TV Review: Elementary Episode # 21 - A Landmark Story

The episode starts with a brief flasback to episode # 12 "M" as a kind of quick refresher to Moran's character for new viewers.

Cut to the present. Two people related to the same establishment die in seemingly normal circumstances. The first death is due to a heart attack (a severe one though by any criteria) and second victim is killed by a falling air conditioner.

Sebastian Moran (Vinnie Jones) is out of his solitary confinement in Newgate. He requests a meeting with Sherlock and infroms his that the aforementioned first victim was on his hit list.

Sherlock and Joan quickly zero in on a probable third victim and are able to stop the killer. Holmes apprehends the killer, Daniel Gottlieb (F. Murray Abraham) and interrogates him in his brownstone apartment. Holmes send a message to Moriarty from Gottlieb's phone. This leads Holmes to track down yet another of Moriarty's agents, John Douglas (Roger Aaron Brown). But John is killed by an unseen assassin, before Holmes can elicit any information.

Moriarty sends a new message to Gottlieb on his phone. Gottlieb informs Holmes that this is not the usual code. To save time, Holmes tries to get Moran to decipher the information. Moran however refuses to help and it is up to Holmes to crack the code. 

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Canonical References

1. When Joan asks Sherlock if he has broken into a mortuary before, Sherlock refers to "a certain problem of Thor Bridge" - In the Canon, Holmes and Watson enter a crypt in The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place. In The Problem of Thor Bridge, there is no mention of mortuary or a crypt.
2. The second victim is killed by a falling air conditioner - In The Final Problem, a similar attempt is made on Holmes' life by one of Professor Moriarty's agents: "I kept to the pavement after that, Watson, but as I walked down Vere Street a brick came down from the roof of one of the houses and was shattered to fragments at my feet. I called the police and had the place examined. There were slates and bricks piled up on the roof preparatory to some repairs, and they would have me believe that the wind had toppled over one of these. Of course I knew better, but I could prove nothing."
3. One of Moriarty's agents is named John Douglas - In The Valley of Fear, Sherock Holmes sets out to solve the murder of John Douglas.
4. Both John Douglas and Sebastian Moran refer to Moriarty as "him" - In The Valley of Fear, Holmes states about Moriarty: "When any of that party talk about "He" you know whom they mean. There is one predominant "He" for all of them."
5. Moran refers to Moriarty: "He's got ears and eyes everywhere in here" - In The Final Problem, Sherlock Holmes mentions about Professor Moriarty: "But his agents are numerous and splendidly organized."
6. Miller's Holmes refers to Daniel Gottlieb  as "a man after my own heart" - In The Hound of the Baskervilles, Sherlock Holmes remarks about Dr Mortimer: "This is a colleague, Watson, after our own heart."
7. Miller's Holmes works on the case without a  sleep - The Canonical Holmes is known for skipping food and sleep when working hard on a case.
8. Miller's Holmes deciphers the system of coded messages sent by Moriarty - In The Adventure of the Dancing Men, Sherlock Holmes solves the case by decrypting similarly coded messages
9. Miller's Holmes is too late to prevent the outcome of the coded messages, that he deciphers. - In The Adventure of the Dancing Men, Holmes is unable to prevent tragedy and redeems himself by capturing the murderer.
10. Miller's Holmes compliments Joan by stating that "some people without possessing genius have a remarkable knack for stimulating it" - In The Hound of the Baskervilles, Holmes remarks about Watson: "It may be that you are not yourself luminous, but you are a conductor of light. Some people without possessing genius have a remarkable power of stimulating it."
11. Joan Watson is delighted by Holmes' comments about the improvement in his life due to their connection - This is not a direct reference, but still reminded me of Watson's reaction (to Holmes' praise of his deductions from Dr Mortimer's walking stick) in The Hound of the Baskervilles: "He had never said as much before, and I must admit that his words gave me keen pleasure, for I had often been piqued by his indifference to my admiration and to the attempts which I had made to give publicity to his methods."

The best part of this episode was the Oscar Winner F. Murray Abraham's scenes as Gottlieb. He is the "scalpel" to Moran's "sledgehammer", as Holmes put it. Murray has superb acting chops and would easily make a remarkable "Napolean of Crime".  Coincidentally, I have been enjoying his work as a narrator on many PBS Nature videos. I am going to check out Amadeus for which he won the Academy award for best actor in a leading role.

He is easily the best casting choice so far and easily surpasses that of Miller and Liu as Holmes and Watson. Here's hoping he indeed turns out to be Moriarty.

Speaking of Holmes and Joan, there are some aspects of "character development" that I will be discussing in a separate post. Suffice to say, it was a big letdown.

Still, there were some enjoyable aspects - Miller's Holmes using Joan's legos to stuff his bag for his meeting with John Douglas. We also see Miller's Holmes trying out his skills as an escape artist. 

Joan's reply to Holmes thanking her for helping him decrypt the coded message was hilarious: "Oh, an insult and a boast".

Vinnie Jones continues his good work as Sebastian Moran. He has an intense screen presence. We also learn that this version of Moran has a sister.

