Television: Elementary, "A Burden of Blood"

Any time a character attempts to point the police in a particular direction, it's pretty much a given they're guilty.

Knowing this means I knew whodunnit fairly early on and simply rode out the remainder of the episode.

I also felt the reason for the murder was insanely weak. Not that murderers always have great reasons for killing people, but the writers didn't really set up the situation particularly well. So by the time we got to the end of the show, the "why" felt slapped on and unexplored.

The episode itself is about a woman found suffocated to death in her car. Turns out she was eight weeks pregnant despite having tubal ligation. Of course the husband is immediately suspected, followed by the revelation of the woman having slept with the real estate agent. Finally, we learn that the woman is the daughter of a notorious murderer who killed his victims in exactly the same way she was killed.

I won't give anything away. You can go watch it if you want to know how it plays out. Let's just say I was underwhelmed.

I was also not keen on the cold open which was ostensibly meant to make us believe Watson and Bell were engaged in some sexy, fun times. But that is patently ridiculous given the way their characters have been built, so the whole thing felt egregious. Sure, maybe the point was that Holmes was being ridiculous for jumping to that conclusion. But it still felt all wrong.

B plot turns out to be that Bell is studying for an exam so he can be promoted. He's not particularly interested in moving up the ladder so much as he needs the pay raise to help his mother. Watson has been helping Bell study, but once Holmes learns of it, he insists on taking over Bell's education. Then, as it becomes clear Bell's heart isn't in it, Holmes offers Bell a loan, which of course Bell roundly refuses. So Holmes and Watson come up with a final test for Bell, and when he solves the case they give him, they pay him for his services. A nice way of looping him into the business, I suppose. But on the whole, I found this episode weak and largely forgettable. Here's hoping the next one is better.