Elementary – Heroine

• Title: Elementary – Heroine
• tv.com: link

“You look at people and you see puzzles. I see games. You’re a game I’ll win every time.”

After revealing herself to Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller), and saving his life, Moriarty (Natalie Dormer) promises to continue hurting the detective should he further interfere with any more of her plans. With Watson (Lucy Liu) and Gregson’s (Aidan Quinn) help, Holmes, still reeling from being shot and discovering The Woman is actually his arch nemesis, returns to the case he was investigating before being contacted by Moriarty – the scheme to take over a historic speakeasy and the downfall of the heads of a security firm for murder.

The title of the season finale is well-chosen as it gives credit to Watson’s help on the case and the growing pain in Holmes’ shoulder and soul which makes the consulting detective seriously consider reintroducing himself to his drug of choice for the first time since meeting Watson. From a phone belonging to one of Moriarty’s flunkies, Holmes finds a loose thread tying an exporter and former smuggler (Arnold Vosloo) to her plans. After talking to the man’s son-in-law (Austin Lysy) they discover the smuggler’s daughter was kidnapped by Moriarty’s men forcing his cooperation in assassinating a Macedonian surgeon (Michael Aronov) and his political family on the eve of an important European Union vote, the right outcome of which could make billions for Moriarty.

Uncovering her plan but too slow to stop the murders, with Watson questioning his continued run on the ragged edge, and the ever-present pain from his shoulder wound which he has denied any pain medication for, Holmes drifts further and further over the edge until Detective Bell (Jon Michael Hill) finds the detective overdosed on heroin stolen from a local drug dealer. Or does he? Before the episode is over we’ll get one more confrontation between Holmes and Moriarty and a ploy which will allow the detective a last-second victory.

The combination of Irene Adler and Moriarty into a single character works to both further the overall arc of the story as well as continue to foreshadow the possibility of Holmes falling off the wagon. I like Dormer more in the role of Moriarty than that of her creation, Irene Adler, and if I have a complaint with the season finale it’s that Holmes is victorious rather than allowing him to find a stalemate or admit he was beaten which I think would have been a more interesting outcome leading into the show’s Second Season. With Holmes increasingly out of control, Watson is given more to do here and I particularly like the scene between Liu and Dormer where Sherlock’s “mascot” correctly identifies the woman’s weak points. The final scene between Holmes and Watson is a nice touch as well. I have thoroughly enjoyed the series, which has turned out to be much better than I expected, and can’t wait to see what Elementary has in store when it returns in the Fall.