The episode was more of a setup for the season finale. To give an analogy, this episode is like the individual Marvel movies (Iron Man movies, Thor and Captain America) that built the audience expectations for Avengers, the box office phenomenon. Let's hope the season finale does indeed live up to the hype!

Trivia

• Miller's Holmes is listening to the song "Singin' the Blues" by Bix Beiderbecke
• The song "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean" by Countdown Kids is sung by Sebastian Moran

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TV Review: Elementary Episode # 12 - "M"

Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes

It is the last week of Watson’s six week term with Holmes. Watson is reluctant to leave since she actually likes the investigative work done by Holmes.

As can be expected, a murder has happened that puzzles Captain Gregson (Aidan Quinn) and soon Holmes and Watson are at the crime scene. There is no body at the scene and no indication of a crime like footprints or fingerprints, except for a big pool of blood.

Holmes immediately discovers the handiwork of “M”, a serial killer he had tracked in London in the past. M kills victims in all age ranges, removes the blood from their bodies and dumps them in the sea.

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Sherlock could not catch M back in London due to his increasing drug addiction. Holmes believes M killed Irene Adler, who Sherlock was dating for a few months. Sherlock wants to be the judge, jury and executioner for M.

This is easily the one of the best episodes in the show. We get to see the dark side of Holmes. The ending is inspired and promises some interesting episodes in the future.

Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu as Holmes and Watson

The acting is solid. Miller and Lucy get to go deeper into their roles. Joan Watson makes some good deductions at various points in the episode. The part where Holmes mentions that people only need Haptics to converse with others was a nice touch. Other fun parts were Holmes’ opinion of a Vietnamese restaurant as a front for songbird smuggling and Holmes arranging security measures for his apartment. These were very Sherlockian in nature.

Vinnie Jones does his usual “menacing thug” routine. M being a fan of British soccer (Arsenal F.C.) was played out well.

Vinnie Jones as M

This episode had an amazing number of references to the original stories. There are some spoilers in the next section. I would recommend the readers who have not watched the episode yet to skip this section.

Canonical References:

1.    Holmes’ plans to convert Joan Watson’s room to an apiary – In His Last Bow, Sherlock Holmes has written a book: “Practical Handbook of Bee Culture, with Some Observations upon the Segregation of the Queen.”

2.   Holmes’ lock collection on the wall and Holmes commenting on M’s excellent way of picking the locks – In The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton, Holmes displays his burgling kit, complete with keys, glass-cutter and a jimmy.

3.  Miller's Holmes maintains his own personal files on M - Sherlock Holmes maintained alphabetically sorted files, as stated by Dr Watson in A Scandal in Bohemia: “For many years he had adopted a system of docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not at once furnish information.”

4.  We get not one but 3 Ms from the Canon – Sebastian Moran, Moriarty, and Mycroft Holmes who is revealed to be Joan’s employer. We see Watson preparing the final assessment of her client to be given to her employer, a certain M.Holmes.

5.   Watson’s employer does not extend her contract – Further credence to the fact that Mycroft is her employer as he would be having knowledge of Sherlock’s latest activities and probably wants to keep Joan out of danger. After all, according to Sherlock Holmes: Mycroft is the British Government.

6.  M’s message composed by pasting together printed words - Reference to Beryl Stapleton’s message to Sir Henry in The Hound of the Baskervilles: “As you value your life or your reason keep away from the moor.”

7.    Miller’s Holmes makes deductions based on the scent from M’s note – Sherlock Holmes made a deduction from Beryl Stapleton’s message to Sir Henry in The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Lucy Liu as Joan Watson

 8.   Miller’s Holmes states to Watson: “My enemies are legion” – Sherlock Holmes has had many enemies in the Canon.

9.   Miller's Holmes observes from M's expensive gloves and shoes: “M has money. That much is obvious” - Sherlock Holmes makes a similar deduction about his client in A Scandal in Bohemia: “There’s money in this case, Watson, if there is nothing else.”

10. Theodore aka Teddy is a young homeless man who performs errands for Holmes in return for money - Baker Street Irregulars!

11. Theodore’s comment about being Holmes’ associate as the latter does not have any friends - Reference to Holmes’s exchange with Watson about having friends from The Five Orange Pips: “Except yourself I have none…”

12.  Miller’s Holmes quotes the following line (attributed to William Winwood Reade, British historian) from The Sign of the Four almost verbatim – “.. while the individual man is an insoluble puzzle, in the aggregate he becomes a mathematical certainty. You can, for example, never foretell what any one man will do, but you can say with precision what an average number will be up to. Individuals vary, but percentages remain constant.”

13.  Miller’s Holmes gets emotional towards the end of the episode – In the Canon, Holmes rarely showed his emotional side. The few exceptions include The Adventure of the Three Garridebs and The Adventure of the Six Napoleons.

14. Miller’s Holmes uses drugs even in the midst of a tough investigation – A direct departure from the Canon, where Holmes takes drugs only when he has no case.

Aidan Quinn as Captain Gregson

    The plot and the Canonical nods made this episode eminently watchable. Hopefully, the show will not fall back into its usual routine of mediocrity with the next episode and will continue to be as exciting as this one.

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