Elementary 4.08.

[selenak]

Which has an excellent Marcus Bell subplot and a case of the week that disgruntles me a bit.



And no, not because it was too obvious at several points. I.e. when the photograph of the mother was pointed out to us, it was clear that Clift had to be the son of a victim, and the introduction of Ellen/Meghan's brother into the tale would be purposeless unless he turned out to be the killer. No, it's because this is the second time in this show that the son of a serial killer becomes a killer himself, and that's just the kind of "biology is destiny" crap I dislike. Granted, they tried to make it different from the last case by letting Nolan's motivation be not to imitate his father and get closer to him (as the last son-of-killer had wanted) but to ensure his father's genetics would not spread. But I just don't buy this is enough for a brother who otherwise had a good relationship with her to kill his beloved sister, unless the show expects me to buy into the son-of-serial-killer-gene-kicks-in, and I don't. (I do believe victims of abuse sometimes become abusers, of course. But that's a different issue.)

Meanwhile, the Bell plot was great, showcasing Holmes & Watson's friendship with him and also using him to show difficulties which Sherlock and Joan, both without financial worries (not least due to Morland's money), simply wouldn't naturally think of but which are every day for people like Marcus Bell. His mother losing her job and Marcus wanting to help her via going for a promotion and the pay raise that comes with it, and NOT wanting Sherlock to help him out financially made character sense all around, and I loved that Joan and Sherlock figured out a way to get the money that would still make it earned by Bell, not given by them, instead of trying to browbeat Bell into accepting a loan. Hooray for mutually respectful friendship!

As for the opening teaser where Sherlock mistakenly thinks Joan and Marcus Bell have started an affair: with all the pointing out that Joan might be okay with one night stands but Marcus wouldn't have sex with a co worker unless serious emotion was involved, methinks someone is having an issue of sore grapes here. I.e. did he try for a one night stand himself and was turned down? Only half kidding.

Comments

[lilacsigil]

I loved the Marcus Bell plot and Sherlock's terrible teaching methods (but excellent bounty hunting!) and it was all great. (It's very annoying every time Sherlock tries to police Joan's sex life, though, despite her ignoring him, and I wish the show wouldn't do it.)

The mystery plot was annoying, but I guess less annoying for me because st_aurafina worked it out the second the brother appeared on screen so I was just waiting to see if she was right rather than trying to figure out the plot!

[selenak]

Considering that by now we've also had Joan remarking on Sherlock's sex life (in the episode where Agatha was in town, for example), I feel less annoyed on that count.

re: Sherlock's teaching methods, terrible or not, considering Joan and Kitty, he's actually two for two! But yes, if I were Marcus Bell, I'd prefer Joan as a teacher, too. :)

[lilacsigil]

Sherlock teaches detectives very well, it's true!

[felis]

Loved the Bell subplot as well, but then, I generally love Marcus and am always glad when he gets screen time and sarcastic one-liners.

As for the case, I actually bought that the psychological damage was enough, no need for a biological serial-killer-gene. I also liked the classic turn where it's his fear of continuing the chain that leads him to do just that in a way. And I'm saying that as someone who usually likes the show's anti-deterministic take on character development.

[selenak]

In theory, I can see the classic irony (a la Oedipus trying NOT to kill his father and marry his mother and fulfilling the prophecy precisely through the actions he took to avoid it), but in practice, it didn't work for me, at least not during first watching. Maybe that'll change upon a rewatch; sometimes it does.