Elementary: Folie a Deux

October 3, 2016 6:34 PM - Season 5, Episode 1

Season 5 begins with Holmes and Watson joining the NYPD manhunt for a serial bomber who is active again after being dormant for six years. During the investigation, Watson seeks help from a former criminal, Shinwell Johnson, whose life she saved when she was a surgeon.
posted by oh yeah! (7 comments total)

I'm really happy Cray Fielder didn't turn one of his kids into a little bomber. Some of his language pointed to that, at least as my wife and I heard it:

"I found someone... who can carry on my legacy long after I'm gone. Someone who's just as committed as I am. Someone who shares my passion for, um-- how did you put it-- making things go bang?"
...
"Just like you won't find the 20 bombs my real partner and I have already hidden in Flushing. Motion activated. You jostle them, they go off. And some of them are very colorful, the kind of thing a... a kid might like to play with."

Otherwise, it was a decent episode, though with the usual problem of Famous Actor Is The Killer (really, we knew Lee Tergesen was a culprit when he appeared. Having Nathan Resor run from the scene looked bad for him, and he used a ton of bleach to clean his kitchen of "muddy footprints." And in the end he was guilty, in a different way.

It feels like Shinwell Johnson (Nelsan Ellis) will come back, which could be interesting. He doesn't have any future credits in Elementary, but the next two episodes only have a handful of credits on IMDb from people who look to be one-off actors on the show, no re-occurring characters or even episode titles up yet.

Music from this episode:
* Smyl - The War (not online? But the track Where's My Love is on YT)
posted by filthy light thief at 8:28 AM on October 4, 2016

Blast, that should by "Syml," and the single is on iTunes and other services.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:40 AM on October 4, 2016

Barely any of the guest stars had been added to the IMDb page for this episode when I was making the post, I wouldn't read anything into Shinwell's absence, definitely seemed like he'll be a recurring character. It would be a criminal waste of Ellis' talents if that was just a one-off.

Do we know yet what the main arc of the season will be? Joan got a bit shortchanged in S4, so I'd be happy if she gets the focus this year, but I don't have a lot of faith after that nonsense with her stepfather.
posted by oh yeah! at 9:18 AM on October 4, 2016

I saw something in an interview with the showrunner or writers about this season focusing more on Joan, but I don't have a link handy right now.
posted by yasaman at 11:46 AM on October 4, 2016

It was so nice to see Nelsan Ellis again! I have really missed that hooker. I hope his character has a recurring role, it seems like he might. It was quite a compelling character.
posted by biscotti at 5:32 PM on October 4, 2016

Wikipedia is listing Ellis's role as recurring, but no source is cited. :-(
posted by ubiquity at 8:44 AM on October 6, 2016

Do we know yet what the main arc of the season will be? Joan got a bit shortchanged in S4, so I'd be happy if she gets the focus this year, but I don't have a lot of faith after that nonsense with her stepfather.

Huh (from four years in the future) but I felt like Joan got her best arc yet in Season 4, going rogue and dealing with Morland as she saw fit without keeping Sherlock in the loop.
posted by Navelgazer at 9:50 PM on June 21, 2020