Matt Smith reviews the sixth episode of Elementary season 2….
A case, it can be said (by me, right now), is a lot like life. What can at first seem simple is at times frustrating, maddening and complicated. But in the end will hopefully bring satisfaction to those involved.
The case in point is the sixth episode of Elementary. This week, we have the problems created when someone breaks into Captain Gregson’s home and threatens his wife. This merely opens the door into Gregson’s life and marriage problems, however, and we find this instalment carries with it two dissecting stories, both linked together in differing ways.
With partnership being the theme for this episode, it’s an easy in for Holmes and Watson to start complications of their own. The tension between the two characters, which could long ago have fallen into soap opera levels of melodrama and cliché, has been kept real due to the give and take both characters have presented. Treating the characters as real and giving them enough in terms of back-stories means their problems have significant weight.
Speaking of partnership, we also get another taste of Holmes’ thoughts on marriage. While this has been a running theme for the entire series, his views are given their own complications when the Gregson family starts breaking down. Having someone close to him suffer through their own problems gives the producers a chance to show how Holmes reacts in a world that isn’t quite black and white.
But it’s not all doom and gloom, for our heroes. This week has a good, solid case and episode. Nothing life changing, but a solid story to go into the collection. And that might be the main problem with this episode. The case seems less important than Gregson’s marriage, no doubt in part to the performances given by Aidan Quinn and Talia Balsam as husband and wife.
The series seems to be trying to bring the light with the dark but unfortunately can make it seem a little jarring. Despite the weight of Gregson’s problems on those around him, his story is left behind for a significant part of the episode, falling to the wayside until the end. Having different tones playing out over an episode is fine, but only if the series learns to balance everything a bit better instead of just cutting whenever it suits.
When it comes to other performances, things are always solid. Jonny Lee Miller delivers witty, pithy lines as if he’s been doing that sort of thing to criminals and police officers alike all his life. Genuinely laugh out loud funny at times. Lucy Liu also gets a lot to work with this week; meaning a fair few plot lines get run through this week. And in an efficient fashion, considering the show’s only got about fifty minutes.
So what can seem like a simple episode when it comes to Sherlock Holmes is actually a far more complicated affair. Many characters get through their arcs just in time for the end to come and the wait for next week to begin. And, while it did stumble when it came to things like plotting and tonal shifts, it was, in the end, a very satisfying episode.
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Originally published November 28, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
