Elementary Review: 02×14 – Dead Clade Walking
Reviewed by Liz Giorgi
Being Geek Chic For The Baker Street Babes
I don’t want to be so bold as to suggest that dinosaurs are a sure fire way to get wavering fans back into a show, BUT, dinosaurs sure did keep me interested in Elementary this week.
Joan has been revisiting some of Sherlock’s “unsolved” cases and comes across an unusual homicide where a man’s home is ransacked and he’s murdered in the back yard, but no weapon, motive or murderer ever emerges. In the case photos, Joan zeros in on an unusual stone, which a geologist named Gay helpfully points out is pre-historic. At the time of the initial investigation, Sherlock was struggling with his addiction and was unable to zero in on any helpful details which may have solved the case. With Joan’s new discovery and a few scans of this rare rock, a dinosaur fossil is uncovered and Sherlock’s passion for the case is piqued. When the thief (a man who goes by Magpie) who got his hands on the fossil turns up dead too, well as Doyle would say, The Game is On.
The micro tyrannosaurus rex skeleton within the rock is a major discovery, in fact, according to the head paleontologist at the Natural History Museum, it would be the first complete skeleton. However, further digging also reveals that the existence of this fossil would prove a scientific theory called Dead Clade Walking, which suggests a new hypothesis for how the dinosaurs came to be extinct. Sherlock and Joan bring in a variety of scientists who are vocally opposed to the theory and they all offer up their DNA samples. One man, who literally co-wrote the book on dinosaurs, turns out to be a match for DNA found at the crime scene of the murder of Mr. Magpie, but there’s no way he could have done it. So how did his DNA end up there?
The storyline which really moved me this week though was focused on the budding relationship between Sherlock and Randy, the man who he is sponsoring as he works through his recovery. When Randy asks Sherlock if he can “talk,” it’s so clear that this kind of intimacy isn’t just uncomfortable or unusual for Holmes – it’s actually something that pains him. When he offers a listening ear, despite his body language suggesting he couldn’t be less interested, he discovers Randy is having lady problems. Surprisingly, Sherlock listens and even offers up his compassion by suggesting that he too struggled with his addiction in part because of a woman. What’s really fascinating about this interaction is how Sherlock carries this with him. He goes home to Joan and in a reversal of roles, he begins expounding on the difficulties of caring for an addict and how he is taking on the emotional burden of ensuring Randy’s sobriety by trying to be compassionate. Joan, meanwhile, is entirely focused on the case. It’s clear these two aren’t just working and living together – they’re absorbing one another. That sounds grosser than I meant it to, but you get my point. Joan is finding that the discipline of unemotional, fact-based research can be rewarding. And Sherlock is discovering that he is capable of great empathy, but that he needs to hold tightly to his firm sense of purpose.
This character evolution which has unfolded slowly over these last two seasons, but could not have been more obvious this week. I got a chuckle out of Joan slowly chopping shallots while Sherlock paced about in an emotional state of confusion. “I’m just chopping shallots,” she says. Joan’s not dumb. She knows that we’re all just chopping shallots while we witness this amazing transformation. What else can you do?
Ultimately, it turns out that the murderer is more obvious than you’d think. Since there are dinosaurs and a fun protest in a museum to offer some interest, I won’t spoil the big reveal. Besides, it’s ultimately Sherlock’s final action in this episode that is the true reveal. Just as Sherlock gets his hands on this mini-t-rex, Randy comes knocking after slipping up and using drugs. When it comes to choosing a moment with some bones or a moment of bonding, Sherlock chooses the bonding.
Liz Giorgi is the Baker Street Babes’ Elementary Guru and runs the fantastic nerdy blog Being Geek Chic. You can find her former reviews of Elementary here on her site.
She’s a writer and filmmaker based in Minneapolis. She’s also a contributor for Apartment Therapy and The Mary Sue.
You can contact her at elizabeth@beinggeekchic.com and follow her on Twitter @lizgiorgi
