Elementary: The Art of Sleights and Deception

April 24, 2017 4:14 PM - Season 5, Episode 20

Holmes and Watson get mixed up in murder and magic when they investigate the death of a magician killed while performing a classic stunt.

AV Club deals out a B rating in its review.

Holmes and Watson deal with eccentric magicians and neo-Nazi while Watson lends Marcus a hand in a pending Internal Affairs investigation based on a bogus accusation.

posted by CMcG (3 comments total)

The cynic in me found the motive reveal to be laughably preposterous. Where is this universe where the world would recoil in horror and universally boycott a book revealed to have been written by a Nazi? Can I go there? Instead of the timeline we're living in where the reveal would probably bump it up to the bestsellers list as it became the new 'Pepe the Frog'?
posted by oh yeah! at 7:49 AM on April 25, 2017

Hah. Seriously. Not many people who would be interested in buying it in the first place would care that it was written by a Nazi. I mean...it's a book of autopsy drawings from Germany. Mmkay. I would be more surprised if it wasn't written by a Nazi.

I really hope they haven't fridged Chantal. As soon as I saw Marcus walking up the steps to her apartment, I said to my husband, "Uh-oh. Chantal is dead". Hope I'm wrong.

Overall I did think it was a strong episode, as most are when there's no Shinwell, to be honest. Really weak storyline, cannot wait until they're done with that.
posted by the webmistress at 10:25 AM on April 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

I was hoping this was based on some real book, but I haven't found any real books that could take its place. This list of "best magic books" includes some older titles, but the artists are well-identified in all cases, even including their faces on the covers.

Sadly, I agree with both oh yeah! and webmistress - real life has ruined a good bit of fiction these days, and Shinwell's plot has become weak and distracting. I like Shinwell as a character, but his actions don't seem consistent.

I really hope they haven't fridged Chantal. As soon as I saw Marcus walking up the steps to her apartment, I said to my husband, "Uh-oh. Chantal is dead". Hope I'm wrong.

My wife said that too, at the exact same time, and I have the same worry that she's been fridged. I'm hoping she is either 1) just badly injured, or for more of a fake-out 2) slipped and dropped a container of raspberry jelly, knocking her head in the process.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:33 AM on April 25, 2017 [3 favorites]