Jonny Lee Miller
Lucy Liu
Aidan Quinn
Jon Michael Hill

Created by:
Robert Doherty

2012-
Crime, Drama, Mystery
CBS
TV-14

(Written while watching the second season)

“Elementary” is a good police-detective procedural that revolves around an updated Sherlock Holmes and, in this case, Joan (not John) Watson. Jonny Lee Miller plays Sherlock, and Lucy Liu plays Watson. There’s a case each week, and the show charts Sherlock’s struggle (in his own way) to overcome drug addiction; Watson is a former doctor who’s his sober companion. Sherlock also deals with his relationships with people from his past, including his father, brother, and former love and current nemesis, Jamie Moriarty aka Irene Adler, who’s played by Natalie Dormer. The second season adds a former Scotland Yard detective colleague, Gareth Lestrade (played by Sean Pertwee), who made his name by taking credit for Sherlock’s work.

There’s nothing about “Elementary” that’s surprising stylistically or thematically, but the combination of the Holmes universe with that of a police procedural is entertaining enough. It’s easy to watch and has just enough smarts and threads of relationship-building to be worthwhile; the larger narrative develops fairly nicely.

“Elementary” isn’t something to rave about, but it gets the job done. The actors (including Aidan Quinn, Jon Michael Hill, and Rhys Ifans) are uniformly solid, and Miller puts his own stamp on Holmes. There isn’t much more to say about it.

Verdict: Good

About: (Source: elementary)

ELEMENTARY stars Jonny Lee Miller as detective Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson in a modern-day drama about a crime-solving duo that cracks the NYPD’s most impossible cases. Following his fall from grace in London and a stint in rehab, eccentric Sherlock escapes to Manhattan where his wealthy father forces him to live with his worst nightmare – a sober companion, Dr. Watson. A successful surgeon until she lost a patient and her license three years ago, Watson views her current job as another opportunity to help people, as well as paying a penance. However, the restless Sherlock is nothing like her previous clients. He informs her that none of her expertise as an addiction specialist applies to him and he’s devised his own post-rehab regimen – resuming his work as a police consultant in New York City. Watson has no choice but to accompany her irascible new charge on his jobs. But Sherlock finds her medical background helpful, and Watson realizes she has a knack for playing investigator. Sherlock’s police contact, Capt. Tobias “Toby” Gregson, knows from previous experience working with Scotland Yard that Sherlock is brilliant at closing cases, and welcomes him as part of the team. With the mischievous Sherlock Holmes now running free in New York solving crime, it’s simple deduction that he’s going to need someone to keep him grounded, and it’s elementary that it’s a job for Watson.