What I’m Watching: Elementary

Elementary: Season 3, Episode 23 “Absconded” (B-)

Sometimes when I watch this show, I get distracted for a moment and then feel like I’ve long the entire gist of where the story is headed in a given episode. I’m not really watching any other police procedurals right now since “Person of Interest” and “iZombie” are both distinct enough variations to not count as such, and so maybe it’s just that sometimes criminal cases aren’t all that engaging to follow. This show also tends to feature elaborately spun tales that aren’t easy to prove or confirm, and this episode was the epitome of that, what with a missing sheikh who in the end turned out to not have been missing at all, or so his government claimed to protect his reputation and avoid encouraging future abductions. I enjoyed Sherlock getting stung by pees on purpose and Joan’s reaction that she hadn’t had enough caffeine to deal with the fact that he was doing that. Gregson being offered a promotion was a big deal, though I find it hard to imagine that this show would part with him so easily even though he’s not such a featured element these days. It speaks to his strong character that his first step was not to blindly accept the offer but to have Watson investigate the effectiveness and morality of his replacement. Turning it down, as he was told, may have been a grave mistake, but I expect that he’ll manage to come out ahead with the bright minds of Sherlock and Watson in his corner.