netgirl_y2k

drizzlesofcastamere asked What do you think of Elementary?

I don't know that I think much about Elementary; it's one of those shows that I watch without examining my feelings too much, but those feelings are generally positive.

Like many people I loved season one. The developing relationship between Sherlock and Joan was a thing of beauty to behold. Sherlock's fundamental decency and default position of compassion for the powerless was refreshing. The Moriarty reveal was inspired; I didn't quite go into it unprepared, I'd seen people speculating that Irene might be Moriarty, but then I remember seeing some Sherlock folks speculating that Molly might be that show's version of Moriarty, so I didn't actually expect it to happen. There were parts of S1 - not the mystery plots, obviously - but Sherlock's I am better with you, Watson speech, those last few episodes with Moriarty, that were some of the best television of that year.

S2 wobbled, and wobbled quite severely. There were a couple of reasons for this; not least of which was that Elementary being a CBS procedural I think a lot of us expected Holmes and Watson to become partners, then spend eleven seasons solving crimes of the week in an unchanging time-proof brownstone. Instead their relationship hit the rocks, they wanted different things out of their partnership, and the season culminated with Joan moving out of the brownstone and Sherlock leaving for London.

Of course a bigger problem with S2 was that there were huge parts of it that weren't very good. First of all there was the egregious miscasting of Rhys Ifans as Mycroft, a character they had no idea what to do with, and his 'romance' with Joan, a relationship utterly devoid of chemistry or indeed narrative continuity.

The S2 episode with Moriarty was also a complete bust. And I say this with all the affection for Natalie Dormer that my little lesbian heart can muster, but that was a terrible episode. I'm always leery of bringing villains like Moriarty back, because they can quickly become a sort of joke character who exist only to be more evil than thou and have their dastardly plans foiled. Morgana of Merlin infamy is a prime example of this, the Master in Doctor who is saved only by the years that pass between appearances and being reinvigorated by being portrayed by different actors.

Moriarty had been the crowning glory of S1, and in one episode S2 kind of ruined her. For one thing it overpowered her; she was no longer a woman who was as clever as Sherlock, but without his compassion, she was practically the empress of evil. Plus it gave her a secret kid.

This is only tangentially related to Elementary-- but I recently caught an episode of Gilmore Girls, the one where Lane discovers she's pregnant, and it always struck me as a pretty glaring omission that an abortion was never even discussed as an option. Like, in the case of Lane Kim I can imagine her discussing it, and deciding that like sex before marriage it's one of those things from her religious upbringing that she's internalised without unpacking but nonetheless believes, so no thanks. With Jaime Moriarty I kind of have to assume that she spent most of her pregnancy tied to a chair in a shack somewhere.

So season 2 wasn't great. There was a great thing I read recently that said a sophomore slump is one thing, but if you still don't like season 3 then it's time to quit, because there's a good chance this is the way the wind is blowing now, and it's never going to go back to being the show you first liked. Good advice, that... *cough*Merlin*cough*

Luckily I'm enjoying S3 of Elementary so far. I like that Sherlock and Joan's relationship continues to evolve, I love that he's maturing in some ways (respecting Joan's need to have her own space, respecting her relationship with Andrew - who is lovely, although I'm half expecting him to turn out to be a criminal mastermind any episode now, though maybe he'll be Joan's damsel in distress?) and utterly immature in others (Joan! I have returned to New York to repair our relationship! And I've adopted this baby detective that we can raise together alongside Clyde!) Kitty grows on me with each episode, and although I'm only passingly familiar with ACD canon I was somehow reassured to discover that she is in fact a character from one of the original stories.

Mostly I like that the show is always changing and challenging the relationships between the characters, even if it sometimes leads to season 2 shaped missteps, rather than let them stagnate. Because the strength of the show is in those relationships, not in the mysteries.

As a quick afterthought, I remember talking with some of you before Elementary started and saying that I wished they'd genderswapped both Holmes and Watson, I've rather changed my tune on that, besotted as I am with JLM's take on the character, but if they had done that I'd have liked it to look somewhat like this gifset.

Oh! And if I had one wish for the future of Elementary it would be not to genderswap Mary Morstan and have canon bisexual Joan, but that might be a little too much to ask...