Elementary Review 03 x 13 – Hemlock
Reviewed by Liz Giorgi
Being Geek Chic For The Baker Street Babes
This episode had all the odds stacked against it. Kitty Winter’s story largely took up the last two episodes and were so expertly crafted and conceived, it’s impossible to imagine how the show could come back from that with the same level of intensity and pull. So I appreciate that the writers didn’t even bother. Instead, they embraced the melancholy and boredom of realizing what life would be like without Kitty for Sherlock and embodied that emotional level throughout the entire episode.
And it worked. The first five minutes were a helpful reminder of just what kind of man Sherlock is. He’s constantly searching for a challenging case, but going it alone is no longer his preference. Instead, he has evolved into a person who relies on others to find the thrill in the chase. The montage of conversations about cases with sexual partners and inanimate objects makes it more evident than ever that he needs connection. That’s when the friendly report with Joan becomes a welcome call back to the origin of the series.
Of course, there’s a standard crime procedural in here, but it’s not really the point of the episode. This episode is a transition, a wipe from the first half of the season and Kitty’s story to the reuniting of Joan and Sherlock as roommates. I truly believe this is where the show is going. The random sleepover with Sherlock waking Joan up with a new outfit felt like a hint that he’s ready for her to be back. Of course, the dramatic conclusion of the episode really helped too. We’ll get there in a few paragraphs.
The case at hand this week involved a lawyer who ran a side business a debt collector who had gone missing. Of course, he turns out to be dead, but the details of the case are rather silly. He starts to forgive debts instead of collecting on them, which gives us empathy for a person who is already dead. The trouble is, when we discover that his former colleague murdered him because of a crazy client detail, it all seems too tidy and kind of silly. It’s not clever or interesting, it’s just sort of intentionally intertwined in a work backwards kind of way.
But the inner-workings of Joan and Sherlock solving cases and collecting clues together is so natural and easy to watch. Plus, with Kitty out of the way, they get back to their witty banter so quickly. As much I loved Kitty, she did add a sense of melancholy and seriousness on the group dynamic. Sherlock was full of great zingers again and it just feels good. My favorite: “You’re free to resume your life of tedium and petty deception.” So perfect. Of course, his insistence that Clyde the turtle enjoys painting was a great runner up.
The entire point of this episode is really the last minute. In the final moments of the episode, Joan attempts to break up with Andrew at a coffee shop. And she’s about to do it, but then, Andrew is poisoned and we are basically presuming he is dead as the credits rolls. However, careful viewing reveals that whoever poisoned the drink actually intended to poison Joan and Andrew was the accidental victim. Now it becomes clear what the rest of the season will be about: who is trying to kill Joan Watson?
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.