What I’m Watching: Elementary

Elementary: Season 2, Episode 20 “No Lack of Void” (B-)

This show is certainly open to all types of plotlines, and it’s about time that anthrax took a starring role. I didn’t find this episode to be as compelling as some of the show’s other installments, and that was partly because the anthrax storyline was featured alongside the death of one of the few people that Sherlock could actually call a friend. In the past, I’ve found most things related to Sherlock’s addiction quite compelling, and part of what didn’t work for me was that he actually saw and spoke to Alistair, who died before the start of the episode. This show is creative and clever enough that it doesn’t need to have Sherlock talking to dead people. Talking with Watson is a more than effective way for him to grieve and to process the loss he experienced. On the guest star front, the familiar face of the week was Garrett Dillahunt of “Raising Hope” and “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” fame as Bart McIntosh. There was some impressive construction to this episode and to the way that it narrowed its focus from its initial premise, with Sherlock and Watson deducing that the anthrax was intended not to harm humans but instead just to kill off Bart’s cows so that he could profit financially. That was a surprising and satisfying conclusion, one which demonstrated that an uneven episode like this need not be all bad and can still have its merits. Considering the quality of the first season’s two-part finale, I have high hopes for the final few hours of this season.