Watson’s career change is no mere coincidence. Find out just how deep Kitty’s predator runs in our Elementary season 3, episode 11 recap.
In the opening episode of Elementary Joan says to Sherlock, “It’s so incredible, the way that you can solve people just by looking at them. I noticed you don’t have any mirrors around here.” Recognizing that Sherlock’s ability to examine a parking ticket and deduce that she was visiting a grave yard is nothing short of impressive, she also acknowledges that looking at himself would require him to face a lost cause that cannot be solved.
Flash forward from one day out of rehab to nearly two years later and Sherlock’s past self is a dim shadow of the man he has become. Sobriety has brought about a clarity to his life that allowed him to open himself up to the possibility that people not only want to be his friend, he wants to be their’s as well. This week, on Elementary season 3, episode 11, one of those friends needs not only his perceptive abilities, but also his personal experience to bring a criminal to justice.
Del and LEDA are on hold after Watson receives a call from Sherlock to help broach a sensitive matter with Kitty. When the case turned cold in London, Sherlock and Kitty turned away from the hunt for her captor. The grand announcement of the predator’s presence sends Kitty into a state Sherlock recognizes all too well.
The facts of Kitty’s capture are these; she was drugged at a bar, woke up with her wrists and eyes taped, and the only thing she can vaguely recall is that the man had an American accent.
The recent victim’s shocking lack of narcissism leads Sherlock to deduce that her one and only selfie provided a suitable dating website photograph. A man she was supposed to meet at the bar the same night she went missing has the advantage of being rude and an alibi on his side. Her dud date ditched after taking one look at her, but a bartender provides a bit more information. He recalls her nursing one drink for an hour, but also being oddly unable to hold her liquor. A phone left under the table after she left turns out to be a burner that leads police to Simon de Merville’s home.
Two years and some months ago, Sherlock Holmes focused every perceptive fiber of his being to finding Irene Adler’s killer. Drugs got the better of him and he was forced to abandon the mission. Kitty is following the same narrative focusing on receipts instead of meetings, hoping to find the glimmer of a needle sticking out of a haystack. What ended up being inherently different about Sherlock during his second go at solving Irene’s murder was the presence of Watson.
Sherlock recognizes it is his turn to take that role and expresses his concern for Kitty, knowing all to well what may come from her determination. In that moment, Sherlock might as well be sitting across from the clearest mirror.
The inside of the house turns up numerous captive women, none of whom are branded with the same marks as Kitty or the other victim. Joan and Kitty interview one victim who, like the others, was taken from Croatia and promised work in the states. Instead the women suffered beatings and were sold into sex slavery. Watson has a hard time connecting the details of Kitty’s story to the latest victim’s tale. Maybe it is as Kitty suggests, monsters don’t need a why.
There are two pieces of the puzzle that come in blood. De Merville’s involvement with the Albanian mafia comes to light when a dead Albanian sex trafficker is found in the garage of the brothel. A trail of blood led Sherlock and Detective Bell to search for a stolen car that turned up just near the hospital where Simon’s sister works. In the pharmacy department, Violet de Merville lies unconvincingly about every detail of Simon’s visit to her that afternoon.
Missing vials of a very expensive drug, Esephera, used to treat a rare blood condition. Without it patients would die, but it is not something that anyone would know about if they didn’t know someone personally suffering from PNH. Watson’s first 30 minutes working for a global insurance company may prove to come in handy. Considering Kitty a member of her family, Joan takes her request for insurance records to her boss Dell.
Joan’s willingness to commit an insurance related felony is not the only extreme behavior to arise from the case. Sensing that Violet knew more than she was letting on, Kitty pays her a visit, baton at the ready. Violet returns the station, unsurprisingly, with a phone number to reach Simon.
Before Sherlock and Kitty can apprehend Simon legally, the Albanian mafia burns him alive in his hideaway boat. But a visit to the morgue arises some uncertainty. When Kitty escaped, she broke her captors fingers. Simon’s hands are perfectly in tact.
Kitty once more acts as a reflection of Sherlock’s past self, looking for problems where none lie. Remember once that Napoleon ended up on the Irene board. In regards to his sobriety he understands the difficulty accepting that there may not be a grand moment of achievement. Sometimes closure does not exist and chasing ghosts will not make things easier or better. He may not understand Kitty’s personal issues, but Sherlock does not dismiss her notion and remains as invested to magnifying and ripping apart every detail until she can arrive at the conclusion on her own.
Kitty doesn’t acknowledge his buried support straight away. She wants to be told by the man who is always certain that she is right. Seeking safe haven in Watson’s apartment, Kitty overhears her speaking with Del Gruner on speaker phone. The voice with the American accent sends her right back to the locked room from five years ago. Gruner is her predator.
Tune in for part two, Elementary season 3, episode 11, “The One That Got Away,” Thursday, January 29 at 10:00 p.m. ET on CBS.
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