CBS Elementary Season 2 Episode # 12 "The Diabolical Kind" - Review

The opening scenes offer a quick summary of Sherlock's experiences with Jamie Moriarty/Irene Adler (Natalie Dormer) from the previous season episodes, “Heroine” and “The Woman”.

Joan Watson (Lucy Liu) is off to an date with a guy she met from an online dating site, TrueRomantix.

Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) has been hiding his correspondence with Moriarty in the beehive he has been maintaining.

An armed and disguised gang kidnaps Kayden Fuller (Delphina Belle), a seven year old girl after killing her father, Uriah Fuller, a wealthy British businessman.

Miss Allison Fuller (Rachel Pickup) soon receives a ransom call for 50 million dollars. Sherlock deduces that the voice belongs to one of Moriarty's lieutenants, who had previously passed off as Moriarty. Sherlock names him “Faux-riarty”.

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Ramses Mattoo (Faran Tahir) is in charge of Moriarty's lockup and he takes Holmes, Joan and Gregson to meet Sherlock's archenemy/ lover.

Devon Gaspar (Andrew Howard), the aforementioned Faux-riarty is still waiting for orders from Moriarty and is keeping the morale of the gang by promising a big payoff.

Jamie works out a deal with her captors and agrees to assist NYPD in solving the kidnapping case. She informs them that Devon is a former British intelligence agent and gives her sketch of Devon and the possible men he has hired.

Jamie visits the Fuller residence and catches up with Joan. Jamie confesses to Joan that Miller's Holmes is the only person in the world can talk to and understand her, just as the way she is the only one who can talk to him.

Two cops are ambushed by Devon and one of his cohorts. Sherlock deduces that Moriarty sent an encrypted message to Devon thorough her sketches and that Gasper had already been communicating to his boss via newspaper ads.

I recommend the viewers to check out the episode to find out the resolution to the mystery.

Canonical References

1. Elementary Holmes makes the statement: “I conduct myself as though I'm above matters of the heart...” - Sherlock Holmes states in The Adventure of the Lion's Mane: “..for my brain has always governed my heart, ..”

2. Miller's Sherlock makes the observation: “...love, for lack of a better word, is a game I fail to understand, and so I opt not to play.” - Dr John Watson writes about Sherlock Holmes in A Scandal in Bohemia: “All emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer.”
 
3. Miller's Holmes speaks in French to one of his Interpol contacts - Sherlock Holmes states in The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter: “But, none the less, my turn that way is in my veins, and may have come with my grandmother, who was the sister of Vernet, the French artist.”

4. Elementary Sherlock using cryptography to decode the messages exchanged between Gaspar and Moriarty - Sherlock Holmes remarks in The Sign of the Four: “Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere.”

5.  One of Devon's henchmen is named John Clay (played by Andy Murray) - Reference to the character of the same name in The Adventure of the Red-Headed League. Sherlock Holmes described him as “the fourth smartest man in London”.

6. Jamie Moriarty makes a key deduction based on clay subsoil found on a character's boots - Dr John Watson writes about Sherlock Holmes' knowledge in A Study in Scarlet: “Geology.— Practical, but limited. Tells at a glance different soils from each other. After walks has shown me splashes upon his trousers,and told me by their colour and consistence in what part of London he had received them.”

7. Jamie Moriarty confesses to maintaining a dossier of interesting facts, most of which she assembled herself - Dr John Watson writes about Sherlock Holmes in A Scandal in Bohemia: “For many years he had adopted a system of docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not at once furnish information.”

This was a good episode. Natalie Dormer is a blast as always as Moriarty. She makes a masterful and cunning criminal mastermind.

Miller's Holmes does not get to show much humor this time around, thanks to the presence of Moriarty. I did enjoy his line about Joan going through a series of “curated mating rituals”. Equally well done was his logic for taking out the telephone from the closet to put more emphasis in his calls.

Lucy Liu's Joan Watson is pushed to be a sideshow as well. There is however one noteworthy moment of Detective Marcus Bell (Jon Michael Hill) practicing shooting. That scene was truly (and unintentionally) hilarious.

This is an out and out Natalie Dormer's show and is a recommended watch to Elementary fans.

