Elementary: Moving Targets (5x22)

Oh man. Oh no. I'm having feelings. Is this show going to end after this season? I really want to know. I need to prepare myself!

Cons:

So... spoiler alert... Shinwell dies in this episode. A little bit of an anticlimax, don't you think? Oh, I'm not all surprised that he's dead, but I'm a little surprised it didn't happen in the finale, and that it happens off-screen, with none of the principal characters around, or in any danger because of Shinwell. Of course, he dies just when it looks like he might be redeemed, which is just how these things go. I guess I wanted a little bit more out of this whole thing.

Elementary often attempts to tackle some challenging subject matter, and sometimes I think they're being too subtle about it to really get their point across. The link between mental illness and gun violence, for example, is a difficult thing to talk about because it often seems like people are pinning all of the blame for gun-related death on the mentally ill, instead of talking about gun availability and the systemic prejudices that lead to a disproportionate number of minorities being the victims of such assaults. Also, one of the suspects in the main murder of the episode is a former child soldier, and that made me a tad bit uncomfortable considering the highly politicized issue of immigrants and refugees. Elementary should be careful - if it wants to talk about these things, then great. But if it does, then it needs to be more thoughtful about it.

Pros:

The main case of the week was about a reality TV show where people are given paintball guns and set after targets, for a $1,000,000 prize. It was a cool idea to have a crime where a lot of the evidence and alibis are based on footage from body cameras worn by the contestants. The buildup was great too, as the deeper they look in to the case, the wider the net needs to be cast. Is this about a former child soldier getting money for his country? Is this about a gun manufacturer bribing police officers? Is it about the New Jersey gangs? In the end, the answer circles back to the beginning, and the bad guy was somebody who had been hovering around the case from the start. Pretty great mystery.

Of course, the meat of the episode comes in the subplot, as is true more often than not with Elementary. Joan is working with Shinwell again in attempting to take down SPK. Shinwell feeds her a lead, and Joan gets it to the man working a case, which leads to one of SPK's members being arrested. While this is going on, Sherlock is obviously unhappy with Joan for talking to Shinwell, and finally, in an amazing scene, Sherlock explains why. He's convinced that Shinwell will end up hurting Joan in the end, as Sherlock is concered that Joan still sees Shinwell as somebody that can he saved. As the episode ends, Joan finds Shinwell murdered in his apartment.

So much to unpack here. I'm not thrilled with the Shinwell plot, because I feel like it was a wasted opportunity. However, that being said, the stuff between Joan and Sherlock is gold.

For a long time now, it seems clear that Sherlock depends on Joan and on their relationship, much more so than Joan seems to depend on him. Sherlock comes out and says how much Joan means to him: "One of the reasons I work so hard not to lose myself is because I fear I would also lose you." It's one of those rare and poignant emotionally vulnerable moments from Sherlock, where he blatantly tells Joan her importance. And how does she respond? She makes no answer, and rushes off to get coffee. Ouch. Joan thinks she knows what she's doing with Shinwell, and she may have been right about him all along, as evidenced by his written confession. Shinwell tells Joan that he's been working so hard to take down SPK not to get away with killing his friend, but to try and make up for it. All of this would seem to suggest that redemption was possible for him. And yet none of that changes the fact that Sherlock basically says "I'm worried about you and I would do anything to avoid losing you," and Joan shuts down the conversation. This makes me so worried for the fate of their partnership going forward. They obviously love each other, and work well together, but is that enough?

Shortly after this emotional moment, we see a scene the next morning where Joan walks in to the living room to see Sherlock sleeping on the couch. She wakes him up, in an oddly discombobulating reversal of their usual roles. This was such an awesome little moment, coming after the conversation the night before. It throws Sherlock completely for a loop to have Joan awake and standing there as he's just waking up. See how it feels, Sherlock? This just serves to indicate all the more that Joan is holding all the cards in their relationship right now.

A few other moments to point out:

Sherlock refers to Shinwell as a "sleepy-eyed gang informant" which I thought was hilarious.

The New Jersey mob boss says that one of his rivals killed himself, and when he's reminded that the guy was stabbed sixteen times, he replies: "hardest he ever worked in his life." Ha!

There's this evil gross CEO of the gun manufacturer, who pleads guilty for bribing police stations and has friends in high places who make the case go unnoticed, so that he can have an early retirement with an enormous severance package. The guy's name is Clint Washburn, which is the most hilarious "evil corporate white guy" name I think I've ever heard.

That's all I've got. Scenes like the one between Sherlock and Joan in tonight's episode are why I still watch this show. I'd like some more definitive answers on whether it's going to be renewed...

8/10