Elementary: The Eternity Injection

January 11, 2015 3:47 PM - Season 3, Episode 9

When a nurse Watson used to work with asks for her help finding their missing acquaintance, the missing woman's trail leads Watson and Holmes to another person who has disappeared. Despite his sponsor's concerns, Sherlock struggles with his sobriety, finding the recovery process monotonous.
posted by filthy light thief (2 comments total)

Although the case in this episode was a little goofy (as many of them are), the speech by Sherlock about the sort of existential despair that can take over when faced with the grind of ALWAYS having to remember and try, and the monotony of day to day...I found it very touching and honest.

In general, the theme of recovery and addiction has made this series so much deeper, so much better than I thought it was going to be.

As far as "time dilation drugs" go, well. They can't all be home runs.
posted by hiker U. at 6:49 AM on January 12, 2015 [3 favorites]

I agree - by making Sherlock's maintenance of his sobriety a significant part of his character, it makes him more nuanced, more vulnerable than in other iterations of the character. Where Sherlock in the the BBC Sherlock seems to be just shy of an omnipotent demigod, above most petty human interactions except to understand their mechanisms, in Elementary he is human because of his weakness. Day-to-day existence is a drag, and to hear him realize his fall back to drug use would be a mark of a personal low was rather eye-opening.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:38 AM on January 12, 2015 [1 favorite]