Companion. Consultant.

“Luck is an offensive and abhorrent concept. Idiots rely on luck.”

This episode is full of revelations about Joan. Some are overt, like the fact that she willingly let her license lapse, while others are implied, like why she walked away. I am reminded of how awesome strong Joan-centric story lines are, and disappointed anew that they’re so infrequent past season one.

“Postmortem bruising experiments are more of a third date activity.”

Sherlock calls Joan out on her crossed arms.  She goes to cross her arms again, then self-consciously uncrosses them, then crosses them anyway. Classic sassy Joan saying fuck you, Sherlock.

We see the killer right away.  Maybe Sherlock should have thought that the murderer would want to clean the crime scene. He underestimates the janitor, though.  He’s a servant, much like Donna the secretary the episode before, who he also underestimated.  I’d almost make a Joan connection here, but Sherlock is actually collaborating very well with Joan on this case.

Joan looks lovely.  That rose colored top is very flattering on her.

“Man? Job? Failed sapphic dalliance? Fingers crossed for the last one.” One of my favorite lines. Joan later says that they weren’t close anymore because Carrie didn’t get why it was painful for Joan to be around her hospital friends, but there’s a lot of bad feeling there on Carrie’s part. I think there might be more to that.

“It’s hard to be a surgeon when you freeze up whenever someone hands you a scalpel.” We get a callback to this at the end of the season.

There are a couple (unintentionally, I think) awkward moments in this episode. “Acually...I think it is.”  “Tell me.” The timing feels off in both moments, and it bugs me every time I see the episode.

“You’re talking about an angel of death.” Interesting...I’m pretty sure the term is usually “angel of mercy.” Maybe that makes it sound too laudable?

And here’s the murderer again, hiding in plain sight! Appropriate for this sort of case, since an “angel” is someone you see every day.

Dr. Baldwin is the opposite of Joan. Joan was clearly not indifferent to her patients.  She cared about their pain, about who they were as people. Did that make her a bad surgeon? It’s probably why she couldn’t continue her practice. She cared about the man she killed, spent time getting to know him and his family, something few surgeons would do. And it was her caring for her patients that made her freeze up afterwards.

This is one of those moments when Sherlock seems wrong...but actually isn’t that far off.  I like that dynamic. It gives the eventual AHA! moment more punch.

Joan knows a lot about soccer. Maybe she played?

And here we see the developing dynamic between Sherlock and Bell, where Sherlock cuts him short and Bell pushes back, but winds up grudgingly admitting that Sherlock is right.

“And she said she’s done with medicine.” There’s clearly issues there.  Maybe Joan and Carrie were competitive.  Maybe Carrie was second in their class, or passed up for an internship, or something similar.  Joan is saying she knows better than her, and it’s clearly not the first time.

“The first instincts are typically the right ones.” Sherlock wants to encourage Joan’s confidence and deductive skills.

“I believe the words you’re looking for are shoot and up.” Another line I just love.

“She’ll be fine, Joan. I’m operating on her. Not you.” OUCH.

“Because, Miss Watson, as you very well know, not all doctors stay doctors.”

“You are no better than the police in Soviet Ukraine, making up lies to suit your truths.” Which is what Dr. Baldwin did.

Sherlock never lets a suspicion go, and encourages Joan to do the same.

“Are you expecting someone?” “Am I ever.” Why did Sherlock expect Carrie? I still don’t fully understand that, since he doesn’t seem to have figured out what Joan did.

“Better lucky than good.” Reminds me of Sherlock’s tshirt.  When does that make an appearance?

“You were always a good friend, Joanie. But you were a better doctor.”

“One of the dangers of brilliance is that you sometimes fail to recognize the possibility that others are, at least in some respect, just as brilliant.” Which may be why Sherlock underestimated the janitor, and the secretary.

“Seems like a lonely way to live.”

A serious misstep almost costs Sherlock his life, and Joan gets a taste of what it’s like to relate to people the way Sherlock relates to them.

We open on a worried Joan going to Gregson for help. She tries to explain what’s going on without breaking confidentiality, and the fact that she’s forced to tell him shows how very dire the situation is.

Handheld cam on Joan..unsteady to match her mood.

Sherlock in peril! We’re only given enough to know that things are really bad to keep us in suspense.

Two Days Earlier!

Hello Emily, you consistently conniving bitch.  Honestly, I really dislike Em. She ambushes Joan with men, degrades her choice of career, and signs her up for TruRomantix. She really crosses some boundaries, and I have to wonder why Joan maintains her friendship with her.

Aaron is charming. Watson thinks so too.

“You think it’s more flattering.  You’re wrong of course...it’s a draw.”  Hair up or down, Watson is beautiful, and Sherlock has noticed.

Sherlock is still dressing messily. He refuses to wear “the costume” of the businessmen, but he’s really wearing a “fuck off” costume. (Donna points this out with her “scarf and a tshirt” comment at the end.)

We see Sherlock through Joan’s eyes...shots of her watching him, and she’s almost always in his frame.  Which reminds me that in the first season, Joan is the main character.  The story is her collision with Sherlock Holmes, and how he changed her life and she changed his, all of it from her point of view.  The perspective shifts in later seasons, which has its pluses and minuses.

“Bodyguard.” Funny, but true in a number of ways.

Joan is amused as Sherlock deduces the members of the board and puts them in their place.

“What is your normal rate?” “Oh, I don’t have one.” I wonder how much he decides to charge them in the end.

The Book of Hookers.

“Slappers.” A lot of people have a problem with how Sherlock speaks of prostitutes.  I think it’s more playful than scornful.

“No, we are not both equally aware of my feelings.” True...but that said, Sherlock did pretty much have Joan’s number there.

Sherlock using a fake accent for the first time.  I love his accents.

Sherlock is obviously very raw and shaken by the sight of the heroin, even though he pushes back against Joan.

Again, Sherlock is unsettled, and he turns to lockpicking.

“Oh, smooth!” Again, Aaron very charming...but his denial about ever being married doesn’t sound sincere (great acting on his part), and obviously Joan picks up on it.

Sherlock volunteers a spit test and Joan doesn’t even look at it.

A GREAT expression from Sherlock for “unwitting adulteress.”

“I’m sorry, every time you say innocent I just tune out.” LOVE it.

Sherlock bouncing a basketball on the face of the photo in the file. Foreshadowing of Joan throwing the ball in Sherlock’s face?

Sherlock wants her to go and use the creep as an experiment in 

Joan goes to coffee, Sherlock confronts Donna. Sherlock wants her to go and use the creep as an experiment in deduction.  Maybe, when she’s not able to find Sherlock, Joan suspects that Sherlock sent her off so that he could go out and get high.

A female murderer...there are a lot of those in Elementary. Which is awesome.

Sherlock really is an idiot for following Donna. He underestimates her, and that nearly cost him his life.

“See you soon.” Clever Joan.

Sherlock got Donna monologuing!

“Did you know I pick locks? Pockets, too!”

This scene between Joan and Sherlock is so sweet.  He attempts to act all pompous, and she doesn’t let him get away with it.  He admires her, and she cares for him.

The scene between Sherlock and Gregson is also sweet and heartbreaking. Sherlock is so painfully close to tears.  He stutters his way through his confession and apology.  And the fact that Gregson knew, and still admired him for his work, still wanted his help, really touched him.