Trivia

The song “The Crooked Kind” by Radical Face can be heard in the closing scenes of Miller's Holmes sitting by the fireplace in the brownstone.

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TV Review: CBS Elementary

After reviewing the cast, here is my second post in my blog series about the first season of CBS Elementary.

Confession time: I was eagerly looking forward to Elementary's pilot episode.

I liked the first season of BBC Sherlock and “The Hounds of Baskerville” from the second season. But certain aspects of “A Scandal in Belgravia” and “The Reichenbach Fall” struck me as odd in a Sherlock Holmes adaptation. I was hoping that Elementary would rectify these (what were in my opinion) issues.

What happened was the exact opposite: Elementary only made me enjoy BBC Sherlock even more and made me appreciate how tough it is to make a modern day adaptation without sacrificing the essence of the characters and the trappings of the Victorian era stories. BBC Sherlock accomplishes what every adaptation sets out to do: pay a loving homage to the legendary creation of Arthur Conan Doyle, while retaining its own unique identity.

Elementary, on the other hand….

The show had a weak start with the Pilot Episode and "While You Were Sleeping". The third episode, "Child Predator" was excellent. The fourth episode ("The Rat Race") was OK and the fifth one ("Lesser Evils") was remarkable for the way Joan Watson came into her own for the first time.

The sixth episode ("Flight Risk") is one of my favorites as Miller finally started growing into the role of the fictional detective. This was the time, when I thought: here is a contender for Benedict Cumberbatch’s title as the best modern version of the world’s greatest fictional detective. Boy, was I mistaken.

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The next few episodes were so-so. The series again reached its high in episode # 12 ("M") when one of the famous characters from the Canon made his appearance: Sebastian Moran. As played by the ever reliable Vinnie Jones, Moran remains one of the best aspects of Elementary.

The show maintained its standards with the Super Bowl episode # 14, "The Deductionist".

And the decline started from there.

Episode # 15 ("A Giant Gun, Filled with Drugs") was only passable, despite the presence of guest star, John Hannah.

Episode # 16 ("Details") was one of the weakest with the main plot focusing on Detective Bell. Even worse was a running gag that involves Miller’s Holmes conducting surprise attacks on Joan to “prepare” her for any unforeseen life threatening situations.

Episodes # 17 ("Possibility Two") and # 18 ("Deja Vu All Over Again") continued the uneven trend by being boring and interesting respectively.

Episode # 19 ("Snow Angels") was interesting due to the plot element of power shutdown and the introduction of the next important Canonical character: Mrs Hudson. As played by Candis Cayne, Miss Hudson is a transsexual and is hired by Miller’s Holmes to work on a weekly basis.

If the viewers were expecting to see Miss Hudson as a recurring figure, they were in for a big disappointment. Miss Hudson has never been seen again. Perhaps, she is busy being someone's muse. Only Season Two will clarify this (or I hope it will).

Episode # 20 ("Dead Man's Switch") was Elementary’s first attempt at adapting a original story: The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton. A novel attempt, but eventually proved to be another one of the mediocre episodes.

Episode # 21 ("A Landmark Story") is memorable for the character of Daniel Gottlieb. F. Murray Abraham gave a very subdued and a mesmerizing performance as Gottlieb, one of the more cerebral agents of Moriarty. I was hoping that he would indeed turn out to be Moriarty, but no such luck.

Episodes 22, 23 and 24 sounded the death knell for the show, at least to me.

The “reunion” of Holmes and Irene Adler in "Risk Management" marked the exact point, when Miller’s version of Holmes proved to be a completely different person from his namesake. His emotional breakdown at the sight of his “lost love” was nothing like the detective I read in the classic stories by Arthur Conan Doyle.

"The Woman" would further prove this point, as we get to see Miller’s version of Holmes and Natalie Dormer’s Irene Adler/Moriarty getting very intimate with each other.  At least, Guy Ritchie had the courtesy to leave such things to the viewer’s imagination during the Holmes-Adler encounter in the hotel room in the first Sherlock Holmes movie.

To add insult to injury, Miller’s Holmes is busy protecting his lady love to pay attention to seemingly trivial things like apprehending Moriarty. He is content to leave such tasks to Joan.

