Friday, October 5, 2012

Loveable Freak Reviews Elementary-Episode 2: "While You Were Sleeping"


  Last night the newest episode of Elementary aired, titled "While You Were Sleeping".

 This week's mystery is that two half-siblings were killed. But one of the suspects has been in a coma. Three days, in fact. And her twin is not only fraternal, but claims to be innocent. So who's the murderer? (I will give nothing away...)

  First of all, I was really happy that they had an extended version of the theme song. It is awesome! Unfortunately, YouTube doesn't have it up yet. But there was this whole Rube Goldberg machine with guns... and.... and...

  Oh, I've been wanting to use this clip for a while. I... can't resist... It was just...
 
...I regret nothing.
 
*ahem* Anyway, Millerlock seems to be trying to give himself a few more quirks here, a la Downeylock and Cumberlock. For example, he goes to a addicts' meeting and actually hypnotises himself, which personally I find sort of crazy awesome. Personally, I think it's a little better (mostly because it was the quirks of the other two Sherlocks that are part of what drew me to Sherlock Holmes), but I think he still needs time to sort of "grow into" the role.

 Also, I feel I'm starting to see kind of how Millerlock's going to "distinct" himself from the other two (at least, from Cumberlock). To me, he is seeming a bit nicer, at least, more often.... okay, once an episode he seems to do something more human. Mostly because there is a scene where he talks to someone who he deduces is addicted to meth. He suggests to him (privately) that he gets help, even recommending the rehab center he stayed at (at least, I think it was). Which, when you consider the fact he broke out of it but still considered it was helpful, is pretty nice. I don't know if this will be a regular thing with him or if I'm just jumping to conclusions, but that's how I feel right now.

  And he cut down on the overuse of possible British insults! Yay! I was hoping he wouldn't do that all the time...

  Joan Watson is still pretty good here. I like how they're making more use of her medical skill in this show. Like this particular scene where she tests the woman in a coma by holding her arm over her head and dropping it and seeing how her arm moves. (Wow, last week I learned sticking wet electronics in rice helps "save" them, now I learn how to test if someone's really in a coma? I'M LEARNING SO MUCH WATCHING THIS! :D) I loved Sherlock's reaction to her test, particularly the hand slapping the coma victim, also. ("Oh, so I can't stab her in the thigh...")

 And she is definitely not going to put up with some of Holmes's behavior. I liked the part where she tells him (from across the room) she made coffee, and Millerlock holds out his mug, expecting her to just come over and fill it. She tells him to get up and get it himself. Yup, certainly different than Martin Freeman's John Watson (I know I should stop making comparisons between this show and the other, but it's hard when they're what made me fall in love with the stories and characters in the first place), who got Cumberlock his cell phone... from Cumberlock's coat pocket... which was right next to him...

  It seems that the relationship of Holmes and Watson is going to take a while to become friendship. On one hand, I guess that's realistic, but on the other hand, I'm more used to them at least being friends sooner. Again, they say "I'll leave in six weeks" and "we don't have to be friends". But again, he's Holmes, she's Watson. We all know that's not going to happen.

  (Oh, and I read something (not sure how valid it is, Wikipedia and all), that Millerlock and Joan won't get together, it'll remain friendship like it's always been. They even mention that just because they're different genders, it doesn't mean they have to get together (something I've said). I really hope this is so...)

  Anyway, the mystery was another interesting one, and pretty cool like the first.

  There are nods to canon, main ones I noticed were the first appearance of Holmes's violin, and my favorite monologue from A Study in Scarlet, the "the mind is an attic" speech! (which had Joan pricelessly refers to as "the stupidest thing I ever heard". Just as good a reaction as "But it's the solar system!")

  Okay some last minute thoughts:

-I liked that they brought up Joan's reaction to seeing the bodies (mainly why she can't handle seeing them when she used to be a surgeon), something I initially wondered. Her explanation, that it's not the same thing, is sort of what I thought the deal was.

-My favorite scene is when Joan finds Sherlock's old violin, and suggests he plays it to help relieve any stress. He doesn't want to. So what does he do as soon as Watson has her back turned? Set the violin on fire! ("I does work for stress! I felt like Jimi Hendrix!") Relax, he and the violin make amends in the end...

-Why did they repeat the slap line again? You know, the one about how the right side of Millerlock's face is leathery from slaps while the left's smooth? It just seemed redundant.

-Still don't like pop songs (or whatever genre song it was they played) at the end scene. I just feel a lot of detective shows (mostly CBS) I've seen/caught the end of end with some sort of song at the end. What does it really add? Honestly. Oh well, maybe it's just me who finds it cliche...

 Anyway, it was another decent episode. Still needs improvement, mostly from Millerlock, but it's getting better. At least this one I hadn't seen a good portion of the scenes from the trailers, so it was at least newer to me than the pilot was, personally.

 Unfortunately, next Thursday it's pre-empted by politics (Ugh. No me gusta politics. Why couldn't we have taken George Washington's advice and NOT had political parties and stuff?), so there's no episode that day, thus no review. Hmm... maybe next week I'll finally get around to reviewing A Game of Shadows...

  Well, 'til next time!

2 comments:

  1. I love your terminology for the actors - Millerlock, Downeylock...

    Hopefully Millerlock will improve in the upcoming episodes...

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! :) I'm quite proud of my nicknames for them.

      Indeed, I really hope Millerlock gets better, because I really want this show to do better.

      Cheers!

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