Elementary: Season 1, Episode 19. Snow Angel. (2013)

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Elementary: Season 1, Episode 19. Snow Angel. (2013)

April 10, 2013 David Marshall Leave a comment Go to comments

Many moons ago when CSI: Miami was only three seasons old, we had an episode called Crime Wave. In this, our robbers were playing the long game by waiting for a hurricane but, when a convenient tsunami came along earlier, it was just too good a disaster to pass up as the means of stealing a large weight in gold. In the real world, disasters are quite commonly exploited by thieves except, of course, we call them looters after the citizenry has been cleared from the area in anticipation of the approaching storm, flood, volcanic eruption, etc. When policing become an arm for FEMA or some other federal or state agencies, this leaves a big window of opportunity for well-prepared criminals. In this episode, New York is being shut down as a major storm approaches. With the temperature dropping and the snow starting to fall, power is cut off and the city is at its most vulnerable.

So with Elementary: Season 1, Episode 19. Snow Angel. (2013) here we go with a hackneyed plot to steal millions of dollars in old bills from the federal agency responsible for shredding currency past its sell-by date. On paper, it’s a neat idea. If you can take the money on the way to the shredder and substitute bundles of shredded paper sitting beside the shredders, you have the perfect crime. No-one will notice the bundles do not contain currency. They will be taken off to the dump site with no-one any the wiser — this assumes the shredders work without power and the electronic records could be hacked to show the machines had been run. However, these criminals are out to demonstrate how not to organise a robbery. Rational thieves work months if not years in advance. They look at all possible targets around the USA so that, no matter where the next big storm hits, they have a potential place to rob. Then they quietly acquire blueprints, floor plans and any other source materials that will help them identify the vulnerabilities of the buildings and their various occupants’ responses to emergencies. They need to know how many staff are retained on each site, how they are deployed when the power goes out, and so on. Assuming they are proposing to steal heavy weights of money or precious metals, they also need a way of moving their loot through the buildings unobserved and then out of the city. This is not something you can work out last minute.

Lucy Liu and Jonny Lee Miller wrapped up warm for winter

Yet here we have a crew that breaks into a firm of architects to steal old blueprints without any guarantee no changes have since been made to the building — these architects have these plans because, some years ago, they bid on work to upgrade the premises. And when do our thieves do this? It’s the night the storm is due to hit. So they have come to New York with all their equipment but without knowing how they are going to break into their target building. These are not professional thieves. Worse, they advertise their presence by shooting the guard to the building where the architects are based and, instead of disarming him, leave him with a loaded gun so he can shoot one of the robbers. Continuing their amateur performance, they leave the body of the guard to be discovered. They could at least slow down the response by hiding the body. When I look back at the episode of CSI: Miami (not a series renown for its sophisticated plots), the gold thieves were real professionals!

As to the rest of the episode, Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) grows irritating while Marcus Bell (Jon Michael Hill) is actually allowed to show powers of observation. That he just happens to be in the right hospital out of all the hospitals in New York is just one of these felicitous coincidences scriptwriters love. Other than this, we get to see Clyde is still alive. I’m relieved. Or perhaps members of PETA threatened CBS and forced this brief proof of life appearance. Inspector Gregson (Aidan Quinn) also makes an appearance to justify his pay cheque. And finally, we have a Miss Hudson appear on the scene. Well, I use the words cautiously. Just as we have changed the sex of Dr Joan Watson (Lucy Liu), we’ve now gone even further out on a limb with a post-op transsexual. Of all the people to play the Hudson role, the producers selected Candis Cayne. One way of looking at this casting is to see it as a magnificent gesture to normalise society’s view of the LGBT community. Too often, they are the victims of prejudice and discrimination. So a role like this in a high-profile television show is a good first step to confront the phobic response. Except I fear this will be a one-off. Rather in the same way that Marcus Bell’s role is marginalised, I suspect we will rarely get to see this Miss Hudson. Why? Because Candis Cayne is too beautiful and successful in the transition. It’s unlikely we will see her in the background cleaning up after Holmes. She’s not a background person. I would have had faith in this gesture to gender equality if the person chosen to play the role was less successful and Holmes was, in effect, offering a sanctuary for someone who might be finding it difficult to survive in a hostile world. This woman is pursued by her lover. She doesn’t really need the help. I may be wrong but I’m prepared to bet we never see her again which is a shame. The LBGT community needs sensitive exposure on mainstream television. It’s an affirmation of their normality and the actors can become positive role models for people considering their own gender identity. I think CBS has blown a good chance to make a positive statement. So for all the reasons given, Elementary: Snow Angel is a very poor episode.

For the reviews of other episodes, see:
Elementary: Season 1, Episode 1. Pilot (2012)

Categories: TV and anime Tags: Aidan Quinn, Arthur Conan Doyle, Déjà Vu All Over Again, Elementary, Jon Michael Hill, Jonny Lee Miller, Lucy Liu, murder, mystery, Sherlock Holmes

Comments (4) Trackbacks (6) Leave a comment Trackback

George

April 10, 2013 at 5:04 am

Reply

Yeah, this episode pretty much lost me with the question “Why did the thieves wait till the night of the storm?” Made zero sense. And yes, this will probably turn out to be a waste of Mrs. Hudson, just as the show has wasted the “Baker Street Irregular.”
- David Marshall
  
  April 10, 2013 at 10:43 am
  
  Reply
  
  It’s so frustrating that the team behind the show has good instincts but such poor execution.
Buddy2Blogger

April 10, 2013 at 6:27 am

Reply

Agree with your thoughts. Still I felt this was one of the better episodes due to the sense of humor in some of the scenes.

If it is fine with you, I would like to reblog your post and share it with my readers.

B2B.
- David Marshall
  
  April 10, 2013 at 10:42 am
  
  Reply
  
  It’s probably an age and cultural differences between us but I saw no humour in any scene. I wish I had. It would have lifted my depression.
  
  Thank you for asking. Yes you can reblog the post.

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