Elementary 3.18

[selenak]

After a long streak of good episodes, this one was decidedly meh. Other than the adorable final ice cream conversation.



The case of the week was more obviously headline derived than usual, and the personal storyline was weird not just in terms of general biology (why on earth would a scientist in the 21st century assume kids of a genius inherit their parents' brains) but in terms of specifically the Elementaryverse, which is rather big on the fact that Sherlock's deduction methods can be learned, rather than being unique to him. (Writers, I know Billy Wilder is great, but that particular scene early in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes where the Russian ballerina wants him to father her kid is just a rerun of a popular and at that point already tired joke which I think first starred George Bernard Shaw and Isadora Duncan and later Marilyn Monroe and Albert Einstein. Give it a rest.)

Now, mind you, a friend asking Sherlock for a sperm donation causing him to say no because would otherwise be a valid story, because he certainly has enough well established issues about his family and his upbringing and himself to not want to procreate, either by simply donating sperm or by actually raisinga kid. But "what if the kid inhereits my abilities and they'll be A TORMENT?" isn't an additional reason good, necessary or in any way valid. Also, big missed opportunity when later Holmes & Watson briefly talk about (not) wanting children: either could have brought up Kitty and her role in their lives.

Other than that, was amused the scientist in question was called Agatha which always bring to mind Agatha Christie to me, did note she looked a lot like Moriarty, and, like I said, thought the ice cream scene at the end was adorable. But otherwise, the episode was definitely substandard for this show.

Comments

[king_touchy]

Sherlock's me-and-my-angst felt like a dog-and-pony show. And his response was so dismissive of Agatha because of it -- as if she wouldn't be the singularly most important element of such a child's life, contributing half of the DNA and all of the parenting.

Joan did well with the offer of ice cream. I think that it was she who dug to the heart of the matter -- that contemplating fatherhood made Sherlock sad because of his own childhood, maybe made him think all sorts of negative thoughts about a life he refuses/is denied (as a parent) -- and offered up her steadfast friendship.

[selenak]

Joan was terrific throughout. I just wish it was in a better storyline!

[likeadeuce]

I thought they were getting at Sherlock coming to terms with some kind of mental illness driving his investigations because he just can't help it - but it was awkwardly framed (I don't think Agatha's way of asking helped; neither did the way the information was doled out).It also seemed like a swerve from the way Sherlock's relationship with his abilities has been portrayed.

Re: the Isadora Duncan story, this canon could never pull off the 'My looks & your brains' because Jonny Lee Miller.

[selenak]

:) Point taken about JLM's looks spoiling the gag.

re: some kind of mental illness, but like we agree, that's completely not how the show usually portrays Sherlock's abilities and how he relates to them. I'm almost tempted to believe in a guest writer, do we know who penned this episode?

[likeadeuce]

Maybe it started as a BBC Sherlock script b/c this would make more sense.

[lilacsigil]

I really hate it whenever a woman's sex life (Joan's, Agatha's, anyone's) is brought up on the show because they seem to think it's clever and exciting to make Sherlock be exceptionally rude to them about it.

The ice cream scene did make up for the rest of the storyline a bit, since Joan is a smart woman who cut through all the "my genes will be bad for the baby" crap and pointed out what was really going on emotionally, but if the writers were perfectly aware of that, why pull all the public rudeness and nastiness towards Agatha?