Lynette ChenTV Review: Elementary
Sherlock Holmes solves crimes with trusty sidekick Dr Watson. Sherlock Holmes frustrates criminal masterminds and police officers alike with trusty sidekick Dr Watson. Sherlock Holmes saves lives with trusty sidekick Dr Watson.
That’s what probably comes to mind whenever we mention Sherlock Holmes. Nobody remembers Dr Watson as the titular hero but rather the trusty sidekick. And fans would probably know that the 2 characters are worlds apart and special in their own right.
For starters, CBS’s latest adaptation, Elementary, doesn’t so much as pay homage to the famous Doyle classic as it refers to it. They’ve taken more creative liberties or risks depending on how you look at it with the plot by making Watson a female live-in companion to Jonny Lee Miller’s drug addict Sherlock.
The online backlash in reaction to this casting decision wasn’t really surprising. On hindsight, the gender-switch for Watson’s character made sense in order to keep the show fresh and different than the usual we’ve seen.
And that’s only the first of many welcome changes CBS has made to Joan Watson (Lucy Liu). Like the original series and most adaptations, Watson has classically played assistant to Holmes. He’s at best, a curious but reluctant participant of Holmes’s crime-solving shenanigans.
Yet, Elementary furthers its Watson’s character arc from mere second-fiddle to a bold, serious master of the art of deduction. It leaves audiences convinced of her potential to become an accomplished detective in her own right.
However, it’s inevitable that pupil-mentor relationships can only go on for so long before the student outgrows his teacher’s guidance. In the season 2 finale, Watson broke away from Sherlock, after emerging as a strong and capable detective. Following that plotline, the opening of the new season 3 is all about Watson.
The pilot “Enough Nemesis To Go Around” opens 6 months after Sherlock leaves to join the MI6 intelligence. Of course, Watson hasn’t been sitting around and twiddling her thumbs.
Having replaced Sherlock as consulting detective to the NYPD, Watson has evidently grown into her new role. Her colleagues, Captain Gregson (Aidan Quinn) and Detective Bell (Jon Michael Hill), harbor quiet respect for her. Rightfully so, seeing how she busts a drug ring just 5 minutes into the pilot.
But as eager as we had been to see Sherlock similarly operating apart from Watson, we knew the odd couple wouldn’t be allowed to leave the dance away for too long. Sherlock’s swift return to New York, made in a Darth-Vader-esque helmet no less, is a predictable but still a welcomed cop-out. While the split of our leads didn’t play out exactly the way we wanted, the anticipated shift in dynamics are still beautifully introduced.
To complicate matters, Holmes brings with him from London a brash new protégé, Kitty (Ophelia Lovibond). While this new entry throws a wedge in between our leads, her fits of jealousy only serve to remind audiences of the chemistry-fuelled partnership of Watson and Sherlock. There’s still room to explore this character, but to be honest, the barely-simmering tension between a territorial Watson and over-bearing Sherlock makes for a more entertaining watch.
With suppressed emotions, plot twists, sharp characters and an underlying sense of adrenaline to fuel audiences, our deduction skills tell us the new season is off to a strong start.
Rating: 4/5
Photographs courtesy of RTL CBS Asia
Information:
Elementary Season 3
Channel: RTL CBS Asia Entertainment
When: Every Wednesday at 9pm on Singtel mioTV (Channel 318) or Starhub TV (Channel 509)
Language: English
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Runtime: 60 min
Director: John Polson
Main Cast: Jonny Lee Miller, Lucy Liu, Aidan Quinn, Jon Michael Hill, Ophelia Lovibond