First season of Elementary sneaks onto store shelves
What is it? Elementary, Season 1, 24 episodes on six disks from CBS Home Entertainment How much? $55.98 When? Now (Season 2 starts Sept. 26) A series set in a school with lots of young children? Nope. Few children to be found here — childish behavior, perhaps, but few children.
Instead, this is an updated, transplanted series about Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller). You know, “Elementary, my dear Watson”? He’s not a Victorian-era detective living at 221B Baker St. in London anymore. Now he’s a consultant for the NYPD living in a New York brownstone. He’s still British, however.
See, he used to do consulting work for Scotland Yard. But a drug addiction and possibly some other mysterious troubles sent him to New York.
Holmes is a genius with incredible powers of deduction and observation. He loves solving crimes and, thanks to his background, money isn’t much of an issue so he does his work pro bono. Captain Gregson (Aidan Quinn) is happy to enlist Holmes’ help, though his underling Marcus Bell (Jon Michael Hill) isn’t quite as pleased with the arrangement.
When we meet Holmes, he’s fresh out of rehab. His very wealthy (and very disapproving) father back in England isn’t taking any chances with his son’s recovery, so he hires a “sober companion” to live with him, monitor his progress, and keep him on the straight-and-narrow.
That companion? Dr. Joan Watson (Lucy Liu). Naturally.
She’s a former surgeon who left the medical field when she lost a patient. She has been searching for a new purpose in life ever since. She may have found it in Holmes because she begins to discover she has an affinity for detective work.
As much as they can drive each other crazy with their differing opinions on sobriety and appropriate behavior, Holmes and Watson do establish a (platonic) bond, becoming real friends and partners as time goes on.
So, Watson watches and assists while clues like a bag of rice, a slanted floor, a broken window and radio station reception lead Holmes to various nefarious baddies.
And other characters from Holmes’ canon make appearances in some surprising ways. Is it good? It’s not fabulous, but it’s good enough.
The thing is, if you strip away the modern-day Holmes novelty, this show isn’t all that much different from others you’ve seen recently. Monk, Psych, The Mentalist — all share some definite similarities with the adventures of Holmes & Co.
While the mysteries have some big twists, they’re not necessarily better or more complicated than the cases you’d see on any of the dozens of other procedurals on the tube.
As for Holmes, he’s hyperactive and mostly lacking in interpersonal skills. He can be funny and endearing, but he can also be annoying, depending on your tastes and mood. And at times, his shtick is so studiously oddball that it comes off as affected and “cutesy.”
Are there extras? There are three featurettes on the series and characters, as well as a set tour with Liu, eight minutes’ worth of Elementary promos, and five short behindthe-scenes segments (plus one preview) that were previously posted online.
New this week: Arrow, Season 1; Bates Motel, Season 1; C.S.I., Season 13; Grimm, Season 2; Leverage, Season 5; The Mentalist, Season 5; Nashville, Season 1.
Next week: 2 Broke Girls, Season 2; Foyle’s War, Season 7; Hannibal, Season 1; Hawaii Five-0, Season 3; Law & Order: SVU, Season 14; Modern Family, Season 4; The Neighbors, Season 1; South Park, Season 16; Two and a Half Men, Season 10.