Elementary: Crowned Clown, Downtown Brown (5x12)

This episode dealt with some things that should have felt like big, monumental developments, but instead ended up being smaller character-driven moments. I, for one, am not complaining.

Cons:

The main plot involved somebody poisoning New York's water supply. I actually quite liked most of the mystery, and as I mentioned, I enjoyed the fact that the smaller moments were given priority over a big city-killing super bacteria. But that being said, I feel like the resolution was a little sloppy. We learn that the bad guy is somebody who patented a water filtration system. He wants to make everybody sick so they turn to his system for clean water. I was annoyed by the fact that the bad guy was black - usually Elementary goes for the comfortable cliche of making white corporate America the baddies, and in this episode in particular, that cliche actually would have felt thematically relevant. People in positions of power willing to stomp on the little guy to make extra money? Why did this guy need to be black, again?

Oh, and it gets even worse, because Joan brings up the lead crisis in Flint, Michigan as an example of contaminated water. But she talks about it in the past tense, as if this primarily black area is not still affected by an appalling lack of response from the government.

Now that I think about it, this episode actually had two black bad guys... the villain in the subplot was a black man as well. Obviously this show has earned my trust in the area of representation, but still... this episode did make me a little twitchy when it came to that stuff.

Pros:

Like I said, this episode was full of smaller character moments. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I just really loved the way Joan and Sherlock interacted with each other in this one. There's a gentleness and domesticity to their partnership. They really are partners - not just in work, but in life. I liked their griping over the water filtration system, and the way that both of them came up with some of the puzzle pieces to solve the case. One of my favorite little patterns in Elementary is that whenever Joan takes command of the subplot, Sherlock always takes time out of his detective work to check in with her about how it's going. They really do share their lives with one another. It makes the fragility and uncertainty of their partnership this season all the more fraught.

The subplot is about Marcus Bell and his new girlfriend. Bell gets into a fight with his girlfriend's ex-husband, not knowing who the guy is at the time. Turns out, this guy is actually looking to sabotage his ex-wife's case. She works at the DA's office and is lead chair in an important murder trial. Bell ends up threatening the guy, using blackmail to get him to back off.

I mentioned that I wasn't thrilled with the two black villains in this episode, but I did rather like the subplot, for all that. First of all, we don't get nearly enough focus on the side characters in this show, so any chance to do a Marcus-centric plot thread is welcome. I really like his burgeoning relationship with his girlfriend, and I liked that the random brawl in a bar ended up tying back into a slight against her career. It made the stakes feel real.

Joan gets involved, first happy and gossipy with Bell about his new relationship, and then serious and dedicated to getting to the bottom of the situation with Bell's girlfriend's ex-husband. Joan is consistently shown to be a good friend, one who is willing to go the extra mile to help out when she can.

That's where I'll stop for this one. A decent episode, if unremarkable for the most part. One last note: oddly enough, Sunday night's Sherlock finale also involved a scary clown. Worlds collide.

8/10