Elementary 1x12-1x15
Fri, Feb. 22nd, 2013 12:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterElementary 1x12 M
Oh Sherlock, no.
I did read him as prepared to go through with killing M and letting Joan and Gregson know about his intentions because Sherlock seems to be crap at lying. I'm not sure he does lie, at least not elaborately? His MO more seems to be overwhelming various people with a ton of facts and then bulldozing on through.
Also not fond of more dead women + manpain, though I am pretty sure that is not the last we have heard about Irene Adler.
I am completely unsurprised that Sherlock has gone from his attempts to be nice to Joan to snippishness and rebelliousness as Joan's stint with him draws to a close, and I am equally unsurprised that Joan isn't baited by it, doesn't try to get Sherlock into a final interview when it's fairly obvious he won't, and is adult enough to acknowledge both that she's leaving and that she has enjoyed the detective work.
I'm kind of wondering how she will end up negotiating that honesty if/when Sherlock finds out about her lie and they instead become detecting partners. The honesty and the adultness and the refusal to be baited all read very much as Joan the Sober Companion to me, much as even though she clearly felt for the girl in the previous episode, she responded like a counseling professional. I think that kind of honesty and openness is much more difficult come by once someone is within your personal boundaries and not just a client (even though Sherlock isn't "just" anything), and Joan mentally removing Sherlock from his role of "client" to whatever it ends up being will be interesting to watch. She gets so much more flustered with her mother, when she can't put on her sober companion face.
Elementary 1x13 The Red Team
I am so glad the show does not seem to think Joan lying is a good thing.
I am also glad I spoiled myself for the eventual fate of turtle Clyde, since I would have been pretty traumatized if he had been harmed.
Also, I love that Sherlock doesn't just get carte blanche for his little revenge trip, and that Gregson specifically points out that it's a perfectly normal feeling to have, but most people don't actually act on it. I am just so sick of seeing assorted male characters go off on revenge trips, largely fueled by refrigerated women, and the whole idea that the law is not good enough because their pain clearly transcends things like ethics. He gets off way easier than Gregson would like, in fact, and I love Gregson for his frustration with that and his disappointment in Sherlock and his clear drawing of his own boundaries about Sherlock.
Elementary 1x14 The Deductionist
So is Joan now a nomadic wanderer of sobriety? It sounded like she was going to store her stuff with no mention of going apartment hunting. Also, Sherlock's ending presents to her are awesome, though I wonder what he did with her toothbrush.
And kind of OT, but did Sherlock start dressing better in the past few episodes or more? Or was he just super sloppy that one time with the bankers or something? His completely buttoned-up collared shirts crack me up; he looks so incredibly uncomfortable in them and to me, it reads a bit like "Okay, fine, I have to dress a certain way whatever" while he throws them on and doesn't quiiiite know how to make them look sharp. Also, I love all the little skirts Joan has been wearing lately.
Speaking of clothes, did Joan end up wearing what Sherlock picked out? Poor Joan. She seems resigned to having Sherlock barge in on mornings to thrust breakfast or clothes or other things that means she has to wake up at her. (Also, I feel like this is where Sherlock got Joan wrong. In my head canon, she is a perpetual oversleeper, probably exacerbated by late nights and long shifts during student days, residency, and surgeonhood, and it has less to do with how much she enjoys her work and more to do with the ethos of catching as much sleep as you can when you can.)
Not particularly fond of the Kathryn Drummond plot, though Sherlock's obvious discomfort and prickliness around her cracks me up. And hey, it brought about that great moment when Joan tells Sherlock he's made one friend at least, and he just stares at her blankly before she's like, "Hello, me?" Speaking of clothes, did Joan end up wearing what Sherlock picked out?
Elementary 1x15 A Giant Gun, Filled with Drugs
Okay, show, I love you but this string of episodes is a few too many threatened and/or dead women, particularly conventionally attractive women, for me (with the thankful exception of the Red Team episode). Also, body parts in boxes freaks me out.
First, I like that even Sherlock can't solve every case! And that paired with the temptation of relapsing was excellent, particularly how it breaks through Sherlock's "Lalala, this recovery stuff is not that difficult" veneer.
Seconding what I assume is the wish of most fans, that Alfredo come back.
Heart Joan for subduing the villain of the week, for seriously telling off Rhys, and just in general. Also, cracked up at her "Is something wrong? Because Suspect is leaving now and neither of you have noticed."
I am really interested to see where the show will go re: Sherlock's dad, and I love the body language when Sherlock is sitting by himself on the bench and making the call.
