Elementary

Plot

Following his fall from grace in London and a stint in drug rehabilitation, a modern-day version of Sherlock Holmes relocates to Manhattan, where his wealthy father forces him to live with a sober companion, Dr. Joan Watson. Formerly a successful surgeon until she lost a patient, Watson views her current job as another opportunity to help people. However, Sherlock is nothing like her previous clients. He informs her that none of her expertise as an addiction specialist applies to him and that he has devised his own post-rehab regimen: resuming his work as a police consultant in New York City. Watson has no choice but to accompany her mercurial new charge on his jobs.

Over time, Sherlock finds her medical background helpful, and Watson realizes she has a talent for investigation. Sherlock's police contact, New York City Police Captain Thomas Gregson, knows from previous experience working with Scotland Yard that Sherlock is brilliant at solving cases and welcomes him as part of the team. The investigative group also includes Detective Marcus Bell, an investigator with sharp intuition and intimidating interrogation skills. Although initially skeptical of Holmes and his unorthodox methods, Bell begins to recognize Sherlock as an invaluable asset in solving his cases.

Cast and characters

Main

Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes. Holmes is a former Scotland Yard consultant who now lives in New York City after completing drug rehabilitation. He is a deductive genius with a variety of unusual interests and enthusiasms that assist him in his investigations. Feeling that the more interesting criminal cases are in America, he stays in New York. He contacts an old associate, Captain Thomas Gregson of the New York City Police Department (NYPD), to resume his work as a consulting detective. He is forced by his father to live with Dr. Joan Watson, his "sober companion" who provides him with aftercare. Miller's Holmes displays many canonical aspects of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's character, while his familial relations, most notably his resentment for his father Morland, have been added into his narrative. In between seasons 2 and 3, Sherlock spends eight months in Britain working for MI6 and returns to New York in "Enough Nemesis to Go Around" with a new protégé, Kitty Winter. At the conclusion of season 3, Sherlock suffers a relapse, but his father's connections allow him to resume working for the NYPD. In season 4, Morland reveals that Sherlock's mother, May Holmes, was an opiate addict like him. In the last few episodes of season 5, he is violently assaulted by Shinwell, an aquantance of Joan's, resulting in a severe head injury. He subsequently suffers from severe headaches that affect his concentration and memory, leading to an incident where he is in possession of a severed head, without knowing who the victim was, or if he was the killer, as well as hallucinating about a woman who is based on his mother; the season 6 premiere reveals that he is suffering from post-concussion syndrome, requiring him to be put on a carefully balanced system of medication, as well as taking on assorted mental activities to try and help his brain heal, albeit hampered by Sherlock's 'need' to use his work to escape his past addictions. By the beginning of season 7, Sherlock is officially recovered, although he notes that one more hit to his head could have serious consequences for his health. In the penultimate episode of the series, following his father's murder at the hands of Odin Reichenbach, Sherlock has a showdown with Reichenbach in which he fakes his death, allowing Reichenbach to be arrested and finally convicted of his numerous crimes some time later. In the series finale, after three years in hiding, he returns after his nemesis / former lover Jamie Moriarty lures him out by making a fake threat against Joan's life. He later opts to stay with Joan as she undergoes cancer treatment, and the two partner up again a year later when she recovers. With 24 episodes per season, by the end of season 2, Jonny Lee Miller became the actor who had portrayed Sherlock Holmes the most times in television and/or film, overtaking Jeremy Brett (with 41 television episodes) and Eille Norwood (with 47 silent films).

Recurring

Ophelia Lovibond as Kitty Winter. She is Sherlock's newest protégée, whom he brings from London after leaving MI6. She was initially tasked with spying on Watson until being discovered. Sherlock tends to be strict with her but admires her detective skills. Kitty's real name is unknown, as she was kidnapped and raped in London prior to meeting Sherlock and had changed her name in an effort to forget her ordeal. Her character is based on Kitty Winter in Doyle's "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client". After confronting and disfiguring her rapist, she decides to leave the United States to avoid arrest and to go somewhere where she could use the skills that Sherlock and Watson had taught her.

