Matt Smith reviews the latest episode of Elementary…
Sherlock’s back. Well, he never really left, but every week I get pleasantly surprised and inevitably delighted that this series is on. So, for the busy people reading this, you can go now, that pretty much sums up my feelings. But I am required to say more, otherwise there’d be no point.
Two weeks ago I talked about Sherlock’s loving of puzzles, the fact the NYPD doesn’t pay him showing how much he actually enjoys solving the crimes presented to him. This week it’s a similar tack, but now it’s perhaps a little darker in subject if not tone.
While I suggested Holmes enjoys the puzzles, perhaps what I should have said is that he needs them. Elementary’s Sherlock Holmes is an addict, in an obvious drug taking way, but he’s perhaps also an addict like many of the other iterations in that he needs the puzzle. This week his contribution to an addiction meeting is a case he worked. The drugs just seem like a distraction or, as suggested this episode, a way to make him better at meeting the end of a case.
A fair few versions of Sherlock have the drug taking as part of the character, so it’s not a new path for the makers to traverse. But the parallels between drugs and solving crimes are well presented in this series. Holmes’ ex-drug dealer (Rhys, played by John Hannah) is told by Watson not to bring up anything to do with Holmes’ addiction in front of him but then gives him this week’s case in front of her. This paints Sherlock as a very insular figure, the Sherlock we all know and love from other iterations. His self-destructive nature is just the more obvious addiction.
So, this week, Sherlock’s given a case of the kidnapped daughter. He looks through her Twitter (claiming that just because the tweets must be short, that doesn’t mean they’re interesting) and confronts a DEA agent (who, despite the fact he’s short, is interesting). Along with his daughter, Rhys brings up the theory that Sherlock is a better detective when he’s high, leading to Sherlock perhaps questioning himself. As a proud believer in facts winning out over everything else, is Sherlock fighting the fact he functioned better with drugs?
So as Holmes rebuilds his life and struggles to not fall back, Watson is there to pick up the pieces. Watson is usually the only true friend any Holmes ever has, bringing up the question of which one Holmes would abandon, Watson or the drugs. Would Holmes be able to live without one of them?
But really, he isn’t rid of his true addiction at all. With a great script and direction, this series ably shows Holmes as the addict he really is. His addiction gets in the way of him making friends, the puzzles consuming his mind completely. The drugs are merely a distraction, meaning he may stumble across self-destruction in another form. In the end, Holmes is attempting to rebuild his life and his head. Will he get there, with or without his puzzles?
Originally published March 28, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
