Monsters of Television

“I felt like Jimi Hendrix there for a moment.”

There comes a time in everyone’s life when you have to eat your words.

I’m big enough to admit when I’m wrong – or at least when my instincts are – and I was wrong about Elementary. I was concerned that it would be a cheap rip-off of the popular Sherlock. I was concerned it would be a poor retread of well-trod ground. I was concerned that it would be lifeless and boring and a joke. In short: I thought it would suck.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to say with full sincerity and humblest nature: I was wrong.

While there are similarities between Elementary and other Sherlock-inspired enterprises (as is to be expected given they share source material), the show is doing a great job of differentiate itself from the pack. It has a clear idea of who its main characters are individually and together, and who it wants them to be in the future. And while the cases haven’t been revolutionary so far, they have been interesting and (even though we’re only two weeks in), the “quality” of the case has increased from the pilot to this episode.

The case this week – purposefully temporarily comatose twin murders illegitimate heirs with help of doctor lover – was delightfully twisty and dark. And it presented us with a great new character, Detective Marcus Bell. When Bell immediately showed slight disdain for Sherlock and utter disbelief in his claims, I was worried that he would be one of those cliche “I hate the lead because whatever” characters. That Bell not only admits that he was wrong about Sherlock (and that Sherlock was right) but also helps with the little scene at the hospital saved his character for me and made me very hopeful for what he could be become during the course of the show.

This episode also very much pleased me – and excited me for the future – in what it did with our main characters.

I don’t feel that the decision to cast Watson as a female has had any sort of great impact on the story so far, thought that could of course change in the future. Watson’s gender is much less important than her attitude. She feels less like the long-suffering sidekick and more like the no-nonsense partner. This could be attributed to many things, but I like to think that there’s continuity between it and the fact that she’s dealt with addicts – and their personalities – before. (I’m sure her past as a surgeon helps, too.) She knows what she’s doing. The bit in the meeting where she reveals the push pin in her hand is a great example of this. So is the scene where she and Sherlock first visit Yvette and Watson huffs into action to medically test Yvette’s coma. She’s tolerant of quirks and rudeness and general insanity to a point, but she can also crack down on it or gently push when need be. It’s a great start; let’s hope they keep it up.

The big concern, of course, is Sherlock. I’ve always been a big hot-and-cold about Jonny Lee Miller but, you guys? He is completely nailing it here. He’s great at playing twitchy/manic and can do imperious/hyper-intelligent with his eyes closed (in fact, I think he actually does do it with his eyes closed at one point). But the most important part – as I mentioned in my pilot review – was how well he distinguished his Sherlock from the one in Sherlock. What I asked for was for the show to develop the more emotional, more human side that we had glimpses of in the pilot.

They listened.

This Sherlock is more open and more damaged. Where his BBC counterpart is superhuman, almost emotionless, and driven by a hyperspeed mind, this Sherlock has human faults and is driven by too many emotions. There’s less talk of the character’s addiction on Sherlock, but that detective turns to the things he does out of boredom or even a contrarian “what the hell” nature. Elementary‘s Sherlock is shown to be not just a product of his nature, but also of his circumstances. He has demons, and he understands people more than his contemporary does.

My two favorite parts of the show so far were in this episode and centered around this softer side of Sherlock.

First up was his scene with the addict P.I., McGee. Their interaction away from the others can be broken down in to two fantastic parts. The calling out of the addiction (the how Sherlock knows and the why it’s significant that he does and the what it means for McGee) are pure observant, in-your-face Sherlock. But that last little moment, the almost throwaway line of Sherlock recommending his own rehab facility to McGee (when McGee is “ready” for it) – that is something unique to this iteration and is such a brilliant, brilliant moment for him.

This episode also introduced an item more vital to the Holmes persona than the overly loved deerstalker – the violin. I love that for this Sherlock, the instrument isn’t just something he plays to help him think. It’s a living thing for him, a thing of memories and feeling. Him telling Watson the violin is just “something I used to do” and Watson arguing “you can’t forget something you already know how to do” – there is so much weight and so many undertones and so very much going on in that related to what the instrument is for him, what it does to him, and what it means to him.

The last scene of Sherlock slumped in a chair, violin case on his knees and a single teardrop clinging stubbornly to his eyelashes – that is the kind of deep, telling imagery that keeps people coming back. Following this heavy moment not with  shots of him opening the case, preparing himself, and playing, but of Watson, reading in bed upstairs, hearing his music echo up to her was an inspired move.

It was damn pretty, too.

After the pilot, I was impressed but still mostly on the fence about the show. This episode has fully reeled me in: hook, line, and sinker.

So I admit it. You got me, Elementary. You got me good.

Extras:

• Just figured out where I know redheaded twin from: she’s Mrs. Cape!
• I really hope they lose the tired practice of having a genius – who’s recognized as a genius – be ignored by the people who invite him to be around because he’s a genius. You’re having him consult, you call him brilliant, yet you question his conclusions? You get my side-eye, sir.
• Between this and Last Resort, Thursday have gone from TV No Man’s Land for me to Must Watch. It’s a very unexpected shift.