Elementary 3.08.

[selenak]

First of all, the one complaint I have about this episode is the obvious one: there's a storyline dealing with the NA program (actually two, since one of the dead bodies was a former addict as well), interaction between different participants and what you should respect is a big theme - and we still don't get a single line of dialogue on either Alfredo or Randy. Writers, just one line! A short mention that they've both moved to LA, if you can't get the actors! Anything!

This aside, it was a good episode. Watson using her sober companion experience to make the correct deductions re: the late Alex Flynn's problems in his widow's house was a welcome way to use that past experience unrelated to Holmes, and I continue to approve of the way the show lets her, Holmes and Kitty all make important deductions on the cases du jour. Competence all around, yay!

Kitty wanting to help in the subplot by tracking down the person from Holmes NA group who broke confidentiality by posting those quotes was one of those instances of understated affection demonstrated through action the show does so well. But it also showcased Holmes' growth that he didn't expose the guy who had exposed (no matter how well intentioned) him, using his detecting skills against him only when the guy wouldn't back down. I also thought this was one of JLM's best performances through all the scenes, including the last one, because you can interpret it several ways: does Holmes still feel safe within the program, or is that irrevocably tainted now, despite this one instance being dealt with? Or is it not even the inadvertent exposure but the idea that he stood out in the one place where he wanted to be just one of the group? Or does the apology settle it? I appreciate the ambiguity here.

Comments

[lonelywalker]

Bell's experiences being wounded on the job and going through physical therapy would also have been worth a mention this episode. Elementary doesn't seem to do too well with keeping up plots / characters that aren't Sherlock and Joan (and Kitty this season).

[king_touchy]

Agreed on the last scene. Whether the betrayal closed down Sherlock, or the discovery that he stands out motivated him to keep quiet, I hurt for him. Ow. I hope this isn't the first step towards a possible relapse. Most shows would have gone there for a sweeps week bump. Elementary often surprises me, but I bet writing Sherlock's relapse is tempting as hell.

[selenak]

I hope so, too, because that was something I was afraid of in that last scene as well. But even if it isn't: he's clearly, at this point at least, feeling the loss of what has become an important safe space for him.