Elementary: Season 1

First of all, may I just say here and now that, apparently if you already watch and enjoy the BBC Sherlock series, you will be inclined to hate this one. I am not entirely sure why, but just to prove my point, look up all the 1 and 2 star reviews of Elementary here and count how many times the BBC show or it's actors are mentioned. Then go to the 5 star reviews and notice the depth of critique and the simultaneous lack of comparison to another show's take on Sherlock Holmes.Okay. That aside:This show is exceptional. Not only would it stand alone quite well without Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes ever having been written (which to some insults their ideas and affinities for SACD's work), but also adds societal context, modernity, and depth to Sherlock Holmes (something no one can say is easy, much less executable in such an artistic and subtle way as this series).MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!!First, let us look at trying to place such a genius intellect and deductionist in today's cynical, apathetic, passive, low resolve and high civil retaliation context of modern London. This is where we must put a modern day Holmes, from his infancy up to his (SPOILER ALERT) inevitable heroine addiction. In the early London of Sir Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, there was this resolve, this popular tenacity in London, not to mention a clear cut notion of right and wrong, that permeated it's core culture and drive. A young man with Sherlock Holmes' gifts would have found quite a station and calling as he grew up in the higher learning institutions and accepting fields of forensics, police work, and medicine with their backdrop of solid morality and unwavering credos. He would have undoubtably arisen as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's main man as written. Logic trumps superstition and evil manipulation.Now let us compare that same intellect, growing up in the morally empty, cynical, awkward avoiding culture of today's London. He, like many who dare to cling to what is right and shun what is wrong, end up shunned themselves; usually living alone with their non-utilized giftings, or moving somewhere where they may be exercised. Sherlock grows up cynical, brash, and arrogant (increasingly popular in London these days as potential and drive is squandered, replaced by entertainment and erased morals/sense of station). In this context, Sherlock Holmes arises as a frustrated genius young man who finds his only shelter lay in his crime foiling deductions and in the arms of a young woman whom he finds he can love-Irene.SPOILER: Irene is murdred by "M". A serial killer eventually known as Moriarty.Holmes then turns to Heroine and then loses His other shelter-Scotland Yard.In the opening episode of ELEMENTARY, Sherlock has moved from London to New York, where he has just begun consulting for the NYPD. He had a destructive addiction to injecting heroine while working for Scotland Yard and was eventually forced to retire. His father now pays for him to live in an apartment called the Brownstone (in New York) where his sober companion, Joan Watson, lives with him in a non romantic professional relationship. Watson and Holmes sharpen each other. Watson keeps Holmes accountable. Holmes begins truing Watson in the art of Deduction.Elementary's Sherlock Holmes feels out of place and alone in a world where he sees more than anyone else. Appropriate for a man like this in these modern times. A genius in the middle of a new breed of culture that shuns excellence for the comfort of mediocrity, and he knows it. This is revisited many times throughout the first 20 episodes.This Sherlock Holmes lives a balance of escaping the tensions of this reality through debauchery (Prostitutes) and hyperkinetic medicating through constant activity (learning to pick locks and handcuffs, single stick fighting, watching 6 televisions at once, etc.) and his using his gifts of observation and deduction for good (good being very real and constant for him as so many shows today seem to despise).This Sherlock is daily confronted with reality, both in the horrors he must do his best to prevent from happening again (Putting murderers out of the public domain), and in his addictive tendencies in dealing with pain. Sherlock does not run from his pain. He instead operates in the other two self destructive ways of handling pain. He shuts off emotionally and he medicates. The writers do an exceptional job in having Holmes respond to pain like a normal, albeit a genius of dynamic proportions, human being and Watson is the perfect counterpart to His medicating and shutting off emotionally. She keeps him focused on the only healing way to deal with pain. Feel it.Aside from these things, Elementary also stands as one of the best "whodunnit" shows ever. The crimes are complex, the clues are given in a way as to have your own deductionist skills sharpened, and the plot twists are more often than not unexpected.Overall:1) Great writing.2) Great characters that can be related to.3) Great job articulating a modern Sherlock.

I bought all 7 seasons, so obviously I am a fan. Johnny Lee Miller and lucy Lu (sp?) and story plot-lines are great IMO. You can try Season 1 and you will know pretty quick if it's for you or not.

