Pondering Elementary & ACD canon (snark& spoiler free post)

[neadods]

I've had Elementary stuck in my head for the last couple of days, and not in the ZOMG!WTF? sense. A couple of weeks ago, the show did something I never expected to see - a plot that can not only arguably, but easily be tracked back to Doyle canon.

Moreover, it's canon that Sherlock hasn't referenced and which I rather confidently expected it to next season. The Problem of Thor Bridge may not have the keywords that Moffat and Gatiss have teased us with, but the concept of a love triangle involving an employee and framing a romantic rival for a crime are general enough to be used in a wide variety of applications.

But Elementary got there first. After Moffat making "sue" noises at CBS, will CBS return the favor if Sherlock uses the Thor Bridge framework? And is Elementary planning on doing other canon that Sherlock hasn't yet covered? Technically, isn't even canon that Sherlock has covered fair game?

That's where Elementary's hewing to the original inspiration. But the other thing stuck in my head is the way that Elementary is not only not hewing to canon but breaking entirely new ground. Canon, and Sherlock, made a large subplot about the friendship between two unexpectedly compatible men.

The relationship between Sherlock and Joan in Elementary, as I've bitched often, is about employment. They didn't randomly find each other; she was hired. For a few episodes I got a flicker that maybe Joan would find satisfaction and fascination in Sherlock's job while Sherlock would find that Joan was a friend who didn't need to be paid to like him, and that was how the most famous friendship in literature would be established.

But as the season progresses, only half of that is coming true. Over the course of several episodes Sherlock has started making gestures that show that he's growing to not just tolerate, but like Joan. On the other hand, there's no reciprocation from her. She doesn't seem to enjoy his work, she's said she looks forward to not doing it with him anymore, and she's making quite a few noises along the lines of "disengage, I'm movin' on."

And I've got no idea where they're planning on going with that.

Comments

[tiggerallyn.livejournal.com]

There were a couple of things that I really liked about last night's Elementary.

First, we got to see Holmes as a consulting detective. The case came to him, the police didn't bring him in, and he was working (for large part) in parallel with the police. (However, we didn't avoid murder. I was hopeful for the first half of the episode that we'd have an episode of Elementary without a murder.)

Second, I enjoyed the development of Joan. I liked meeting her family, I liked Holmes' interactions with her family, and I liked the final scene between Joan and her mother. It felt like the series is laying the groundwork for Joan staying on in some capacity once Holmes isn't her client any longer.

Third, I felt like last night's episode was the first episode that was, if not better than Sherlock, at least on par with it.

Fourth, there were several Canonical nods, beyond the "Once you have eliminated the impossible..." quote.

Finally, I think I now know what Elementary will do with the post-Super Bowl episode — introduce Moriarty. The last two weeks it's felt like the show was on the brink of the name Moriarty only then to spin in a different direction. I suspect that's deliberate on the part of the writers; they know that audience will expect to hear "Moriarty" at some point, so they're ramping up the tension until the point when they do.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Third, I felt like last night's episode was the first episode that was, if not better than Sherlock, at least on par with it.

I don't feel the same, but at least the plot didn't have me going "Seriously? SERIOUSLY? Step away from the crack pipe."

I may go back to feeling that if/when they bring in Moriarty. It doesn't help that I loathe Moriarty as a character - in canon, in remakes, in pastiche - I find him tedious and annoying as an entire concept.

(Y'know what I want to see, if they're going to keep putting Irene and Moriarty in the same plots? I want her to play them both, a la Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Canon Irene could and would, and THAT I would love to see!)

[redpanda13.livejournal.com]

You should try John Gardner's Return of Moriarty and Revenge of Moriarty-- if you might like the depiction of a late-Victorian Godfather. Very little of SH in it.

[tempestsarekind.livejournal.com]

Hmm...I would find Joan really unprofessional if she *weren't*, at this stage, trying to disengage from Sherlock - because right now he's still her client, as much as she enjoys the detective work (I don't think that she doesn't enjoy it; I tend to think that she thinks she *shouldn't*, and last night's discussion between her and her mom indicated a possible reason why: she knows she needs to move on).

I don't know what plans they might have for getting around that, but I would find it problematic if she weren't trying to keep a responsible distance between them, at least for now. I like that Joan takes her work seriously.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I like that Joan takes her work seriously, but I wish I could see her being more quietly torn between the need to move on and her fascination with his work. And I'm not seeing any of that.

[tempestsarekind.livejournal.com]

Fair enough! I feel like Joan plays her cards really close to her chest, so I don't really expect to see big displays of emotion from her. (Actually, this is one of the things I really like: that despite his whole 'I don't need people or feelings' stance, JLM's Sherlock is often more overtly emotional and easy to read than Joan.)

[airie-fairy.livejournal.com]

"She doesn't seem to enjoy his work, she's said she looks forward to not doing it with him anymore, and she's making quite a few noises along the lines of 'disengage, I'm movin' on.'"

It actually seems to me like she's getting very engaged in his work (picked up so much investigator stuff and putting it into action and admitting she's drawn to it, though when pressed for a response she'll say of course she doesn't like having to regularly see brutalized corpses), but is trying to remain professional by talking about her responsibilities toward him and the next steps in his recovery beyond her.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

She certainly comes up with as many clues as he does. Part of me loves this, and part of me is "That is so totally not Watson's job." It's as if the Doctor lands on a planet and the companion's the one saving all the people.