Elementary Review 03 x 16 – For All You Know
Reviewed by Liz Giorgi
Being Geek Chic For The Baker Street Babes
When Sherlock has to investigate himself, things get weird on Elementary. Holmes is suspected of murdering a woman and burying her in Central Park during his addiction days, but he can’t remember any of the details of the case. It’s a dark past full of missed connections and old relationships gone awry, but it’s also a wake up call for Joan, who must investigate her partner while refusing to believe he is connected.
This episode is fascinating for two reasons: first, it explores Sherlock’s life while he was still addicted to drugs. We meet the people he often found himself carousing with, such as Oscar, who is still on the street and struggling with his addiction. And second, it questions Sherlock’s morality. No one is really questioning it except for Sherlock, his drug dealer Oscar and the family of the victim, Maria Gutierrez. Nearly every other member of the cast is convinced that Sherlock isn’t capable of such terrible crimes, so when a Councilman who hired Maria for cleaning appears, we know right away where this story is going.
To get a perspective on his potential role, Sherlock invites Oscar to an awkward lunch in which they spat about the past, their relationship and Sherlock’s sobriety. It’s a great performance from Jonny Lee Miller, who always manages to impress in small moments. His terse mouth and body position show so much more than he could possible say. Oscar doesn’t illuminate anything, in large part because his memory is also fragmented by his drug use.
Later, when Joan confronts Oscar, he tries to make it more clear that Sherlock may have had a hand in it by revealing some clothing with blood on them that Sherlock asked him to hide. We later find out that this isn’t implicating Sherlock, but rather, it’s the very thing Maria Gutierrez came to him for. She needed a safehouse and Sherlock had arranged it for her, including hiding the bloody clothing. Her death was a manipulation by her former employer, not a mistake Sherlock made while high.
The ending requires nearly four minutes of exposition from Joan, Captain Gregson and Marcus to wrap up how the Councilman in question got himself entwined with Maria and then had to take care of her as a sort of collateral damage issue. It’s dry and silly and not really the point of the whole episode. The point is that Sherlock was innocent and he didn’t believe in himself.
It’s a good set piece for the season, allowing us to explore the past with Sherlock that doesn’t require lots of flashbacks and corny references to journals. Instead, it’s a real investigation of someone’s demons. While the case my fall flat, Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock never disappoints with his raw honesty and presence.
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.