What I’m Watching: Elementary

Elementary: Season 1, Episode 11 “Dirty Laundry” (B+)

This episode had a fairly extensive plot web with some truly unexpected turns. Starting with a murdered wife with mysterious interests and a charity designed to locate undetonated land mines was intriguing enough, and it wasn’t long before we got to Russian spies and cloudy circumstances surrounding the mother’s murder. I recognized Mark Moses immediately as the husband of the victim, who turned out to be the world’s friendliest and least threatening Russian spy, up for confessing to everything on a whim to ensure that his daughter wouldn’t be prosecuted for the sins of her parents. I couldn’t place the actor who portrayed the oily Geoffrey Silver, and it turns out it was Jake Weber, who used to play Allison’s angelic husband on “Medium,” something entirely different from this role. Having Carly call Watson because she was struggling with relapse was a great way to tie the case together, and I’m glad to see her revealed as not entirely guilty, placing the blame for murder on Geoffrey, who had hoped to go free within days in exchange for an American political prisoner in Russia. Watson being given the call girl’s card with an accompanying invitation was amusing, and it was fun to see her take the lead and make some important breakthroughs in this case. Sherlock offering for her to become his apprentice at the end of the episode was an enormous gesture, and it was sad to hear Watson indicate that she still plans on moving on, something which it seems will surely upset Sherlock a great deal.