Ato Essandoh as Alfredo Llamosa. Sherlock's NA sponsor is a recovering addict himself. Alfredo is also a reformed expert car thief. He is now paid by various car companies to test their security systems, and he occasionally lets Sherlock try out his own skills on them. Alfredo is one of Sherlock's few real friends, but does not hesitate to criticize Sherlock when he makes a poor decision and pushes him to continue his rehab regimen, including becoming a sponsor himself. He also teaches Joan how to bypass automotive security. Sherlock later 'fires' Alfredo as his sponsor so that he can help him as a friend.

Rhys Ifans as Mycroft Holmes. Sherlock's older brother lives in London. He and Sherlock had a very bitter relationship in the past, but Mycroft begins taking steps to reconcile with his brother and becomes good friends with Joan. He owns a chain of restaurants called Diogenes and is an excellent cook. It is later revealed that Mycroft is in the employ of MI6; it becomes necessary for him to fake his death in "The Grand Experiment", an act that his brother feels shows a lack of faith in Sherlock's ability to find another solution. It is revealed in season 6 that Mycroft has died of a brain aneurysm. Sherlock briefly grieves for him when he learns of this, regretting not being able to make up with his brother before his death.

Natalie Dormer as Irene Adler / Jamie Moriarty. As Irene, she is the great love of Sherlock's life during his life in Britain. She conceals from him that she is also Moriarty, the brilliant criminal mastermind and leader of a shadowy, powerful worldwide criminal organization. She fakes her death to draw his investigations away from her criminal activities. This causes Sherlock's already established drug use to escalate out of control. Despite Sherlock discovering her true identity and engineering her imprisonment, the two continue to have conflicting feelings for each other – Sherlock noting during a conversation with Bell that "the love of [his] life is an unrepentant homicidal maniac" — and great respect for each other's intellectual powers. She orders her organization not to harm him. She also gains a certain amount of respect for Joan, as the latter's ability to fool her is what gets her arrested; when Joan's life is threatened by drug kingpin Elana March, she arranges the criminal's death in her cell. At the end of Season 4, Morland Holmes takes over her organization with the goal of dismantling it. She plays a major unseen role in the series finale, supposedly plotting against Sherlock, only for it to turn out to be a false alarm. Three years later, Sherlock attends her funeral, although he expresses doubt to Watson that Moriarty is actually dead. Series creator Robert Doherty confirmed in an interview that Moriarty is still alive.

Characters from the Sherlock Holmes stories

Elementary often has characters who are loosely based on characters from the original Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Production

Development

Writer and producer Robert Doherty created the show. Doherty has commented that it was Carl Beverly who "initially was the one who brought up the possibility of developing a Sherlock show." Beverly spoke about the relationship between Sherlock and Watson in the show in July 2012:

Rob [Doherty] often calls it a bromance, but one of the bros just happens to be a woman. He said that from the very beginning and I think it's really an apt description. There's this idea that a man and a woman can't be together on a show especially without needing to be together sexually or in love or whatever, and this is really about the evolution of a friendship and how that happens. Watching that should be as much the story of this show as the mysteries that you see week in and week out about who killed who [sic].

Relationship to BBC's Sherlock

Sherlock, a contemporary reworking of the Sherlock Holmes story, premiered in the UK in July 2010 and in the U.S. in October 2010. The British show has since sold to more than 200 territories. In January 2012, shortly after CBS's announcement they had ordered the pilot for Elementary, Sherlock producer Sue Vertue told newspaper The Independent, "[W]e understand that CBS are doing their own version of an updated Sherlock Holmes. It's interesting, as they approached us a while back about remaking our show. At the time, they made great assurances about their integrity, so we have to assume that their modernised Sherlock Holmes doesn't resemble ours in any way, as that would be extremely worrying." The following month Vertue said that "We have been in touch with CBS and informed them that we will be looking at their finished pilot very closely for any infringement of our rights."

CBS made a statement on the issue: "Our project is a contemporary take on Sherlock Holmes that will be based on Holmes, Watson and other characters in the public domain, as well as original characters. We are, of course, respectful of all copyright laws and will not infringe on any stories or works that may still be protected."

