Elementary 2x02 Discussion Post

[csichick_2]

Episode 2!

It looked really awesome in the promos, but I haven't seen it yet. :( Stupid school.

Discuss in the comments and I'll ignore them until I get the chance to watch.

Comments

[timetobegin]

SO MUCH JOAN. i adored learning more about her backstory, and sherlock and how he helped her and a;ldkafjadg babiessssss

PERFECT TEAM.

The case was interesting too. i love the sherlock/bell dynamic

[frayadjacent]

Copy-and-pasting my reaction post, because I'm lazy:

I really loved this episode, from the very first scene when I realized that Joan was probably visiting the grave of the patient she killed.

All her conversations with Sherlock about the patient, about his son, about the awkward loan situation, were so great. I am having so many incoherent Joan feels -- her recognition that he was taking advantage of her, but wanting to give him the money anyway. And then the way she resolved it -- she was so firm but caring, both for herself and him. She makes me so happy, and I'm so thrilled with the support that Sherlock offered. Not that I'd expect any less from him.

The plot was fun, especially with the reveal that the woman who appeared to have switched from researching math to researching mathematicians -- a super gendered thing -- turned out to have already solved the problem.

Hee hee, I loved Sherlock and Bell's interactions during the investigation. "Before you arrived, I never closed a case!" It was cool to see so much Bell in this episode.

Basically, S2 is totally working for me, and giving me high hopes that S1 wasn't just a fluke.

When I woke up this morning I had some more thoughts about Joan's backstory. Back in the pilot episode, when we learn that Joan had been a surgeon and why she left, I'd pictured something more dramatic than what she described. I'd imagined some high-stakes surgery, wherein Joan made a tough call that turned out to be the wrong one. I pictured that the patient's life was already in danger.

What actually happened was so much more low-key, and it felt so much more real. And even though, as Sherlock said, "accidents happen", there also don't appear to be a whole lot of mitigating circumstances to alleviate her guilt. She deserves to forgive herself for what she did, but at the same time, it unquestionably was her fault. For the first time, I understood completely why Joan left medicine, and why she intends to never go back. I suspect in her circumstances I'd do the same.

It was interesting when Joan said that the woman who sued her "did what most people would do." Because I suspect that this woman probably really needed the money she'd have won, between her husband's medical bills and lost dockworker wages. Even if he had life insurance, it can't have begun to cover the impact of losing his salary.

Which casts the financial situation in a new light as well. Not to say that he wasn't manipulating her, and it wasn't a squicky thing to do, but it also makes me understand that much more why Joan was pretty OK with being manipulated. (On the other hand, I assume his mother did win in court or a settlement and got a decent check from the malpractice insurance company.) Actually, I hope that the patient's son (I can't remember any names right now) does take Joan up on her offer and go back to school.

[raktajinos]

is anyone else starting to love Elementary more than the Cumberbatch version?

..... cause I'm past starting and into full on HELLS YEAH.