TV Review: Elementary - Episode # 15 - A Giant Gun, Filled with Drugs

Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu as Holmes and Watson

Sherlock is visited by Rhys, his former drug dealer. Rhys’ daughter, Emily has been kidnapped and the kidnapper sends a ransom note demanding 2.2 million USD. Rhys had stolen that amount from a drug cartel and it seems his past has caught up with him.

Holmes deduces that the kidnapper was in a nightclub before he abducted Emily. Holmes tries to get some information from a DEA agent working undercover in the club. Sherlock does acquire the “information”, but has to undergo considerable amount of pain in the process.

The kidnapper does not take kindly to the fact that Rhys has applied for outside help. He sends Emily’s severed finger as a warning and wants the money handed over the very next day.

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Rhys is convinced that Holmes needs his regular intake of drugs to solve the case sooner and attempts many times to reintroduce Holmes to drugs.

Racing against time and under pressure from Rhys, Holmes contacts his father to arrange for the money. Holmes, acting as the mediator, turns up at the meeting place to hand over the ransom money and secure Emily.

But, things do not go as planned and the kidnapper has other plans in mind.

This was an OK episode, as far as the mystery was concerned. I felt there was too much emphasis on Holmes’ addiction to drugs.

John Hannah as Rhys and Lucy Liu as Joan Watson

The episode scored well on the humor aspects. Both John Hannah and Jonny Lee Miller had some great lines that both actors delivered with great aplomb. Rhys referring to Watson as a “bird” Holmes brought over was hilarious.

Miller’s best lines were with reference to Emily’s tweets. He describes them to be “serving as a valid argument for eugenics”. He goes even further: “Demonstrates that brevity does not protect against dullness”.

He finally tops it off by saying that the time he spent “wading in the cesspool of social media was not a complete waste” and that he did discover a possible clue.

Lucy Liu’s Watson did not have much to do in this episode, other than warn Rhys from trying to make Holmes take drugs again.

Lucy Liu as Joan Watson

Canonical References

1. Sherlock talks about his case involving a mongoose – Reference to The Adventure of the Crooked Man
2. Rhys’ appeal to Holmes’ ego to take the case of his missing daughter – Reference to this line spoken by Watson from A Study in Scarlet: “I had already observed that he was as sensitive to flattery on the score of his art as any girl could be of her beauty.”
3. Holmes also indicates that he might talk about the case of the blue carbuncle in future drug recovery sessions – The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle
4. Sherlock deducing the club name based on the print left by the kidnapper – In The Adventure of the Norwood Builder, Holmes uses a fingerprint left on the wall to solve the crime.
5. Holmes deduces that the cigar ash, left behind at the scene of Emily's kidnapping, belonged to Crema, a Dominican cigar. Holmes also refers to his ability to recognize 140 brands of ash and to his monograph on the subject – Holmes states in The Boscombe Valley Mystery: “I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco.”
6. Holmes cracks Emily’s bank password – Reference to Holmes’ statement from The Sign of the Four: “Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere.”
7. Holmes determining the name of the Ethiopian dish by “tasting” it – In A Study in Scarlet, Stamford mentions to Watson about Holmes’ habit of beating the corpses with a stick to verify how far bruises may be produced after death.
8. Holmes asks Watson to check on Rhys, since he cannot hear of any sound to indicate that Rhys is still present in the house – Indirect reference to Holmes deducing that Susan, the maid was overhearing his conversation from The Adventure of the Three Gables: “I have been listening to her for the last five minutes, but did not wish to interrupt your most interesting narrative. Just a little wheezy, Susan, are you not? You breathe too heavily for that kind of work.”
9. Holmes’ statement to Rhys: “After today, you are never to darken my doorway again.” – A very similar line was uttered by James Browner in The Adventure of the Cardboard Box: “this man Fairbairn is never to darken my door again.”
10. We see a large number of locks on the wall in the ending scene – The Canonical Holmes is an expert in lock picking.

John Hannah as Rhys

Overall, an average episode and a considerable comedown from the previous episode, The Deductionist.

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Elementary Ep # 14 - The Deductionist

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TV Review: Elementary - Super Bowl Episode # 14 - The Deductionist

Jonny Lee Miller and Kari Matchett in Elementary

Howard Ennis (Terry Kinney) is a serial killer who has killed several women. He was caught based on the work of Kathryn Drummond (Kari Matchett), professional profiler.

Eight years after he has been imprisoned, Howard is released temporarily to perform a kidney donation for his sick sister, Patricia Ennis (Jessica Hecht). Howard escapes from the scene of operation after killing everyone around him.

NYPD calls in Kathryn again to apprehend Howard. Holmes is also involved in the investigation and he openly resents Kathryn’s efforts.

Watson does some research and finds out that Kathryn had published Holmes’ profile in an article termed “The Deductionist”. Holmes lets Watson know that he was intimately involved with Kathryn and tried to teach her the methods of observation and deduction.

