Elementary: Absconded (3x23)

Okay. So this episode had so many cool ideas, and I wanted to like it, but something about it just didn't quite deliver. Let's go over what happened.

The plot this week involves the death of a human, but also the death of millions of bees. Sherlock and Joan pretty quickly find the murderer of the human victim, but they soon discover that the victim may have been involved in a conspiracy to kill millions of bees in order to keep interest focused on Colony Collapse Disorder. This leads to lots of twists and turns involving scientists, and, oddly enough, a member of the royal family from the United Arab Emirates. The prince is kidnapped, and eventually they discover that a married couple of scientists was behind the whole thing.

In subplot news, Gregson is offered a promotion. He tells Joan, and asks if she could do some research into his possible replacement as captain. Gregson insists that he won't leave his people unless he knows they're in good hands. Joan researches the woman who would become the new captain, and learns that she's a good person and would make a great captain. However, Gregson realizes that this is where he wants to be - he turns down the promotion. His boss, the one who offered it to him, lets him know that people in high places really wanted him to take it. Maybe there's something bigger going on with this.

So... yeah. I'm disappointed that I didn't like this episode very much. I feel like I should. I like the idea of focusing on Sherlock's love for bees, and Colony Collapse Disorder is a real thing, and a serious concern. But when you get right down to it, the plot was just... silly. And not in a fun way. We're seriously supposed to believe in a case that involves a conspiracy to kill bees, a kidnapped Arabian price, mentally ill murder suspects, corrupt politicians and academics? It's just a little much.

In the case of Gregson's subplot, I have almost the opposite complaint. So... he's offered a promotion and then he doesn't take it. Everything remains the same. It's like this subplot didn't get enough traction to actually go anywhere interesting... so what's the point?

There was a very brief scene at the beginning that showed our heroes wrapping up a case involving a murderer sewing a bunch of Raggedy Ann masks or something, and I was just like... why is this here? It was another baffling element in an already chaotic episode. I really could have done without it.

That being said, I didn't despise this episode or anything. It definitely had some good things about it.

Sherlock's fascination with bees got to be the central focus in this episode, and I appreciated the opportunity to see him involved in a case that he had such a personal attachment to. He got to go off on a couple of judge-y rants, which is always fun. I also really liked the guy who they brought in to discuss the kidnapping of the prince. I think he was supposed to be an embassy official or something? I sort of forgot to pay attention to his title. But whatever - something about the acting really made that guy stand out to me, even though he was only on screen for a few minutes. He was so utterly disdainful of Sherlock and the others, and it was nice to see such an unruffled character in the face of Sherlock's pushy ways.

Also, despite the fact that the subplot didn't really end up going anywhere, I liked the idea of Gregson getting a promotion. I particularly enjoyed the fact that he asked Joan for his help, but didn't want Sherlock to know until things were more settled. Of course, Sherlock figured it out right away. In one of my favorite deduction sequences on this show, Sherlock explained how he figured out that Gregson got a promotion. I love the subtlety of such moments - there's nothing showy about the way Sherlock thinks about things. His intelligence doesn't need bells and whistles to be impressive. (Yes, I'm taking pot shots at the BBC show. What are you going to do about it?)

Even though Gregson didn't take the promotion, thus prompting me to wonder why we had this plot thread in the first place, I still think there's potential for something interesting to come out of this. That ominous little hint at the end that higher powers want Gregson out of the way was really interesting, and I'm curious to see if it leads anywhere in the finale, or if it's a plot point we'll be picking up in the next season.

I think that's where I'll leave things for now. This episode had a lot of potential, but I just ultimately don't feel like it delivered much of anything worth special notice.

6.5/10