The character work on Elementary has been so strong this season that I often fail to fully appreciate its procedural side. That’s a shame though because in a relatively short span of time, the series has perfected the art of turning out consistently compelling cases from week to week. That’s no easy task, as any lesser case of the week show can attest to.
My favorites have been the cases that are closely tied to the core characters’ personal lives, but many of the standalone episodes have delivered equally intriguing and twisty narratives of their own. Below I’ve listed my four favorite cases so far, but given how outstanding Elementary has been lately I wouldn’t be surprised if my list featured entirely different cases by the end of season one.
“M.” remains the gold standard of Elementary episodes and the case by which all of the other cases have to be measured by. Even if “M” hadn’t introduced us and Sherlock to the idea that there’s a villainous puppet master lurking in the shadows of Sherlock’s life, it still would have been a powerhouse case thanks to guest star Vinnie Jones.
Jones’ commanding presence made his brutish turn as M both frightening and mesmerizing. I was never entirely convinced that his M was the mastermind behind the intricate letters, but he was scary enough to cause me to doubt my own instincts. In the end, we didn’t meet the mad man responsible for killing Irene, but we did get a shocking glimpse at Sherlock’s dark side, progress in the Joan/Sherlock partnership and the promise of an archvillain. Not too shabby for a single hour of television.
Before “Details” Bell was little more than a quippy side character. He was charming, but largely nonessential. Then “Details” happened and he became a fully realized member of the team. The case worked not only because it brought a previously underutilized character into the fold, but because it was built around a personal mystery with real stakes.
As the story unfolded, it quickly became clear that someone was framing Bell for murder and the idea that it could possibly be his brother was heartbreaking enough to distract us from considering other suspects. In the end, the real killer turned out to be Bell’s ex, but by then the reveal hardly mattered. The case would have ranked as one of the best no matter who was framing Bell because it drew its power not from the “who done it” of it all, but from the way it examined the fragile bond between two brothers.
“Child Predator” was the first episode that truly impressed me. The tale of a kidnapped boy who turns out to be an evil mastermind in his own right was surprising, dark and challenging. Once again, a strong guest star made all the difference; as Adam, Johnny Simmons was utterly convincing as a damaged young man, which made the reveal that the former victim had evolved into a twisted sociopath all the more unsettling. The case also presented a real challenge for Sherlock as he grappled with the idea that he might have no choice but to let Adam get away with his crimes. Our hero is rarely ever confronted with an opponent who can challenge him intellectually, but Adam came very close.
The actual case in “A Giant Gun, Filled with Drugs” would have been perfunctory without the presence of Rhys (played by John Hannah, yet another fine guest star). However, just like in “Details,” a personal connection made all the difference. The fact that the kidnapped girl wasn’t a total stranger, but the daughter of a man who Sherlock considered a friend gave it an emotional power it would have otherwise lacked.
Because Rhys meant something to Sherlock and because he was Sherlock’s former drug dealer, the pressure on Sherlock to solve the case quickly for both his own sake and the girl’s became palpable. The best episodes reveal something new about Joan and Sherlock, and here we saw that Sherlock can be caused to question his own ability and that Joan can be downright threatening when she has to be. Over the course of the episode, we also gained new and valuable insight into Sherlock’s past. The mystery itself may have been simple for us to solve, but the character growth it brought about was priceless.
Those are my favorites, but now I want to hear from you: what is your favorite case so far? Share your picks in the comments!
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