Elementary: Season 2

Im still really enjoying the show for crime of the week, also just realized the new chick was in GoTG

They are doing good work with the plots and lines with a good balance between the investigations and the personal lives, Jonny Lee Miller is riveting in the part of Holmes as he delivers a total package (line delivery, posture, movements, facial expressions) that still entertains after 50+ episodes and the duo with Lucy Liu works very well. In this 3rd season I also enjoy the addition of the protegee to revitalize the dynamics and provide a new character to explore. Good show!

I had to be talked into watching this show, but I found I really enjoyed it and ended up binging to catch up to the third season. I usually hate "* of the week" crap, but they keep enough character progression and ongoing storyline in every episode that it's still engaging.

Pros:

Lucy Liu as Watson actually works really well, they have a great dynamic
Ditto the whole Moriarty/Adler thing, I'm usually pretty good at picking up twists but I didn't see that one coming, and their dynamic is likewise excellent
Main actor is great as Sherlock. Very different take on the character to Cumberbatch, to the point where I don't think they can or should be compared, but he pulls it off pretty well (other than the tattoos, which seem 100% out of character for Holmes, even a modernized, Americanized version).

Cons:

Too much focus on murders, it gets a bit grim after a while. Surely there can be some cool crimes for Sherlock to solve that don't involve tons of people getting killed?
Sherlock's analytical capacities seem like an informed ability, instead of going into details on the way he sees the world differently from the other people around him, they just have him whine about how much it sucks seeing the world differently than those around him. They show the conclusions he reaches but don't go into detail about how he reaches them.
While they pulled of Watson/Moriadler really well, I really don't like their take on Mycroft. Not sure what bothers me about it, but I hate his character.
Too much focus on the addiction, especially since they take such a strict 12 step AA style philosophy towards it (which is absurdly unrealistic for all but a small minority of addicts, and especially for someone likes Holmes).
The pandering to the American audience. "New York and London are targets for terrorists because they'reBastions of Freedom".... I mean yeah that's somewhat paraphrased, but come on, really? Also the whole thing about Holmes being a text acronym enthusiast.
Watching it on a smaller screen at a distance makes it impossible to read the bloody texts. There's a reason the BBC version would have the texts sprawled/subtitled on the screen.

You'd think with that pro/con ratio I'd be turned off by the series, but I still find myself really enjoying it.

Kindofadullseasontheworstpartoftheshowisallthefuck ingmumblingthatmakesitapainintheasstowatch.

I watch this show for Lucy Liu's legs, which they like to show off a lot.

But seriously, the murder of the week can sometimes be boring that I end up just side watching it while browsing something else on the net like this forum.
Nevertheless still enjoy it quite a lot.

Holy shit, best episode of the series last night. I will freely admit I got all weepy.

I'll miss you, Kitty. I thought you were going to be a lame addition to the show, but if Watson had left instead of you I'd been okay with that.

Xenrauk_sl said:

I watch this show for Lucy Liu's legs, which they like to show off a lot.

Click to expand...

Used to show a lot of. Season 2 was a Liu tights fest...every episode was tights. Now? Old bare legs.

Bleh.

So apparently John Noble, AKA walter from fringe, is going to be playing his father next season. Noble is fantastic

Hopefully contractual obligations for this will keep him from being on Sleepy Hollow ever again. That show did a full 180 into utter crap in season 2 it was a severe waste of his talent.

John Noble played the colonial guy and his witch wife's son who was born after he was put in deep freeze for 200 years.

It should me mentioned that this show does not reach brilliant territory because it is pretty formulaic, but it is very good. The weekly cases are often clever and tackle interesting subjects in a reasonably smart way and the personal life / case solving balance is good. Add some good dialogues and good performances by the leads (though I find the delivery of the captain very strange) and you get something that is well worth watching.

This last season felt a bit like something you get after a writer's strike. I wouldn't say it wasn't good...it was just off. Every week I expected a story arc to kick off, then it kinda did, then went away, then he's on heroin again.

I could watch Johnny Lee Miller play Sherlock all day long though.

hate that he is using again, next season is probably going to be depressing as hell.

they had several good side stories going, but they all seemed to resolve fairly quickly.

Natalie Dormer's career doesn't seem to be as hot as it was, so maybe Moriarty will start to play a bigger role.

was looking at imdb, it is amazing how few regulars are on the show, once you get passed the main 4
of 72 shows, Kitty 12, the M.E. 8, Mycroft/Alfredo 7 and Moriarty with 6 (think 2 of those were just voice overs)

I agree witb johnny lee miller killing it every episode. If it wasnt for him I wouldnt tune in every week

I love this show for Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu's legs, but the cases are often a bore. I think the problem is that they have to craft relatively elaborate crimes in order to be a challenge for Sherlock. But I suspect they go way over the head of the general viewing audience.