Friday, May 17, 2013

Elementary episodes #23, 'The Woman' and #24, 'Heroine' - a review. . . .

I really liked it!

It came up to my hoped for expectations and I don't think it ended the series for this year on a bad note.

I wasn't expecting the Moriarty twist, although I did think Irene was going to be used by Moriarty or in some other way involved, and although first a little disappointed with the twist, I ended up finding it good and acceptable.

We had some great Sherlockain references and I am going to watch it again to see if I can catch more.

I think a strong ensemble cast pulled up everybody's acting and made for some very good performances.

This of course was led by Natalie Dormer, who convinced me that she was not only the wrongly done Irene Adler, but made the transformation to Moriarty quite convincing.
Her acting was top-notch, playing well the femme fatale' and the arch nemesis.

Performances by all the other co-stars, like I already said, only added to the episodes.

Arnold Vosloo (Mummy, 24) played a convincing bad guy, turned good guy, caught up in his past by Moriarty.

There seemed to be a better pace to these episodes which was probably driven by the fact that season one was coming to an end.

Lucy Liu's 'Watson' had a very strong presence in the episodes and proved that once again a good 'Watson' can carry his/her own weight in an investigation and is not just a 'mascot'.

I loved the closing scenes on the roof top.

The first episode, 'The Woman', was for me the best of the two, but I was happy with both of them in the end.
 And I look forward to season two.




Sherlockian references I came up with are;

Of course the use of the name Stapleton again. I think Holmes sending Watson off to investigate the case alone for the first hour was also a nod to Hound.

We also had 'Black Peter' referenced with the use of 'narwhal' and 'Sea Unicorn'.

And of course we had 'The Dying Detective' which was used in the end game.
I liked the fact that they had Bell find Holmes over doused, with Holmes probably knowing Watson would be able to tell if it was real or not on close examination.

We had Holmes's knowledge of art work which set the foundation for the story ( and I will get back to you on which case that is referring to, I can see it in my mind).

Bees.

Safe houses scattered around the city.

And I hope with watching it again I will add some. (I am sure Buddy2blogger will have caught more.)

I think it was kind of good that they didn't have a death for Holmes in this one, it would have spoiled it after the cliff hanger that is 'Sherlock'.
But with Moriarty still alive, it could come in season two.

I think due to the fact that, in my opinion, these last two episodes were well above the previous ones, and using them as my base, I have to give the finale at least


6 comments:

  1. Thanks John for the shoutout.

    Nice catch about the reference to Black Peter.

    You seem to have enjoyed the episodes very much!

    B2B.

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    1. I did. I think it was my favorite. As always I agree with many of your points, but I did like the episode much more than you.
      I don't think the name Stapleton was just thrown out. For a little while during that part of the episode, Watson was acting as Sherlock's agent, and although Holmes said he wanted to stay out of the case, he kept quizzing Watson on her findings.

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  2. Thanks for your review. I am always puzzled when someone claims that "Elementary" throws out Canonical references like bread crumbs for the faithful when reviews like yours and B2B's demonstrate the deep understanding the showrunners have for the material.

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    1. You are so right. And to be honest, no one is going to get it perfect or meet all expectations.
      Brett was the closest so for for me. (Maybe only because I haven't seen the Russian one yet).
      I have fun playing the game with it.
      Yea, it could improve. . . . but they ain't asking me.


      Thanks for stopping by.

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  3. When Moriarty says she seven people killed in restaurants, it's a nod to seven popping up often in the stories. "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would cover the facts as far as we know them." (Holmes in "The Copper Beeches"); Miss Harrison:
    "Do you see any clue?" Holmes: "You have furnished me with seven, but of course I must test them before I can pronounce upon their value."(The Naval Treaty"); "I had seven different schemes for getting a glimpse of that telegram, but I could hardly hope to succeed the very first time."(Holmes in "The Missing Three-Quarter"). It was a nice touch to put the "seven" boast in Moriarty's mouth and another subtle link to the similarity of Sherlock and Moriarty. Moffat and Gatiss get credit among the "Sherlock" enthusiasts for being Sherlock Holmes fanboys, but Rob Doherty and the writers deserve much praise as well.

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