I also noticed this morning that several other blogs I follow have already posted comments about this weeks episode. I have not read them yet, but I am taking that as a good sign. (However, I am not expecting much from one of them.)
This episode opens with a body falling on top of a delivery truck, but not being found till later. Shade of BRUC in this canonical reference.
The murdered women turns out to be the estranged daughter, from a one-night-stand, of a dying billionaire.
She had been asked to come back into his life as a blood donor for the very sick man.
It is first assumed that she is his mistress, which is thought to be the reason for her death. That turns out not to be true, so Holmes and Watson have to find another motive for her death,
I found this to be a very good episode, with it's flaws about the same as usual; not enough deductive work by Holmes, Watson taking on to much of the detective roll, and although less in this episode, the animosity between the Holmes brother.
The strengths were better than the last few episodes.
The case had some very interesting twists and turns, and although the motive was a little disappointing, it did hold up OK.
I thought the clue about the paint chip splatters in the truck was good.
I though the missing tree on the balcony was a good clue.
It was good to see the childish jealousy gone in this episode, and a little hint at a better relationship between the Holmes brothers.
While I was a little disappointed last week that Diogenes was just going to be a restaurant, it seems there may be more to it than that. MI6 cover? Moriarty cover? ( I hope not.)
Holmes the younger still doesn't seem to trust his brothers motives, which the end of the episode would suggest may be a good thing. Something deeper is going on.
I was hoping the boy, in the beginning who liked new words, was going to have something to do with the story, but alas. . . . .
Canonical references I caught were;
- once again, single stick
- BRUC, with the body on the van
- Holmes down on the floor looking for clues
- comments about Mycroft's weight, indicting that he was once heavier
- using many contacts from past cases as help
- avoiding food when on a case
- his love of London (we often heard that London was where he was most comfortable
- Diogenes Club
- another possible reference to BRUC in that the criminal is taking care of the one suffering from the crime
(Come on buddy2blogger and James, help me out here.)
And in cases you don't believe in Moose Cheese.
I enjoyed seeing Margaret Colin in the show. If you remember, she once played Watson in 1987's The Return of Sherlock Holmes (she was Jane Watson)
Although I can't give it. . .
. . . because Holmes didn't do enough of the work.
However, I won't give it . .
because I though it better than usual
So I am giving it. . .
because of the stronger story, less bickering and the Mycroft twist at the end.
Cheers!
This is another episode where Joan takes the deductive lead. Not a big fan of these type of shows because to make Joan shine Sherlock usually comes off as not as bright as he should be. For example, it's Liu who notices all the balconies except one have trees visible. The shot has both Det. Bell (Hill) and Miller look at Liu as if impressed. Miller should be looking at her with pride that his protege managed to catch something he observed. Perhaps that's on Miller's face, but it's hard to tell. The mystery was not all that mysterious with the twists being fairly predictable, like the "kept woman" being and illegitimate daughter.
ReplyDeleteLiu takes the lead in the A-story because of its medical dimensions and because the B-story is, unusually, about Miller, his relationship with Mycroft (Ifans) and a decisions to move back to London. But the medical aspect of the mystery didn't need a doctor's knowledge to solve. As soon as Haley's boyfriend mentioned her flu-like symptoms, Miller should have known the solution to Haley's murder. But Miller has to ask Liu why she's troubled by the boyfriend's statement Haley was sick. It's Liu, when hearing that Ian Gale died, that says maybe its not about the murder of Haley but the murder of Gale. That should have come from Miller. But the look on Miller's face says that idea never occurred to him. However, Liu is the star of the show as her doubled salary to Miller's implies. There is a balancing act between making Watson not-Nigel Bruce and making her Ben Kingsley from "Without A Clue". But because Liu is the star, she is often made to seem smart at Miller's expense. If CBS had gotten a more famous British actor to play Holmes and a Less famous American actor to play Watson, I'm sure we would not see that happening. With the way things are set up, if Miller ever left the show, I could see it continuing with Liu alone.
Otherwise, the character moments between Miller and Liu and Miller and Ifans were well done as usual. If last week's show was a C+, this week's was a B-.
I wrote to CBS last week and almost stated exactly what you just wrote. I agree with most of your points about Lucy Liu.
DeleteI think if the show is going to last, the balance will need to be better.
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