Television: Elementary, "When Your Number's Up"

A variation in the usual structure as we follow not only Holmes and Watson as they investigate, but also the killer. One assumes this is because the killer is played by Alicia Witt, and the show wanted to get its money's worth. (Har. That's a joke because the episode was about what people are worth in wrongful death compensation lawsuits.)

So . . . yeah. Basically, people are being killed and there is cash on their bodies with a mathematical equation and a quote from the lawyer whose job it is to work out how much each family is paid for the loss of their loved ones. Turns out Alicia Witt's character is running out of money, but she's due for some compensation in her husband's death in a plane crash. In order to maximize the amount she receives, she's killing people and trying to force a flat settlement rather than have her husband's worth calculated. See, he was dying, which means he wouldn't be worth much. And she has a lifestyle to maintain.

A pretty interesting idea, and I did like the change in seeing the killer, though it was way too easy to figure out why she was doing it, so they could have been a bit more clever about that.

Meanwhile, Watson insists she wants to get rid of a lot of her stuff. Holmes suggests she store it in the basement of the brownstone, but she is adamant that she wants it gone. Holmes also does an end run around Watson and rents her apartment . . . Just in case. After all, she's acting out of blind sorrow and may not be thinking clearly. She may yet want that stuff, or that apartment. So Holmes is just making sure Watson doesn't box herself in.

Once she gets over being angry at Holmes for going behind her back on these things, she creates a space of her own in the basement of the brownstone, even going so far as to make sure one has to go outside to access it (she nails shut the inside door). This seems a fair compromise.

In all, a middling episode that didn't hold 100% of my attention. We're off next week, so we'll see what they come back with, though previews suggest Holmes gets arrested . . .