Stephy Watched Elementary: Season One

 I don't guess; I observe. And once I've observed, I deduce.

About/Summary

Elementary is a modern day Sherlock Holmes adaptation that aired from 2012 to 2019. Starring Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu as Joan Watson, the duo assist the New York Police Department in solving various crimes.

Content/Trigger Warnings

Murder

Sexual Assault

Manipulation

Drug Use

Past Drug Addiction

Kidnapping

 

This is a crime drama so, yeah... Lots of crime. Mostly murder.

Characters/Casting 

I fucking adore the casting of this show.  I've been a slight fan of Jonny Lee Miller since I watched Trainspotting as a teenager so when I originally heard he was going to be Sherlock Holmes I was excited to check it out. Was not disappointed. Lucy Liu was perfect as a genderbent version of Dr. Watson.

Atmosphere/Setting

The show takes place in New York City. Mostly in the brownstone that Sherlock lives in with Watson. I want to live in that brownstone. Not with Sherlock, though. He seems like a real shitty roommate. 🤔 Actually, he might be a fun roommate. Yeah. I would live with him.

Adaptation?

Maybe an adaptation? More of an influenced by? Okay, everyone knows who Sherlock Holmes is. And this is a modern retelling. But it doesn't really follow any of the books or stories that well. There are elements and chracters there. But not enough to say it's an adaptation.
 

Plot

 Each episode (for the most part) has a stand alone main plot line, which is just Sherlock trying to solve a crime. Then there is the underlying sub-plot of Watson trying to get Sherlock to open up, which results in the Moriarty plot that shows up in all the Sherlock Holmes things.
 

Costuming

Costuming is pretty basic. Wait. No. That means something not great... Uh... It's simple. Modern era so costuming is sort of easier, I guess. It seems easier than historical costuming, at least. Well, all of it would be easy if you didn't care, but if you're going for accuracy, historical costuming seems more difficult. 

Anyway! This isn't supposed to be me rambling about historical costuming or whatever.

I do love a lot of the outfits Watson and Sherlock wear. The clothes seem to fit their personality types. And I just like them on a personal level.
 

How diverse is it?

It is moderately diverse. One of the main characters is an Asian American woman. One of the main cop characters is African American. So, not a bunch of white dudes at least.

Oh! And we do get a trans character. That isn't a criminal. Nor the butt of a joke.
 

Overall Thoughts 

Major Spoilers Ahead

so, if you don't want shit spoiled for a 12-year-old show, stop reading now.

This is my favorite Sherlock Holmes adaptation/inspired by thing. The others are fine. But this one is better. 🤷

And I love the Moriarty twist. Natalie Dormer needs to play more criminal masterminds because she was fantastic in this. Stop giving me boring white dudes as criminal masterminds. Give me Natalie Dormer.

Watson starts out as a former surgeon turned sober companion and then gives that up to become a consulting detective with Sherlock. I think the arc of her changing jobs was well done.

Not sure what to say that isn't just me gushing about Natalie Dormer and Lucy Liu. So, I think I'll end this one here. Go check out Elementary. It's really good.