A surprising voice lends a helping hand on tonight’s Elementary season 3, episode 14, “The Female of the Species.” Find out who in our recap!
“I think that there are certain crimes which the law cannot touch, and which therefore, to some extent, justify private revenge.” This quote, taken from The Adventures of Charles Agustus Milverton is an undercurrent that pushes Elementary along. Instilled in the show in the early half of season 1, Sherlock’s tendency to live slightly above the law keeps Elementary moving. Sometimes the best man, or woman, for the job is not in any official department.
Joan knows that the woman in the coffee shop was a French assassin, worked for Elana March, and grew the hemlock plants in her home. There is nothing more legally that can be done to punish Elana. Joan is not in any immediate danger, but she is also becoming aware of the life she has built in rebellion to the life she fell into. Giving normalcy a shot has left her in shambles. Sherlock was gone, Joan plunged head first into her work as a private detective and found success. But once her nemesis was behind bars and her old partner returned, the world around her became muted.
Still lacking casework, and a suitable full-time partner, Sherlock enlists the help of walk in clients and Detective Bell. An internet acquaintance of Sherlock arrives at his door with the proposition that involves a trip to the zoo. After negotiating the proper publication of his bee colony collapse articles and getting the man to change his “punny” username (BBKing19) Holmes finds himself in front of an empty exhibit.
A zoo responsible for housing two pregnant zebras is now home to none. With too many days racked up in the department Bell is on a forced vacation, which Sherlock uses to his advantage.
Sherlock does his best to make himself available to Joan, but as Bell suggests he once let his partner struggle with PTSD for six months before he finally was able to get him to talk. It does not help that Andrew’s father arrives and asks Joan why precautions are being taken now and not when Andrew was still alive.
Witnessing how Sherlock behaves on a crime scene and in the department is one thing, but to enter the brownstone is not unlike sitting inside his brain. By guessing the weight of each package from the stolen truck used to transport the zebras, Sherlock figures out that one package contains a pet collar with an activated tracking chip, for the sake of moving the story along, which leads them to an equine hospital.
The case invites the NYPD as part of a larger investigation after Sherlock and Bell not only find the two zebras, but the dead body of a vet. Dr. Chang was responsible for inducing their labor and once his services were over, he was disposed of. The criminal fled with the two newborn fowls. The only thing left to go on is a piece of packaging from a feed bag that CSU missed in their cleaning.
Sherlock still makes his nightly trips tonight armed with lasagna. He makes the effort to offer her company by joining her on the couch, but his grimace at the television’s general direction is enough for Joan to offer up her desk for him to work. Before he is completely absorbed, Joan reaches out to comment on their past year.
Watson’s argument for leaving Sherlock and the brownstone last year was the fear that she would become stuck in his orbit. After being kidnapped and watching Mycroft’s life fall apart, Joan knew that the world that Sherlock built would not be easy to escape. He made the first steps less complicated by removing himself from the picture entirely. But once he returned to the states, it became clear that Joan could not keep their work and her private life separate.
Studying hail storms leads Sherlock to a slumped over night’s rest on Joan’s desk allowing her to partake in a favorite past time of the brownstone, waking up your roommate. Five minutes with Joan gives Sherlock the location of where the fowls are most likely kept. She may not be up for the full casework, but she can’t turn off the detective entirely.
In place of the fowls, Sherlock and Bell discover an extinct equine breed from South Africa called a quagga. The animal went extinct in 1883, but thanks to biotechnology resurrecting extinct species through in vitro fertilization of similar genealogy, such as zebras, allowed the breed to reemerge. The case narrows down the men to someone who worked closely with the animals at the zoo and planned to sell the fowls on the black market.
A postcard drops an ugly reminder of the danger that awaits her at every turn. A hand drawn coffee cup with the words, “See you soon,” are the first tip as to who is awaiting Joan next. More on that in a bit.
Sherlock is not done with his casework even though Bell is off the clock. If Detective Bell wants the full Sherlock experience he must stick around, including participation in the late night paperwork. After finding himself on Holmes’ couch, Bell follows an invitation to breakfast.
As the two dine, they witness the results of their, more so Holmes’, labor unfold out the window. Sherlock found the man trying to sell the quagga and framed him for a bust. As Sherlock heads off away from another closed case, he takes Marcus’ hand thanks him for the pleasure of his company.
The only person who could infiltrate the world of Sherlock Holmes comes slightly into focus through her words and off camera actions. Jamie Morirarty writes that she has been keeping an eye on Watson for some time and Elana March is a pawn she needed to remove. The camera pans to Elana lying dead in her cell.
The letter is the tipping point for Joan. Even with her own nemesis gone she realizes that she still has the remnants of Sherlock’s world breaking down the boundaries she is trying to build. If Moriarty is out there watching her, there is no escape. Not with an apartment, not with a romance, not ever. Instead of fighting gravity, Joan folds back into what she thinks is best, embracing their world.
Clyde Watch:
•Clyde can pack away his weekend bag, he’s coming home to the brownstone!
Watch Elementary season 3, episode 15, “When Your Number’s Up,” Thursday, February 19 at 10:00 p.m. ET on CBS.
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