With the ending of the series ELEMENTARY they’ve decided to
release both the seventh season as well as the complete series box set. So how
does one write a review on one and not the other? I don’t, instead choosing to
let you know about the last season as well as the complete series. So here
goes.
For those that have missed the entire series shame on you.
This has been one of the better series to appear on TV, a daunting task in the
face of the fact that at the same time you had 2 feature films with Robert
Downey Jr. in the title role and the BBC series SHERLOCK with Benedict
Cumberbatch to contend with. But this series held its own with perhaps one weak
season out of 7. Not an accomplishment to sneeze at.
The series took Watson (Lucy Liu) and recreated the
character for the new century, a woman working with addicts by acting as a
sober companion to them. A former surgeon (whose story we learn later) she’s
been hired to live and work with Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) who is a recovering
heroin addict by his father Morland (John Noble). His addiction was not caused
by the normal needs of most addicts but out of boredom and a need to flex his
mental muscles. Having aided the police in London he now offers his assistance
to the NYPD and Capt. Gregson (Aidan Quinn) in particular. Along with Det.
Marcus Bell (Jon Michael Hill) they solved crimes weekly and along the way
encountered select conspiracies behind that led to threads running through
various seasons.
Eventually Holmes took Watson under his wing, training her
to be as perfect an investigator as he was. She might not quite have achieved
that by the series end but she was as close as one could get. This wonderful
retelling of the Holmes story fit the times and did so without losing any of
the quirkiness or inventiveness of the books written by Arthur Conan Doyle.
Instead they used that as a base and moved from it while retaining all of the
charm, characters and investigative techniques used in those books.
For myself this was one of the shows that I consistently
watched as it aired and was more than happy to watch a second time as they were
released to disc. Having the chance to have the entire series on disc is just
another joy to add to the list of this Holmes fan. If that wasn’t enough the
COMPLETE SERIES box set include 7 hours of extras to watch which will keep fans
busy as well. Ranging from character studies to deleted scenes it is a
collection that fans of the show will consider a must have.
On to the final season. If you’ve been watching then you
know at the end of season 6 Holmes and Watson were forced to go their separate
ways. Holmes basically admitted to a crime he did not commit and those out to
get him allowed Watson to walk away home free. The only condition was that
Holmes leave the US and never enter again.
Season 7 opens with friend and colleague Capt. Gregson being
shot and near death. Holmes caring side comes to play as he sneaks back into
the US to aid in the investigation of who it was that shot Gregson. He
manipulates facts and information he has on hand to get the government to end
their war with him and it isn’t long before he’s allowed to stay.
This sets in motion a season long battle with perhaps
Holmes’ and Watson’s greatest foe, Odin Reichenbach (James Frain). Reichenbach
is a tech genius who is on the verge of releasing a new online service that
will make help the world. But at the same time it will allow him access to
nearly every single person on Earth. What our duo discover, later confirmed by
Reichenbach when he makes them an offer to join him, is that he’s using this
information to prevent crimes before they happen. The way he does this is to
find someone an algorithm determines is potentially going to commit a crime and
then he uses another person in the system to kill them. It was this system that
resulted in the shooting of Capt. Gregson.
Of course the duo turn him down and the rest of the season
in addition to solving crimes with the NYPD they’re trying to find ways to take
down Reichenbach as well. Not an easy task since he has access to every camera,
computer and cell phone at his fingertips.
This storyline was perfect for the series. It tied up the
ends left behind over the years with Joan Watson now having adopted a child,
Holmes being allowed to return to the US, Gregson’s right hand man Det. Bell
being promoted to the position Gregson held and a resolution to the situation
between Holmes and his father. It also left an opening (should CBS decide to do
so) for further adventures down the line if they wanted to make TV movies. I
doubt it will happen but one can hope.
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