I have always been a fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. Over the last few years we have seen a resurgence of his popularity in both film and television which ultimately leads to a comparison of the actors who play the role. I enjoy Robert Downey's campy, over the top performance for the sheer fun of it, but for me, there was little of the real Sherlock Holmes in his portrayal. Certainly not the image of the man I had conjured up in my mind while reading Doyle's work. I thought I had found him in Benedict Cumberbatch and the enormously popular BBC version SHERLOCK. Cumberbatch is a wonderful actor and brings Sherlock into modern day with a raw edginess and arrogance not seen in earlier portrayals, but there is an almost autistic coldness about him which makes it impossible to genuinely like Sherlock as a human being. Those rare moments when, almost against his will, he exposes a genuine emotion are so fleeting and so quickly quelled that you wonder if you really saw them at all. I want so badly to like him, but I struggle as the characters around him do to accept that I must simply take him as he is - flawed but brilliant. Brilliant in a way that few of us can even imagine. I admire him from afar without investing any of my own emotions. The sheer enjoyment is in watching his mind work. The shows' fast pace and the way the camera often whips about in circles, leaves you dizzy trying to keep up with his thought processes. I often feel like Watson in the first episode, limping along behind, struggling to keep up. The show is wonderful and Benedict Cumberbatch is a pleasure to watch. I strongly recommend it to anyone who has not yet seen it. Having said that, I have at long last found my Sherlock in Jonny Lee Miller and Elementary. For me, Miller brings a real humanity to the character - a heart and soul, however battered and broken, to go along with the brilliant mind. He's flawed to be sure. A recovering drug addict fighting the daily battles to stay clean, he can be childish, self-absorbed and arrogant, but while Cumberbatch's Sherlock seems to relish his superior intellect and quite enjoys lauding it over the rest of us with our little minds, Miller wears his brilliance like a heavy mantle. It defines who he is and he's constantly struggling to live up to his own expectations. He relishes the detective work because it offers an escape from real life. Miller gives us a fuller character, exposing his bitterness for an emotionally distant and absent father, a glimpse of the isolation that comes with genius, the complications that arise from seeing things that the rest of us don't see - evidenced when he describes his fear of flying. There is the hint of great love and greater loss and the sense that this Sherlock is capable of deep emotion - a Sherlock teetering precariously on the edge of self-destruction. And yet there is a poignance in Millers' portrayal that makes me care as much about Sherlock as I do about solving the crime. He illicits my emotions. There are moments when he makes me laugh, moments when he annoys me, and moments when a simple expression can move me to tears. His performance is nuanced - offering the many shades, if not the complete picture of a complicated, scarred and extraordinary man. It's not so much what Miller does with the lines, but more his facial expressions and his body language. In true detective fashion, it is often me watching him watch others, for it's what's between the words that matters. The words are merely what Sherlock wants us to know. The expressions, the movements and what he doesn't say are the clues to the real Sherlock Holmes. I have, at long last, found my Sherlock and he's everything I hoped he would be. I recommend the show to anyone still searching for theirs.

I thought this series might be good with all the acclaim it has received, but I just could not tolerate the Sherlock character. Ms. Watson finds him to be a pain in the derrière and I agree. Besides, he suffers from Logorrhea, something like verbal diarrhea. I rely on subtitles, but you have to be a graduate of Evelyn Wood's speed-reading program to keep up. I also find the Asian Watson gratuitous. What's the point? Political correctness? It would be different if she were a kung fu master hired to keep blabbermouth Sherlock safe. But she's not. I don't know what she brings to the part other than an exotic Asian face. Unfortunately, I bought two seasons—finished one and a half episodes. My companion gives the show a B-. I have to give it an F simply because I don't like it. I recognize other viewers do like it. That’s fine. Coming to this series I had just finished watch Luther (again) and Chernobyl. Those are hard acts to follow. Maybe I'll watch My Mother the Car and then give Elementary another try. Most likely not.

