Liss and Ana Talk About Elementary

The best scowl. The best stripey jumpers.
[Spoilers are deducing the fuck outta shit herein.]

Liss: OMG I LOVED THIS EPISODE. "I have a gun." "And a penis." Also: Joan solved the case! JOAN SOLVED THE CASE!

Ana: She DID! With the power of empathy! He never would have thought of that.

Liss: And she slammed down the boundaries with a hammer! "I never asked you to protect me." BOOM.

Ana: Natalie Dormer!!!!!

Liss: Natalie Dormer!

Ana: I was SO surprised and happy when she showed up.

Liss: Me too!!! I'm all: Game of Thrones AND Elementary?! WORLDS COLLIDE.

Ana: I love Natalie Dormer so so so much, so that was awesome. I'm actually pretty happy she's alive; I'm never fond of "motivated by the death of innocent maiden" tropes, so this should be interesting. I wondered if they'd resurrect Irene because she's too good a character to leave dead. But I'd also pegged Sherlock as someone who'd have wanted to see her body. They'll need to explain that. So.

Liss: I'm thinking it might be because she was playing a long con on him. In the books, Irene's his match—the one person who bests him.

Ana: True. Maybe she's not a restorer, but a thief?

Liss: Or started out as a restorer, but then started replicating to steal the originals?

Ana: We saw a hilariously bad movie on art crime last year. I'm thinking I remember it saying that a lot of art is fakes. So that might be it. She could be stealing originals OR selling "newly discovered" fake paintings.

Liss: Yes. Something along those lines! Jonny Lee Miller's acting was especially great in this episode. The scene where he uncovers the information about the immunization required for entry to Saudi Arabia! His jaunty little dance! His quivering chin! And the angst when he knocks over the evidence board. And Lucy Liu's quiet, distant assessment of it. So perfect. Also: I loved his stripey jumper!

Ana: I can't tell if we were supposed to AGREE with the guilty guy or if we were meant to be LEARNING to zomg-don't-be-this-guy when he said that "justice" wouldn't be done unless he was able to strangle the real killer. I felt, and this may just be me, that the moment was showing Sherlock hearing something that he would have agreed with earlier in the year and now is realizing that he doesn't agree with, even if he understands the sentiment. So if that's Character Growth, then yay. Difficult to tell yet, though.

Liss: Mm-hmm. I felt that Sherlock was having a looking-in-a-mirror-and-not-liking-what-you-see moment. Especially following on the heels of last week's "something has changed, because we're partners" revelation. I also find it very interesting that as Joan becomes more competent as an investigator, it's almost allowing Sherlock to let down the rigid veneer of detached observation he felt obliged to maintain at all times, because now he's got someone to back him up, someone who he feels complements him, which is making space for him to express emotions. And he's still evidently uncomfortable with that. (Which is also part of learning how to live sober, too.)

Ana: I honestly thought the episode would end with Sherlock lying to Joan and her not knowing. Was SO happy! And very proud of her for seeing that coming.

Liss: Yes. Loved the subtle implication she realizes she has to protect herself from him.

Ana: Very. But kind of sad, too, in a Terrible Bargain way. I've talked about this already in my deconstructions and I want to talk about it some more, but I'm really pleased with how the show exposes sexism in the ways that EVERYONE thinks it's their place to get involved in what Watson does for a living. There are few things more personal than your work—or, rather, I should say that's true for me, as I don't want to speak for anyone else—and it's really telling how everyone on earth feels okay dispensing career advice to Watson in a way that NO OTHER (MALE) CHARACTER is subject to in this show. Thus, I really liked that she confronted Gregson in a professional manner and asked if her work was unsatisfactory and I lol'd SO hard at the "and a penis" line because—issues with coupling "gender" with "body" aside, and that is an issue—she's basically right that he's treating her differently than he treats Sherlock and Bell and himself. That is a problem!

Liss: Right. And he tries to justify it by saying he's concerned because she's not a police officer, but I don't remember his having a sit-down with Bell after he was targeted in a drive-by: "Hey, remember you haven't been a police officer as long as I have..." He took it as read that Bell's aware of the risks associated with his job, and affords him the acknowledgment of agency to know he can competently assess those risks and decide whether doing the job is worth taking them. Joan's proven she can take care of herself in a lot of ways already. Because THIS SHOW.

Discuss.