Elementary: Be My Guest (5x11)

So, since Sherlock is briefly back among us, I was hoping to get a kick-ass episode of Elementary so I could shove it in Sherlock's face that there's a more competent modern-day Sherlock Holmes adaption out there. What I got was... okay?

Cons:

The case is not a murder one at first, but a kidnapping. Young illegal immigrants, Asian, being held by a perverted rapist. Turns out that the man's accomplice is his ex-wife, which was blatantly obvious to anybody who watches procedural shows. I get uncomfortable when we have cases dealing with rape and kidnapping of women and the like, because so often they fall into the trap of being male revenge fantasies. It wasn't the worst I've ever seen, but it was definitely there: Sherlock is angry and determined to save the young women in need of his help. It's all very hero-ish and not particularly nuanced.

Pros:

But there was one saving grace in this case-of-the-week, and that's the fact that Joan is the one who noticed the key clue that implicated the ex-wife. It was a simple thing, noticing the type of milk in the house where one of the captive girls was found. I love that she figured it out, and got to explain it to Sherlock. We almost never see that, so it was quite refreshing!

The subplots on this show are always better than the cases, and this was no exception: Joan is frustrated because Shinwell seems apathetic about learning to be a detective. He's more focused on making his way up the ranks of his old gang so he can finally dismantle them from within. However, his training with Joan unexpectedly helps him figure out that a supplier is lying to him, and he realizes that Joan's way of teaching might have merit.

This is hopefully only the beginning of Shinwell-and-Joan training subplots. I really like the fact that Shinwell didn't take to the work immediately, and felt like he had his own better way of dealing with his problems. After a little time and thought, however, he comes around and decides to try harder.

I don't know why this review ended up being so short... gosh, I wish I could write more of them this length! In all, a rather lackluster episode to come back to, but there was still enough of that awesome Elementary vibe to make me excited to see what the next episode holds.

7/10