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Kathryn did not explicitly name the subject of her article but Holmes is still ruffled at some of the points made. Kathryn predicted that Holmes is destined to destroy himself.

Holmes does not believe in Kathryn’s abilities. Patricia on the other hand, does have faith in Kathryn and believes she is the one person who can stop Howard.

Like Holmes, Howard Ennis too holds a personal long grudge towards Kathryn. He blames Kathryn for the deaths of his parents.

Going into more details will be spoiling the mystery. The mystery component is pretty good and rivals that of Episode # 3 (Child Predator) for being one of the best the show has offered so far.

Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu as Sherlock Holmes and Joan Watson

Canonical References:

1.   Miller’s Holmes is able to escape out of his handcuffs in the opening scene – The Canonical Holmes is an expert in picking locks. In The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton, Holmes displays his burgling kit, complete with keys, glass-cutter and a jimmy.

2.   Miller’s Holmes is seen practicing his single stick skills on a dummy – Watson mentions about Holmes in A Study in Scarlet: “Is an expert singlestick player, boxer, and swordsman.” Holmes himself states in The Adventure of the Illustrious Client:  “I’m a bit of a single-stick expert, as you know.”

3.   Holmes deduces Howard fooled the machines in the operation theater by practiced meditation of lowering his heart rate and pulse rate – Holmes himself did something similar in The Adventure of the Dying Detective. He also mentions: “Malingering is a subject upon which I have sometimes thought of writing a monograph.”

4.   Holmes deduces that the blood stain has been diluted with some chemical agent (Propofol) – Watson mentions that Sherlock Holmes has profound knowledge in Chemistry in A Study in Scarlet

Kari Matchett as Kathryn Drummond 

5.  Miller’s Holmes displays some knowledge of astronomy – Watson mentions that Sherlock Holmes has nil knowledge in Astronomy in A Study in Scarlet. This is an indirect reference to the number of inconsistencies in the Canon. One example is the shifting nature of Watson’s war injury.

6.   Miller’s Holmes openly expresses his disdain for Kathryn Drummond’s abilities – This reminded me of the contempt held by the Canonical Holmes for the abilities of Scotland Yard officers.

7.   Miller’s Holmes detects the presence of frankincense mixed with carrot seed – Holmes states in The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier: “I have, as my friend Watson may have remarked, an abnormally acute set of senses, and a faint but incisive scent was apparent.”

8.   Miller’s Holmes wakes up Watson from her sleep - In the Canon, it has happened in many cases – either due to the sudden visit by a client (The Adventure of the Speckled Band) or after Holmes has had a sudden brainwave (The Man with the Twisted Lip).

The Canonical Holmes’ sense of humor is one of my favorite Sherlockian traits. I enjoyed the comedic touches that Miller brought to his performance in this episode. I especially liked his reference to Kathryn’s profession as “pseudoscience”.

Lucy Liu’s Watson also gets to shine in her storyline. She applies her client’s methods and is able to resolve her problem with her landlord to her advantage. Her medical knowledge comes in handy too in the investigation.

Terry Kinney is effective as the serial killer. Terry successfully portrays an individual who is quite creepy and cunning at the same time.

Terry Kinney as Howard Ennis

A good episode and hope they continue to become even better in the future.

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Elementary Episode # 13 - "The Red Team"

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TV Review: Elementary Episode # 13 - "The Red Team"

Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes

Holmes’ abduction and torture of Sebastian Moran has not gone down well with Captain Gregson and he has suspended Holmes. Watson continues to stay with Holmes, even though her contract was not extended by her employer.

Holmes likes conspiracy theorists and is particularly close to Len Pontecorvo, a conspiracy theorist of some repute. When Len does not respond to Holmes’ text messages, Holmes decides to check on his whereabouts.

Holmes breaks into the house of his fellow conspiracy theorist and finds his corpse.

The title of the episode refers to Army War Games. Len has discovered the identity of one of the members of the Red Team of 2009. This member was killed a few months back in a case of mugging that according to Len was staged.

Holmes determines the names of the remaining teammates. One of them, Carlo Anillo has been diagnosed with an early onset of Alzheimer’s. Holmes deduces that Carlo is actually a victim of domoic acid poisoning.

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Holmes tries to help the official force in the case but is thrown out of the building by Captain Gregson. 

Sherlock and Watson continue to work on the case independently. They encounter “Bill”, who later turns out to be one Colonel Todd Clarke.

Shortly after Sherlock’s visit, Todd gets murdered and Sherlock finds himself as the suspect. To keep the review spoiler-free, I encourage the readers to check out the episode for themselves.

