Elementary: A Stitch in Time

April 19, 2015 4:15 PM - Season 3, Episode 20

Holmes and Watson investigate the murder of a professional skeptic who debunked paranormal, religious and scientific frauds for a living. The pieces lead them to a potential threat to homeland security. Meanwhile, Gregson's daughter, Hannah, asks Joan for help with a case.
posted by filthy light thief (8 comments total)

That seemed to be a more complex case than usual, and definitely went in a direction that I wasn't expecting. Solid episode, I thought, but nothing particularly noteworthy.

Which, as the AV Club notes, seems kinda odd for a late season show. Although since there's really been no larger story arc since Kitty left (unless I'm totally missing something), it's understandable that the last half of the season will have some ordinary episodes.
posted by soundguy99 at 8:15 PM on April 20, 2015

I would be totally fine with just episodes of the week for Sherlock and Watson. I like some of the arcs and the changes they show up, but mostly I want to watch them banter in restaurants and argue about dry-cleaning and Clyde and solve cases over cups of tea, and be emotionally vulnerable.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 11:24 PM on April 20, 2015 [6 favorites]

What dorothyisunderwood said, basically. I was actually interested in the case this week, which is good, because the emotional b-plot was fairly uninteresting. I'm in this to watch Joan and Sherlock partner it up and be emotionally vulnerable with each other! Not enough Joan and Sherlock here, though as ever, I appreciate that their interactions were those of adults, communicating with each other like adults.

Anyway, my bet for the larger story arc as the season draws to a close is something to do with Sherlock's dad, because there's definitely been a running theme of family-related b-plots. That, or a return to dealing with Joan's nemesis.
posted by yasaman at 11:01 AM on April 21, 2015

I appreciate that their interactions were those of adults, communicating with each other like adults.

True, although I can't help but get a kick out of the times when Sherlock starts getting rant-y or snarky and Joan just ignores him and calmly carries on with whatever she's doing.

something to do with Sherlock's dad, because there's definitely been a running theme of family-related b-plots.

Oooh, yeah, very possible.

Or maybe the second half has just been an intentional calm before the storm, lulling us all with a sense of security, and Kitty shows back up with a bang right at the end, with a cliffhanger for next season.
posted by soundguy99 at 12:42 PM on April 21, 2015

Am I the only one who doesn't give a crap about Gregson's daughter? I just couldn't see why the show thought we should be invested in her selfish careerism.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 10:37 PM on April 21, 2015

Eh, I dunno that we're really supposed to give a crap about her as a character, she's more plot device/McGuffin. As in:

- As per yasaman's point above, it's another family-oriented B-plot, which might very well be an element of a whole thematic tie-in to the season finale.

- I got the impression that Joan may be looking to do some mentoring/training of her own, IIRC she was doing some of that with Kitty and not hating it, and Gregson's daughter seemed a likely candidate on first impression.

- The daughter was just something for Sherlock, Joan, and Gregson to have a three-way disagreement over and then resolve; on a more tech-y show they would've been arguing over who gets more time on The Transmogrifier.
posted by soundguy99 at 6:22 AM on April 22, 2015

This episode had the worst case of "I can tell who did it by the caliber of the actor playing one of the suspects," that I've seen in some time. I called Eric Bogosian as the killer the second his name showed up in the credits.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 12:47 PM on April 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

SHERLOCK RUNNING OUT OF THE ROOM WAS THE CUTEST FUCKING THING.

ahem.

i would like to mention up front that i've only seen up to this point - i'm probably hilariously off base -

buuuuuut - could it be that the daughter isn't a mcguffin? that the reason she busted the petty dealers was because if they had sat on the warehouse and the other detective kept following his leads that as they climbed the ladder they'd find her? if she resents her place as chief's daughter, she wants to lash out, she likes the wrong kind of dude, etc - she could be a dirty cop.
posted by nadawi at 8:50 PM on May 1, 2015