This week’s episode opens with a terrifying home invasion and graphic double murder. A slender, silent, masked figure has tied up two individuals, binding pillows to their faces with belts as blindfolds, before calmly killing them both. While Elementary isn’t a show that relies on violence, from time to time they will give the viewer a glimpse of particularly violent or disturbing crimes without lingering on them. In this case, the little we see, combined with the general horror one feels at the thought of a home invasion, is more than enough. As it turns out, the home invasion and double murder bear striking similarities to a crime which Captain Gregson had solved back in 1999. Gregson is understandably hostile to the idea that he put the wrong man behind bars, despite Sherlock’s surprisingly gentle (for him) suggestions to the contrary. Regardless, there’s a crime to be solved and similar murders continue throughout the episode. In many ways, this is Gregson’s episode. Solving these murders made his career, and you can feel the tension rise as he wonders whether he got the right man. He orders an investigation of old suspects, in the event that there was a second person helping to commit the crimes, or that details had been missed. In the meantime, Watson has made some discoveries of her own at the rehab center. While the administrators recall Sherlock as a man who, unsurprisingly, shared nothing of himself and was withdrawn and non-participatory in group therapy sessions, a friendly groundskeeper is able to provide her with a small stack of Sherlock’s personal belongings, including a sheaf of letters from Irene Adler. It’s a brief, five-minute sequence, but it’s amusing. Part of Elementary’s appeal is witnessing how Sherlock’s abrasive personality affects people. Here, we see that even months later and miles away, the very mention of his name can irritate those who know him. Sherlock doesn’t appreciate what he perceives as snooping by Joan and his reaction, when presented with the stack of old letters, is priceless. Of course, Sherlock puts all the pieces together in the end, but not before two particularly tense scenes. The first of which is at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, where Sherlock and Captain Gregson confront the man Gregson put away all those years ago. The other is in Captain Gregson’s office, where Sherlock raises the uncomfortable possibility that evidence was falsified to get that man behind bars. It’s probably the most that Aidan Quinn has had to do in the role of Gregson so far and it’s nice to see him stretch beyond the usual, affable, incorruptible cop act that has been the main feature of the character. As usual, everything is resolved in the end, but not in the way any of us would have guessed. But, also as can be the case with Elementary, occasionally the viewer is left wondering if the writers tried a little too hard to get us to look the other way. I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the crime’s resolution in this episode, but I can’t deny that it was creative, and it took me by surprise! Elementary is nothing if not consistent, and even the occasionally weak solution doesn’t change the fact that the show is one of the more entertaining hours on television!
