Elementary 5.09
Dec. 12th, 2016 06:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakBest case in a good long while.
Not because it was such a mystery - it wasn't - but because it was neatly tied into this year's story arc. And of course I'm happy that my initial suspicion that there had to be a twist to the seeming "Shinwell goes back to a life of crime" tale from earlier episodes was verified. Even though I didn't guess what in hindsight should have been obvious, i.e. that he became an informant.
Now granted, the show did a variation of this with Mycroft in season 2 already - i.e. guest star seemingly works with bad guys, then, presto, reveal, he was undercover - but for me it works better here because not only is it very plausible that a down on his luck gang member after a decade in prison and with a daughter to live for would be recruited, but the recruiter wasn't a secret service but a corrupt FBI agent out for his own game (with delusions about his continuing righteousness, naturally). It also made sense of Shinwell's rebuffing Joan two eps earlier in a way that is far better than if it had been the clichéd masculine protectiveness - she could have blown his cover. Sherlock and Joan helping Shinwell to stay free by identifying the true killer after he told them the truth, and all three of them contributing pieces to the solution of the puzzle (which was a whydunit more than a whodunit) was great. And as an icing of the cake, we even got continuity by way of Sherlock bringing up Marcus' ex con brother.
And Shinwell can continue to try and rebuild his life at the end. Excellent. This could in theory be the end of his story, but I hope he'll stick around for the remainder of the season as well.
In conclusion: I really liked this one.
Not because it was such a mystery - it wasn't - but because it was neatly tied into this year's story arc. And of course I'm happy that my initial suspicion that there had to be a twist to the seeming "Shinwell goes back to a life of crime" tale from earlier episodes was verified. Even though I didn't guess what in hindsight should have been obvious, i.e. that he became an informant.
Now granted, the show did a variation of this with Mycroft in season 2 already - i.e. guest star seemingly works with bad guys, then, presto, reveal, he was undercover - but for me it works better here because not only is it very plausible that a down on his luck gang member after a decade in prison and with a daughter to live for would be recruited, but the recruiter wasn't a secret service but a corrupt FBI agent out for his own game (with delusions about his continuing righteousness, naturally). It also made sense of Shinwell's rebuffing Joan two eps earlier in a way that is far better than if it had been the clichéd masculine protectiveness - she could have blown his cover. Sherlock and Joan helping Shinwell to stay free by identifying the true killer after he told them the truth, and all three of them contributing pieces to the solution of the puzzle (which was a whydunit more than a whodunit) was great. And as an icing of the cake, we even got continuity by way of Sherlock bringing up Marcus' ex con brother.
And Shinwell can continue to try and rebuild his life at the end. Excellent. This could in theory be the end of his story, but I hope he'll stick around for the remainder of the season as well.
In conclusion: I really liked this one.
