What I’m Watching: Elementary

Elementary: Season 2, Episode 18 “The Hound of the Cancer Cells” (B)

This was a fine episode, though the case wasn’t as enticing or involving as it could have been given the premise. Every time I see him in a role, I flip-flop on how I feel about Mather Zickel, who I found unbelievably irritating in “The Cape” but enjoyed more in “House of Lies” and “Masters of Sex.” Here, he wasn’t too showy and ended up being rather hard to read. There were also two notable guest stars: Shiri Appleby from “Roswell” and “Life Unexpected,” and Ron Canada from “Weeds” and “The West Wing.” I don’t think I bought Appleby as a Mossad agent, but it was worth it to see Sherlock and Watson bail as soon as they realized that everyone else in the room had a concealed weapon. Canada’s Manny Rose got a more effective plotline, as he got the chance to bond with Detective Bell and to make him think back to his roots and to the real reason that he’s doing what he’s doing these days. Earlier in this season, it was hard to imagine Bell and Sherlock being friends again or even speaking to each other in a normal way. Sherlock’s resistance to go to Bell’s party wasn’t surprising, even unrelated to the fact that he didn’t wanted to be tempted by things that might threaten to ruin his sobriety. The two of them ended up having a great moment together, and it was nice to see them both try to escape from society and enjoy a coffee.