Elementary 1.13 The Red Team
Feb. 1st, 2013 11:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn which that weird mini hiatus is over.
Did I mention yet that Gregson is a great character and that I love consequences? In this case, to the fact that Sherlock was fully prepared to torture and kill a man in the last episode and that the reason he didn't was solely because he realized he had the wrong man. And I don't mean just practical consequences (i.e. the suspension; we all knew this wouldn't last, given the premise of the show). I mean the emotional ones. That Gregson concludes Holmes isn't the person he thought he was, does things like ask "who are you?", tells Joan that if Sherlock could do this, then he's broken in ways independent from whether or not he's using drugs. That the bar scene doesn't end up with a reconciliation between him and Holmes, because the later either doesn't get or doesn't want to admit that what he should be sorry for isn't hurting Gregson's feelings, it's intended murder. Which is disturbing. And the show points this out and doesn't say, but, vengeance, temporary insanity, but lets Gregson reply to Joan that while everyone might feel like wanting their beloved's murderer dead, following through with it is a different matter. I love you, show!
Meanwhile, the show also points out, via Joan's therapist, that her lie in order to stay around is a very temporary solution at best and also, since it is a lie, no matter how well the intention, could undermine the trust built between her and Sherlock. See, this is why I don't mind the so so cases of the week. Because the show is never condescending or dishonest about the characters, what they do, what they face, and their relationship with each other.
This case of the week was actually of interest to me, though, not just because of the conspiracy theories digs or the adorable turtle named Clyde, but because, probably not so coincidentally, the show confronted Holmes with a killer who was following the death-of-the-few-for-the-sake-of-the-many rationale, and because his challenge wasn't so much to figure it out but resolve the situation in a way that saved both the killer's and the hostage's lives.
Bits and pieces: note that Holmes phones Bell, not Gregson, while he's still suspended, and that Bell is pretty mellow towards him; I see this as the logical consequence of Bell not having had as much an emotional investment in Sherlock Holmes as a person as Gregson did, and thus isn't angry, disturbed or dissappointed the way Gregson is.
Considering he was the one who brought the turtle into the house, I hope Sherlock will be the one cleaning up after it.
Speaking of cleaning up: I note with approval that both Joan and Sherlock are depicted at cleaning the dishes.
Doyle inside gag of the week: the picture of Napoleon at Sherlock's wall of crazy with all the Moriarty stuff. :)
Did I mention yet that Gregson is a great character and that I love consequences? In this case, to the fact that Sherlock was fully prepared to torture and kill a man in the last episode and that the reason he didn't was solely because he realized he had the wrong man. And I don't mean just practical consequences (i.e. the suspension; we all knew this wouldn't last, given the premise of the show). I mean the emotional ones. That Gregson concludes Holmes isn't the person he thought he was, does things like ask "who are you?", tells Joan that if Sherlock could do this, then he's broken in ways independent from whether or not he's using drugs. That the bar scene doesn't end up with a reconciliation between him and Holmes, because the later either doesn't get or doesn't want to admit that what he should be sorry for isn't hurting Gregson's feelings, it's intended murder. Which is disturbing. And the show points this out and doesn't say, but, vengeance, temporary insanity, but lets Gregson reply to Joan that while everyone might feel like wanting their beloved's murderer dead, following through with it is a different matter. I love you, show!
Meanwhile, the show also points out, via Joan's therapist, that her lie in order to stay around is a very temporary solution at best and also, since it is a lie, no matter how well the intention, could undermine the trust built between her and Sherlock. See, this is why I don't mind the so so cases of the week. Because the show is never condescending or dishonest about the characters, what they do, what they face, and their relationship with each other.
This case of the week was actually of interest to me, though, not just because of the conspiracy theories digs or the adorable turtle named Clyde, but because, probably not so coincidentally, the show confronted Holmes with a killer who was following the death-of-the-few-for-the-sake-of-the-many rationale, and because his challenge wasn't so much to figure it out but resolve the situation in a way that saved both the killer's and the hostage's lives.
Bits and pieces: note that Holmes phones Bell, not Gregson, while he's still suspended, and that Bell is pretty mellow towards him; I see this as the logical consequence of Bell not having had as much an emotional investment in Sherlock Holmes as a person as Gregson did, and thus isn't angry, disturbed or dissappointed the way Gregson is.
Considering he was the one who brought the turtle into the house, I hope Sherlock will be the one cleaning up after it.
Speaking of cleaning up: I note with approval that both Joan and Sherlock are depicted at cleaning the dishes.
Doyle inside gag of the week: the picture of Napoleon at Sherlock's wall of crazy with all the Moriarty stuff. :)
no subject
Date: 2013-02-01 10:51 am (UTC)Also, the show isn't forcing Joan to be Sherlock's moral conscience - while she was (rightly) disgusted with the murder plan, it wasn't the primary focus of her interest in Sherlock's wellbeing, either.
I look forward to this show so much and I'm glad it's back.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-01 12:44 pm (UTC)As I said: this is a show respecting all its characters, and I dearly love it for this.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-01 01:41 pm (UTC)Well said, especially about the consequences. I liked that Joan's therapist called Joan on her behavior, which was unprofessional, even if well-intentioned, and will lead to that apt word you said: consequences.
I re-watched a few episodes with someone to catch them up. I like how Holmes shows emotions regarding the people in his cases, the victims in particular, even if he looks surprised about his own feelings. Nicely different than the BBC Sherlock who one can make a real case for sociopathy. In both cases, if they are all about "the work," then why do they work on the side of the angels? Which sends me back to the concept that there is a man buried under the genius that makes them so removed.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-01 05:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-01 10:15 pm (UTC)The murder names was Harry Dresden, it's also the name a of character of Jim Butcher, who did some questionable things to save his daughter, and saying more less, the world could burn, so long that his daughter was safe (the text doesn't let him walk free for this, there were consequences for that good and bad. Coincidence? probably but I like the reflected symmetry.
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Date: 2013-02-02 05:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-03 09:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-04 01:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-04 05:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-02 01:41 am (UTC)(I am absolutely gaga about Cumberbatch, but I like other things he's done much better than Sherlock.)
And also, I HEART CLYDE.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-02 05:11 am (UTC)