Poor Detective Bell, all he wanted to do was to check in with Gregson and what should happen? He gets shot at, run up a ramp, and his car flips over. The editors for the episode have said that this effect was sped up to add some “thrills”. Personally, I think that scene was thrilling enough!
Semi-automatic weapon that can be held by a lone driver in one hand was the type shot at Bell. But it was not shot by an expert despite Sherlock’s later assertion that the shooter had access to a mass amount of weapons. Sherlock is impressed with the number of people Bell has pissed off; it demonstrates his talents as an officer. As much as police officers don’t like death threats, it does show that they are doing their job correctly. Already Bell has a theory as to who did it; Curtis Bradshaw. The man was suspected on racketeering, murder, the like, but was arrested for something relatively minor. One of the detectives on the detail watching Bradshaw planted heroin in his place and when he was released from the false charges, the police couldn’t find any real evidence. The car that pulled up outside Bell looks a lot like Bradshaw’s car. And Bradshaw had threatened him personally at the courthouse. Gregson asks Sherlock and Joan to accompany him in Bell’s place as obviously, it would not be opportune for Bell to go.
Bell flirts with an Officer Riaz as she gives him a message from Mr. Cheese, so of course Sherlock thinks they slept together. He suggests the woman would be a perfect sparring partner for Watson. Joan thinks this is just so that he can watch foxy boxing.
“You think you’re foxy?”
Gregson takes point interrogating Mr. Bradshaw who claims that his car was stolen two days ago. Members of his crew offer various alibis so Sherlock bets him that he can plant the ball from more than half court. Instead of making the shot, he throws it on the roof. ”He wasn’t going to tell us anything any ways.”
In a scene that was added in post-production, Bell goes to talk to Mr. Cheese telling him that his old gang name does not constitute a code name. Cheese offers to check things out but it would be a violation of parole to associate with criminal activity. Cheese is revealed to be Marcus’ big brother.
Joan asks why Bradshaw wouldn’t have sent someone to kill Bell, distancing himself like he had on previous crimes. Sherlock points out that smart men make mistakes when they get pissed. And he should know. Joan offers to get food and he throws a tennis ball at the back of her head. “In case you haven’t noticed, the only person who’s been hurting me is you.” She walks over to a wall of locks organized by country of origin and pushes them over daring him to do it again.
An older woman across town yells at Bradshaw sitting on her stoop telling him that he can’t rest there. Can’t she see he’s dead?
Sherlock sits in a perfect imitation of the dead guy before standing up and talking to Officer Riaz. She is not happy to talk to him. He asks over the gym she goes to for Watson’s benefit but when she asks how he knew she boxed, he’s found something; a boot print. Sherlock thinks that this is retribution for Bell’s shooting. Going to Bell’s apartment he’s reveals the boot print matches the shoes Bell wore in September. Bell tries to rationalize this by saying he was watched all night by the protection detail but Sherlock has clocked five ways out of the apartment. (One’s a variation so that would make it six). He asks after the water closet. “If that means bathroom, I’m sure you could find it.” Bell asks Gregson if they have any real suspects and Gregson says that the shooter took centre mass like police are trained to do. He promises to find the person who’s doing this but until then they have to play within the lines so that everyone knows that Bell is innocent when this is all over. Holmes returns abruptly and says that they can go.
Watson is talking to her shrink about Sherlock’s lack of boundaries. The professional opinion is that Joan should move on, Joan had fun but Holmes’ line of work put her in real physical danger. The shrink then asks why Sherlock is telling her to move on…
Speaking of the man, he’s shooting firearms in the house blasting loud music to cover up his ballistics exam. He replies that the last thing he could do was to surrender the gun he’s found in Bell’s apartment to the police.
Bell’s brother has a potential name as to who could be doing this; Chico Belas. Marcus berates his brother for trying to help. I see both perspectives but I side with the brother; he’s only trying to help. Marcus then gets a text calling him to brownstone.
Sherlock thinks Bell is being framed. Say it with me: no s—t Sherlock! Entering the bathroom, Holmes smelled the unmistakable scent of a gunshot having recently been fired. The bullets are a perfect match. The lab confirms and Sherlock has lied saying he found the gun in a dumpster near where Bradshaw was shot. Unfortunately as there were no fingerprints, none of this proves Bell’s innocence. At Bell’s desk he tells him that he is certain Bell didn’t do it because only an idiot would bring the gun back to the apartment and Bell is not an idiot. Second, he doesn’t want Gregson to have the stress of investigating his second in command. He asks Sherlock to go back to his apartment to look for more incriminating evidence after Sherlock suggests that the person who framed him had a key.
