TV Review: Attenborough's Life Stories - Episode # 3 - Our Fragile Planet

After covering man’s efforts to study the world around him, David takes a look at the consequences of human activities on not only the living beings that cohabit our planet but the planet itself.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) was formed in 1961 and one of their earliest conservation efforts was focused on the endangered animals in the Galapagos Islands.

The Galapagos tortoise weigh upto 250 kgs and live upto 150 years, making them the longest living animals on earth.

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We then meet the late Lonesome George, who was the last member of his species, the Pinta tortoise.

Then the focus shifts to the Virunga Mountains, one of the last remaining strongholds of the critically endangered MountainGorillas.

Mountain Gorillas

David’s visit was shortly preceded by the brutal killing of Digit, Dian’s favorite gorilla. He witnessed first-hand Dian’s grieving for her loss. After returning to England, he took up the cause himself. Readers interested to know more about Mountain Gorillas are encouraged to read the book: Gorillas inthe Mist by Dian Fossey.

Mountain Gorillas are not the only great apes covered in this episode. David also worked with Orangutans back in the 1950s. He brought back one of the Orangutans to the London Zoo and named him “Charlie”.

We then move on to the giants of the oceans, the Blue Whales. David encountered them for the first time at the age of 76. The whaling industry has taken a heavy toll on the worldwide population of whales.

In addition to these magnificent beings, the planet is also at the receiving end of man’s activities. Earth’s climate has been undergoing some drastic changes and this affects every living being in the world.

It is high time, we human beings take active steps to ensure the survival and flourishing of our fellow beings who share our wonderful planet with us. As David states, we need concerted efforts on an international level.

David’s observations about Mountain Gorillas perhaps sums it the best:

“There is more meaning and mutual understanding in exchanging a glance with a gorilla than any other animal I know.”

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Image Source: PBS Nature

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TV Review: Elementary - Episode # 16 - Details

Jonny Lee Miller and Aidan Quinn in Elementary

The least explored character in the show has been without a doubt, Detective Marcus Bell (Jon Michael Hill). Captain Gregson (Aidan Quinn) has had his share of fame in some of the previous episodes. Detective Bell, on the other hand, has remained a non-entity. He has remained the token member of the official force who bears the brunt of Sherlock’s sarcasm.

This episode seeks to rectify this situation and Bell gets to hog the limelight.

Bell is attacked by an unknown assailant in a car. Bell’s car flips, leaving him bruised. Bell suspects that Curtis Bradshaw (Anwan Glover), a powerful drug peddler from one of his earlier cases is behind the attacks. The case takes a new direction when Curtis himself is murdered.

The suspicion next falls on Bell’s brother, Andre Bell (Malcolm Goodwin) who is an ex-convict and out on parole.

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In the episode’s customary subplot, Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) has grown apprehensive about Joan’s safety since the incidents of the last episode. Holmes in his search for a martial arts trainer for Joan zeroes in on Bell’s colleague Paula Reyes (Paula Garcés). Holmes has deduced that Paula is good at boxing.

Continuing the show's downward trend, this episode is another weak one. Many of the attempts at humor fell flat. It felt like Miller was trying too hard to be funny.

His guerilla style attacks on Joan to test her reflexes reminded me instantly of the same antics employed by Cato (Burt Kwouk) on Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Peter Sellers) in A Shot in the Dark, the second in the Pink Panther movie series.

Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes

I did like Holmes’ usage of the British term “Water Closet”.

Canonical References

1.   Holmes' attempt to get information from Curtis by placing a bet – Reference to The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, in which Holmes places a bet with the salesman to obtain information about the goose.

2.   Holmes conducting a Ballistics exam inside his apartment – Reference to this line from The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual: “ … Holmes, in one of his queer humours, would sit in an armchair with his hair-trigger and a hundred Boxer cartridges and proceed to adorn the opposite wall with a patriotic V. R. done in bullet-pocks,..”

3.   Holmes remark about catching the scent of recently used firearms in Bell’s apartment - 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.”

4.   Holmes commenting that Bell was not stupid enough to conceal the gun (used to commit a crime he is accused of) in his apartment – Reference to The Problem of Thor Bridge, in which Holmes deduces that the discovery of the revolver on the floor of the governess’ wardrobe was meant to frame her.

5.   We see the set of locks on the wall in a couple of scenes - The Canonical Holmes is an expert in lock picking. He even mentions in The Adventure of the Retired Colourman: “Burglary has always been an alternative profession had I cared to adopt it, and I have little doubt that I should have come to the front.”

6.   Holmes treating Bell as just another resource for getting information – I think this is an indirect reference to this statement by Holmes in The Sign of the Four: “A client is to me a mere unit,—a factor in a problem. The emotional qualities are antagonistic to clear reasoning.”

Jon Michael Hill as Marcus Bell and Lucy Liu as Joan Watson

Trivia

The song “No Man is an Island” (Losers Theme) by Losers is played when Holmes is conducting his ballistics exam.

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Image Source: CBS

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