The Curious Case of Kitty Winter
Kitty Winter is one of those characters from so deep within the Sherlock Holmes canon that even the most dedicated Baker Street Irregular may not recognize the name. She’s rarely seen in adaptations. She is only found in one of the original stories. And she’s a mistress, so as you can imagine, the number of stories she would be useful in are rather slim.
And yet, Kitty Winter is making a come back of sorts with her appearance in Season 3 of Elementary.
A little background first. Kitty Winter first appears in The Adventure of the Illustrious Client. The story involves a case where Sherlock is hired to find evidence that a local Baron is a murderer and a cheat after a General’s daughter has fallen hopelessly in love with him. Normally, this may not be a case Sherlock would entertain, however, the Baron had just recently been acquitted of murder of his previous wife in a rather nefarious legal battle and so Holmes and Watson begin their quest to discredit the man. And this is where Kitty Winter makes her appearance.
Kitty is the Baron’s most recent mistress and she is hell bent on exacting her revenge on the Baron. She tips Holmes and Watson off about a small book that the Baron keeps to track his various female conquests. When the knowledge of the book doesn’t dissuade the hopeless General’s daughter, Kitty attempts to team up with Holmes and Watson again to steal it from the Baron’s home. They are indeed successful in the quest, but not without Kitty facing charges for throwing acid at the Baron in her final moments of rage.
She’s a short-lived character, but she’s full of fire in the original story. The Kitty Winter we have met through CBS has been less vivacious, but much of the ethos is there. It’s so rare to see a deeply hidden character from canon on screen, that it seemed worth investigating why she’s been a great resurrection in the first place.
In Elementary, we meet Kitty as Holmes’ new protege at the beginning of Season 3 right as Holmes has returned to New York. When Joan decided to move out of the brownstone at the end of Season 2, it left Holmes without a friend and constant companion. He couches the new relationship as a mentorship and so does Kitty, but it’s more than that. This character has taken the basic tenets of the original Winter and brought them to casual Holmes fans in a way that may create a new fan fiction sub-genre. Or at least one would hope. Come on Tumblr, how about some Adventures of Kitty Winter fan art?
In the show, Miss Winter is a victim of some kind of kidnapping and sexual abuse. After being rescued, she discovers Holmes and his cases during his stint in London after Joan’s decision to move out. She wants to catch the kind of people who hurt her and Holmes sees a lot of potential in her detective abilities. One of her first jobs upon arriving in New York City is to tail Watson and impressively, she manages to stay out of Watson’s suspicion for a few weeks. And while their initial relationship was a bit tenuous, the writers have managed to create a team like dynamic between the two throughout the third season that’s compelling to watch. They are not friends, but they are both invested in solving cases and being part of Sherlock’s life. These moments are at their best when they’re both looking out for Holmes in their own ways. Kitty presents facts and information with a straightforward approach, as she did when she discovered Holmes’ statements in recovery meetings were being posted online. And Watson goes about it her usual, casual way – allowing Holmes to come to his own deductions about his recovery.
Winters works better as a character when she is working through the details of trying to make a life for herself, rather than just strictly functioning as Holmes’ protege. So while the original stories didn’t give her much development beyond a temporary companion to the detective – the potential for a woman like Kitty in the Holmes universe is clear. It could be the case that the Elementary writers just pulled a brilliant name out of the books – I mean, Kitty Winters is a pretty rad surname if you ask me – but it’s also possible they saw the potential in her role.
Or it’s possible that they just wanted to give Lucy Liu and Ophelia Lovibond the chance to share the screen. And if that’s the case, it’s easy to see why. Liu’s interpretation of Watson as a clinical, thoughtful, yet receptive and caring partner leaves a lot of room for other characters to nurture Holmes. But better yet, it’s give us the chance to see Watson be admired in a setting when Holmes tends to get all the praise and attention.
Whatever the reason for her inclusion, it’s heartening to see a fantastic female character in the canon get a new life of sorts through this adaptation and we’re all the luckier for it.
Nice article! I think the upcoming announcement that Gruner will be making an appearance indicates that, just as with Mycroft and Moriarty before her, the Elementary writers are planning on doing some really intelligent and fascinating things with this great canonical character. Additionally, making Holmes feel protective of her was a nice variation on the way Holmes is uncharacteristically protective of both the young women in the original story.
The Kitty Winter of Elementary is also an avenger; to wit, beating up Capt. Gregson’s daughter’s abuser, offering to “take care of” the poster of Sherlock’s meeting shares. The avenging tendency may lead to trouble.
I just discovered your blog through Twitter. Thanks for the insightful article. I’m a life-long Holmes fan, so it’s been fun seeing the recent revival with movies and dueling Brit-American TV shows. I’d forgotten about Ms. Winters’ appearance in *Illustrious Client* – time to reread the Canon. I am curious to see where “Elementary’s” writers take the character and how it will impact on Holmes and Watson. Re Holmes’ protective instincts, he was always the Victorian gentleman where women were concerned, and I’ve enjoyed seeing that instinct introduced on the show with regard to Watson and Kitty in particular. Thanks for being here.
[…] For weeks, I’ve been wondering how long it would take for the Elementary writers to tip their hat to Doyle’s original stories and Kitty Winter’s origins. After all, they aren’t afraid of using the titles from canon for their individual episodes. If you don’t know about Kitty’s canonical backstory, the writers finally pointed viewers in the right direction OR you can read our post here. […]