Courtesy of CBS
Irene’s full name, ‘Irene Alder,’ makes an appearance on this week’s Elementary. Will the show finally turn into a verifiable Sherlock Holmes adaptation with this introduction?
Let’s bitch it out.
I can’t say I’m surprised that Elementary chose to explore next to nothing when it comes to Irene Adler this week. Last week we got a nugget of intrigue as Watson (Lucy Liu) dramatically tells Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller) that she “knows about Irene” before we cut to black. Apparently “knows about” means, “I know the name of someone that you used to know but other than that, I’ve got bupkis.”
Watson spends the rest of the episode visiting Holmes’ rehab to try and get a clue as to who Irene really is/was. All she ends up getting are some letters, which she idiotically chooses not to read. Watson then gives these letters back to Holmes who promptly destroys them in a blender. Shock horror – looks like we’re not going to learn anything about Irene until she shows up from beyond the grave (Who we kidding? We all know this is gonna happen.) I found it a cheap ploy to bait us with last week’s cliffhanger, only to find out that presumably, Holmes’ friend Allistair (Roger Rees) just gave Watson Irene’s name and nothing more.
Oh, pardon me – we do find out at episode’s end that Irene passed away and that Sherlock didn’t take that too well. What. a. reveal. Another wasted opportunity to make Elementary an actual Sherlock Holmes revision rather than a procedural that arbitrarily has characters named Holmes, Adler and Watson. Either that, or it is an attempt to stretch the mythology at a glacial pace so that it fills a full 24 episode season.
Courtesy of CBS
Perhaps I’m so insistent that Elementary turn into something other than your typical procedural because week after week I get increasingly bored of the central murder case. The only thing to keep any interest is the Sherlock Holmes angle (which, if you haven’t already subsumed, Elementary has miserably failed to capitalize on). This week Gregson (Aidan Quinn) gets a bit more screen time as the case-of-the-week involves the drudging up of one of his previous cases. There was the possibility of intrigue when it’s revealed that evidence has been planted in order to catch a baddie back in 1999, suggesting that Gregson might have some moral ambiguities. But, true to form, the show takes the easy way out by blaming it on his former partner (a wasted Callie Thorne of The Wire fame). And so, the cliché supporting character archetypes remain.
Other observations:
- The opening murder scene is quite disturbing, going back to the pilot by showing the crime scene itself rather than in tidbits via flashback. Aside from being more visually interesting than what we’ve seen in the past, it also puts some urgency back into solving the case rather than merely being excuses for Holmes to show his brilliance.
- When did Watson go back to being so naive and gullible? The opening sequence in which she buys Holmes’ apology for freezing her out and then subsequently ditching her to go to the crime scene is an exercise in tediousness.
- Is it me, or does everyone on earth seem to have a wall safe? When did these become a common household item?
- I’m in love with Holmes’ ring tone for Watson = the shower scene theme from Psycho.
- Funny how the sex-slave aspect of the show is introduced…and then immediately dropped.
- Gregson angrily declares in a room full of detectives “We don’t need to debate every possibility,” as they try and figure out who could be behind the copycat murders. Umm, isn’t this the very definition of detective work?!
- Is it just me, or is the title of the episode bordering on inappropriate?
What did you think viewers? Are you still loving Elementary, or are you craving more like me? Did the episode make you question Gregson’s moralities? Do you think Irene Alder will show up anytime soon? Hit up the comments and let us know your thoughts.
Elementary airs Thursdays at 10pm EST on CBS.