Elementary: Murder Ex Machina (4x09)

I don't know. I mean I liked a lot of things about this episode, but it also felt a little black and white. Usually I like dealing with moral ambiguities in this show, but this episode felt like it was trying too hard to be deep at certain points. Let's take a closer look.

Cons:

The case of the week was a little bit too twisty. It involved international spies and hit men and hackers and self-driving cars and technology companies and weapons dealers and honestly it just kind of made my head spin. Throughout all of these really big, dramatic things, we had Sherlock insisting that even though the murder victim was a bad guy, justice must be served. No murderer should ever walk free. A fair point, but the complexities of the statement were never explored to their full potential. And the murderer ended up being a guy only briefly encountered at the beginning of the episode. I always hate it when they do that. It doesn't ring true.

There were a few things that had the potential to be awesome in this episode, but instead fell a bit flat because they didn't have enough time to dive into them properly. Most significantly, there was the introduction of an autistic woman who worked for a tech company. She was a total genius but had a hard time with social interactions. She talked about how Joan and her boss were NT (neuro-typical) but that she didn't know what Sherlock was. The implication that Sherlock is on the spectrum is one I can totally get behind, but as this was the very first time the show has ever brought it up in concrete terms, I wish it could have been explored more fully. Perhaps it will come up again?

Pros:

But despite the too-complex case, I did like the final confrontation between Sherlock and the guilty party, as they sat in a car that had been hacked remotely, and was driving without anybody's physical control. The idea of technology running away from your control like that is a fear that I think a lot of people today can tap in to. While I might have wished for some deeper delving into the motivations of the various parties, there's no denying the villain was properly evil - he wanted to force the continuation of a war so he could continue selling weapons and technology to Russia and Ukraine. Now that is pretty evil.

The subplot of the week was infinitely more interesting than the case itself, and it brought the story back around to the A-plot, something I've been missing recently. Morland Holmes shows up at the brownstone to see Joan, and invites her out to lunch. Sherlock discovers this because he has recording equipment set up to survey the house, much to Joan's surprise. Joan decides to go to the lunch with Morland, where he asks her for a favor - he wants her to look in to a blood bank where he has been banking his own blood in case of emergencies. This seems suspicious to Joan, who researches Morland and discovers that a woman he was dating was killed in a shooting. Joan believes that Morland was the intended target, and that the person who wants to kill him might try again.

This adds some serious weight to the Morland Holmes story. I love watching the battle of wills between Joan and Morland - these two people don't have a concrete reason to dislike each other, but their shared interest in Sherlock creates very interesting tension. And this whole plot against his life is interesting - who could it be? Somebody we know, or an unknown party? This might cast Sherlock and Joan in the role of protector, which would be intriguing.

I also loved the moment when Sherlock realized that Joan was going to lunch with his father - the look on his face was simply priceless. He didn't even know how to process it. Despite the fact that Sherlock asked Joan to re-evaluate Morland and come to her own opinion, he clearly felt extremely uncomfortable about the two of them spending time together. I'll be interested to see where it goes from here. Will Morland cause further tension between these friends and partners?

And we got some Clyde! Sherlock helped Clyde along on his hibernation by putting a box in the refrigerator to keep him cool, and Joan very sweetly said "good night" to the sleeping turtle. I don't know whose brain child it was to have Holmes and Watson own a turtle, but I love it so much. Clyde will always be one of the best details in the whole show. Sleep well, turtle friend!

I think that's where I'll stop. While many things about this episode intrigued me for the future, as a stand-alone it wasn't my favorite.

7/10