Elementary, 1x01 "Pilot"

The pilot episode of Elementary serves as an introduction to a brand new adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's detective icon Sherlock Holmes. The setting changed radically in that the plot is set in New York instead of London what is comprehensible since the production company CBS Production Studios is American as well. Sherlock Holmes, played by Jonny Lee Miller, has suffered from drug-related problems and has come to New York in order to check into a rehabilitation centre before he escapes on his very last day of rehab and moves into one of his father's barely furnished flats in Brooklyn. On that very day, Dr Joan Watson, a former surgeon who has lost her profession due to a patient's death, starts her work as Holmes's sober companion, hired by his father, and has to be his flatmate for the next six weeks. In London, Sherlock has worked as consulting detective for Scotland Yard and now he wants to continue his profession by assisting the NYPD in their cases, either by receiving phone calls or spying on the police radio, accompanied by Watson who he introduces to Captain Toby Gregson as his valet. By using his distinctive and some kind of weird method of investigation, modern technologies such as his smartphone with an additional lense for high-resolution photos and the help and advices of Joan Watson, Holmes solves the promiscuous case of murder of the wife of an psychologist. That crime is so interwoven that even brilliant Sherlock has difficulties to decode the mystery, gets on the wrong track judging from the false clues the true murder has constructed in order to not get caught and, finally, Watson finds the most important detail that leads to the solution.

We as viewers are introduced to the series as witnesses of the crime that is being investigated in the pilot episode of Elementary. Everything is set in slow motion, we see that a red-haired woman is being attacked by a masked man when suddenly the camera becomes shaky and the action rushes while we follow the burglar right behind his steps, chasing the woman to her bedroom where she desperately tries to reach something we cannot see because of our limited perspective. So the viewer is sucked into the plot right from the beginning and does not have any choice to keep his or her distance to the crime that is happening right in front of him or her. In the end it almost seems that we even change positions with the culprit but when the scene reaches its climate the introduction is cut and comes abruptly to an end what leaves us viewers stunned in our chairs, maybe even disturbed.

You can find my detailed analysis of Sherlock Holmes and Joan Watson's characters underneath the cut. Feel free to give me some feedback or do some corrections as well as additions to my analysis. : )

 About Sherlock Holmes:

In Elementary, as far as we can see in the very first episode, Sherlock Holmes is depicted as a high-functioning sociopath with brilliant skills in both observation and deduction. In the beginning it is not clear what kind of drugs he abused in his past and what was the actual trigger for consuming drugs at all but Holmes conceils the circumstances of his rehab and does not want to reveal any emotions connected to that incident. Both, his mind and his appearance, are sharp and work as fast as a computer what is adjuvant to his profession as a consulting detective. He acts intuitively, hectically, and is quickly obsessed by his observations and deductions, not only at work but also at home and in his free time. Boredom is a state he cannot stand at all and therefore he is always looking for crime cases or doing personal researches in order to train his mind and expand his knowledge, the 'science of deduction' as it is called in the original Doyle stories. That special 'Holmes method' appears weird and almost insane to 'normal' people, also to Joan Watson when both meet for the first time and Sherlock instantly concludes that she is a surgeon and owns a car, however, it enables Sherlock to rapidly deduce the clues he observes before and to come to a profound solution. But even Holmes knows that not everything is deducable and that is when modern technologies come into effect to help him getting useful information he cannot get through detailed observation. While Doyle's Holmes consumed drugs for the sake of keeping his brain working in times of boredom, the contemporary Holmes of Elementary needs sex although he resents it because of its sounds and body fluids. The drugs he consumed beforehand in London were not meant to stimulate his brain but to digest a dark past he left in London and he is very secretive about. Nonetheless, thanks to her female intuition, Watson deduces that a woman must have been the trigger of Sherlock's drug abuse since he tries too hard to conceil it and that he is simply afraid of human relationships as long as they are not related to work. His fear of human relationships goes alongside with his sociopathy as well as his inability to read people's mimics and emotions. He can only read what he has learned through years and years of observation training, a training he does by watching several television programmes at a time and the only help for him to adapt social behaviour to some extent. Thus, he can see when somebody lies or is uncertain about one's statements thanks to his or her gestures but he is not conform to usual social behaviour patterns he has not learned yet and becomes impatient. Hence, he loses his temper quickly, a bad treat he is aware of but cannot switch off in situations that irritate him. In fact, Watson turns out to be a great help in being the connecting link between him and other people because of his lack of empathy, especially when questioning a victim, in this case a woman who fell victim to the same murderer as the woman of the crime he is investigating. He gets carried away because he is focused on his goal, namely getting the information he needs to solve the puzzle, and loses his temper when he sees that the victim lies, but Watson interrupts him by raising her voice and sends him back to the car. Contrary to Holmes, she exactly knows how to deal with people in oppressive situations thanks to her profession as a surgeon, plus she is a woman just like the victim, and finally gets the name of the culprit who attacked the victim two years before the present incident. Thus, Watson is not only Sherlock's companion but also a linking element that compensates his lack in social competence. On the other side, it does not keep him from getting into trouble with Watson in situations when he unintentionally hurts her feelings by using harsh or inappropriate words because he does not know any better. Nonetheless, he is not a complete hopeless case, although he seems to be by first impression, because he realises when he did a mistake, tries to work it out again and even apologises. It is obviously a big deal for him to admit failure on his side and arrogance is not a dominant feature contrary to the original Sherlock Holmes and the BBC adaptation.

About Joan Watson:

Dr Joan Watson, the female version of Arthur Conan Doyle's Dr John Watson and played by Lucy Liu, is a former surgeon who gave up her profession after a medical malpractice during one of her surgeries that caused her patient's death. She is an only child and is hired by Sherlock's father to be his sober companion, check his health status and she accompanies him to his work places, namely the scenes of murder. She tries to get closer to Holmes by constantly asking questions about his personal background and his history, thus, she sometimes even takes the role of a therapist who tries to get through a patient. In contrast to the original Holmes stories, there is no Mrs Hudson in Elementary and one might suggest that Joan Watson also fills Mrs Hudson's place since she is not only Sherlock's flatmate but also cares for him and his health, partly because of her duties as a sober companion and partly because she socialises with her 'patient'. That would also perpetuate the female stereotype that includes the urge to care for others and by using Joan Watson as a female companion there is no need for a Mrs Hudson. On the other hand, it is surely uncommon for New York circumstances to have a landlady in multi-party houses. After some time, even in the course of the first episode, Joan unconsciously adopts Sherlock's way of observation and deduction gradually and enjoys working on the murder case to some extent. So she becomes integrated into Holmes's job and an active companion contrary to the original Dr John Watson in Doyle's stories who acts as a mere narrator who collects Sherlock Holmes's cases and adventures in his journal. In Elementary, Holmes even insists on Watson assisting him in his cases and wants to encourage her in improving her skills in observation and deduction. This structure in their relationship is repeated several times more in the course of the series.