It is taking a little longer to warm up than I'd like. Also, I may never quite get over the episode-by-episode format, simply because I love the EPIC and an episode-by-episode doesn't really allow for that unless there is MYTHARC.
There are various trailing threads in Elementary that could go places but which haven't really been properly pulled and displayed as Significant Threads, so I wouldn't say that it has MYTHARC.
plot
The serial killer youth was an interesting story - starting off with Stockholm and moving into the realm where the original victim turns out to be the dominant party in the relationship. And I liked that they acknowledged that the kid would probably either get out of it or have his sentence commuted. Often it's unspoken that the Good Guys Get Their Man (or woman) and that everything is okay thereafter. Which is what we want to see, sure. But I still appreciate the realism of that moment.
I rather liked that "the butler did it" in 1.04 – the secretary whom nobody notices and yet who benefited from the deaths as surely as the guy in line for the COO position. Although I'm wondering if they deliberately chose an actress with a lower voice and a less traditionally feminine face for the role of the female killer, or if it just turned out that way.
However, what I'm really really liking is the dynamics – between Watson and Holmes, Holmes and Gregson, and Gregson and Watson.
relationship dynamics
Watson trying to make sense of Holmes is probably one of the most enjoyable things about this series so far – her constant attempts to 'socialise' him fit for public interaction. I love that Liu doesn't emote everywhere – that Watson is restrained and careful, keeping to the social conventions and trying to work out Holmes using those conventions, but being rather doomed to failure.
At this point in their relationship, I'd say that Watson hasn't yet faced the idea that Holmes won't pass for 'normal' - that he might make concessions for people he likes/respects, but they will never be anything but concessions. The point at which she has to accept that he won't normalise (and whether she accepts it at all) will be an interesting one to watch – as well as the interactions thereafter.
Miller's Holmes has a rather more interesting relationship with Liu's Watson than I'm used to seeing. In 1.03, his perspective about her seems to be mostly as a listener – a receptacle for him to babble at, rather preferable to the phrenologist's dummy. (And I'm having a Mr. Knightley moment: "infinitely preferable to a sensible man". Much as I adore Colin Firth's blunt Mr. Darcy, Jonny Lee Miller's elegant, gentlemanly Mr. Knightley is much more my sort of guy!) However, in 1.04, Holmes encourages Watson to put to work what observational skills she's learning from him and watch for her date's lies. There's an element of…not mentorship, precisely, but almost as though he looks upon her as a possible protégé – insofar as anyone is capable of learning his means and methods. And yet also – right at the end – he puts in an observation that I find both emotionally astute and rather saddening: that his methods work but that people don't always like them.
I'm liking the dynamic between Watson and Gregson – both of them managing Holmes in their own ways, initially side-stepping around each other so as not to bruise toes. But Gregson also seems to respect Watson – while his comments about the relationship between Watson and Holmes are in a faintly humourous way, he does pay attention once she admits she's Holmes' sober companion. Now that she's come clean about Holmes' addiction, I'm curious as to whether they'll form a managing partnership, and how their dynamic develops.
And lastly, that scene between Gregson and Holmes. It's rare to see a Holmes that wants the approval of others; we see it muted in his relationship with Watson, but it comes out very clearly in his discussion with Gregson – not just what is said but how it's said. His body language is uncomfortable, almost ashamed. At this point in the series, Holmes can live with Watson's disapproval/anger/whatever – indeed, he seems to almost relish the conflict she brings to him. But his relationship with Gregson is older and he doesn't just fear to lose the interesting role as a consultant, he also fears losing Gregson's respect.
Which is a new aspect to the character of Holmes and leads on to my next point.
a Holmes for a modern sensibility
The thing I probably find most interesting about Miller's Holmes is that he doesn't wholly fit the traditional Holmesian paradigm of this larger-than-life male whose eccentricities are seen as an essential part of his genius, a kind of 'necessary evil' and indeliable from who he is as Sherlock Holmes. In Elementary, Holmes' issues – his inability to connect with people, his distance, his social standing – are seen as a problem and an issue by everyone including Holmes. The fact that Miller's Holmes likes it that way - that he's willing to pay the price of social distance in exchange for known intellectual superiority – doesn't change the fact that he knows there's something intrinsically problematic with working that way: that there are consequences that he doesn't always enjoy.
Rather unsurprisingly, then, I find myself liking that white, male genius doesn't get a free pass to be an asshole in Elementary the way it tends to in the BBC's Sherlock and even RDJ's Sherlock Holmes movie series (although Mary Morstan gives back as good as she can get to RDJ's Holmes, she's not a constant interactive point). And, moreover, in Elementary Holmes is most frequently called out by a non-white, female character (although lower-class and non-white males certainly get their say as Gregson and Bell, even if they're more likely to hold Holmes in esteem for what he can do and handwave the behaviour as 'necessary to genius').
To quote![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bcgphoenix, Holmes' issues are considered "a bug, not a feature" in Elementary - and that…touch of humanity, if you like, is what makes Miller's Holmes intriguing to me. His willingness to teach Watson as far as it goes (the final scene of 1.04 where he warns her that people don't like to be seen as puzzles, but basically implies he counts the cost worth it) – and to take instruction from her (as he does in the PRICELESS squats scene in 1.03) - are also aspects of this. He's superior in intellect, yes, but he's willing to concede that there are things others can teach him, too.
--
I'm still wanting MYTHARC from Elementary, but I'm willing to wait. It took Fringe a while to get off the ground and look what they're doing now! The 40-minute episodic format can hamper, but it could be a benefit if the writers are willing to take a longer-term risk and put some long arc in there as well as the crime-of-the-week.
