Elementary: Ready or Not (4x18)

A perfectly serviceable yet mostly uninteresting main plot paired with an infinitely superior subplot? It must be a new episode of Elementary. Business as usual.

Cons:

The main plot was perfectly serviceable, as I said. A man turns up dead, and it turns out he was a doctor dealing in prescription drugs. He was also a survivalist, with a huge supply of emergency apocalypse supplies, and a buy-in to an elite bunker for all the rich people out there who plan on surviving the theoretical end of the world. Joan and Sherlock have to infiltrate the operation to find the truth, and discover the whole thing is a sham. It wasn't a bad plot, but I am a little aggravated about what I see as a huge missed opportunity.

This case starts with a man and his drug-addict son coming to the Brownstone to request Joan and Sherlock's help. Turns out, the son is a suspect in the missing persons case (which later turns in to a murder) and the father wants help in proving his son's innocence. Very quickly, Joan and Sherlock both deduce that this father is abusing his son: Sherlock even punches the guy in the face. And then... we never see the kid and his father again. Here I was thinking that this could be really interesting, because Sherlock is a drug addict with a lot of father issues at the moment, and Joan used to be a sober companion and clearly has a protective streak when it comes to people being taken advantage of. What an opportunity to explore both of their characters! But no. It never led to anything.

Pros:

The one thing I did like about the main plot was the part where Joan and Sherlock go undercover as fellow survivalists to get a look at the fancy elite bunker. Sherlock name-drops his father to get an audience with the guy who runs the operation, which I thought was funny. Sherlock isn't afraid to use his position to get ahead when it's needed. Sherlock was such a sass master as he tried (unsuccessfully) to hide his disdain for the whole operation. When the guy showing them around talks about how everybody has access to all the rooms, including the armory and the wine cellar, Sherlock remarks: "wouldn't want to separate the wine from the guns..."

But really, the part of this episode that I loved was the subplot, and I'm getting a bit tired of saying that with this show. Seriously - make the murder case a subplot every once in a while, and let the character work come to the forefront. The audience will thank you for it. This week, Sherlock is grumpy because, basically, he's not getting any. He and Fiona are taking things slow, and Sherlock isn't used to abstinence. Fiona tells Sherlock that she feels like a project, like something that needs to be fixed, since Sherlock is always so careful and considerate with her. She breaks up with Sherlock, but Sherlock later invites her over and explains that yes, he has been being careful with her - but it's not because Fiona is neuro-atypical. It's because he is different, and doesn't know how to be in a relationship. He feels Fiona is worth the special effort, which is why he has been treating her with such caution. Fiona announces that she thinks they should have sex now. Sherlock is happy to comply.

I cannot express my love for this plot thread enough. I love Fiona so much. I've been burned before, and I'm telling you right now - if Fiona gets killed off, I will riot. I think what she and Sherlock have is so sweet and beautiful and precious. It's a huge testament to Johnny Lee Miller's acting that Sherlock's sexual frustration didn't come across as annoying and rude. I mean, he was in a snit, but he wasn't resentful over having to wait... he was just unaccustomed to this particular type of restraint. I loved Fiona's prepared breakup statement to Sherlock. It made me very emotional. And Sherlock's speech at the end... gosh. It reminded me of Johnny Lee Miller's Jane Austen days, when he played Knightly in Emma and Edmund in Mansfield Park. He had that slightly awkward yet undeniably sincere charm going, as he told Fiona about his past with Moriarty (leaving out a few dangerous details, of course), and then told Fiona that she's worth the extra effort and awkwardness he's been going through. It was so sweet. And then Fiona with her straight-forward attitude: "We should have sex now. Do you want to have sex now?" Sherlock, flustered and undeniably eager, stammers out: "I don't... not want to have s-" and Fiona cuts him off with a passionate kiss. I ship it so hard.

This plot thread also had the best Joan and Sherlock moments in the episode. Joan observes that Sherlock is in a mood, constantly getting annoyed with the barely audible sounds made by their next-door neighbor. They have an amazing conversation in the car on the way to the survivalist bunker. Sherlock tells Joan that Fiona is amazing, and she's worth working hard on the relationship. He's even done research on relationships with people on the spectrum. Joan, in a rather matter-of-fact tone, says "I'm proud of you." Sherlock makes a face, and Joan says "what, I can't say that?" I'm proud of Sherlock too, and I'm increasingly scared that Miss Natalie Dormer is going to show up and wreck things for him. But let's be honest - I'm also excited for that to happen.

I think that's where I'll stop. What is this show's problem? Seriously. The subplots are invariably more interesting and complex than the cases of the week, and the two plots of the episode almost never tie together. I really wish we could get some more nuanced stuff with the cases that would help grow the characters. Instead, it sort of feels like I'm being forced to watch Sherlock and Joan go to work, do a proficient job, and then go home and get to the more interesting parts of their lives. Still, Fiona helped this episode a lot, and I greatly enjoyed it.

7.5/10