I've long been a fan of multi-part episodes of a television series. It gives the creative team the time to produce a more complex, intriguing plot, while giving their characters more depth and a more challenging situation to overcome. And finally, most series almost always undergo significant change among the storylines and characters.
Thursday sees CBS's Elementary screen an episode nothing short of superb that concludes the two part event that kicked off last week. Titled "The One That Got Away", it is written by series creator Robert Doherty and directed by Seith Mann, one of the series' most experienced directors. That track record pays off with the episode bringing together everything the series is renowned for - the excellent writing and directing, the intelligent, well composed storyline, the outstanding Jonny Lee Miller and the classy Lucy Liu, and have created one of the finest episodes the series has seen.
The hour kicks off in past tense - 8 months to be precise - in New Scotland Yard. We see Kitty Winter discussing a case she has been investigating with Detective Inspector Davies concerning the abduction of a young boy several months prior. Kitty is clearly unhappy with the investigation but her own research is rebuffed by Davies and departs, but not before running into Sherlock Holmes in the carpark. That is where the story of Sherlock and Kitty begins.Several more flashbacks present themselves throughout the hour, and viewers with a keen eye will understand how well they fill in a few holes left unplugged from prior episodes this season. In present tense, Holmes and Watson along with Captain Gregson and Detective Bell continue pressing forward with the difficult investigation with Watson's boss a prime suspect, as we learned in the final moments of last week's episode.
Things don't get any easier for Kitty, who continues to deteriorate as the case gets to her. Not for the first time this season she attempts to seek closure, but this doesn't work out the way anyone could have foreseen. This is the catalyst for one of the most powerful scenes in Elementary's history, between the master Sherlock and protégé Kitty, with the performances by Jonny Lee Miller and Ophelia Lovibond absolutely stunning.
The hour closes with one of the series' - and this season's - most emotional scenes, with beautiful dialog thrown in too. Morals are heavily tested, and you might just learn a new way to break into someone's house. A particular chemical featured earlier this season also resurfaces. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out Elementary's ratings on my TV ratings website, www.seriesmonitor.com/elementary. Share your thoughts and theories in the comments below, and ask me any questions in the comments below!
"The One that Got Away" airs Thursday, January 29, 10|9c, on CBS.
Jimmy
Wow wow wow.
ReplyDeleteI CAN"T WAIT FOR THIS!!
It's a fantastic episode. You'll love it!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love JLM's Sherlock. If this one has his best scene yet it is safe to say this is a special one.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Miller is my favorite Sherlock of them all by a significant margin. He is absolutely excellent in this episode.
ReplyDeletethanks for the preview and I cannot wait.... I recall the skepticism about this show when it first came out, but it and JLM's portrayal of SH, and the show's take on the modernized version has quickly become a fave due to the writing and the performances and this gives me much to look forward to next week!
ReplyDeleteyou're not playing with us right? LOL it's amazing?
ReplyDeleteI guess you cannot confirm or deny if Kitty is leaving NYC
ReplyDeleteFantastic show. Cant wait for it. Screw Sherlock, this show is the bomb
ReplyDeleteand is alive
ReplyDeleteI can tell you she pretends to leave...
ReplyDeleteoh but she doesn't leave, hopefully? and will we be able to relax during the episode or is it all high stakes?
ReplyDeleteHigh stakes no, but gripping, yes.
ReplyDeleteoof somehow gripping is better than high stake LOL
ReplyDeletecan't wait!! i really hope kitty will gone after this ep. i'm so exited to see this !
ReplyDeleteSo excited for this episode! I figure Kitty takes a break after this episode, she's not mentioned in the press releases for the next few episodes. But I do hope she returns after a while. I think she's a really great addition to the show, and would not be against her getting upped to a series regular next season.
ReplyDeletesame here
ReplyDeleteI've loved her as well. Her story is a pretty powerful one, as you'll see on Thursday night
ReplyDeleteIs Ophelia leaving the show?
ReplyDeleteIf JLM doesn't get nominated for *some* damned acting award one of these days, it'll be a complete travesty. .... He does have an Olivier award, which is nice. But seriously. His tv work has long been fantastic. To be capable of the dramatic intensity and the comedy he incorporates into a single character like this. Stunning.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love this arc with Kitty having similar explosive intensity to Holmes and Holmes having to deal with that. The morgue scene in the last episode, where she tells him he doesn't have a hope of understanding her -- wow. I was so riveted on their faces on first viewing that I didn't even notice how he looked at his hand when he was explaining to her that she may have only thought she broke her rapists' hand. Seems as if he is looking back again into his bullied life and remembering the episode where his tendons got ripped in the same way. So they have a history of abuse in common, too, to at least some degree. I've been happy with the Kitty character all along, but the payoff here has been fabulous so far, and now you've got me way too excited for Thursday.
Well, they've playing the Doyle story fairly straight (in terms of its broad outlines, at least), so something very very explosive has to happen with Kitty by the end of the next episode. I kind of assume that will take her out of the scene for a while, at least. But she doesn't die in Doyle, so she probably won't die here. And that means they could always pull her back. I think they're leaving as many characters as they can for possible returns down the line, and I would think she'd be one of them. We weren't actually told that Sebastian Moran died, for instance, only that he was at death's door. But people have returned from death's door.
ReplyDeleteOf course I even hope that part of the reason they showed Holmes hallucinating Alistair after his death is to leave the door open for an Alistair return in flashback and as a presence in Sherlock's head again.....So maybe I'm too much of a wishful thinker. Still, he knew Sherlock from the time Sherlock was a child -- so there could easily be a use for him in some revitalization of an old Sherlock mystery, or, especially, in the story line when they get around to unfolding the tale of the Holmes brothers and their father, the Lovecraftian horror who's less valuable than a Tic-tac.
Agree entirely on what you say about JLM. He is one of the world's finest actors.
ReplyDeleteAnd Kitty's introduction and development has been excellent. She's brought out a new side in all the other leads which has been great to see
You'll have to tune in on Thursday to find out!
ReplyDelete"one of the most powerful scenes in Elementary's history" Really? They already have set very high standards so that should be very very good !
ReplyDeleteI am always impressed with Jonny Lee Miller's acting.
His body language as Sherlock is just incredible. I am amazed by it every episodes.
And I have to say, Lovibond has been up to the task. She was outstanding in thursday's episode's last scene.
Mte. I love Kitty and what she brings into the dynamics of the show. I'd love for her to stay.
ReplyDeleteJust when I think this show can't possibly get better it just does. No doubt the best writers and actors on TV. I would rather see Elementary than rent a movie
ReplyDelete