Elementary: Pick Your Poison (5x10)

Usually, I really enjoy how understated Elementary can be. Unlike in other cop shows, the personal lives of the detectives are not inexplicably and frequently tied to the case of the week. Instead, the detectives' personal investment in the cases is reasonably slight. But every once in a while, I need some high drama from my procedural shows, and this episode felt like a bit of a wasted opportunity to give us that. In other ways, I do still admire the restraint... let's take a look.

Cons:

The case involves Joan's medical license being used to write out fraudulent prescriptions. I was really enticed by the possibilities of this plot thread, but the guilty doctor is quickly found, and Joan's personal investment in the case is quickly pointless. It would have upped the stakes if Joan's reputation had really been on the line, but as it was, there was nothing much going on here for her personally. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the case, but it went down an avenue it really didn't need to go down. We already had a compelling stake in events.

Speaking more specifically about the case, I thought the outcome was fairly obvious from early on. I was actually rolling my eyes at Sherlock et. al. for not realizing it was the son who had shot his mother. That's never a good sign.

Pros:

That being said, I thought the guilty party actually had a very compelling motive - his mother was poisoning him. I mean, talk about intense! I could have done with maybe a bit more nuance or surprise, but I really did enjoy the part where Joan shamed him for killing his psychiatrist, a woman who was just trying to help him. The situation managed to be one where you felt bad for everybody but the intended victim, despite varying shades of morality. I felt sympathy for a brief character who tried to rob a guy, and for a guy who cheated on his wife, and for the murderer himself. It's hard to toe that line, and I admired how it was done here.

I also appreciated Sherlock, Bell, and Gregson in their silent support of Joan. We didn't have any dumb moment where they actually suspected her or anything. Joan's friends had her back from the first moment. I wish this stuff could have lasted a bit longer, but what we got was quite lovely. I particularly liked it when Sherlock stepped up in Joan's defense, commending her medical acumen and shutting down, quite politely, any attempt to cast aspersions on her character. He knows who she is and he won't stand people threatening her.

The subplot with Shinwell was - is anybody actually surprised? - more interesting. Basically, Sherlock is displeased that Shinwell wants to continue being an informant with his gang. He even goes so far as to go to the officer that Joan was setting Shinwell up with, and tells him not to accept Shinwell as an informant. He just doesn't think he's cut out for the job, and he's angry that he committed a felony in destroying evidence for the guy, when it looks like he's going to get himself right back into trouble. Joan, on the other hand, believes in Shinwell, and admires him for wanting to finish what he started. This causes tension between them, but Sherlock comes around to Joan's way of thinking... in a manner of speaking. As the episode ends, we see Sherlock make Shinwell an offer: he and Joan will teach him how to be an informant. They'll teach him how to protect himself and get good information without giving himself away.

This is a brilliant move for the show to make. I'm really pleased that Shinwell is sticking around. In some ways the whole thing is making me miss Kitty, but that's okay. I love the fact that Joan and Sherlock both feel the urge to take in strays and help them find their way in life. It's such a nurturing thing to do.

I also loved the bit about Shinwell restoring an old chess table as a thank you to Joan and Sherlock. Turns out, it was evidence in an unsolved murder case from the 1930's. The pained look on Sherlock's face as he tries to pretend that it's all okay... that was so funny. I also liked that Shinwell pressed Sherlock for the truth, and Sherlock gave it to him. Shinwell's got a way with communication that poor Mr. Holmes definitely lacks. It should be fun to see them work off of each other more in the next half of the season.

I do hope that Joan and Shinwell remain the primary focus, because I'd hate for Sherlock to come along and steal Joan's through-plot. But that being said, I'm excited to see Sherlock and Joan work together to help Shinwell out, as I think the actor adds a lot to the show, and there's a lot of good material to dig into here.

This whole half of the season has been... gentle. Meandering, almost. But not necessarily in an awful way. This show doesn't often have big and dramatic A-plots, and in fact this season's lack of a centralizing through-line is actually to its credit. It was always kind of sloppy to have Morland Holmes around some of the time last season, and then just have him disappear for chunks of time with no explanation. Shinwell is much more cleverly integrated, and I can't wait to see how that continues!

That's it until 2017!

7.5/10