LIZ DIRCKS – ELEMENTARY
Like its leading male, Elementary marches ever-onward, rarely stopping to look back, and embraces its erraticisms and contradictory influences. Present are both the gruffness of crime dramas and the lighter, situational humor of the sitcom. It is, at any given time, a social commentary, popcorn whodunnit, character introspective, and modern in the true sense. The centerpiece of Elementary, however, will always be the trials and tribulations of its pair of sleuths, Sherlock Holmes and Joan Watson.
The Season 4 premiere “The Past is Parent” gets down to basics while still making the show feel fresh and moving toward new horizons.
Elementary premiered its fourth season relatively late for a network show, with Sherlock’s relapse from last season taking center stage. I expected (and would’ve accepted) the fallout of that revelation to stray into maudlin territory. With Sherlock primed for jail time after beating the living daylights out of his former drug dealer Oscar, and an impending visit from his contemptuous father, a great deal was on the line. But this premiere is business as usual, with the exception of a career shake-up and Morland Holmes’s presence floating around the edges, subtle and — dare I say it — sinister.
This episode is all about consequences. The case of the week comes from Jonathan Bloom, last seen in the Season 3 finale, who stood accused of murdering two female drug addicts and his wife. In one short scene, Bloom confesses to killing the addicts, asks Sherlock to find his wife’s murderer, and shoots himself from the pressure of having his life scrutinized by the media. Normally, Sherlock doesn’t muse on the lives he destroys through cases, but this iteration of the Great Detective has learned accountability, and he certainly has much to account for. Sherlock’s relapse has put both his and Joan’s residency in the brownstone in peril, as Holmes Senior’s condition for allowing his son to live there hinged on him not using again. Plus, his assault on Oscar was the all the proof the NYPD top brass needed to end his and Joan’s consulting jobs. For Sherlock, the timing of this new angle is fortuitous, and potentially a means to save him from spiraling further.
Portraying the slow descent into drug addiction could make or break any actor. Luckily, Elementary has a mesmerizing lead in Jonny Lee Miller, who brings Sherlock’s despair and tenderness to the surface effortlessly. His deductive powers haven’t dulled (yet), and connecting the dots on the case allows him a respite to think about his next act of supplication. Liked a caged pet, Sherlock accepts his fate, even after he finds out he won’t be donning that bright orange jumpsuit. But he’s also brought Joan down with him, and attempts to salvage her career before she’s aware her consulting days are over. He fails to land them jobs through an NSA contact — classic Sherlock, trying to smooth over a colossal screw-up by attempting to pair good news with bad. When he finally comes clean to Joan, in a very touching moment, Sherlock offers her full credit for solving the case so she alone might regain her standing with the NYPD. This self-sacrifice is reaffirmation of Sherlock’s devotion to Joan, staggering character development, and turns out to be for naught: Joan takes the news in stride, saying she wanted the NYPD job not to work with the police, but to work with Sherlock.
Joan’s consist and fierce friendship, her challenging Sherlock to be better without stripping him of his quirkiness, is further testament to how necessary she is in the detective’s life (and how brilliant Lucy Liu is in this show). Their independent casework last season was a good way to test Joan’s steadiness after Sherlock’s tutelage, but their dynamic in that period felt disconnected. Sherlock’s relapse has rekindled the urgency in their relationship and highlighted the fact that their respective futures are in tandem. Joan has long since moved beyond her initial role as sober companion, and tells Captain Gregson that Sherlock has to want to help himself recover now. She still, however, finds ways to lessen his anxiety, including confronting his father’s stuffy assistant and keeping him focused whenever his thoughts stray toward the inevitability of prison life. In many ways, Joan is Sherlock’s guardian angel as much as his partner, and can’t help but intervene when her friend is struggling.
For what it’s worth, I’m constantly left in awe by the rest of Elementary’s superb core cast, too. The rawness of Sherlock’s situation in this episode is tempered by doses of compassion from Gregson and Detective Marcus Bell. Together, the two almost represent the sensitivity and empathy needed in an addict’s support network. When Gregson prepares to break the news that Sherlock and Joan have been sacked — something Sherlock neatly surmises moments beforehand — the expression on his face is heart-breaking. Despite their occasional clashes, Gregson recognizes how invaluable Sherlock is to the force and how achingly human he is. Even Bell, who once took a bullet for Sherlock, is sad to see them go.
If the end of the episode hinted at anything, it’s that Sherlock and Joan may be heading towards new digs — possibly in New Jersey. As a Garden State resident, I can tell you we’d be happy to have them (and that absolutely 100% has nothing to do with a hypothetical long-standing feud with our neighbors across the Hudson). Potential game-changing creative decisions, whether they be geographical, or emotional, or structural, breathe new life into this show, making it a compelling watch. Shows that have even a whiff of procedural tend to fall victim to ennui in later seasons, but so far, Elementary is doing just fine.
https://youtu.be/8gTsQ5vL5VM
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