Elementary: Whatever Remains, However Improbable (6x21)

When they wrote this episode, they thought it was the finale, you guys. I'm emotional.

Cons:

I've got to say, I'm glad there's going to be a Season Seven. Not just because I like this show, but because there are a number of pretty essential dangling threads that I wouldn't be all that thrilled about leaving alone. Namely, Bell and Joan didn't really get a goodbye scene, Sherlock and Bell got barely anything, and things with Gregson fell completely apart. Now, don't get me wrong, the Gregson stuff was excellent. But if this really was the last we were going to see of him, then that would suck majorly. It felt unfair to his character to leave so much unresolved.

I recently learned that when the show-runners were plotting out this season, they thought they had a shorter episode order. That explains why Michael is missing from so much of the season. Unfortunately, just because I understand the reason now doesn't mean it fixes the structural issues of this season. Michael was so interesting, and then he was dead and this final episode was about something else entirely. Had they known they were getting a Season Seven, and had they known the season would be longer, I think the Michael stuff would have felt a lot more satisfying.

I never really understood why this FBI agent had such beef with Joan and Sherlock. Sure, I can see how they would be the FBI's worse nightmare what with all of their cutting corners, but this woman seemed to have something of a personal vendetta against Joan in particular, and that is not born out in the show we are being presented. What is her problem?

Pros:

For the most part, as you'll note, my complaints are more to do with the structure of this season as a whole, and not specifically with this episode, because... I have feelings, you guys.

Starting with Gregson - what he does in this episode to protect Hannah is extreme. It's career-ending. It's possibly prison time, and a lot of it. There's this very small part of me that wants to argue that this is out of character for him, but let's be real. Of course it isn't. This is his daughter. Gregson's career is very important to him, but he would do anything in the world for Hannah. What I love about this is that he crosses those lines to protect Hannah before he knows that Joan is going to be implicated. But when he realizes what's going on, he still can't come forward with the truth. How heartbreaking. He loves Joan like family, and after everything they've all been through together, this could not be more of a betrayal. And yet, there's one person in the world that trumps all other concerns for Gregson, so at the end of the day there's not really much you can do to argue him out of it.

One of the highlights of the episode was the rather long scene between Gregson and Sherlock. Tensions are mounting, and all of the history and friendship and mutual trust between these two men starts to crack. At the end of the day, there's almost nothing these two wouldn't do for each other, but Joan trumps everything for Sherlock, just like Hannah does for Gregson. The final moment, when Gregson makes a seeming plea for Sherlock to understand: "she's my daughter!" is met with a truly beautiful response from Sherlock, referring to Joan: "she's my best friend." Maybe most people would say that 'daughter' trumps 'best friend,' but in Sherlock's case those words just mean so much.

As I said, Bell doesn't get a ton of time this week, but I did like what we got of him. He staunchly stands by Joan as a character witness, saying that he knows she's innocent, that he respects her and trusts her entirely. There's also the bit where Bell meets with Sherlock and hands over the NYPD's evidence in Michael's murder. At this point, Joan and Sherlock don't realize the truth about Gregson, but Sherlock has already tried going to the captain and has been turned away. Sherlock isn't exactly angry at Gregson for not helping them, but he does seem to appreciate the unique and intense risk that Marcus Bell is taking to help them out. I liked the shot of the two of them shaking hands and then walking away from each other. They know that they will always have each other's backs in whatever way they can. They also know that this is probably the end of their working relationship. Very well done by the actors and by the director - a lot of emotion was imparted in very little dialogue or screen-time.

As is appropriate, the majority of this finale focuses on Sherlock and Joan's relationship, and let me tell ya - it is a doozy. Sherlock is absolutely determined - one might even say desperate - to save Joan from being accused of murder. This makes sense, obviously. We already know he'd do anything for her. But what he wasn't expecting was that Joan herself would be unwilling to help him at a certain point. She wants to take the risk, wait it out, rather than turn in Hannah. She wants to protect Gregson. And then comes one of the best scenes in the episode. Sherlock gets more and more agitated as he realizes that Joan might seriously go down for this crime. He reminds her that this is the end of "Our little family unit - you, me, the captain, Marcus." Joan says she knows that, and Sherlock, angrily, says "We're supposed to be partners!" Joan's response? "We are. So be my partner."