Marcus tells his brother who can’t believe that the person had to be a key, or more accurately what his brother is trying to say by this; the boots were in a box of clothes he gave Andre when he was first out of prison. Andre blames their rift on the fact Marcus became a cop. Andre storms off after Bell tries to rationalize his theory. Stepping out of the room, the younger Bell is hit in the face by his brother. The other officers attempt to help but Marcus tells them the familial status.
Sherlock is frustrated because despite the recent attack on another colleague, Joan still refuses to take self-defense classes. She says that she doesn’t need self-defense because she is only his sober companion. “No you’re not.” Sherlock knows and has since he talked to his father last week. I’m a more than a little surprised that he didn’t pick up on the slight unease she had in ‘M’ when she told him she was staying on but it shows that even Sherlock Holmes doesn’t see everything.
Sherlock wanted Joan to see that he was okay so that she could move on to another client but “a curious thing happened” and she stayed. Holmes thinks that she wasn’t staying for him but for herself and asks her to consider his proposal to stay on as his companion so that he can teach her. He offers her a stipend equal to what his father paid and frees Watson of all confidentiality agreements regarding his sobriety encouraging her to discuss the move from ‘sober companion’ to ‘companion’ with others.
“I am better with you Watson. I’m sharper, I’m more focused. Difficult to say why really. Perhaps in time, I’ll solve that as well.”
Bell goes to his brother’s apartment knocking on the door and then enters. He sees Andre bleeding and not dead on the floor. He calls it into the police and pulls his brother close to him. In his own blood, Andre’s written that it “wasn’t Marcus’ fault”. (at least I think. My tv cut off some of the message on either side)
Joan tells Sherlock in the apartment that she doesn’t think that the message is coded. How does Sherlock know it was the same shooter? He doesn’t, but the brother did; he understood what his shooting was. If the mark in the mud downstairs isn’t another Pergotti footprint, he’ll stop throwing tennis balls at her head.
Marcus is still covered in his brother’s blood. He’s getting antsy that his brother should have been closed by now by Joan tells him that it’s a good thing that they’re taking the time. Marcus confessed that he never quite forgave his brother for staying in the gang that long. A few years ago, he had tried to get his brother early parole but Andre refused to roll on his accomplice not knowing the man was already incarcerated. After the cop was busted for planting evidence, Joan knows that Marcus was the person who told internal affairs. Sherlock says that this means that they’ve been looking at the wrong set of suspects. Isn’t that what Gregson has said by stating that the killer had aimed for center mass like they’re trained to?
Gregson brings Officer Riaz. Sherlock tells her that he’s looked at the detail from back then; she was a part of it. He thinks that she looked up to the man that was busted. She’s been dating an IA man for a couple of months so she could have had ample opportunity to find out Bell’s name. Sherlock tells her that when they told Bell a few minutes ago, he was stunned. She turns to leave and Sherlock pulls out a set of ashes from the boots she used to frame Bell. The guns match a guy’s whose guns had disappeared after she arrested him. She sits back down and tells them that Bell would never say that to her face, it’s not his style. She’s right.
Standing next to his brother, Marcus agrees that even if she pleads out, Riaz likely isn’t going to get out in her lifetime. The worst thing one of Andre’s exes ever did to him was cut the spokes on his bikes. Marcus asks about the note and the brother confirms Holmes’ theory. Despite their fight, they were still brothers.
Sherlock is rearranging the locks from earliest manufacture date to latest. Joan likes to be paid on Thursdays and wants to stay with Sherlock rent free until she finds an apartment.
“Congratulations on your new career, Watson.”
She throws a basketball on Sherlock’s nose. “It could have been a knife.” He touches his nose and after a few seconds looks pleased at her reaction. I know I was.
Next week: a billionaire really wants Sherlock’s help.
What worked:
♥I liked that Bell’s brother survived the episode.
♥I loved that Sherlock has taken an active interest in Joan’s safety although I would damn near kill him if it was attempted in real life. (Her retaliation by the way is perfection)
What didn’t work:
≠ Sherlock wasn’t really needed to solve this case. He found the gun which was important but because of where it was placed, I’m guessing the police would have found it when they searched his place later. He figured out it was the girl but once Bell redirected the focus, all anyone had to do was to look at the records.
All in all, I loved this episode but it was not without its flaws. That said, I can think of no better way to spend my Valentine’s Day than with Jonny Lee Miller and a compelling drama.