And yeah, the Holmes&Watson dynamic is reeling me in, slowly but surely.
There are various trailing threads in Elementary that could go places but which haven't really been properly pulled and displayed as Significant Threads, so I wouldn't say that it has MYTHARC.
plot
The serial killer youth was an interesting story - starting off with Stockholm and moving into the realm where the original victim turns out to be the dominant party in the relationship. And I liked that they acknowledged that the kid would probably either get out of it or have his sentence commuted. Often it's unspoken that the Good Guys Get Their Man (or woman) and that everything is okay thereafter. Which is what we want to see, sure. But I still appreciate the realism of that moment.
I rather liked that "the butler did it" in 1.04 – the secretary whom nobody notices and yet who benefited from the deaths as surely as the guy in line for the COO position. Although I'm wondering if they deliberately chose an actress with a lower voice and a less traditionally feminine face for the role of the female killer, or if it just turned out that way.
However, what I'm really really liking is the dynamics – between Watson and Holmes, Holmes and Gregson, and Gregson and Watson.
relationship dynamics
Watson trying to make sense of Holmes is probably one of the most enjoyable things about this series so far – her constant attempts to 'socialise' him fit for public interaction. I love that Liu doesn't emote everywhere – that Watson is restrained and careful, keeping to the social conventions and trying to work out Holmes using those conventions, but being rather doomed to failure.
At this point in their relationship, I'd say that Watson hasn't yet faced the idea that Holmes won't pass for 'normal' - that he might make concessions for people he likes/respects, but they will never be anything but concessions. The point at which she has to accept that he won't normalise (and whether she accepts it at all) will be an interesting one to watch – as well as the interactions thereafter.
Miller's Holmes has a rather more interesting relationship with Liu's Watson than I'm used to seeing. In 1.03, his perspective about her seems to be mostly as a listener – a receptacle for him to babble at, rather preferable to the phrenologist's dummy. (And I'm having a Mr. Knightley moment: "infinitely preferable to a sensible man". Much as I adore Colin Firth's blunt Mr. Darcy, Jonny Lee Miller's elegant, gentlemanly Mr. Knightley is much more my sort of guy!) However, in 1.04, Holmes encourages Watson to put to work what observational skills she's learning from him and watch for her date's lies. There's an element of…not mentorship, precisely, but almost as though he looks upon her as a possible protégé – insofar as anyone is capable of learning his means and methods. And yet also – right at the end – he puts in an observation that I find both emotionally astute and rather saddening: that his methods work but that people don't always like them.
I'm liking the dynamic between Watson and Gregson – both of them managing Holmes in their own ways, initially side-stepping around each other so as not to bruise toes. But Gregson also seems to respect Watson – while his comments about the relationship between Watson and Holmes are in a faintly humourous way, he does pay attention once she admits she's Holmes' sober companion. Now that she's come clean about Holmes' addiction, I'm curious as to whether they'll form a managing partnership, and how their dynamic develops.
And lastly, that scene between Gregson and Holmes. It's rare to see a Holmes that wants the approval of others; we see it muted in his relationship with Watson, but it comes out very clearly in his discussion with Gregson – not just what is said but how it's said. His body language is uncomfortable, almost ashamed. At this point in the series, Holmes can live with Watson's disapproval/anger/whatever – indeed, he seems to almost relish the conflict she brings to him. But his relationship with Gregson is older and he doesn't just fear to lose the interesting role as a consultant, he also fears losing Gregson's respect.
Which is a new aspect to the character of Holmes and leads on to my next point.
a Holmes for a modern sensibility
The thing I probably find most interesting about Miller's Holmes is that he doesn't wholly fit the traditional Holmesian paradigm of this larger-than-life male whose eccentricities are seen as an essential part of his genius, a kind of 'necessary evil' and indeliable from who he is as Sherlock Holmes. In Elementary, Holmes' issues – his inability to connect with people, his distance, his social standing – are seen as a problem and an issue by everyone including Holmes. The fact that Miller's Holmes likes it that way - that he's willing to pay the price of social distance in exchange for known intellectual superiority – doesn't change the fact that he knows there's something intrinsically problematic with working that way: that there are consequences that he doesn't always enjoy.
Rather unsurprisingly, then, I find myself liking that white, male genius doesn't get a free pass to be an asshole in Elementary the way it tends to in the BBC's Sherlock and even RDJ's Sherlock Holmes movie series (although Mary Morstan gives back as good as she can get to RDJ's Holmes, she's not a constant interactive point). And, moreover, in Elementary Holmes is most frequently called out by a non-white, female character (although lower-class and non-white males certainly get their say as Gregson and Bell, even if they're more likely to hold Holmes in esteem for what he can do and handwave the behaviour as 'necessary to genius').
To quote
bcgphoenix, Holmes' issues are considered "a bug, not a feature" in Elementary - and that…touch of humanity, if you like, is what makes Miller's Holmes intriguing to me. His willingness to teach Watson as far as it goes (the final scene of 1.04 where he warns her that people don't like to be seen as puzzles, but basically implies he counts the cost worth it) – and to take instruction from her (as he does in the PRICELESS squats scene in 1.03) - are also aspects of this. He's superior in intellect, yes, but he's willing to concede that there are things others can teach him, too.--
I'm still wanting MYTHARC from Elementary, but I'm willing to wait. It took Fringe a while to get off the ground and look what they're doing now! The 40-minute episodic format can hamper, but it could be a benefit if the writers are willing to take a longer-term risk and put some long arc in there as well as the crime-of-the-week.
And yeah, the Holmes&Watson dynamic is reeling me in, slowly but surely.
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