Elizabeth Marvel | Thinking about books

Elementary: Season 2, Episode 10. Tremors (2013)

December 7, 2013 David Marshall 4 comments

This review discusses the plot so, if you have not already watched this episode, you may wish to delay reading this.

Elementary: Season 2, Episode 10. Tremors (2013) starts us off with an inquiry into whether Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) “screwed up”. That’s technical jargon used by someone who might actually be a judge, but not in the federal or state sense of the word. Nevertheless, even though Judge Brewster O’Hare (Frankie Faison) might, in Holmes’ eyes, have an equivocal status, it’s his allotted task to decide whether the “screw up” was of sufficient magnitude to justify a formal order being made to ban the dynamic duo from ever working for the NYPD again. So, again using technical jargon, this hearing is no small potatoes and, more importantly, it proves the development of a more formal narrative arc between this season’s episodes. In the first season, there was little effort made to develop characters or to build a metanarrative. Although we did get to see glipses into the lives of Captain Tobias Gregson (Aidan Quinn) and Detective Marcus Bell (Jon Michael Hill), with one exception, they were always rather perfunctory. The exception was an episode giving prominence to Bell’s background and a chance to meet his brother. Otherwise, we were in typical US television series land with standalone episodes, too short in length to allow for character development in more than the two leads.

We see a significant shift of emphasis this season. The scriptwriters have finally decided to explore the real dynamics in the relationship first between Holmes and Dr Joan Watson (Lucy Liu) through the arrival of Mycroft, and between Holmes and the NYPD. It would be a facile approach to assume everything should always be sunshine and light between the emerging partners in detection. Holmes is self-absorbed and antisocial. Watson has more empathy and prefers to work co-operatively with others. At first, their relationship was relatively equal insofar as she controlled his life as a sober companion. This is not to say they were actually equal because Holmes’ personality is always to test boundaries, or to ignore boundaries when he considers he has a higher moral purpose to fulfill. Whatever his faults, and they are many, he’s always been her intellectual superior. When her role as sober companion ended and she signed up for this crash course in how to be a detective, the practical equality was abandoned. She became a guest in his home, giving up her own home. She became dependent on him financially. As a “student”, she followed his lead when it came to developing investigative skills. This is not a comfortable basis on which to build mutual trust and respect.

Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller)

It has been the same with the NYPD. No-one can deny the case closing record of the man and, subsequently, of the duo. In practical terms, they have become indispensable to the police. But there’s a cost because Holmes has little interest in the law, particularly as it applies to the collection of evidence and the conduct of interviews. By his lights, the ends justify the means. Hence, whether he’s saving the innocent from wrongful arrest or bringing the guilty to book, he’s feels entitled to break into people’s homes and offices, conduct unauthorised forensic tests, and bully people whether as suspects or members of the NYPD. This is a real problem because the police must always work around his illegal methods. If evidence might be tainted by the manner of its collection, other corroborating evidence must be independently sourced. If an interview might be excluded because Holmes interrupted it and failed to follow protocol, work must be repeated and reports written to explain the reason. If Holmes was more of a team player, the police officers would take the occasional irritation from Holmes. But he fairly consistently shows nothing but contempt for them. In previous episodes, we’ve seen resentment surface. This episode sees the relationship almost fractured because Marcus Bell is wounded in defending Holmes from attack by an outraged private citizen.

The structure of this episode is particularly pleasing because it buries the murder investigation inside the judicial inquiry into Holmes’ behaviour. For once, we’re allowed a proper chance to broaden the perspective of the script and to explore the different sets of relationships between Watson and the others, and between Holmes and the others. The two pleasing features that emerge from this are the real sense of guilt displayed by Holmes, and the protectiveness of Watson and Gregson who offers the advice, “Be nice in court. It’s the smart play.” The exchange with Cassandra Walker (Elizabeth Marvel), the attorney conducting the inquiry is interesting. He has recognised her as a recovering addict like himself and, as an obsessive and addictive person, he does his best to tell her that the world does not always work in ways the majority understand. Unfortunately, the fact she can empathise with him and invite him to an AA meeting is an admission of the limits of the bridges he can build. The relationships with others will always tend to be at arm’s length because he feels vulnerable if they get too close. Put another way, his ability to function is now threatened by the extent of the guilt he feels that Bell has potentially become one of his “victims”. He probably judges himself more harshly than Judge O’Hare ever can. That he exacerbated the problem by delaying the visit to Bell in hospital simply confirms the extent of his dysfunctionality. I’m now actually looking forward to the next 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, Elementary, Elizabeth Marvel, Frankie Faison, Jon Michael Hill, Jonny Lee Miller, Lucy Liu, murder, mystery, Sherlock Holmes

Thinking about books

Archive

Elementary: Season 2, Episode 10. Tremors (2013)

Random Posts

Categories

Blogroll

Archives

Meta

Thinking about books

Archive

Elementary: Season 2, Episode 10. Tremors (2013)

Share this:

Random Posts

Tag Cloud

Categories

Blogroll

Archives

Meta