"Elementary" for Grown Ups

If you have not seen the new show on CBS called, "Elementary", you are definitely missing out. It is a modern reworking of the Arthur Conan Doyle stories feature super "consulting" detective, Sherlock Holmes. A character first made popular during the turn of the century. (the 1900's, that is)

Jonny Lee Miller & Lucy Liu

In this updated TV version, we meet Sherlock Holmes on his first day out of a Rehab center and the "Sobriety Specialist" hired by his father to ease Sherlock back into into the everyday, working world is Dr. JOAN Watson, a former surgeon who lost a patient and decided to leave her surgical gloves behind. (or has she?)

Sherlock Holmes is played by Jonny Lee Miller , who is originally known to North American audiences for his movie, "Hackers", in which a teenage Miller played next to a teenage Angelina Jolie ... and then married her in real life.

Dr. Watson is played by Lucy Liu, best known for her stints in the Charlie's Angels movies. (back in the "olden days" Watson was Dr. JOHN Watson ). Together, these two actors bring a new and interesting chemistry to the most famous "buddy stories" in Literary history.
 Rounding out the cast is the always interesting and talented Aidan Quinn. You add writers of an extraordinary caliber, and you have a recipe for special television viewing.

Now, even though I can't believe I'm about to say this, "Elementary" is probably the most complex TV Show I have ever seen. It is brimming with layers upon layers in all  the elements it presents.

The Mysteries that drive the episode's plots have subtle clues, but don't worry because,  (like a cross town bus) they are in abundance. So if you don't catch one, another clue will come along in another minute, so you still have a good chance of getting to the destination of solving the puzzle.

 The vocabulary is surprisingly both fresh and old. I read a LOT and have a rather large vocabulary, but in every episode of  "Elementary" there are words I don't know or, at least, haven't heard for a long time and definitely do NOT expect to hear on a TV show. But even though they don't define every "big" word for you, the meaning can usually be gleaned from it's context.

As we pass the nuts and bolts of the mysteries in "Elementary", we enter into the even better parts that make it an entertainment feast. I am referring to the people: Whether it be Holmes, Watson, Captain Gregson, the suspects or the dead person. The writers of this series are able to capture the amazing uniqueness of what it means to be a human being. It is not the unknown perpetrators of crimes that are the greatest mystery in Elementary, it the complexities within the people that is the ultimate puzzle. Not just who killed whom, but why did they do it, who will endure the consequences and how the tragedies of life effect and change us. And it is all done is a manner that does not condescend to the viewers. We are not treated like imbeciles that must have everything spelled out or explained to us with pie charts and finger puppets. But by not serving us the answers on a silver platter, they imply it's perfectly okay not to have all the answers. After all, how many events in our lives are wrapped up in less than an hour?

But as cerebral as "Elementary" can be, it is not afraid to stop for a moment to wink at us, tickle our funny bone and expose it's heart. But it is just for a few seconds. Then we are back on the chase. Thus teaching us to pay attention to everything, because the most important things in life can be extremely fleeting.

I went to a reunion once and after it was over, I ran into someone who had not been unable to attend. He asked me how it had gone. What had happened? Who was there?
I told him that we had great food and there was lots of it. The people shared where they had been, how they had been living and what they had learned. There was a lot of hugging and kissing going on. But generally speaking, a good time was had by all who attended. I think that is a pretty accurate description of watching "Elementary".

 
If you want to continue watching TV shows that say the same thing  over and over, that are filled with banality and pap. Shows which give you an escape for an hour but leave nothing behind for you? They require nothing of you but that you sit in a vegetative state ... then this is NOT the show for you. 

But if you want a feast for mind and soul, to learn something useful, to feel that an hour was not stolen from you but given to you, ... then it's about time you watched "Elemental".  It's more than just a TV show. It's a creation that is greater than the sum of it's parts. It's story telling at it's classic best. 
   
So move over MTV, The Kardashians and American Idol. It's time for the grown ups to take over the remote control again. It's Thursday night and I want to watch "my show". Because "Elementary" is 'fundamentally' the best show on Television.

And to those who create "Elementary" ... you had some big shoes to fill but you didn't just fill them, you crafted them into your own.

I think Sir Arthur would be proud, because the game is definitely afoot.