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Last Thursday night's episode of CBS's Elementary was yet another consistent, high quality hour of television. But the segway into this coming Thursday's episode in the final moments rightfully has fans concerned.
Said segway was the discovery of a body on a pier. Captain Gregson called only Holmes to the scene as he recognized signature branding marks on the victim's back - the same marks Kitty Winter is scarred with according to her file, which Gregson, along with Holmes and Watson, has read.
That is just the beginning of what turns out to be a complex, well executed hour, titled "The Illustrious Client" - the first of a two part event that opens the doors into Kitty's past. This is undoubtedly a testing time for the team, with even Holmes, a man seemingly devoid of emotion, visibly struggling to remain impartial and keep his game face on, with a distraught Kitty and concerned Watson clearly not capable of the same approach.
Without giving too much away, the basics of Kitty's ordeal back in England trace back to human trafficking. Though the sense of urgency between the team is understandably higher than normal, that isn't enough to prevent Kitty attempting to progress things more quickly. Kitty is no stranger to autonomy, having done it before in previous weeks to garner a result that wouldn't have otherwise occurred. However this time, it doesn't go unnoticed.
As mentioned in last week's episode, Watson had decided to fold her own private investigative business, opting to work as an investigator for an insurance company, LEDA, with time to allow her to continue working alongside Holmes and Kitty. Watson make the most of her new position, leveraging its access to medical records to try to break the case. However it turns out that Watson is in fact much closer to the man responsible for Kitty's ordeal than she realizes, which serves as the cliffhanger for the following week's concluding episode.
Though the case centers on Kitty, the screen time across all five lead characters is very well distributed. Detective Bell and Captain Gregson feature more prominently than usual. As is the weekly norm, the acting was excellent, but Ophelia Lovibond delivered an outstanding series best performance. The writing and directing by Jason Tracey and Guy Ferland respectively was also top notch. You'll find yourself counting down the days to the concluding episode, rather ominously titled "The One that Got Away."
That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out Elementary's ratings on my website, www.seriesmonitor.com/elementary. Share your thoughts and theories and ask me any questions in the comments below!
"The Illustrious Client" airs Thursday, January 22, 10|9c, on CBS.
Jimmy.