Joan does prove to be the "Heroine" and traps Moriarty using a simple-minded plan that Miller’s Holmes already used in Episode # 2. Not to be outdone, Miller’s Holmes names a newly discovered species of bees (yes, those bees again) as "Euglassa Watsonia" after Joan.

In the next post, I will make some suggestions (that if implemented), I think will help justify naming Miller's character "Sherlock Holmes".

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CBS Elementary - Cast and Crew - First Season

Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes

With the second season of CBS Elementary debuting about a month away, I decided to do a rundown of the first season. Before getting to the episodes, here is a look at the cast.

I enjoyed Miller's performance in the earlier episodes, Child Predator and Flight Risk  But as the season progressed, Miller's version became more and more distant from the Canonical version. By the time, the season reached its end in episodes Risk Management, The Woman and Heroine, the only thing common to Miller's Holmes and the Canonical Holmes was the character name and nothing else.

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I feel that the lesser knowledge one has of Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories, the more is his/her enjoyment of Miller's performance.

Lucy Liu as Joan Watson

I find Lucy Liu's Watson the better performed and the most consistent character of the show. Despite the gender and racial swap, Liu's Watson is not only one of the best acted Watsons, but also one of the smartest.

Unlike the Canon and most of the other adaptations, Joan herself is a Consulting Detective and is treated as Holmes' equal. In the season finale, she continues Holmes' detective work, when he is too love struck with Irene Adler (aka Moriarty) to be of any use to the NYPD and the general public.

Aidan Quinn as Captain Toby Gregson

Named after Inspector Tobias Gregson from the Sherlock Holmes Canon, Quinn's character remains one of the least developed recurring characters in the show.

Jon Michael Hill as Detective Marcus Bell

Marcus Hill's character is a tribute to Dr Joseph Bell, the real life mentor of Arthur Conan Doyle. Even after an entire episode (Details) was focused on him, the fact that he remains an uninteresting character speaks volumes about the quality of writing behind the show.

Candis Cayne as Miss Hudson

Yet another main character in the Canon undergoes a change - Elementary's Miss Hudson is a transsexual. This character is the best example of the both the strengths and weaknesses of the show writers. Just like Lucy Liu's Watson, Candis Cayne's Hudson is one of the best developed characters, but disappeared out of the show after that single episode appearance in Snow Angels.

Natalie Dormer as Irene Adler/Moriarty

The show took the lazy route of combining the classic characters of Irene Adler and Professor Moriarty. Natalie Dormer did her best with the roles and gave one of the more interesting performances in the show.

Vinnie Jones as M

As can be expected of a character played by Vinnie Jones, M is a hulking brute and one of the many agents employed by Moriarty. M is one of the most memorable characters, thanks again to Jones' charismatic screen presence.

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TV Review: Elementary Episode # 24 - Heroine

This is a spoiler heavy review. I recommend the readers to skip this review, if they have not seen the episode yet.

Click here to read the review of previous episode, "The Woman".

Irene Adler (Natalie Dormer) revealed herself to be Moriarty at the end of previous episode, "The Woman". She warns the injured Holmes to let her win to avoid further pain.

Holmes being Holmes, puts all his efforts to tracking Moriarty down. His investigation leads him to one Christos Theophilus (Arnold Vosloo), a Greek businessman with a shady past. Moriarty has abducted Christos' daughter and forces him to assassinate Andrej Bacera, another prominent personality to ensure his daughter's safety. Holmes is unsuccessful in his attempts and goes on a drug overdose. Holmes lands in hospital and receives a surprise visitor.

Canonical References

1. "I know how much pride you take in your uniqueness" - Holmes states in A Study in Scarlet: "Well, I have a trade of my own. I suppose I am the only one in the world. I'm a consulting detective, if you can understand what that is."
2. Miller's Holmes comments that he had stopped one of Moriarty's crime when he was still working at Scotland Yard - In the Canon, Sherlock Holmes was always an unofficial consulting detective.
3. Moriarty remarks about Miler's Holmes: "Here at last seemed to be a mind that rivaled my own..." - Holmes states about Moriarty in The Adventure of the Final Problem: "You know my powers, my dear Watson, and yet at the end of three months I was forced to confess that I had at last met an antagonist who was my intellectual equal."


