- Title: Elementary – The Hound of the Cancer Cells
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Once you get past the horrific title, “The Hound of the Cancer Cells” (really?) is another solid mystery that also completes an ongoing storyline as Marcus Bell (Jon Michael Hill) makes it all the back to full-time detective from the shooting which sidelined him for months. While taking a look at the apparent suicide of a medical researcher on the cusp of breakthrough cancer research, Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) discovers some discrepancies that lead him to believe the man was murdered. At first Holmes and Watson (Lucy Liu) focus on the company’s competitors and an anonymous online zealot who debunked the man’s work as fraud. However, the truth is far more complicated.
While Holmes works on the case and does his best to avoid event the mention of the celebratory party for Bell’s full reinstatement, Watson helps Bell out on another case involving a frightened young woman (Christina Jackson) who witnessed a gang shooting but is too terrified to testify. The case introduces Bell to a legendary figure from his childhood, a teacher (Ron Canada) in the worst part of the city who has spent his entire life standing up to the drug dealers and gangs while helping others do the same.
After an attack on the wife of the dead scientist’s partner (Mather Zickel), Holmes and Watson are able to follow the clues and catch their killer by breaking what appears to be a perfect alibi and nabbing a killer who should have known better than attempt to outfox Sherlock Holmes. Although the murderer will never harm another soul, Bell’s case has a less happy ending which produces the episode’s best scene as the policeman and consulting detective, neither in a hurry to attend a festive party, spend time together on a cold winter night. Along with the closure of Bell’s reinstatement, the episode ends with the last vestiges of friction between Holmes and Bell falling away as well, arguably leaving them far closer than at any point during the series.
