When I first heard about CBS’s Elementary, I was already a fan of the BBC’s Sherlock. I didn’t have the same hair-trigger knee-jerk reaction that a good portion of the Sherlock fandom had at the time (and continues to have to this day). I sort of rolled my eyes and decided to wait it out. Maybe it would be interesting and maybe it wouldn’t. Only time would tell. I took an interest in the statements made by Sherlock producer Sue Vertue about the show and its relationship with Sherlock (namely that the CBS producers had tried and failed to secure rights for a US-based remake of Sherlock), and the show piqued my curiosity even more when Lucy Liu was cast as Joan Watson. It rose in my interest as last summer went by, and by the time a brief preview of the show had come out, I’d decided that it would at the least be worth checking out for the first couple of weeks.
I got hooked by the pilot alone. Elementary’s Sherlock is a recovering heroin addict, and former surgeon Joan Watson is his sober companion, assigned to stay with him for several weeks post-rehab and make sure he doesn’t start using again. The show is based in New York City rather than London, and Sherlock works with the NYPD as a consultant, solving murders with a Captain Gregson and Detective Bell. While the cases are for the most part pretty typical of most American procedurals, the characters are by far what makes the show worth watching.
Joan and Sherlock’s relationship is a prickly one, but they often have moments of connection that demonstrate their growing friendship. Joan is definitely one of the standouts in the cast for me, at least, largely because she consistently refuses to put up with all the crap Sherlock dishes out at her. When he pisses her off, she confronts him about it. She helps him but she doesn’t hold his hand. And from the beginning she proves herself a more than capable investigative companion for Sherlock.
Jonny Lee Miller’s Sherlock Holmes is the same insufferable genius as he is in most every adaptation, though I find Miller’s interpretation a bit warmer than the cold detachment seen in Sherlock‘s Benedict Cumberbatch. Nevertheless, Miller fits the character well, and the chemistry he has with Liu works well for the characters, even if Sherlock is more closed off to Joan than open. Sherlock’s struggles with his past are palpable when they need to be, and while he is rarely emotional, it’s easy to read what he would be feeling if he cared to show us.
Another thing I love about the show is that it has made almost no overt hints at the possibility of a romance between Joan and Sherlock, which many people assumed was the creators’ reason for making Watson female in this adaptation. In fact, the creators have come out and said that they intend to keep the relationship between the two platonic, a statement that made my heart sing. I love romance as much as the next person, but it is always delightful to see the expectation of it (particularly between lead characters) subverted in favor of friendship. While there’s certainly plenty of subtext for the shippers to read into, that’s true of most shows, and I really like that that was never the intention of Watson’s gender change in this adaptation.
I also like how the show has taken more of a serial-type turn over the last few episodes. Moriarty has only just been introduced, in the devastating, thriller-esque episode “M.” from a few weeks ago, and that episode has in turn introduced several character plotlines that are bound to have bigger consequences as the season continues. Needless to say, I’m invested all the way, and I can’t wait to see what happens in the episodes to come. (I don’t know whether Elementary has been given an early renewal by CBS, but given that they’re touting it as “this season’s #1 new show!” I would say that it’s probably a given.)
A postscript regarding the show’s relationship to Sherlock: I enjoy both shows, and Sherlock is certainly better-written and better-produced than Elementary, something that is probably due to the fact that it has only three writers and only produces three 90-minute episodes per season. While the two shows are the same in that they are modern updates of Sherlock Holmes, they differ in one major respect: Sherlock is essentially an adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original stories–each episode corresponds to an original Doyle tale. Elementary, on the other hand, is more akin to fan stories about a modern Holmes, with new mysteries entirely. And it is very, very easy to watch and enjoy and consider yourself a fan of both shows.
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Well said! It’s good to hear from another fan of both shows who isn’t foaming at the mouth about the differences. I also really like the platonic relationship (though I also really like reading the fanfics those shippers are creating, which confuses me)
I echo Robin, well said! I really enjoy both shows and love certain elements in each. I like it very much they are in now way a mirror of each other; and I do find JLM’s Sherlock more approachable. There isn’t a single character in the show I dislike, and I, too, especially love Joan and her strength. She is just what Sherlock needs; someone who can keep up with him and can call him on his bullshit.