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4. Miller's Holmes complimenting Captain Gregson on grasping the fact Irene Adler is a criminal mastermind " Very good captain, You have it all straight" - The Canonical Holmes had a habit of having fun at the expense of Scotland Yarders regularly.
5. Miller's Holmes mentions that he can break the code sent by Moriarty to his agents - In The Adventure of the Dancing Men, Sherlock Holmes solves the case by decrypting similarly coded messages
6. Miller's Holmes is seen skipping food while on the lookout for Christos Theophilus - The Canonical Holmes is known for skipping food and sleep when working hard on a case
7. Holmes is able to listen to the voice on the other end of Joan's phone call and comments that he is not an any pain medication that might dull his senses - Reference to the Canonical Sherlock 's acute sense of hearing
8. One of the kidnappers have a tattoo on his arms in Cyrillic alphabet - Possible reference to the story The Valley of Fear, in which the members of the secret society, The Scowrers have the design of a triangle inside a circle tattooed on their forearms as part of the initiation ceremony
9. Natalie's Moriarty conspires to reap profits by changing the value of a nation's currency - Sherlock states about Professor Moriarty in The Valley of Fear: "...a brain which might have made or marred the destiny of nations—that's the man!"
10. Moriarty tells Joan during their meeting in the restaurant: "Surely by now you appreciate the scope of my organization" - Holmes states about Professor Moriarty in The Adventure of the Final Problem: "You stand in the way not merely of an individual but of a mighty organization, the full extent of which you, with all your cleverness, have been unable to realize."
11. Moriarty informs Joan: " I have eyes and ears in the most fascinating of places" - Holmes states about Professor Moriarty in The Adventure of the Final Problem: "But his agents are numerous and splendidly organized."
12. Moriarty meets Christos Theophilus face-to-face to hand him the weapon to murder Andrej Bacera - This is contrary to the Canon. Holmes states about Professor Moriarty in The Adventure of the Final Problem: "He has a brain of the first order. He sits motionless, like a spider in the centre of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations, and he knows well every quiver of each of them. He does little himself. He only plans. Is there a crime to be done, a paper to be abstracted, we will say, a house to be rifled, a man to be removed -- the word is passed to the professor, the matter is organized and carried out. The agent may be caught. In that case money is found for his bail or his detence. But the central power which uses the agent is never caught -- never so much as suspected."
13. The closing scene has Sherlock and Joan discussing about bees - In the story His Last Bow, Sherlock mentions he is writing a book on Bee Keeping entitled “Practical Handbook of Bee Culture, with some Observations upon the Segregation of the Queen”
14. Moriarty addresses Joan as "My Dear Watson" in the restaurant - The Classical Holmes often addresses Dr Watson in that manner

Natalie Dormer steals the show as Moriarty. She outperforms Miller and pretty much everyone else in the cast. Only Lucy Liu as Joan makes an impression in this episode, thanks to Dormer's charisma.

Moriarty has some of the best lines in this episode - "... as if men had an monopoly over murder" and "You proceeded to prove you were inferior by disappearing into a syringe" being couple of them.

Miller's Holmes remains "inferior" till the end as it is Joan's idea to trap Moriarty. Interestingly, Holmes himself had used a similar strategy in episode # 2 "While You Were Sleeping". Moriarty also taunts Miller's Holmes over his "legendary powers of observation" that have never been displayed on this show so far. Perhaps, Moriarty is privy to the display of those powers!

Arnold Vosloo makes a guest appearance as Christos Theophilus, the ill-fated father who gets manipulated by Moriarty into becoming a pawn in her master plan

The episode is OK till the resolution, which is just a big letdown. A criminal mastermind who can alter the fate of nations, getting caught by visiting Sherlock in the hospital is just ridiculous. But then, Elementary has never impressed with the quality of the scripts. A fitting finale to a mediocre show.

Trivia

• "Osmia avosetta" is the name of the rare species of bees, that Holmes receives as a gift from a previous client
• The song "Dreaming of Some Space" by Beady Eye is played in the final scene, when Miller's Holmes names his new species of bees "Euglassa Watsonia" to honor Joan Watson

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Canonical References in BBC Sherlock