TV Review: Elementary Episode # 3 - "Child Predator"

Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes in CBS Elementary

Click here and here to read reviews of the pilot episode and second episode respectively.

A serial killer nicknamed "Balloon Man" has been abducting and killing children since 2005. His latest victim puts Sherlock on his trail.

Sherlock puts in long hours on the case and even skips his meals. Watson attempts to help him relax by teaching him some squatting exercises.

Sherlock finds out that the perpetrator used a brown van. In an unexpected twist, when cops track the van down, instead of the Balloon Man, they run into Adam Kemper, the first victim way back in 2005.

The boy is traumatized and refuses to open up. Sherlock attempts to connect with him to solve the case.

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Miller finally seems to be coming out of the shadows of Cumberbatch and Downey Jr’s perfomances. He is putting his personal stamp on the role. We find out that Miller’s Sherlock has been to boarding school and had a bad childhood due to his abusive father.

Lucy Liu’s Watson on the other hand actually took a turn for the worse. She seemed a bit off in some of the scenes.

Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes

I spotted the following Canonical References:

1. In one of his exchanges with Gregson, Miller quotes this exact line from A Study in Scarlet - "From a drop of water a logician could infer the possibility of an Atlantic or a Niagara without having seen or heard of one or the other”
2. Working non-stop on a case without sleep or food is a trademark of the Canonical Holmes.

Lucy Liu, Aidan Quinn and Jonny Lee Miller in CBS Elementary

This episode is a definite improvement from the previous one. Let’s hope the show can maintain the same quality or (possibly) improve further in the next episodes.

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Image Source: CBS

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TV Review: Arrow Episode # 2 - "Honor Thy Father"

Stephen Amell as Arrow

Click here to read the review of the pilot episode.

Oliver makes a court appearance to have this death certificate nullified. We get more details about the shipwreck in this scene and towards the end of the episode.

Oliver’s mother expects him to take over the company. Oliver is dead set against such a move and even makes a public announcement about his intentions. Not everything is down in Oliver’s life though. On the upside, Oliver bonds with his sister, Thea Queen (Willa Holland).

Willa Holland and Stephen Amell as Thea Queen and Oliver Queen

The focus of this episode is not only on Oliver, but also on his ex-girlfriend, Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy). Laurel is prosecuting Martin Somers, a mobster with links to the Chinese Triad. Things get personal when the mob makes an attempt on Laurel’s life. Oliver saves the day and goes after Somers.

In one of the secondary plots, Oliver’s friend Tommy Merlyn (Colin Donnell) is up to no good and is quite resentful of Laurel's affections for Oliver.

Stephen Amell and Katie Cassidy as Oliver Queen and Laurel Lance in Arrow

Pros

• Stephen Amell shows strong improvement on the acting front. His facial expressions sometimes reminded me of Christian Bale (as Bruce Wayne). Amell may not be Christian Bale, but he is no Robert Pattinson either.
• If Twilight was the target last week, this episode takes a nice jab at the Kardashians. I love these digs.

Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen

Cons

• Paul Blackthorne (born 1969) and Katie Cassidy (born 1986) do not make a believable father-daughter duo. They are more suited to be a couple!
• Kelly Hu does not have much to do as China White, an assassin with an outlandish hairdo. She appears in just 3 scenes and her total screen time would definitely be just around 5 minutes. Her climactic showdown with Arrow is strangely anti-climactic and is a major letdown. Kelly was way more intimidating and effective as Yuriko Oyama / Lady Deathstrike in X2: X-Men United (2003).

Kelly Hu did much better as Lady Deathstrike (R) than as China White (L)

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Summary

The writers have done some excellent character development and Amell is eminently watchable. Both these factors bode very well for the show’s future.

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Image Sources: CW, Comicvine

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