I think most people have already talked about how nice it is that sobriety is being treated like a long, difficult process, and it's especially great watching Sherlock gradually take up pieces of it. I hate the narrative of super special people who manage to do things like kick addiction or whatnot without having to go through the long process, because they are just that special. It's particularly nice because I suspect (this is extrapolating from depression) that a lot of addicts do the "I can do this by myself, I don't need all this stuff, asking for it is showing weakness, I should be able to pick myself up by the bookstraps" thing, and I don't think many narratives reinforce the idea that acknowledging your down moments and asking for help is a brave and difficult thing to do.
And finally, love the symbolism of Joan smashing the head, the thing that Sherlock previously said was much better to talk to than actualfax people, and Sherlock leaving it behind, unfinished, to go to share his story with other people.
Oh Sherlock, no.
I did read him as prepared to go through with killing M and letting Joan and Gregson know about his intentions because Sherlock seems to be crap at lying. I'm not sure he does lie, at least not elaborately? His MO more seems to be overwhelming various people with a ton of facts and then bulldozing on through.
Also not fond of more dead women + manpain, though I am pretty sure that is not the last we have heard about Irene Adler.
I am completely unsurprised that Sherlock has gone from his attempts to be nice to Joan to snippishness and rebelliousness as Joan's stint with him draws to a close, and I am equally unsurprised that Joan isn't baited by it, doesn't try to get Sherlock into a final interview when it's fairly obvious he won't, and is adult enough to acknowledge both that she's leaving and that she has enjoyed the detective work.
I'm kind of wondering how she will end up negotiating that honesty if/when Sherlock finds out about her lie and they instead become detecting partners. The honesty and the adultness and the refusal to be baited all read very much as Joan the Sober Companion to me, much as even though she clearly felt for the girl in the previous episode, she responded like a counseling professional. I think that kind of honesty and openness is much more difficult come by once someone is within your personal boundaries and not just a client (even though Sherlock isn't "just" anything), and Joan mentally removing Sherlock from his role of "client" to whatever it ends up being will be interesting to watch. She gets so much more flustered with her mother, when she can't put on her sober companion face.
Elementary 1x13 The Red Team
I am so glad the show does not seem to think Joan lying is a good thing.
I am also glad I spoiled myself for the eventual fate of turtle Clyde, since I would have been pretty traumatized if he had been harmed.
Also, I love that Sherlock doesn't just get carte blanche for his little revenge trip, and that Gregson specifically points out that it's a perfectly normal feeling to have, but most people don't actually act on it. I am just so sick of seeing assorted male characters go off on revenge trips, largely fueled by refrigerated women, and the whole idea that the law is not good enough because their pain clearly transcends things like ethics. He gets off way easier than Gregson would like, in fact, and I love Gregson for his frustration with that and his disappointment in Sherlock and his clear drawing of his own boundaries about Sherlock.
Elementary 1x14 The Deductionist
So is Joan now a nomadic wanderer of sobriety? It sounded like she was going to store her stuff with no mention of going apartment hunting. Also, Sherlock's ending presents to her are awesome, though I wonder what he did with her toothbrush.
And kind of OT, but did Sherlock start dressing better in the past few episodes or more? Or was he just super sloppy that one time with the bankers or something? His completely buttoned-up collared shirts crack me up; he looks so incredibly uncomfortable in them and to me, it reads a bit like "Okay, fine, I have to dress a certain way whatever" while he throws them on and doesn't quiiiite know how to make them look sharp. Also, I love all the little skirts Joan has been wearing lately.
Speaking of clothes, did Joan end up wearing what Sherlock picked out? Poor Joan. She seems resigned to having Sherlock barge in on mornings to thrust breakfast or clothes or other things that means she has to wake up at her. (Also, I feel like this is where Sherlock got Joan wrong. In my head canon, she is a perpetual oversleeper, probably exacerbated by late nights and long shifts during student days, residency, and surgeonhood, and it has less to do with how much she enjoys her work and more to do with the ethos of catching as much sleep as you can when you can.)
Not particularly fond of the Kathryn Drummond plot, though Sherlock's obvious discomfort and prickliness around her cracks me up. And hey, it brought about that great moment when Joan tells Sherlock he's made one friend at least, and he just stares at her blankly before she's like, "Hello, me?" Speaking of clothes, did Joan end up wearing what Sherlock picked out?
Elementary 1x15 A Giant Gun, Filled with Drugs
Okay, show, I love you but this string of episodes is a few too many threatened and/or dead women, particularly conventionally attractive women, for me (with the thankful exception of the Red Team episode). Also, body parts in boxes freaks me out.
