Elementary: Down Where the Dead Delight
February 5, 2016 6:04 PM - Season 4, Episode 11 - Subscribe
Watson and Holmes must look for a killer without any physical evidence to assist them; Watson is asked to consult on a case by a detective who has a grudge against her.
I really hate the subplot with Joan and the vindictive detective, though. It just doesn't feel true to her character at all that her first instinct is to want to punch someone in the face. It's also not consistent with her supposed horror at the cop beating up that gangster, either. Or are we supposed to draw a parallel there? Whatever they're doing, I don't like it.
I didn't like it either. Mostly because it plays into the idea of the righteousness of police brutality. Even though they're ostensibly saying Cortes is in the wrong, they're still glamorizing the idea of cops taking the law into their own hands.
My Tivo summary started with "When a bomb is detonated in the morgue" so I spent the whole cold open just waiting for the boom, and was rolling my eyes at the fact that they decided to manufacture a love interest to be fridged for the coroner.
posted by oh yeah! at 6:12 PM on February 7, 2016 [3 favorites]
I didn't like it either. Mostly because it plays into the idea of the righteousness of police brutality. Even though they're ostensibly saying Cortes is in the wrong, they're still glamorizing the idea of cops taking the law into their own hands.
My Tivo summary started with "When a bomb is detonated in the morgue" so I spent the whole cold open just waiting for the boom, and was rolling my eyes at the fact that they decided to manufacture a love interest to be fridged for the coroner.
posted by oh yeah! at 6:12 PM on February 7, 2016 [3 favorites]
I really hate the subplot with Joan and the vindictive detective, though. It just doesn't feel true to her character at all that her first instinct is to want to punch someone in the face.
Joan's first instinct isn't to punch someone in the face though, I thought that was the whole point. She only had an (offscreen) throwdown with Cortes after multiple attempts to talk to her and figure out what her beef was, and that only when Joan decided "let's settle this the way cops apparently settle their disputes," a deliberate assertion of the in-group status Cortes resents so much, which is far from it being her first instinct. In this episode, she's frustrated and takes her frustrations out on a dummy, and needles Cortes about the fight a little, but that's still not her first instinct being to throw a punch. That seems like healthy anger management.
Joan followed her first instinct, which was to investigate Cortes and the case Cortes gave her. And furthermore, Joan demonstrated herself to be committed to the higher ideals of justice: she diligently looked into what Nyoka would have wanted, and let that guide her actions in the absence of effective, official punishment for Nyoka's attacker. I'm not sure where this subplot is going just yet, but I think Joan is on firm enough ground in her condemnation of Cortes going Batman.
I think the blow that Cortes really landed was the dig about Joan "staying the course," in her new career as a detective. That, and I think Joan has genuine reservations about some of the ways she and Sherlock can skirt the rules. Cortes is a creepy asshole and is leaning on that discomfort and her own resentment of Joan and Sherlock's status to fuck with Joan, and to justify her own actions. I think that's what Joan was alluding to with her "race you to the bottom," dig, because Cortes is clearly the one who's headed there. I doubt we're building to any Joan going full Daredevil and beating people up storyline. I think instead, we're building to a moral crisis on Joan's part as to what she'd be willing to do for Sherlock, because some of her most uncompromising, morally dubious actions thus far this season have been in service of protecting him.
posted by yasaman at 9:57 AM on February 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
Joan's first instinct isn't to punch someone in the face though, I thought that was the whole point. She only had an (offscreen) throwdown with Cortes after multiple attempts to talk to her and figure out what her beef was, and that only when Joan decided "let's settle this the way cops apparently settle their disputes," a deliberate assertion of the in-group status Cortes resents so much, which is far from it being her first instinct. In this episode, she's frustrated and takes her frustrations out on a dummy, and needles Cortes about the fight a little, but that's still not her first instinct being to throw a punch. That seems like healthy anger management.
Joan followed her first instinct, which was to investigate Cortes and the case Cortes gave her. And furthermore, Joan demonstrated herself to be committed to the higher ideals of justice: she diligently looked into what Nyoka would have wanted, and let that guide her actions in the absence of effective, official punishment for Nyoka's attacker. I'm not sure where this subplot is going just yet, but I think Joan is on firm enough ground in her condemnation of Cortes going Batman.
I think the blow that Cortes really landed was the dig about Joan "staying the course," in her new career as a detective. That, and I think Joan has genuine reservations about some of the ways she and Sherlock can skirt the rules. Cortes is a creepy asshole and is leaning on that discomfort and her own resentment of Joan and Sherlock's status to fuck with Joan, and to justify her own actions. I think that's what Joan was alluding to with her "race you to the bottom," dig, because Cortes is clearly the one who's headed there. I doubt we're building to any Joan going full Daredevil and beating people up storyline. I think instead, we're building to a moral crisis on Joan's part as to what she'd be willing to do for Sherlock, because some of her most uncompromising, morally dubious actions thus far this season have been in service of protecting him.
posted by yasaman at 9:57 AM on February 8, 2016 [2 favorites]
I watched it twice as Joan is fascinating and brillant in her own character, but her comment about "race you to the bottom" is on par with the protective nature of Watson towards Holmes. In the Doyle Canon, Watson dislikes committing crime even for moral balance. But we are not really talking morals anymore but ethics. Doyle's Watson does burgle and bend the truth but for ethically the right reasons. But when Doyle's Watson is confronted with similar ethical dilemmas, he rises to a challenge, iow, he won't take crap and don't test his mettle.
I think Joan is right there too in this case. The cop was morally and ethically wrong because there is no lesson in a wired jaw. It was reckless and vengeful when justice was seemingly served with the perps capture. But has Sherlock crossed that ethical line, in the past, which Joan has to re-evaluate. That linger of conscience.
posted by clavdivs at 5:28 PM on February 8, 2016
I think Joan is right there too in this case. The cop was morally and ethically wrong because there is no lesson in a wired jaw. It was reckless and vengeful when justice was seemingly served with the perps capture. But has Sherlock crossed that ethical line, in the past, which Joan has to re-evaluate. That linger of conscience.
posted by clavdivs at 5:28 PM on February 8, 2016
there is no reason to introduce the romantic subplot before the fridging! like that dude couldn't care about a coworker without the possibility of romance?? wtf. ugh. i know it's network tv, but i hope for better from this show.
posted by nadawi at 9:33 PM on February 12, 2016
posted by nadawi at 9:33 PM on February 12, 2016
Like it mattered how much the coroner cared about the woman who died! Everyone else stops worrying about her immediately after that scene, and he doesn't show up again.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 6:01 AM on February 15, 2016
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 6:01 AM on February 15, 2016
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I really hate the subplot with Joan and the vindictive detective, though. It just doesn't feel true to her character at all that her first instinct is to want to punch someone in the face. It's also not consistent with her supposed horror at the cop beating up that gangster, either. Or are we supposed to draw a parallel there? Whatever they're doing, I don't like it.
posted by something something at 3:49 PM on February 7, 2016