Elementary - Details

To Watson's (Lucy Liu) increased consternation Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) has become obsessed with improving the good doctor's self-defense following the altercation last week which nearly got her killed through setting up martial arts appointments for Watson and staging "guerrilla-style tests" of her ability to fight back. Meanwhile, the detective is called in to consult on a drive-by shooting whose intended target was Detective Bell (Jon Michael Hill).

The leading suspect in the attack is a would-be gangster (Anwan Glover) recently released from prison. While Lt. Gregson (Aidan Quinn) and Holmes get no answers from the convict, who turns up dead the next day (with early evidence pointing squarely at Bell), Bell's recent brush with death causes him to stop in and see his big brother (Malcolm Goodwin) who is also readjusting to life after being released from prison a few weeks ago.


After Holmes finds the murder weapon planted in Bell's home he turns his attention to who had the motive and opportunity to frame the detective for the murder. Bell meanwhile is forced to seriously considers whether his estranged brother may be the one responsible. When Bell's brother is shot and more evidence is left at the scene to implicate the detective Holmes turns his attention to another cop (Paula Garcés) who blamed Bell for killed her career when he took down another dirty cop years before.

Talking with her therapist (Linda Emond) about the recent attack and Holmes repeated efforts to try and get her interested in self-defense, Watson is discouraged by the advice offered to her: to move on and leave Sherlock Holmes, and his dangerous world, behind. Confronting Holmes over boundaries, Watson discovers the detective knows she is no longer being paid by his father and offers her a permanent position as his companion, apprentice, and partner.

The episode works well (even if the real murderer was a little too easy to figure out), and shows off Holmes' need of others in Bell and Watson, whether or not he's able to articulate it a socially acceptable manner. By the end of the show the pretense of Watson's lie has been abandoned and the Holmes/Watson partnership has begun in earnest. I can't wait to see where things go from here.