Elementary: Miss Understood (7x08)

I like Cassie. I was always a big fan of Sherlock mentoring Kitty, and now it seems that he might just have an affinity for this kind of relationship!

Cons:

There was this really weird little sub... well, I was going to say subplot, but it didn't even reach that level. Apparently there was a case from London that Sherlock and Joan were going to work on. Their client flew in to New York, but then off-screen he got arrested and implicated in a crime. Joan just narrates this at us in a couple of brief asides. If this is a setup for a later episode, then I guess that's okay. But for this episode, it felt incredibly out of place.

I also didn't love the fact that this episode once again had very little to do with the A-plot. Instead, we're adding in yet another new piece. Cassie is super interesting, and I want her to stick around. But with the end of this show right around the corner, it feels odd to throw in another new interesting piece. Are we starting to establish character end-games here? Is Sherlock going to keep finding exceptionally brilliant yet troubled young women to help? I guess I feel like this aspect of the story is interesting on its own, but maybe out of place as part of a larger whole.

Pros:

The case-of-the-week was not super memorable, perhaps, but I did like the details of it. Starting with something as seemingly benign as baby formula, and then expanding it out to involve smuggling rings and hit-men, was pretty interesting. I also liked the twist that the illegal baby formula dealers actually had very little to do with the murder itself.

The most interesting aspect of this episode, obviously, is Cassie. It takes Sherlock, and the audience, quite a while to figure out what her real motives are. I liked that I was kept guessing. It seemed unlikely that she was telling the truth about her murdered foster mother. But what was her game? Maybe there were half-truths hiding somewhere inside what Cassie was saying. Even when Sherlock figures out her game, it's not clear exactly what's going on. Because it seems like Cassie is crying out for help - she's lonely and looking for a purpose. But then she double-crosses Sherlock. But then it turns out that this was a trap Sherlock had set for her. But then it turns out that she actually came back and had set up a way to catch the bad guy. So what's the truth?

I love that Sherlock never once stops being suspicious of her, but at the same time, he wants to believe that she could grow and change and find a way to contribute positively to the world. Of course he doesn't totally trust her. Even as the episode ends, he's still checking up on her and keeping a close eye. But he's doing that not only to look after her potential victims, but to look after Cassie herself.

Joan knows Sherlock really well, and she's very good at managing him. She knows that Sherlock wants to help Cassie, but she manages to caution him while also encouraging him to follow his best instincts towards compassion and care. The conversation that Cassie and Sherlock have about finding connection in the world is reinforced by the clear partnership demonstrated between Joan and Sherlock.

And that ending scene... Sherlock is so adorable. He gives Cassie paperwork to legally change her name, because right now she's Cassie LNU (Last Name Unknown), or Lenue. At first, Cassie thinks that Sherlock has found information about her parents and what happened to them, and she doesn't want to know. But then Sherlock tells her that she gets to choose who she is. Although he doesn't come out and say it exactly, he's basically letting her know that her past doesn't have to define her. She can be her own person, and she can find a place in the world separate from the harm she's done over the years. Sherlock knows what redemption looks like, because he's achieved it himself.

And that's all I've got to say for this one! It's weird how close we are to saying goodbye to this show. I've had more fun with it than any other procedural I've ever watched.

8/10