- Title: Elementary – You Do It to Yourself
- tv.com: link
While suffering from a fever Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) agrees to help the police in their investigation of the brutal murder of a college professor with a secret gambling addiction. With Detective Bell’s (Jon Michael Hill) help, Holmes discovers the underground Chinese gambling parlor where the man was killed as well as video footage of their robber and murderer (Lord Jamar), but that’s only the beginning of the story as he was hired to shoot the victim in both eyes by someone who worked with him.
Gregson (Aidan Quinn) and the police arrest the professor’s teaching assistant (Cameron Scoggins) who had publicly threatened his boss when the victim denied his chance of advancement at the university. Even though the police discover a burner phone linking the man to the hired killer, and the man confesses to the crime, Holmes believes the TA is innocent and is covering for the victim’s wife (Kristy Wu) whom he was having an affair.
Although the woman has even stronger motives for wanting her husband dead than the TA, Holmes believes her story and has strong suspicions that the victim arranged his own murder while framing his wife and her lover as a final act of cruelty. To prove it, however, he will need a little luck and Watson’s (Lucy Liu) help.
In the episode’s B-story, Watson is contacted by a former client (Adam Rothenberg) charged with a hit-and-run that he claims he’s innocent of. Although Watson is prepared to leave the former client, and lover, to rot, Holmes convinces her to take a second look at the police’s case against the man.
Watson’s B-story feels a little wedged in, but it works well-enough even if it isn’t given as much room to breathe. The story also works to help solidify a Holmes/Watson friendship that will need to be firmly in place by the time Watson’s contract with Holmes’ father runs out. The main mystery of the week plays on Holmes’ illness to miss clues early on (although not many), and later the genius of the dead man to confound the consulting detective’s investigation.
I thought this was the best episode to date. The opening sequence, in which Holmes identifies the victim in about 30 seconds, was fantastic. And I liked how Detective Bell got to turn the tables on Holmes by knowing something Holmes didn’t.
I agree the B-story felt wedged in, but I think it paid off. For one, it showed (at least to me) a little bit of jealousy on the part of Holmes when he found out Watson was romantically tied to this other man in the past, and it gave Holmes a chance to show selflessness by waiting with Watson at the end. That was a nice, subtle touch.
I was disappointed Gregson wasn’t in it very much, hopefully that isn’t a permanent thing.
I’m still hoping they’ll at least mention Moriarty before the end of the season.
I agree it was weird Gregson wasn’t given more to do, but I like the fact that the show has decided to give Holmes and Bell their own dynamic as Bell, despite his issues with Sherlock, certainly has come to respect the consulting detective’s skill set.
We’ve already gotten a mention of Irene Adler and I really don’t want them to rush into a big Moriarty storyline just yet, although I’m am wondering how long we’ll have to wait before we get any mention of Mycroft Holmes.