Friday, November 15, 2013

CBS Elementary Season 2 Episode # 8 "Blood Is Thicker" - Review

Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu as Sherlock Holmes and Joan Watson in CBS Elementary Season 2 Episode 8 Blood Is Thicker

The episode opens with the Holmes brothers, Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller) and Mycroft Holmes (Rhys Ifans) indulging in a bout of single stick fighting with each other.

Haley Taylor (Kersti Bryan) is killed and her corpse lands on top of a parcel services truck.

Holmes deduces the location of Haley's murder. Detective Marcus Bell (Jon Michael Hill) informs him that the apartment where Haley was murdered belongs to business tycoon, Ian Gale (William Sadler).


Ian's lawyer informs Sherlock and Joan that he is in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia overseeing the plans for a new chip processing plant. Sherlock observes and deduces that Ian is using a stand-in and is in hiding.

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Sherlock and Joan track down Ian Gale to his private room in a posh hotel. His wife, Natalie Gale (Margaret Colin) is taking care of him, in addition to the doctors attending on him. Ian reveals that Haley was his daughter.

Ian has had a heart transplant recently, but his body is rejecting it. 

In the customary subplot, Sherlock is avoiding Mycroft after making appointments. Mycroft wants to hand over the keys to 221 B to Sherlock Holmes.

Rhys Ifans as Mycroft Holmes in CBS Elementary Season 2 Episode 8 Blood Is Thicker

Mycroft Holmes informs Sherlock that their father (yes, Holmes Sr does exist) is expecting Sherlock to return to London and show some gratitude.

Haley's mom, Maureen Tyler (Johanna Day) reveals that she and Haley had an argument before her death.

When Joan and Bell interrogate Natalie, they discover that she was a pediatric surgeon and had the necessary medical knowledge.

Detective Bell informs Sherlock that the fingerprints of Ray McKibben (Kieran Campion) were found at the place of Haley's murder.

I recommend the readers to watch the episode to find out the resolution to the mystery.

Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes in CBS Elementary Season 2 Episode 8 Blood Is Thicker

Canonical References

1. Sherlock Holmes gets the better of Mycroft Holmes in their single stick fight - In A Study in Scarlet, Dr John Watson notes that Sherlock Holmes “is an expert singlestick player, boxer, and swordsman.”

2. Mycroft Holmes referring to his restaurant, “Diogenes” as his creation and being proud of it - Sherlock Holmes explains about Mycroft Holmes to Dr John Watson in The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter: “The Diogenes Club is the queerest club in London, and Mycroft one of the queerest men...My brother was one of the founders,.. ”

3. Sherlock's statement to Joan: “My wants in life are simple: a loaf of bread and a clean collar.” - In The Hound of the Baskervilles, Sherlock Holmes tells Dr Watson: “I brought Cartwright down with me—you remember the little chap at the express office—and he has seen after my simple wants: a loaf of bread and a clean collar. What does man want more?”


Margaret Colin as Natalie Gale with Lucy Liu and Jon Michael Hill in CBS Elementary Season 2 Episode 8 Blood is Thicker

4. Sherlock's line to Mycroft Holmes: “Well, I have many passions. Work being first amongst them” - Sherlock Holmes states in The Adventure of the Red-Headed League: “L’homme c’est rien–l’oeuvre c’est tout,..”. This French saying roughly translates as “the man is nothing, the work is everything”.

5. Sherlock's line: “I have not had a paying client for a while. I have been approached on numerous occasions of course, but the interests have not been mutual” - Sherlock Holmes often takes cases in the Canon, purely for the intellectual challenge, without any concern for monetary considerations.
 
Interestingly, the plot of this episode too involved horse racing, similar to previous episode, “The Marchioness” (based on Arthur Conan Doyle's story, The Silver Blaze).

Lucy Liu as Joan Watson in CBS Elementary Season 2 Episode 8 Blood Is Thicker

Jonny Lee Miller gets to show some of the characteristic dry humor possessed by the Canonical Holmes. Joan Watson gets to do some of the main deductions (both medical and non-medical).

Margaret Colin gives one of the best performances in Elementary in a long time. This marks her second appearance in a CBS adaptation of Sherlock Holmes. She previously played Jane Watson (a descendant of Dr John Watson) to Michael Pennington's Sherlock Holmes in the 1987 TV movie “The Return of Sherlock Holmes”. (Credit to an anonymous commenter for this trivia)

Rhys Ifans' Mycroft Holmes is beginning to take on a more sinister nature, as he makes a last phone call to someone, I am guessing to be Jamie Moriarty/Irene Adler (Natalie Dormer).

Trivia
The song “Unofferable” by Half Moon Run can be heard in the final scenes between Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes
 

Not a bad episode, but not one of the best either. Hope the upcoming episodes will be better.

Click here to read all my posts about CBS Elementary. 

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Image Source: CBS 

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14 comments:

  1. I always look forward to your post every Friday morning. I'm glad Mycroft stuck around for another episode. I wonder if Dr. Watson is happy, too. Can't wait to watch it today.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Kathleen for your kind words of appreciation. Makes all the time and efforts spent worth it.

      B2B.

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  2. Good catches and references on 3,4 and 5.
    Again, although I liked the episode better than you did, I agree with most of what you had to say and it was a good review. I especially like the fact that you can place your connections right into the canonical stories. (I usually have to hunt and peck, or just say 'I know this to be true, but I can't remember where I heard it.)
    Keep up the great work. Thanks.

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    1. Thanks John for the compliment.

      Catching the Canonical nods is my humble way of paying tribute to my all time favorite author: Arthur Conan Doyle.

      B2B.

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  3. Did anybody pay attention to the phone number he dialed at the end? Were any area codes / country codes evident? :)

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    1. Unfortunately, I did not :)

      Thanks for stopping by.

      B2B.

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    2. You're welcome. Enjoyed it very much! As I leave, let me paste what I found on another site: "44 is the country code for the UK and 204 is, I believe, one of the newish area codes for Greater London."

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    3. I got as much as was on screen with the pause.
      +44 20 412 407

      Delete
  4. STILL haven't watched this show!!! A bloke at work loves it though. I have been watching the BBC Sherlock with my Year 8 class (12/13 yr olds) and they adore it. They really enjoyed reading the Speckled Band too. It's so pleasing that the character is still so popular and relevant.

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    Replies
    1. LOL. You are the best, GK.

      Happy to hear that your students are liking Arthur Conan Doyle's stories.

      Agree with you about the everlasting appeal of Sherlock Holmes. He is a literary icon and will endure for generations to come.

      B2B.

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  5. Another interesting bit of trivia is that Margaret Colin was Watson (Jane Watson) to Michael Pennington's Holmes in the 1987 CBS tv movie (and a favourite of mine) "The Return of Sherlock Holmes."

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    1. Thanks for the info. I will check out this movie.

      B2B.

      Delete