We find out early in the season four opener that Holmes has fallen off the wagon and had indeed taken the drug.
We also find out that there is not much chance of him working for the NYPD again, at least this week, and has probably drug Watson down as well.
Gregson and Bell only make brief appearances in this episode, so indeed, we do not know what lays ahead for them.
Holmes is also not sure if he will end up in jail or not for the beating.
This episode mostly deals with happenings from the past. We find Holmes investigating an unsolved crime from the 20's in one of the opening segments. And the episode also finds Holmes and Watson investigating the disappearance of two women 15 years earlier, which ties into a case from last season.
Throughout the episode Holmes' father keeps cancelling appearances as well.
The episode had nothing new to add to it's now episodic structure. Holmes has still toned down his behavior and his character is not as likely to go for shock value as we had feared was going to be the trend. The Canonical tidbits are either repetitive or rare with the ones this week perhaps being a mention to old cases, the mention of Moriarty and the fact that Holmes had a father.
The most redeeming aspect of this episode for me, however, were a couple of things.
First of course would be the examination of Holmes', and somewhat Watson's, behavior after Holmes has fallen off the wagon. Canonically were some of these 'brown study' episodes a reaction by Holmes to his giving into his habit, or were they indeed just a sign of boredom when not involved with a case? We know the Canonical Watson had to probably deal with this situation more than once, while for the TV Watson this was the first relapse.
Another well done aspect of this episode was the defense of the friendship and loyalty by both Holmes and Watson. While Holmes was trying to make plans to 'protect' Watson, Watson had no intention of continuing without Holmes. Canonically we see Holmes and Watson separating a few times either by Watson's choice or Holmes'. It was never a business relationship.
It will also being intriguing, since he finally showed up, how the show will handle the presence of Holmes' father. Canonically often examined without any firm conclusion.
The show is still brave enough to examine some touchy subjects in a very un-Canonical kind of way, which, thankfully, makes one examine things from a different point of view and test our own Canonical beliefs.
So for the lack of anything new, yet still making good conversation I give this episode:
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