You know, ordinarily I hate episodes like this one, where it's all told in flashbacks and we're not given all of the information at the beginning simply for shock value. But... surprisingly... I loved this episode. Once again, Elementary has surprised me by doing something new and fresh with an idea I've seen several times.
The framing device of this episode is that Sherlock must testify at a hearing to determine whether or not he and Joan can continue working with the NYPD. Why should such a question come up? Well, when working on a case, Sherlock provoked a man who then attempted to shoot him. Bell jumped in front of the gun, and is severely injured.
In all honesty, that's pretty much all you need to know about the plot. The case isn't one of those super memorable ones, although it did have some interesting elements, such as a guy with schizophrenia who believes he is a knight who has been forced to kill his queen... later it turns out that the victim (ostensibly murdered by the "knight") was in fact dying anyway, and that she took money out against her own life insurance policy in order to try for an experimental cure. The guy who shot Bell was actually not involved in the murder - he was a viable suspect, but he turned out to be innocent. On the way to finding that out, however, Sherlock had managed to antagonize the guy and accidentally outed him as an ex-con who broke his parole. He was thus fired and sent back to jail. In his anger about this, he tried to kill Sherlock, and that's how Bell got injured.
All of the stuff about the case was serviceable. The guy with schizophrenia was interesting; all of the different twists and turns did their jobs quite well. However, that's not the focus this week. The focus is on these amazing characters and their relationships. So, I'm going to go through some of the elements in the episode and talk about them a bit closer.
- This episode begins with a scene in the precinct, wherein Sherlock talks down a man with schizophrenia from using a gun. This scene was a great way to jump straight into the episode, especially because it mirrors a later incident with a gun wherein Sherlock is unable to stop things from going wrong.
- Joan lies in court. Sherlock, while on the stand, treats the court with a bit of contempt, since he thinks his value to the NYPD should be obvious, and he thinks this whole thing is a waste of time. As such, when asked about some of the more suspicious case-solving techniques he's used, Sherlock blatantly lies about breaking in to apartments and other locations. Later, when Joan is put on the stand, she is forced to lie to cover for Sherlock. Joan actually wasn't a very big part of this episode, but I appreciated this show of solidarity between them, and it also helped to further examine the negative effect Sherlock has on the lives of the people around him.
- The prosecutor's relationship with Sherlock. Now, this part I'm actually a bit iffy about... there was this whole bit about her being a fellow addict, so they bonded over that or something. It was all rather unformed and unclear what exactly Sherlock was going for there. The episode could have done without this element entirely, although I do appreciate the attempt to make secondary characters like the prosecutor more interesting.
- Sherlock and Bell. This is where the bulk of the episode's amazingness comes from. To start, Sherlock's guilt over what happened was really palpable, and even though in some ways I was mad at him for what happened to Bell, I was also feeling very sorry for him. The judge, in the end, recommends that Sherlock and Joan no longer work with the police, but ultimately it's the commissioner's choice. In a very well shot scene, the commissioner goes to talk to Bell. He basically tells Bell that it's his choice whether the NYPD keeps working with Sherlock or not.
It seems as if Bell's hand is severely damaged by the gunshot, and that he might not heal entirely. Obviously Sherlock feels terrible about this, but for most of the episode he avoids going to visit Bell in the hospital. He doesn't know what to say. Eventually, he does go to see him, and he offers him resources to get the top physical therapy in the world. He also sincerely apologizes for what he's done. However, Bell doesn't want to hear it. He tells Sherlock to leave, and that he doesn't want to see him.
I don't even know how to explain the brilliance of this scene. Bell told the commissioner to let Sherlock keep working, because ultimately he does good and helps people. However, their personal relationship - dare I say friendship? - is irrevocably damaged. Nothing can change the fact that Bell has been shot, and that Sherlock is at least partially to blame for that. I loved that Sherlock sincerely apologized, but that Bell couldn't accept it. I feel like I can really trust this show now to give me good consistent character development. Earlier in the season I was nervous about the lack of Bell and Gregson, so I'm always thrilled to see either of them get a spotlight.
In the end, I thought this episode was a shining example of everything this show does right. A tight plot, great character development, and especially shining performances from Sherlock and Bell.
8.5/10
I liked everything, except the whole reason for Sherlock being on trial since he actually had no connection to what happened to bell. It was completely forced.
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