selenak: (Holmes and Watson by Emme86)
selenak ([personal profile] selenak) wrote2015-01-11 10:43 am

Elementary 3.09

In which Alfredo is back, and so are Sherlock's wake-up habits.



As feared, Holmes' disenchantment with the program, triggered by the previous episode events, is spreading, and he's now skipping meetings. I say "triggered" not "caused" since this episode is careful to make it clear the breach of confidentiality and anonymity isn't the only problem and that it's also the long term routine and awareness it will never be over that's been getting to Holmes. Now one thing I didn't want was Watson moving back out of concern for a possible Holmes relapse, because that would come too close to emotional blackmail, so I'm glad this episode confronted the idea and headed it off. It's logical that a concerned Watson would offer; it affirms the equality of their friendship that Holmes would decline, though of course he had enjoyed the chance to wake up her up again and serve breakfast during the night she spend in the house. This episode also really needed to have Alfredo in it, so I'm glad it did, and that it affirms Holmes continues his relationship with him, despite his crisis of faith in the program. One of the reasons for Alfredo's existence as a character being that while Joan being Sherlock's sober companion was the start of their relationship, she couldn't continue to be both his friend/partner and his caretaker, that would have made their relationship severely unbalanced. Meanwhile, it also was important that Alfredo isn't just Sherlock's sponsor but that he, too, gets something back, so while the security system ODIN was the episode comic relief, it was still a neat way of showing Sherlock and Alfredo being friends as well.

Speaking of the episode's lighter moments: Kitty gets to experience what it is to have your sort of parents in the car and doing backseat dreiving, err, that is, have Holmes and Watson nitpick her lockpicking technique, and her exasparated "do you mind?" cracked me up.

Lots of good friendship moments in this one: Holmes' concern for Watson because the first victim was a friend/friendly aquaintance of hers, Watson getting him to talk to her about his crisis of faith were my two favourites.

Twilight gag: surprisingly, did not come across as patronizing, possibly because Sherlock being forced by the hacker community to write a Twilight shipper essay doesn't complain about the franchise but simply comments that personally, he'd have gone for the threesome option. Do we take this as a meta comment of the scriptwriters on Elementary pairings, and if so, which ones? *veg*

Case of the week: had me a tiny bit concerned Holmes would end up using the supposedly time dilating drug on himself, but thankfully no. Missed out a continuity chance by not having Watson remark on her still missing homeless father when they were looking for the second victim/killer, but then again, it being a very touchy and private subject for her, she wouldn't.
lilacsigil: Joan Watson, caption "Watson the Detective" (Watson the Detective)

[personal profile] lilacsigil 2015-01-11 10:41 am (UTC)(link)
I've finally caught up with this season, and I'm really enjoying it (with the occasional exception of Sherlock being crude about Watson's sex life). It's very much back on track and Kitty is a terrific addition. I love seeing her learn different things from each mentor and also learn Sherlock-wrangling skills from Watson. I was braced for Twilight gags but I really liked that the joke was the deep textual analysis and what a group of teenage boys find funny.
likeadeuce: (bella)

[personal profile] likeadeuce 2015-01-11 04:18 pm (UTC)(link)
I've never been tempted to write Elementary fic before but 'Sherlock & Kitty work on their Twilight chart' tempts me. Do we know what Kitt's work/ study was before her ordeal? Because that chart looked like something a writing tutor would learn to work with students.
muccamukk: Wanda walking away, surrounded by towering black trees, her red cloak bright. (Elementary: Captain Gregson)

[personal profile] muccamukk 2015-01-11 05:53 pm (UTC)(link)
I would very much love it if you wrote that fic.
lilacsigil: 12 Apostles rocks, text "Rock On" (12 Apostles)

[personal profile] lilacsigil 2015-01-12 12:54 am (UTC)(link)
That would be great! All we know is that she was a talented clarinetist but refused a place at the Royal Academy, so she could have been studying anything else.
jae: (televisiongecko)

[personal profile] jae 2015-01-11 01:52 pm (UTC)(link)
but simply comments that personally, he'd have gone for the threesome option

This was my favourite bit. :)

-J
likeadeuce: (bella)

[personal profile] likeadeuce 2015-01-11 04:15 pm (UTC)(link)
My DVR had a weird time fail again so I missedost of the Alfredo scene but I'm glad it was there.

I dug the Twilight gag, because it wasn't ridiculing the idea of fandom or even Twilight but was asked ng him to do something that would be silly & embarrassing even in a fannish context (stand in the lobby at a con and read an essay out loud) and that he was obviously taking it seriously anyway. Hence the charts and him having his own views on it.

I kind of hope we see him reading one of the books later.
likeadeuce: (bella)

[personal profile] likeadeuce 2015-01-11 05:48 pm (UTC)(link)
I was assuming Kitty HAD read them and had provided the initial explanation.
likeadeuce: (bella)

[personal profile] likeadeuce 2015-01-11 06:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, I totally see Kitty as someone kind of ironically interested in the movies because of KStew who then got sucked in.

Not that I know anybody like that. *shifty eyed*
sixbeforelunch: Jim Kirk from Star Trek TOS, text reads "Boldly Go" (trek - boldly go)

[personal profile] sixbeforelunch 2015-01-11 10:47 pm (UTC)(link)
I suspect that a drug intended to make time go more slowly is the last thing Sherlock would take, given how many of his problems come from the perceived meaningless of existence and general ennui. That said, I've been worried for some time that he's going to relapse, but I'm hoping that his speech about a relapse being an anticlimax is a message from the show runners that the story of a man who manages to maintain his sobriety is more fulfilling in the long run than the story of a man who tries and fails. Which is both something I can absolutely get behind as a viewer, and also a good message to put out there for people who are struggling with addiction.

(One thing that I like about this show is that they seem to be aware of the consequences of what they put into the world, and committed to showing emotionally healthy people behaving in emotionally healthy ways and having good relationships as a result. It's refreshing, actually.)
lilacsigil: 12 Apostles rocks, text "Rock On" (12 Apostles)

[personal profile] lilacsigil 2015-01-12 12:55 am (UTC)(link)
Well, "tries and fails and tries again" would also be a good story, I think, as long as the "tries again" part was there.
sixbeforelunch: black and white image of clara bow in a suit and tie, no text (Default)

[personal profile] sixbeforelunch 2015-01-12 01:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, yes, absolutely. Sorry, I shouldn't have implied otherwise. I guess I just have always felt like Sherlock relapsing is a narrative inevitability, and I'd like to be wrong about that.
sixbeforelunch: black and white image of clara bow in a suit and tie, no text (Default)

[personal profile] sixbeforelunch 2015-01-12 01:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, yes, good point. I really think that they've handled Joan and Sherlock's relationship very well.