Elementary: Meet Your Maker

July 24, 2018 7:15 PM - Season 6, Episode 12

Detective Bell considers leaving the NYPD after he is recommended for a once-in-a-lifetime career opportunity; Holmes and Watson investigate the disappearance of a young woman who led a double life as a financial dominatrix.
posted by litera scripta manet (11 comments total)

I'll really miss Detective Bell, assuming he does actually leave.

Did they know they were going to get another season when they filmed these eps? I'm guessing not, because the way this was set up feels like tying up loose ends in preparation for the series finale, especially since he said he wouldn't be leaving for training for another 6 months.
posted by litera scripta manet at 7:18 PM on July 24, 2018

Bell leaves, the Captain retires, Moriarty dies, Sherlock and Watson marry, end of series. Be nice to see a series end with a plan
posted by Freedomboy at 7:21 PM on July 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

They definitely did not know they were getting another season when this was filmed.
posted by purpleclover at 8:53 PM on July 24, 2018

Is it just me, or was there a whole lot of plot in this episode? And that's fine, but I think the whole "ripped from the headlines" bit works better on other shows.

I'll definitely miss Bell too, but if the character has to leave, I'm glad it's under good circumstances.
posted by MrBadExample at 9:33 PM on July 24, 2018

Bell leaves, the Captain retires, Moriarty dies, Sherlock and Watson marry, end of series.

Also Watson adopts Sherlock's brother's child that was left behind when he died.
posted by amtho at 10:28 AM on July 25, 2018 [1 favorite]

I found this one to be a bit of a snooze. I want more of Sherlock wearing weird disguises, hiring irregulars, playing the violin, tending his bees, and generally being wacky and eccentric. He was almost staid in this episode. I appreciate that he's grown as a person over the course of the series and gone from being kind of a dick to being quite decent. But he could still have some fun.
posted by mai at 4:31 PM on July 25, 2018

I found this one to be a bit of a snooze. I want more of Sherlock wearing weird disguises, hiring irregulars, playing the violin, tending his bees, and generally being wacky and eccentric.

And don't forget Clyde! Poor Clyde has been mentioned once or twice, but I don't think we've actually seen him at all this season have we?

I don't know that I was bored with this episode, but one of my favorite things about this show was those eccentricities

Is it just me, or was there a whole lot of plot in this episode? And that's fine, but I think the whole "ripped from the headlines" bit works better on other shows.

Yeah, this episode stood out to me both because of the very topical incel stuff, plus there was a lot of convoluted plot. Actually, while watching the episode, I was thinking that the whole season has felt like there's been a lot of mystery plot per episode compared to previous seasons. I know I've mentioned it before, but this was another example of a mystery that I think could have been spread out over more than 1 episode, which would allow for a bit more breathing room for various sub plots like Marcus and spending more time with Joan and Sherlock.

With all that being said, I still liked this episode overall. I'm glad we got to spend a bit of time checking in with Marcus.
posted by litera scripta manet at 4:35 AM on July 26, 2018

Sherlock and Watson marry

No! Nonononononononono. I love so much that this show has declared it will not fall for the trope of undermining the lead woman's agency by having her fall in love with our single male lead who clearly needs someone to manage his emotional labor.

(I will give the tiniest pass to Bones for Booth doing much of the emotional labor)
posted by politikitty at 11:59 AM on July 26, 2018 [5 favorites]

And don't forget Clyde! Poor Clyde has been mentioned once or twice, but I don't think we've actually seen him at all this season have we?

Briefly! Morland manhandled him in episode 10 while asking what would happen to Clyde when Sherlock died.

I found this episode a bit all over the place, but not boring - the findom thing being a red herring was good even though it seemed like a writer was excited to learn a new sordid term.
posted by carbide at 12:11 AM on July 27, 2018

Chicago Tribune article - How clothes make the character: Designers talk about shaping key roles on 'Elementary,' 'Younger' and 'Claws'
posted by oh yeah! at 3:00 PM on July 27, 2018 [1 favorite]

I liked this episode, the plot was convoluted but it made sense. And there were so many suspects that I didn't beat Sherlock to the culprit like I usually do.*

I liked the sneering explanation of "incel" from Sherlock.

Two favorite lines:

1. Bell saying Strider was "The second stupidest name I've ever heard" while looking at Sherlock

2. Sherlock sneaking in "I am the most incurably lazy devil that ever stood in shoe leather" from A Study in Scarlet

I thought Sherlock getting Bell recruited by the US Marshalls was good character progression. He's still a nosey bastard that manipulates people, but now he's doing it to help his friends.


* I don't do this by being a brilliant detective, I just notice whenever a recognizable good character actor shows up and assume he's the bad guy.
posted by mmoncur at 1:51 AM on August 22, 2018