- Title: Elementary – The Woman
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In the first-half of the show’s First Season finale, the discovery that Irene Adler (Natalie Dormer) is still alive and worse the wear from years psychological torture while being held against her will, offers flashbacks beginning two years ago in London with the consulting’s first meeting with “The Woman” while investigating a forgery case. Blaming both himself and Moriarty for Irene’s condition, feeling the need to take care of her, and facing a tremendous blow to his ego that he never suspected Irene was still alive, Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) refuses to investigate the case leaving Watson (Lucy Liu) to fear for her friend while working the case with Captain Gregson (Aidan Quinn) and Detective Bell (Jon Michael Hill) without her mentor.
Recognizing a very rare paint Irene was using when they found her, Watson gives Gregson and his team the lead on the convict (Erik Jensen) who bought the supplies, but it turns out its his brother (Lucas Caleb Rooney), a professional killer and former CIA interrogator who specialized in psychological pressure tactics, who is the one the one they are actually after. When the man breaks into his house and leaves a gift for Irene, Holmes decides the only way to protect Irene is to get her out of the city and decides to leave with her.
When one too many pieces of the puzzle begin to force Holmes to question Irene’s true loyalties, the detective confronts the love of his life leading to her walking out the door alone and leaving Holmes vulnerable to the former CIA interrogator who has decided to eliminate the detective whether Moriarty agrees with his plan or not. The episode ends on a cliffhanger with a shot and wounded Holmes coming face-to-face with Moriarty, who is anything but what he expected.
Dormer’s version of Irene is a talented artist and forger, with a unique mind that Holmes finds fascinating (and a body he’s certainly enamored with as well). Their aren’t quite enough flashbacks to paint the full picture of their relationship, but it’s well sketched-out and we can certainly see why loosing her pushed Holmes over the edge. However, it’s only in the episode’s final moments where both Holmes and the audience meet the true Irene in a twist I’ll admit I didn’t see coming. (I, like Holmes, believed she was working for Moriarty.) The show hasn’t been afraid to make big changes to the Holmes’ mythology to carve out its own niche and their choice of Moriarty’s true identity is certainly one of their bolder moves. And, like so many of the choices in this surprisingly good First Season, it works.
