Review of Elementary Episode 2.19 "The Many Mouths of Andrew Colville": "Kicked in the Teeth"

 

The latest episode of Elementary offers an unlikely scenario that manages to work reasonably well, though the coincidence-heavy elements of the episode detract somewhat from its success. We begin with a textbook instance of Holmes (Johnny Lee Miller) reading the evidence to explain that a highly suspicious looking situation in a morgue (corpse with a human bite lying on the floor) is actually merely accidental death, not murder. Whether someone standing on an autposy table and falling could in fact manage ot land on a corpse's mouth just right to plant what looks like a human bite on his body is debatable, I think, but it's certainly an outrageous enough idea that I'll give it a pass, especially since the main plot does not depend on this device. Besides, it's always fun to watch the ratiocinative process in action.

The main plot does, however, depend on the fact of the accident creating apparent evidence of a killer who bites his victims to bring into the orbit of the investigation another cop investigating two killings involving a snapper. Though this case is unrelated, the new case sets in motion the episode, as Watson (Lucy Liu) recognizes the MO of such killings from the case of Andrew Colville a decade ago, a serial killer who bit his victims. This gives Watson a metaphorical kick in the teeth, as, coincidentally, she was one of the doctors who worked on Colville when he died, and now she wonders whether she and fellow surgeon Dr. Jonathan Fleming (Bruce Altman) let an innocent man die on the operating table. Watson, of course, knew who Colville was, and Fleming, to her recollection, made dogdy calls during the surgery, the upshot of which was Colville's death. Watson expends a lot of energy in the episode angsting over this situation and investigating Fleming to try to figure out whether he's some sort of surgical angel of death. This turns out to be a red herring, thankfully, as it was a plot element that did not work particularly well for me. Watson's compassion and morality are important aspects of her character, but as Holmes repeatedly reminds her during the episode, she did nothing wrong. Her willingness to engage in dodgy ethical violations to try to determine whether Fleming also did so (albeit in a more serious way) is ironic, perhaps, but also a bit much.

The problem with the main plot is how the bite marks of the current crimes could match the bite
marks ten years ago--and they do--since bite marks are pretty hard to duplicate. If the bite marks matched Colville's mouth, how can these new murders be committed by him, since he's dead? Was there some mistake with the forensic evidence in the past? Is the killer still out there? (And if so, why a ten-year fallow period? The episode never really has anyone consider this question). This is the poser Holmes and Watson must try to solve.

As it turns out, Colville's teeth served as the model for dentures made for several prisoners by a kindly prison dentist, so there could indeed be another killer out there with Colville's teeth--and maybe, the real killer was wearing Colville dentures when he did the deed (shades of Thomas Harris's Red Dragon, albeit lacking that novel's gothic psycho-sexual undertones). Tracking down the records proves difficult, however, so Holmes must turn to internet hacker group Everyone again, leading to the episode's most amusing moments, when Holmes must publicly humiliate himself by taking punches in the street and by re-enacting songs from Frozen, complete with drag costume (sadly, we are not treated to this spectacle). This leads to another red herring, involving a former inmate with the requisite choppers.

Instead of the more obvious solution of another convicted felon with dentures being the murderer, the resolution depends on the highly unlikely scenario of Colville's mother learning of the dentures, having a set of Colville dentures manufactured based on his dental records, and using them to mark victims she herself murders, in order to create the possibility for a civil suit over her son's wrongful conviction and death. This resolution does have the benefit of not being predictable, giving the eepisode a satisfying additional twist, but on th eother handit scores pretty low on the plausibility scale. It also depends on Holmes's own willingness to violate ethical codes, as he illegally obtains the murder dentures and lies about how he got them. If the episode is trying with this plot point and the question of Watson's culpability in the death of Colville (who we definitevely learn was in fact guilty, as Fleming reveals that Colville confessed with his dying breath, though he asserts that he will never admit to having said so, as his knowledge of Colville's guilt could be used to question whether he deliberately allowed Colville to die) to make some ironic points about justice and taking the law into one's own hands, it is doing so less effectively here than it has in other episodes. This is a dilemma the show has explored before, and it need not find ways to do so in every episode.

Overall, then, I'd rank this as a middling episode of Elementary. That still makes it entertaining, but it's not up to the best the show has to offer, in my opinion. But what's your opinion? How did you like the episode? Let me know in the comments below.