- Title: Elementary – Moving Targets
- wiki: link
Elementary makes a surprising move with a storyline they’ve slowly been building this season. Given Shinwell‘s (Nelsan Ellis) recent attack on Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) I expected something to shift. With the skills Shinwell had picked by Sherlock, and how well he appeared to be putting them to use for his own ends, I half-expected the former gangbanger to decide to take over, rather than destroy, it from within. This would not only create a new adversary for Holmes and Watson (Lucy Liu) but also provide a constant source of grief for the pair in knowing they are responsible. Instead, Shinwell’s death shifts the focus of the season in an entirely different direction by turning the detectives’ attention to the gang which is likely responsible for the man’s murder.
While the fallout from Shinwell’s death will have to wait, the mystery of the week involves the death of a police officer who was killed while a contestant on a low-rent reality-TV show involving it’s stars hunting each other over the city with paintball guns. While another contestant (Tomiwa Edun) with a dark past seems the most reasonable suspect at first, an off-the-books investigation involving the mob and a gun manufacturer and supplier leads the detectives down an entirely new line of investigation before eventually unmasking the killer. The twists and turns provide some fun moments, such as another contestant working in a Pokemon costume, but using a former child soldier as a red herring is questionable choice that proves a bit more off-putting than I’m guessing the show’s writers intended.
