I've been watching Elementary sporadically. I want to like it, but the cases feel like they're dumbed-down, as if the writers or the audience (or maybe both) don't want the show to be too intellectual. That's too bad, because there's definitely an audience for shows that are shamelessly smart. (Ahem, for example, Fringe fans who now have nothing to watch.)
But Joan and Sherlock are really good. I like their characters, and I like that Joan gets to do her own thing. It would be easy for the writers to write her as a bystander who gets lucky occasionally and notices something that helps Sherlock solve the case.
Instead, Joan contributes to the problem solving. She offers medical knowledge that Sherlock doesn't have readily available. She pieces together facts and evidence along with Sherlock. Every now and then, she picks up on something that Sherlock doesn't see. So yes, she's an assistant but she works with Sherlock and not for him.
None of this is any good without examples, so I'll pull three from episode 1.14 "The Deductionist." Spoilers below.
1. At the hospital crime scene, Sherlock looks at the blood around the room and figures out that the spot of blood on the bed must be Martin's (the serial killer). The blood looks thinner and lighter in color than normal. Sherlock knows that's because the anesthetic was mixed in with that blood, and he asks Joan for the most common chemical in anesthesia. She answers him immediately, and then they know what lab should look for.
2. At Patricia's house, Joan notices the beef jerky and cheese balls on the counter and knows that someone with kidney problems could not eat those snacks. That's the first clue that something is strange about Patricia's illness. Sherlock finds the second clue, the essential oils, and realizes that Patricia poisoned herself to fake her kidney problems.
3. Joan notices inconsistencies on the video with the electrical tape on the register in her apartment. Sometimes it's there and other times it's not. That means that her landlord was in her apartment to fix the problem before, and he unlawfully evicted her. Joan confronts him about it and convinces him to help her while she looks for a new place to live.
The episodes that I've seen haven't interested me enough to consistently watch Elementary, but I do like the show's take on Sherlock and Watson. Elementary has four regular characters, three of which are male, so it's good to see that the only regular female character is a colleague and not relegated to a minor role.
But Joan and Sherlock are really good. I like their characters, and I like that Joan gets to do her own thing. It would be easy for the writers to write her as a bystander who gets lucky occasionally and notices something that helps Sherlock solve the case.
Instead, Joan contributes to the problem solving. She offers medical knowledge that Sherlock doesn't have readily available. She pieces together facts and evidence along with Sherlock. Every now and then, she picks up on something that Sherlock doesn't see. So yes, she's an assistant but she works with Sherlock and not for him.
None of this is any good without examples, so I'll pull three from episode 1.14 "The Deductionist." Spoilers below.
1. At the hospital crime scene, Sherlock looks at the blood around the room and figures out that the spot of blood on the bed must be Martin's (the serial killer). The blood looks thinner and lighter in color than normal. Sherlock knows that's because the anesthetic was mixed in with that blood, and he asks Joan for the most common chemical in anesthesia. She answers him immediately, and then they know what lab should look for.
2. At Patricia's house, Joan notices the beef jerky and cheese balls on the counter and knows that someone with kidney problems could not eat those snacks. That's the first clue that something is strange about Patricia's illness. Sherlock finds the second clue, the essential oils, and realizes that Patricia poisoned herself to fake her kidney problems.
3. Joan notices inconsistencies on the video with the electrical tape on the register in her apartment. Sometimes it's there and other times it's not. That means that her landlord was in her apartment to fix the problem before, and he unlawfully evicted her. Joan confronts him about it and convinces him to help her while she looks for a new place to live.
The episodes that I've seen haven't interested me enough to consistently watch Elementary, but I do like the show's take on Sherlock and Watson. Elementary has four regular characters, three of which are male, so it's good to see that the only regular female character is a colleague and not relegated to a minor role.
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