Elementary: Folie a Deux (5x01)

I thought this was a pretty solid premiere. We're not setting up any "Big Bad A-Plot" stuff, which is sometimes typical for a procedural's opening episode of the season. Instead, we're focusing on some character stuff that I think might be quite fun to explore.

Cons:

I guess I don't have anything big to complain about. As is often the case with Elementary, I do sort of wish that Gregson and Bell could be given meatier material. They are such non-entities in this show sometimes.

Pros:

The case itself was relatively simple, yet it had enough twists and turns to keep me guessing. Basically, there's a serial bomber who has been dormant for a while and has suddenly started up again, only this time in a different neighborhood. Sherlock and Joan discover, with the help of an old patient of Joan's named Shinwell, the connection between two convicts who may have had something to do with the bomb. In the end, they find the original bomber and they also implicate the man who hired him to start up again. Turns out, this guy wanted to cause public fear in a neighborhood that was competing with him for a big construction contract. The case wraps up with the good guys having discovered the murderers.

Like I said, the case itself wasn't anything remarkable, but it was solid and interesting. I actually had a moment at the beginning where I forgot how procedural shows tend to work, and I was shocked and upset by the death of the expectant father when he unwittingly picked up a soccer ball with explosives inside. I also thought the motivation was pretty clever. The bad guys in this one were smart - I wasn't actually sure it was either one of them for most of the show. Sherlock's certainty in one man's guilt wasn't enough to convince me, which made it all the more interesting when the true motivations came out. I appreciate the fact that it wasn't some off-the-cuff random bad guy at the end. That's always annoying.

The real meat of this episode came in the form of character development for Joan, and the introduction of a new cast member. Sherlock worries that Joan is experiencing wanderlust, since she's been a detective for nearly five years. That's how long she stayed a sober companion, too. This is her third career. Sherlock is further convinced that Joan misses her life as a doctor when he meets Shinwell, an ex-con whose life Joan saved when he was shot five times by a competing drug dealer. Joan confesses to Sherlock that she is proud of the work she did in saving Shinwell's life. However, it turns out that Joan doesn't miss being a doctor, precisely. She misses helping people. By the end of the episode, Sherlock gives her a little nudge in the right direction when he says that people leaving the prison system often need help getting back on their feet. Joan goes to visit Shinwell, offering to go on a walk with him so they can talk over his life after prison. Shinwell goes back inside to get his coat, and we see him put away a gun that he was ostensibly about to use on himself. Joan is helping people already.

I love, love, love it when we focus on Joan. I hope that we can actually keep that up this season, because I feel like she often doesn't have enough to do. One big reason for hope is that Shinwell is sticking around. In the past, whenever we've had season-specific new characters, they've been somebody from Sherlock's life: Mycroft and Morland, obviously, but Moriarty too. And other recurring characters such as Alfredo fit the bill as well. This year, hopefully we get more of Joan's surprise half-sister, but even if we don't, we know we'll be getting more Shinwell. This guy is directly tied to Joan's past, and is also seemingly tied to her future.

One of my favorite things about Sherlock and Joan's relationship is that Sherlock really cares about Joan and wants to make sure her life is fulfilled. When he notices some melancholy, he thinks perhaps their work as detectives isn't fully satisfying her, and he brings up the subject to try and figure out what's going on. I don't see that a lot on TV shows, or even really in real life. To have Sherlock be worried not only about Joan's life and safety, but also her happiness, is a really powerful thing. My favorite scene in the episode was when Joan admitted feeling a little sorry that Sherlock doesn't need her anymore. As in, Joan felt a little bit of disappointment at the realization that Sherlock is doing really well in his recovery. Sherlock isn't upset. He's glad to know what's on her mind, and it's this conversation that prompts him to talk about recidivism rates in American prisons, and how Joan might find a way to help people while working as a detective after all.

Shinwell hasn't made a huge impression on me yet, but I don't see any reason why he couldn't develop into a very interesting character. It's really powerful to see him trying to get his life back on track. Sometimes accepting help is the hardest part, and as this episode's ending showed us, he was willing to do that. Also, Shinwell had the sickest burn of the hour. Sherlock, in an abysmal attempt at making small-talk while the two men awaited Joan's return, asked him about his name: "what kind of a name is Shinwell?" to which Shinwell replied, rightfully so, "what kind of a name is Sherlock?"

That's all I've got. A promising premiere. I hope that we can have a more Joan-centric emotional arc this season. That would just make all my dreams come true!

8.5/10