, this man is more devious and cunning than Simon de Merville. He is so confident of himself that he would boldly insert himself into their lives or at least one their lives. Hiring Joan to be his in-house investigator, now that's diabolically fun and evil.

What did you think of tonight's episode? Did you think Simon de Merville was Kitty's kidnapper? Would you have followed Kitty's lead and resorted to violence? Were you surprised by who the real kidnapper was? Let me know in the comments below.

If you missed tonight's episode be sure to watch Elementary online via TV Fanatic before the conclusion of this two-part episode. You don't want to miss out!

The Illustrious Client Review

Editor Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
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Rating: 4.8 / 5.0 (28 Votes)
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Elementary Season 3 Episode 11 Quotes

Sherlock: Perhaps we should go to a meeting.
Kitty: Yours or mine?
Sherlock: Yours.

Sherlock: My name is Sherlock and I have allowed empathetic thoughts to clutter my mind and reduce my perception.
Watson: So you called in the bees to crowd out caring.
Sherlock: To no avail.