Unmasking Everyone is a case far more intriguing than the war they are up to in this week’s Elementary season 3, episode 19 recap.

This week’s episode was certainly one of the most cohesive mysteries of Elementary‘s third season since Kitty Winter departed. Other cases this season ran through impressive lists of extras only to bring us back to the person we passed on the street at the start. The unpredictability became predictable. Bringing the hacker collective Everyone back into the mix offered enough mystery in user names alone to keep Holmes and Watson busy for our weekly 40 minutes.

Cherchez la femme, look for the woman. Cui bono, who benefits? Those are the two driving forces behind most homicides. Sure, woman may be interchanged to your preference, but a lover scorned and the person who look to benefit from a crime are your best starting points.

Sherlock begins his day with enough meditation to slow his heart rate to a virtual standstill. While mimicking death in his chest, a different Sucking Chest Wound awaits at his doorstep. Mr. Chest Wound is a member of Everyone, the hackers Elementary has repeatedly utilized to unearth valuable information at the cost of Sherlock’s dignity. A rift is forming between two sides of the collective.

Species leads one faction, while Sucking Chest Wound rallies another. Species’ side is fighting for a revolution. Use Everyone’s collective resources for a political movement. Chest Wound is fighting for the status quo, help who they want to on a case by case basis and have a little fun when it comes to requesting payments. This is where Sherlock comes in. Chest Wound needs dox, or a paper trail, that will expose something humiliating on Species in order to end the rumblings.

He excuses Chest Wound, refusing to enter an internet brawl he did not start himself and tags along on Watson’s case. Watson’s Internet case is even less exciting as she hopes to confront a girl who is bullying herself on the internet for her parents’ attention.

The tension around Watson and Holmes could be cut with a knife. As Sherlock points out, typically Watson instigates conversation during periods of long silence. Luckily, books distract his attention for five hours until a call from Detective Bell leads him away. The body Bell has just found has a photo of Sherlock in a dress as his desktop background.

Eroll, or Species, is a video game programmer who was killed by a decorative Japanese sword missing from his wall, pointed out by Detective Bell. What Sherlock notices is a red hair, very similar to Sucking Chest Wound’s on the body of the victim. Flipping through his outdoor surveillance tapes, Sherlock gets an ID of Sucking Chest Wound, but also notices that his gum was discarded in the trash bin. With a DNA sample wrapped in a set list with sound board numbers on the opposing side, Sherlock gets to work listening to a local Brooklyn band Fol Chen. Petros Franken, as Chest Wound was their sound operator.

Petros’ online correspondence with Eroll is not in his favor. Hiding behind a computer screen makes it easy to threaten to fire Ebola out of a canon, but looking at Detective Bell and denying it is much harder. Luckily, he has an alibi. Mockingjay, or Rachel Eddings, is another member of Everyone who spent the night with him. Sherlock dismisses Petros from his list of suspects and decides to use him as an informant.

Species’ stash, a collection of data, credit card numbers, social security numbers, etc. could make millions on the dark net. Whoever wanted that, had motive. Holmes and Watson follow the money right to a few prominent users of Everyone’s inter sanctum. Pony Pew Pew is ruled out, but Monkey versus Shark leads them to the stash. A few too many high end purchases landed him in the hot seat and the hospital after he smashed his new motorcycle. He admits to breaking into Species’ home after getting dox on him, but nothing else. In exchange for immunity he turns everything over.

Joan continues to abandoning her friends’ attempts to plan a bachelorette party in favor of work. Sherlock finally tries to put an end to it. Their partnership works with one Watson and one Holmes. Her commitment to the work is admirable, but her mood is not working for him. Two Holmes and no Watsons does not work.

Tabling Sherlock’s issues for now, Watson’s recovery as it enters in waves, feels organic. It is not forced into one episode, nor is it being washed over or forgotten. By having Sherlock be the catalyst to force Watson to look at it, the process becomes all the more painful to watch and harder for Watson to confront.

Another amusing morning alarm for Joan arrives shortly after as Sherlock taps out, “Wake up, Watson,” in morse code. FISTS were used to identify operators in WWII. Every person has a rate at which they type. Carriage returns help to decode that Species’ was not one person, but two people working in 12 hours shifts to act as hall monitor among the group. Tessee, a member of Everyone’s inner sanctum, never appeared online with the second Species and has the same fist.

Operation Right Nut, became Tessee’s mission following the death of Species. Their mission was to hack the Atherton Group, a political think tank. But when Sherlock and Joan go to warn them, the thinkers are more like agents and something tells them it is the government who wants this facade to exist. In not so many words, the NSA confirms this.

Joan’s focus is not without its benefits. She discovers that Tessee is also a huge collector of Thundar the Barbarian memorabilia. She claims to have a limited edition lunch box that the collector desperately wants and posts it for sale as long as they meet in person. The social hack leads them to Brady Deitz, a shy timid man who most definitely killed Species. But one text message has the FBI taking him away into protective custody before Sherlock and Joan can make any arrest.

The episode was excellent up until here. The characters kept coming back, the building blocks kept build rather than being discarded. At some point though, Sherlock needs to swoop in and take a brick from the bottom, and grab a few that were just out of reach all along.. But Elementary could not resist dumping their 3×19 idea box at the end of the episode. With 9 minutes left to go, a whirlwind of conspiracy theories allowed Sherlock to fill his weekly exposition quota and twist enough arms to achieve the result Sherlock wanted. Where “Bella” succeeded earlier in this season, “One Watson, One Holmes” fell short.

In a nut shell, a forensic accountant, Briggs discovered that the Domestic Security Alliance Council and the Atherton Group have a mutually beneficial relationship with Homeland Security and and the FBI. If Everyone attempted to hack the group it would be treason on them and a victory for Branch. But even she cannot harbor a murderer forever. Dietz is handed over anonymously, Everyone is called off the attack, and Branch returns to her life without obstruction charges.

The strong underlying story of Joan and Sherlock’s relationship could have easily been slipped under the rug this week. But instead their narrative continued in all the right places. Sherlock’s attempt to clarify his position leads to an honest discussion of the friendship he has come to understand exists between them. The two work to highlight the best aspects of each other in hopes to achieve mutual benefit. If you watch season 1, episode 1 and then this episode, the leaps and bounds that Sherlock has jumped are many. Isolation is not Sherlock’s best quality and he recognizes Watson moving towards an unhealthy direction. As she heads off to attempt a reconnection with her fellow humans, Sherlock is left once more to stand alone.

One Holmes needs one Watson a bit more than she realizes.

Clyde Watch:

•Clyde is a musical sounding board this week, and apparently has been for some time. His favorites include Goat Whore and Free to Be… You and Me. While he does not care for Taylor Swift (ALL) or “She’ll Be Comin’ Round’ the Mountain.”

Watch Elementary season 4, episode 20, “A Stitch In Time,” Thursday, April 16 at 10:00 p.m. ET on CBS.