First, I like that even Sherlock can't solve every case! And that paired with the temptation of relapsing was excellent, particularly how it breaks through Sherlock's "Lalala, this recovery stuff is not that difficult" veneer.
Seconding what I assume is the wish of most fans, that Alfredo come back.
Heart Joan for subduing the villain of the week, for seriously telling off Rhys, and just in general. Also, cracked up at her "Is something wrong? Because Suspect is leaving now and neither of you have noticed."
I am really interested to see where the show will go re: Sherlock's dad, and I love the body language when Sherlock is sitting by himself on the bench and making the call.
I think most people have already talked about how nice it is that sobriety is being treated like a long, difficult process, and it's especially great watching Sherlock gradually take up pieces of it. I hate the narrative of super special people who manage to do things like kick addiction or whatnot without having to go through the long process, because they are just that special. It's particularly nice because I suspect (this is extrapolating from depression) that a lot of addicts do the "I can do this by myself, I don't need all this stuff, asking for it is showing weakness, I should be able to pick myself up by the bookstraps" thing, and I don't think many narratives reinforce the idea that acknowledging your down moments and asking for help is a brave and difficult thing to do.
And finally, love the symbolism of Joan smashing the head, the thing that Sherlock previously said was much better to talk to than actualfax people, and Sherlock leaving it behind, unfinished, to go to share his story with other people.
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(no subject)
Fri, Feb. 22nd, 2013 10:08 pm (UTC)Haha, this is the first thing I shouted at Sherlock when I watched the first episode -- SOME PEOPLE JUST LIKE SLEEPING, SHERLOCK! It bothered me before I knew that this Sherlock was going to be presented as so consistently talking out his ass; now it just makes me laugh.
(no subject)
Fri, Feb. 22nd, 2013 10:23 pm (UTC)I have also been trying to watch for when Joan puts her hair up versus leaving it down, due to Sherlock's prior analysis.
(no subject)
Fri, Feb. 22nd, 2013 10:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Fri, Feb. 22nd, 2013 10:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Sat, Feb. 23rd, 2013 12:13 am (UTC)(no subject)
Sat, Feb. 23rd, 2013 03:17 am (UTC)Ooh I didn't notice the symbolism!
These thoughts are all very interesting, though all my thoughts are too bound up with spoilers for me to say them :)
(no subject)
Mon, Feb. 25th, 2013 06:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Sat, Feb. 23rd, 2013 04:20 am (UTC)"M" was fantastic. Like you, I am not convinced that Irene Adler is really dead. She's too prominent a canon character to be fridged off-screen and I suspect we'll see her on the show in some form or another come season 2 or 3 (hey, the show is apparently doing quite well. We probably will have multiple seasons.)
The lingering aftermath of Sherlock's behavior in the following several episodes pleased me muchly. My favourite subtle take on it was probably in the last scene of "The Red Team." The one with Sherlock and Joan and Clyde the Turtle, where Joan asks if he made Clyde into soup, and Sherlock's all "turtles are magnificent creatures and Clyde will probably outlive us both" then "you didn't really think I'd eat him, did you?" And instead of smiling and dismissing it, Joan says "I don't know; it's hard to see what you'd do." And you could see that weighing on Sherlock, on top of the confrontation with Gregson. Where without words, you see from his face that he is ruminating on his transgression and whether this was worth the loss of trust from the people he respect. Lovely moments of show-not-tell. The show's very good at last scenes, I think.
Speaking of clothes, did Joan end up wearing what Sherlock picked out?
YES. I died a little of the adorable.
(no subject)
Sat, Feb. 23rd, 2013 10:05 pm (UTC)But from that picture, she only wore the plaid. The pants are blue, not the green pair he was holding.
(no subject)
Mon, Feb. 25th, 2013 06:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Mon, Feb. 25th, 2013 05:46 pm (UTC)I loved that moment so much!
Also, it is so nice to be a fan of a show that seems to be fairly successful in terms of ratings and such. Yay not having to fear cancellation all the time!
(no subject)
Sat, Feb. 23rd, 2013 05:42 am (UTC)(no subject)
Mon, Feb. 25th, 2013 06:05 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Sat, Feb. 23rd, 2013 04:13 pm (UTC)Yes, the pushing away from what will be a painful goodbye. Happily he won't have to say goodbye for a while (I think we'll get multiple seasons, too).
I also agree how well the show deals with the recovery process. Holmes is rooted in his flesh-and-blood body (unlike the BBC Sherlock). I like watching Holmes flail about -- in his own way, of course -- like the rest of us humans.
(no subject)
Mon, Feb. 25th, 2013 06:09 pm (UTC)