There are so many ways that you can take this, but to me it seems pretty clear that Sherlock is terrified of losing Joan, the most important person in the world to him. And Joan's reply is so cutting, so perfect. They are partners. She's asking Sherlock to step up and be there for her, even if things don't go the way he would have planned them. It's this line that makes Sherlock's next decision all the more devastating. Sherlock won't go against Joan, his partner, and betray Gregson on her behalf. He'll honor her wishes in that regard. Instead, he'll confess to the crime himself, clearing Joan's name. Damn.

I mean, of course he did. Sherlock would have sold out Gregson to protect Joan, of that I'm perfectly certain. But their relationship is such that Sherlock knows what's important to Joan. He knows what ultimately matters most to her, and he won't betray her, even as he makes this huge sacrifice to protect her. The final scene in the brownstone between the two of them is one that I'll probably go back and re-watch a bunch of times. It was pitch perfect. Joan is obviously in shock. She's a bit aloof, a bit shut off. She can't really believe what's going on here, that Sherlock is moving to London and can never come back. And Sherlock? He's positively weepy.

He calls her Joan. He thanks her for everything she's done for him. He says that when they met, he was dying, and nobody could see it but her. He didn't think it was possible for him to get better, and she showed him that he was wrong. She taught him so much. It just goes on and on, the most overt, flowery, convincing and emotional speech we've ever heard from Sherlock about his feelings for Joan. The reason this is so brilliant is that none of it is exactly a surprise. It's not news to us, or to Joan, that Sherlock feels this way. But it's still so important that she hear it, and that he say it. The kicker is when Joan echos Sherlock's assertion from earlier that they're "partners," and Sherlock says "we're two people who love each other." Again, it's not a surprise to anybody that Sherlock feels this way, but it's so important to hear it out loud. It's the kind of thing you say to someone when you think it's the end.

I know I've discussed this in previous reviews, but I once again have to admire how completely NOT romantic or sexual Sherlock and Joan's relationship is. This is heartfelt, tear-fueled confession territory. This is Sherlock and Joan believing they might be separated forever. And the goodbye is purely platonic. And I do mean purely - it's this pure, beautiful, incredibly powerful bond between these two people, a man and a woman, and I LOVE IT. This is so rare. It's practically unheard of. It was such a gorgeous scene, and so well-acted by Lucy Liu and Johnny Lee Miller.

Then you've got the final scene, where we see Sherlock talking to a client in 221B Baker Street. He gets increasingly annoyed at the noise being made by his next door neighbor, and after he's done with the client, he knocks on the door to 221A, and chastises Joan for making too much noise. Turns out, she's moved in. Turns out, he asked her to move in. The two of them walk away together, apparently having been called to Scotland Yard to consult on a murder. Joan lightly teases Sherlock about the whole "we're two people who love each other" thing, and Sherlock admits some doubt as to their new life in London. Joan says that she feels like they're exactly where they're supposed to be.

And... scene. If this had been the finale, as I mentioned above, I might have had some problems with the way things were left with Gregson and Bell. But given that we get more material, I honestly adored this season finale so very, very much. This whole ending is just so adorable and sweet! In BBC's Sherlock, one of the (very few, in my opinion) things that really works about it is the premise that all along, the show was about a young Sherlock Holmes growing in to the more distinguished, good person that he is in the original canon. Oddly, a somewhat similar thing is true of Elementary. You could view all of the stuff in New York as almost one long prequel to some of Doyle's canon. Now, Sherlock Holmes is in 221B Baker Street, where he famously belongs. He's got his Watson, he's off to Scotland Yard, and all is right in the Sherlockian multiverse.

I'll stop there, because I don't want to go on too long. This was beautiful. Full stop.

9/10