Canonical References:

1. Holmes and Watson discussing about Napolean Bonaparte – Reference to Professor Moriarty, the “Napolean” of crime.
2. Holmes forgetting about food when he is totally absorbed in his work – The Canonical Holmes does this in many of the cases.
3. Miller’s Holmes breaks into Len Pontecorvo’s house – The Canonical Holmes broke into the house of Charles Augustus Milverton to retrieve some documents.
4. Holmes’ deduction about domoic acid poisoning – Reference to Watson’s listing of Holmes’ skills and limits in A Study in Scarlet: “Well up in belladonna, opium, and poisons generally.”
5. Sherlock introduces himself as a temporarily suspended consultant for the NYPD and Joan as someone who prevents him from doing heroin to “Bill” – Reference to the dry sense of humor possessed by the Canonical Holmes.
6. Holmes makes some deductions based on Len Pontecorvo’s finger nails  - Holmes states in A Study in Scarlet: “By a man's finger nails, by his coat-sleeve, by his boot, by his trouser knees, by the callosities of his forefinger and thumb, by his expression, by his shirt cuffs—by each of these things a man's calling is plainly revealed.”
7. Miller’s Holmes smashing the listening device to smithereens – In The Adventure of the Six Napoleons, Holmes breaks the bust of Napolean to retrieve the missing black pearl.
8. “…why keep me from my work. My work is the greater good” – Reference to the French proverb stated by Holmes in The Adventure of the Red-Headed League: “‘L’homme c’est rien–l’oeuvre c’est tout,”. The French proverb translates to: “The man is nothing, the work is all”
9. Sherlock informing “Bill” that the surviving members of the Red Team are under his protection – Holmes makes a similar statement to Steve Dixie in The Adventure of the Three Gables: “Well, just bear in mind, Steve that the lady in that house, and everything under that roof, is under my protection. Don’t forget it.” 
10. Detective Bell remarks to Captain Gregson that it would probably be easier to fire Holmes if they ever actually paid him – The Canonical Holmes often took cases without consideration for compensation or recognition of any kind. 
11. Miller’s Holmes states to another character: “I judge people by their behavior” – Holmes states in The Sign of the Four: “It is of the first importance not to allow your judgment to be biased by personal qualities… I assure you that the most winning woman I ever knew was hanged for poisoning three little children for their insurance-money, and the most repellant man of my acquaintance is a philanthropist who has spent nearly a quarter of a million upon the London poor.”
12. Miller’s Holmes blows a whistle to call a cab – In The Adventure of the Empty House, Holmes uses a whistle to summon the official force, after he captures Colonel Sebastian Moran.

Lucy Liu as Joan Watson

This was a good episode. The mystery component was OK.

Miller’s performance was definitely the highlight. The Holmes-Watson chemistry is great and results in some nice exchanges. I especially enjoyed their conversation in the car, while waiting to follow a character.

Miller does some of his best work as Holmes. He has some great dialogues:

“I am smarter than everyone I meet, Watson”

“So far, none of the conventional ways of getting oneself killed apply”

“Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, Watson”

Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes

I look forward to the post-Super Bowl episode “The Deductionist”.

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Elementary Episode # 12 - "M"

Vasily Livanov as Sherlock Holmes

TV Review: Attenborough's Life Stories - Episode # 2 - Understanding the Natural World

Sir David Attenborough with a Meerkat

In this episode, David Attenborough takes a closer look at how science helps us to understand the world better.

We first meet the Austrian scientist, Konrad Lorenz. Konrad was a pioneer in the field of imprinting. He studied geese and published the book “King Solomon’s Ring” in 1952.

David gets to experience firsthand the effect of imprinting in geese. The close up shots of geese flying right next to David are simply stunning. They are in my humble opinion, the best shots in this episode.

Konrad Lorenz 

The concept of imprinting also works on animals including human beings.

We also learn that animals have a well-developed set of communication signs. For example, among vervet monkeys the signal used to alert the approach of a python is different from that used for a bird of prey.

Birds have different types of courtship rituals. In some species, males make astounding physical displays to impress females. In another species, male birds collect beautiful leaves, stones and fruits.

Jane Goodall, renowned primatologist

We then meet West African chimpanzees that are renowned for their nut cracking abilities. Human beings share 98% of their DNA with Chimps. Chimpanzees are omnivores and use complex hunting technique to catch their prey.

Another interesting aspect is that Chimpanzees communities each have their own cultures, much similar to human communities.

This is another gem from the veteran naturalist. Recommended to fans of natural history.

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Attenborough's Life Stories - Episode # 1

Save the Mountain Gorillas

RIP Sidney Paget - The man who brought Sherlock Holmes to vivid life

Sidney Edward Paget passed away on this day in 1908.

Arthur Conan Doyle was an expert wordsmith and a master storyteller. His timeless stories featuring the Great Detective were further embellished with Paget’s superb drawings.

Paget created the iconic image of Sherlock Holmes wearing the deerstalker cap and the Inverness Cape. Conan Doyle did describe Holmes’ physicality in A Study in Scarlet but never mentioned these specifics.

As the famous proverb goes: “A picture is worth a thousand words”.

In addition to Sherlock Holmes, Paget also brought two other major characters memorably to life: Professor Moriarty and Mycroft Holmes.

RIP Sidney.

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Image Source: Artintheblood.com

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Vasily Livanov as Sherlock Holmes

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