What I’m Watching: Elementary

Elementary: Season 3, Episode 7 “The Adventure of the Nutmeg Concoction” (B+)

After a concerningly uninteresting episode last week that made me reconsider whether I should be watching this show on a weekly basis, this hour did well by providing an intriguing and immensely watchable plot: the hunt for a criminal who kills people and leaves a distinct trace of nutmeg at the scene. Deducing that it was in fact a cleaner who connected all the victims rather than a killer made things even more enticing, and then to learn that the cleaner himself was cleaned by an apprentice whose criminal father was concerned that his secrets would be spilled was interesting indeed. Though there’s some unnecessary back-and-forth about who does what and who wants to be there, the new trio of Sherlock, Watson, and Kitty actually works pretty well. Sherlock, to his credit, is giving Kitty appropriate commendation for the things she does right, allowing her to play her music at full volume during normal quiet hours after it was her observation that led to a major breakthrough in the case. Her response – to play a much calmer, more Sherlock-friendly musical choice – was sweet. Sherlock butting into Watson’s romantic life is nothing new, but this episode allowed him to portray her in a negative light, stirring up understandable resentment from her and a decent defense in the end after Christian Camargo’s doctor hired Watson to find out who stole his ID and then asked her out. The shot of her preparing dinner alone in the apartment wasn’t optimistic, but at least she’s not letting Sherlock take over her life too much.