I feared that this Michael storyline was going to get settled way too quickly.

But, no, it was just a preliminary skirmish on Elementary Season 6 Episode 7.

Michael's no Moriarty, but it's good for Sherlock to have a challenge, especially when he's handicapped by his post-concussion syndrome.

Not that Sherlock's helping himself whatsoever on the healing front. Despite Joan continually reminding him that he needs to take care of himself, he doesn't.

He dumped his pain pills because they were dulling his sharp powers of deduction. I can't believe sleep deprivation and killer migraines are helping much on that front either. I understand that a reformed addict might be hesitant to take something to take the edge off, but in this case, it's for sure the lesser of two evils.

This leads to events such as Sherlock passing out while on a stakeout and getting taken by a serial killer ... to the hospital. It's pretty bad when he has to rely on his new arch-enemy to take care of him.

What we learned in this episode is that Michael is one sincerely screwed-up dude.

He was inspired by Sherlock's share. But when Sherlock promoted an addict throwing himself into his work, I don't think he considered serial killing to be an acceptable activity.

Michael had an interesting concept. To replace the high he got from heroin, he started killing women. What, skydiving wouldn't have been energizing enough?

Yeah, I'm sure Sherlock's addictive personality gets off on solving cases. The difference here is solving murders, good; committing murders, bad.

It's safe to say the duo is dealing with philosophical differences here.

Like any addict, though, Michael found himself needing a more significant buzz. It wasn't enough to bamboozle the local-yokel cops anymore. Instead, he roped his idol into this game as well, to up the degree of difficulty.

Unfortunately, Sherlock just wasn't physically up to playing. Michael gave him the case of missing Polly Kenner, and Sherlock's response was akin to, "I'll get to it when I get to it."

Watch Elementary Online: Season 6 Episode 6

Instead, Sherlock has been muckling onto whatever oddball case comes along to strike his fancy, while Polly sat there, back-burned and mostly forgotten.

That led Michael to up the ante, by killing Hannah's roommate Mattie and dressing her up in trophies from his earlier kills. That was weird enough to capture Sherlock's wandering attention.

Now that a serial killer has been discovered, everyone jumped on board, and Michael was the belle of the investigative ball.

The trouble is Michael is very, very good at what he does. He holds down a well-paying, full-time job and murders women, well, as a hobby.

Sure, Sherlock and Gregson were able to get Graham Jenkins cleared of the murder of his wife, one of Michael's early kills.

But nothing has stuck to him lately. In fact, with Mattie's decorated body and the buried mannequin, he's mainly taunting Sherlock and company.

At the same time, Michael's warped admiration feeds right into Sherlock's healthy ego. He inspired Michael, granted to kill women, but inspired nonetheless.

I'm sure Sherlock also feels some degree of guilt for inadvertently freeing this menace on the world. Granted, if it hadn't been Sherlock, a barking dog could just have easily have sent Michael down his sick path. Instead, Sherlock seems to be thinking, "My shining example helped to spawn this killer."

If Sherlock was 100 percent, would he have caught onto Michael sooner? I doubt it. Michael didn't get found until he wanted to be found.

And instead of continuing a cat-and-mouse game with Sherlock, he spilled his guts after taking Sherlock to the hospital. So much for playing things close to the vest.

The weird thing is that Michael genuinely seemed to believe that he's doing this for Sherlock's good, giving him a complicated case to crack to keep him sharp. I think the NYPD could have kept Sherlock mentally occupied without Michael's help.

I'm curious what Sherlock's plan for that heroin was going to be. I don't think Michael would accept food or drink from Sherlock at this point, so how, pray tell, was Sherlock going to dose him? Also, Joan agreeing to go along with his plan was born entirely out of frustration.

Now Michael is on the lam. I'm sure he prepared for this eventuality and isn't cut off from his resources. It just means we'll get a break from his storyline for a while.

Finally, Sherlock took a vacation, which, based on the trailer, seems to have lasted about one episode. What time period that will represent won't be known until the elapsed time gets flashed at the beginning of Elementary Season 6 Episode 8.