Matt Smith reviews the seventeenth episode of Elementary season 2…
Sherlock Holmes is a man who is all about secrets. Whether it’s deducting them, discovering them within the confines of a case and using them to find the truth, or if it’s keeping them himself, Sherlock Holmes is a man deep in the depths of secrets and the hiding of the truth.
An interesting question is bought up this week for Watson. Is she just special because she’s connected with Holmes? Even though this question is brought up by a bitter Lestrade in his efforts to find a job amidst his own questioning of himself, it rings with a certain truth that Watson’s stock goes substantially down if Holmes decides to go. Having three detectives in one house doesn’t necessarily make detective work easier. Holmes and Watson are two characters inextricably linked within fiction, but the feeling is that Holmes would be the one to do better when it comes to detective work.
But what can be expected of a character that avoids trouble at home by distracting himself by defusing bombs in his spare time or by investigating a horrible crime of abduction and murder? This week, Holmes must find the truth behind a pair of severed ears. Sent to a man who believed his wife died years ago after being kidnapped, a new ransom order is proclaimed by an unknown villain. Some within the police unit in turn have their own beliefs, thinking he had something to do with it, and some of his own behaviour doesn’t exactly help his case.
With all the secrets between estranged couples, detectives sniping at each other and the police struggling to figure it all out, it’s no wonder this case is by far the most confusing seen in this series for some time. And yet somehow, it all fits together come the final couple of scenes. In this series, it’s true when Holmes says that once the impossible is eliminated, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. It’s an episode that takes interesting, entertaining cases and growth of characters and connects them.
This episode shows the way a relationship, once fruitful if even based on lies like Holmes and Lestrade’s was, can break apart. But it can then again be healed, once again based on a lie told at the end of this episode that also shows how much Holmes as a character has grown.
This week’s episode of Elementary shows the truth behind many things. Holmes has developed as a person in his position would. When shown occasional kindness, he gives it back in a form that he sees fit. Lestrade’s arc, from when he was first introduced in London to now, is a great twist on a classic character within the Holmes canon. It’s been integrated into the other storylines within the series and it’s all been done so well that, like the case, everything comes together in the end.
When lies are all around you, becoming part of the intricate fabric of your life and livelihood, sometimes you have to trust that the people close to you will give you what’s best when you’re in trouble. Even when there are literal bombs being dropped on their doorstep.
Matt Smith – follow me on Twitter.
Originally published April 11, 2014. Updated April 15, 2018.
