Elementary Review: 03 x 07 – The Adventure of the Nutmeg Concoction
Reviewed by Liz Giorgi
Being Geek Chic For The Baker Street Babes
Let’s just admit this: Mrs. Hudson is the most underutilized character in the Elementary universe. In The Adventure of the Nutmeg Concoction, Mrs. Hudson makes a brief appearance as temporary assistant and police scanner in the middle of an investigation into a series of murders that all have the scent of nutmeg in common.
In Elementary, we have a show which is a careful character study on addiction, an investigation into non-sexual relationships between men and women and a crime procedural. These are all core to the DNA of the show and have largely made it the success that it is. But there’s this huge glaring missed opportunity: the reality of modern human sexuality and how it paints our perceptions of ourselves and others. In Sherlock, we have a man who views sex as a necessary mammalian act, but lacks the emotional connection. We have in Joan, a modern woman, who has experienced a variety of sexual relationships and is now faced with one that is particularly emotionally taxing: a long-distance love. In Kitty, we have a sexual abuse survivor. And in Mrs. Hudson, we have a woman who is living her fully transitioned life. And yet these things are just casually mentioned. They are never given their moment or their due. And dammit, I’m still tired of Sherlock and Joan being at odds, so how about we shift gears to this glaring missed opportunity?
Perhaps I’m so obsessed with this, because I found the nutmeg case somewhat blase. In this episode, Joan is hired to investigate the disappearance of a woman who was seemingly normal. There was no note. No physical evidence left behind. Just the smell of nutmeg in her apartment. Joan begrudgingly allows Sherlock to join her when the team discovers that there have been several open cases in New York City all have this same scent in common.
What works in this episode is that the for the first time, the power dynamics between Joan and Sherlock have clearly evolved. He has finally arrived at an emotional place where he can allow her to take the lead, but she still resents him for his prying. His development provides a clear pathway for Kitty to start making more meaningful contributions that are heard by the whole team, including the discovery of the missing woman’s affair.
From a canonical perspective, it’s always fun to see more Irregulars pop up, including this week’s new member of the team: the Nose. The Nose is the one who determines that the nutmeg is covering up a much stronger chemical component which is being used to melt people. Anyone have visions of Breaking Bad during this revelation? I just thought… huh, who knew human melting could be so much less… destructive.
In the end, it turns out that the human melter was a hired hand who was regularly contracted to clean up murder scenes. A former NYC crime scene clean-up crew member, it all seemed too buttoned up for a standard episode of Elementary for it to be the real solution to the case. And indeed, it was his assistant who was really the one creating all the mischief, because in the end, the cleaner gets cleaned. Or melted. Either way, gross.
Now back to my point about human sexuality; we’re left with a haunting scene, which I hope gets resolved. Joan is left lighting a set of candles at a dinner prepared for her soon to arrive home boyfriend. Earlier in the episode, her former fiance (!) shows up with a job and a request: a second chance. She won’t pursue it, yet I have to wonder: how long are we going to dance around the periphery of Joan’s love life before we start to really understand it?
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 the founder and director at Mighteor, a video production company that focuses on creating beautiful and meaningful videos for the web. 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
