Elementary Season 5 Episode Guide:
5.01 "Foile a Deux" - Review!
5.02 "Worth Several Cities - Review!
5.03 "Render, and then Seize Her" - Airs October 23
5.04 "Henny Penny the Sky is Falling" - Airs October 30
5.06 "To Catch a Predator Predator" - Airs November 6
5.07 "Ill Tidings" - Airs November 13
Elementary 5.02 "Worth Several Cities - Review:
Elementary's second episode thrust Sherlock and Joan headlong into two different situations, putting them against different number of threats that included a gang leader, the People's Republic of China and Taiwan. So quite the plot-heavy episode, but it was interesting to see how the case was wrapped up with the duo getting plenty to do this time around.
Let's start with the gang leader though, whose name is El Halcoln (Jon Huertas), and he's kidnapped Sherlock in order to find out who killed their go-to smuggler Ray Torres as well as three of their men. Joan isn't too keen on him working with the gang but Sherlock needs to find the name of a heroin dealer who's been selling products that have a deadly consequence for one of his friends, and the gang could have the connections that he needs, so he takes the case for El Halcoln, and Joan is able to understand that they will come under attack from the gang if they don't solve the case for them. However because of this it likely means that they won't remain in the police's good books.
Torres himself it turns out managed to get in far over his head with the smuggling and it turns out that The Jade Seal of China has been found in his possession and it is something that hasn't been found in over a thousand years. Understandably this is going to attract a lot of attention from buyers and during a meeting with Shinwell, Joan is offered fifty million dollars by the Taiwanese Government for its recovery. The People's Republic of China is ready to go one bigger, and like the Taiwanese Government, presents their offer unofficially, but is willing to table a billion dollars for its recovery. Despite the big-money offers Joan rejects the bid from Taiwan because she knows it will lead to increased international tensions.
Sherlock ends up meeting up with El Halcoln after ignoring his calls for update requests. He provides the gang leader with information that he thinks he knows who's responsible, in the form of Wayne Vach (Ron Riffkin), an Asian artifact collector, who has a restraining order on Sherlock following an earlier encounter. It turns out that the gang have gone one step too far for Sherlock on the name of the drug dealer who Sherlock told them to find, by killing him, and to make matters worse, they've now given him an ultimatum. Sherlock and Joan have two days to find the man responsible or they'll end up like the dealer.
Sherlock ends up in a meeting with Vach after going to the hacker group known as "Everyone" and Vach tells them that although he was interested in the seal, he actually won it in an auction and wants to find out what happened to it as badly as Sherlock does, providing them him with proof of the auction papers. However it isn't long before another lead is presented through Sherlock's contact, in the form of the Densham Museum, which had been looking to get something like the Seal in the past and to make things more interesting David Densham had been on a visit to China recently, but it seems like Sherlock isn't the only one who's aware of Densham's involvement, as the man is dead before they can get to him.
It eventually is revealed that despite Vach's claims that he was innocent it turns out that he was indeed responsible for the murders and eventually ends up agreeing a deal with Sherlock to protect him from the wrath of El Halcoln, who is still there looking for blood. Sherlock doesn't have proof but is able to work together a confession regardless, which is probably a smart move for Vach if he wants to stay alive.
Shinwell is quickly shaping up to be a returning regular who's looking to reform his life as an ex-con and his developing friendship with Joan is an interesting one. Joan herself is willing to see if she can help Shinwell like she helped Sherlock in the past and Shinwell is looking to re-integrate back into society as an ex-con. One thing that was oddly noticeable when the Taiwanese Government seeemingly knew both of Joan's location and her Chinese name, Yun Jing Yi - Joan didn't follow it up or seem overly alarmed about that. But then again there were more pressing matters at hand and it isn't surprising to see that brushed aside so easily. However the Shinwell plot kind of suffered due to the heavy focus of the main case of the week and could have been pushed back a week because there was so much more material going on in the main storyline, which let's face it, was one of the best cases that Elementary's had in a while. However due to the nature of this show being a CBS police procedural it did feel kind of rushed, but at the same time it still really impressed.
As it stands though there's plenty of potential for Shinwell's story to progress, and it'll be interesting to see what direction the writers take it going forward. So far it's still very early stages though as this show usually boasts a lot of episodes per season. On the whole there's a lot of promising signs for Season 5 and it looks as though the show is heading in the right direction. We'll find out tonight where we go next. In the meantime let me know what you thought of Worth Several Cities in the comments section below.
Overall Episode Verdict: B
Positives:
+Sherlock working for the gang.
+Interesting main plot.
Negatives:
-Main plot felt a bit rushed.
-Shinwell storyline, while decent, could have been pushed back an episode.