This contemporary manifestation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s character is tremendously engaging and entertaining as it presents Sherlock Holmes as a consultant to the New York Police Department. Voluntarily exiled from London this tattooed recovering drug addict, ably assisted by his ‘sober companion’ Dr. Joan Watson provides an advisory service enabling the NYPD to catch devious murderers who would otherwise remain free. Although the episodes have a feel of Detective Columbo on ‘speed’ as cases are solved within the regulation forty minutes there is an intriguing overall arc encompassing not only the developing (non-romantic) relationship between Holmes and Watson but also the underlying machinations of his arch-nemesis Moriarty. Jonny Lee Miller is superb as the vulnerable, hyper-intelligent, hyper-arrogant and hyper-eccentric sleuth while Lucy Liu’s performance as his more-than-able partner is equally impressive. The intricate and intelligent plots incorporate appropriate humour as the quick-fire dialogue is expertly delivered by the two main protagonists. As with any notable television series known actors appear as characters which are either temporary inclusions or have more significant impact and include Roger Rees, Vinnie Jones, John Hannah, F. Murray Abraham and Natalie Dormer. The concluding episodes are masterfully written and acted and truly whetted my appetite for the next season.

This is an extremely well produced and slick TV program with superb performances from the two leads. Whilst updating Sherlock to a current era may not be anything new, casting a female as Watson is, to the best of my knowledge, a novel and new departure. It is also gratifying to see an American actress who is not in the first flush of youth with a really meaty and interesting role. The dynamic between this Sherlock and Watson is quite intriguing and the chemistry between the two leads really enhances this, alternating between an awkward strained edgy relationship and one of genuine respect, warmth and humour. One senses that the battle of wills between them will never be fully resolved and the relationship will always be spiky, edgy, strained, warm and humorous in turns.Miller's portrayal of this very flawed genius is carried off quite brilliantly with Holmes exhibiting all of those unpredictable, egocentric and, at times, unforgiving character traits in believable fashion. The saving grace of his character is that he does have a sense of justice and that despite appearances he does really care and this is portrayed in a most subtle way by Miller as is his witty and, at times, biting and dark sense of humour.When you add this to excellent scripts, a good supporting cast and high production values, you have a very good TV series that adds something a bit different to the current excellent crop of ensemble 'crime' based dramas such as NCIS, Criminal Minds, Bones etc.

.It took me a few episodes to 'really get into' this series as I was rather put off visually by the ugliness of all the tattoos on Mr Jonny Lee Miller that were so prevailent in Episode One as we were subjected to his continual top nakedness (just SO horribd - ugh). Anyway, they must have decided it wasn't such a good idea as, so far throughout the rest of the Season One episodes, he's more-or-less kept his (tee) shirt on!And so to the rest of the visuals and scripts ...The story and cast certainly grows on you. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is an author loved by my husband and sons but not by me (so, I have missed out on Benedict C because of lack of interest but they haven't) and so I started watching this Series-set with my husband with absolutely no expectations but found that by about Episode Four I was really enjoying it (younger son had recommended and thought that I would like it) - we now watch an episode a night in bed before sleep and find it a perfect end to the day.I love listening to Sherlock almost thinking out loud as he analyses the clues to solve the crimes and Lucy Liu is perfect as the calming influence of ex-surgeon Joan Watson.All in all, an excellent buy and highly recommended - in fact I've just bought Season 2 to keep our bedtime entertsinment going (at least until the last season of 'White Collar' is available!)..

I've only watched up to episode 8 but I'm very impressed with this modern interpretation of the Great Holmes...,and the new Watson of course.The cases involved are original and absorbing,I can't get enough but have to ration my viewing,mainly to eat....! The quiet,listening approach that Watson displays plays perfectly into the role of having Holmes's thought process explained to us and seeing if and when his reasoning isn't quite spot on.There are other forces,ahem,at play with these two as well so it stops things from becoming too limited to just crime,though of course that is the drive behind the show but it just has other aspects.One thing I've noticed though is the seeming lack of adverse weather.The light in Holmes's apartment is always bright and sunny ? I am pleased that the female Watson immediately dumps the 'clean my apartment' suggestion in episode 1 ! Holmes is blunt to the point of rudeness but he gets quick results by ignoring expected etiquette.Less damn fake coffees would be good too...,and they leave their cups all over the 'show' ! Is this one of their sponsors ?Anyway,gripe over.It's a very good series so far and I'm looking forward to finishing the first series....,soon.Oh,before I forget,I was over the moon when my hunch of Irene Adler being his English female interest came about !Now she fascinates me as much as Holmes and Watson themselves.An excellent curve ball character,masterfully dumped in our laps by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.I liked her portrayal in the 1st Robert Downey Jnr version of Sherlock Holmes.I am seriously looking forward to seeing how she appears in this version.