Creator Robert Doherty discussed comparisons between Sherlock and Elementary the following July, pointing out that a tradition of updated Holmes stories dates back to the Basil Rathbone films of the 1940s, and that he did not think it was the case that Elementary took anything from Sherlock, which he described as a "brilliant show" having watched its first series. Several months later, Lucy Liu confirmed the producers of the UK Sherlock were shown the pilot, "saw how different it was from theirs," and were "okay with it now."

Casting

Liu was cast by February 2012. That July, she said that Watson is not "someone who's on the sideline; she's his sober companion, she's engaged in him, not the mystery, ... From that point on you get to see how that blossoms out. The foot-in-the-bucket and that kind of Watson happens because in entertainment, there's got to be a sidekick. In this case, that's not the direction we're going in. Ask me in six episodes and if I have a foot in a bucket then we'll have a discussion."

In 2013, it was announced that Rhys Ifans would portray Sherlock's brother, Mycroft Holmes, in the second season premiere. John Noble was cast as Sherlock's father for season 4.

Filming

Some interior scenes were shot at Silvercup Studios in Long Island City. Some exterior shots of Sherlock's brownstone were filmed in Harlem, which was a stand-in for Brooklyn Heights. Many of the interiors were shot in Queens.

Reception

Critical reception

The first season was met with positive reviews from critics, who highlighted the show's novel approach to the source material, the writing quality, and the performances and chemistry found between its two leads and supporting cast. Season one holds an 85% approval rating on aggregate review site Rotten Tomatoes, based on 62 reviews, with an average score of 7.69/10. The site's consensus reads: "It may not appeal to purists, but Elementary provides a fresh new spin on Sherlock Holmes, and Jonny Lee Miller shines in the title role." It also holds a Metacritic score of 73 out of 100 based on 29 sampled reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The Guardian's Phelim O'Neill felt that "Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu make it a double act to rival Sherlock" and noted that "the pacing feels perfect and the details are light: viewers can keep up with the investigation and feel involved, not something every investigative show achieves". Lori Rackl of The Chicago Sun-Times gave the pilot episode 3 stars out of 4, and said "While the latest interpretation doesn't live up to the British import, it's still more entertaining than your typical CBS procedural." Hank Stuever of The Washington Post gave it a B+ and felt that the show "exhibits enough stylish wit in its mood and look to quickly distinguish itself from the latest British Sherlock series (seen on PBS)".

Season 2 was met with equally positive reviews. It holds a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 17 reviews, with an average score of 8.29/10. The site's consensus reads, "With the introduction of Mycroft and Lestrade, Elementary successfully extends into the Sherlock Holmes canon in season two." Several critics praised Rhys Ifans for his portrayal of Mycroft Holmes, with Myles McNutt of The A.V. Club calling his casting choice "inspired" and praising him for being able to match with Miller's "bitterness" and praising the premiere episode overall - he later went on to offer positive words on Ifans' performance in the finale episodes pertaining to Mycroft's story, despite finding flaws in the overall arc. Noel Kirkpatrick of TV.com also praised Ifans, saying he "very finely" played the role. The episode "The Diabolical Kind" also attracted wide acclaim, with many singling out the emotional depth and Natalie Dormer's performance as Moriarty. McNutt called Moriarty's presence in both the episode and the series as a whole "refreshingly dominant" and also praised the storytelling and dialogue, singling out several bits of witty humor in the episode. The episode has a 9.0 rating on TV.com with Kirkpatrick claiming Dormer was "having a ball" playing the role of Moriarty and saying there was "good stuff" to be had in her. Kirkpatrick also appreciated the season as a whole for its development of Holmes' character, as well as the performance of the cast.

Broadcast and syndication

In the United States, reruns of Elementary aired on Start TV since January 1, 2024.

In Australia, Elementary premiered on Network Ten on February 3, 2013. The second season started airing on March 23, 2014. The third season started airing on March 2, 2015.

In Canada, it airs simultaneously on Global. In New Zealand, it premiered on Prime on February 27, 2013.

In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the series was acquired by Sky Witness (previously Sky Living), a subscription channel. It debuted on October 23, 2012. The second season premiered on October 22, 2013. The third season began airing on November 11, 2014. Season 1 premiered on free-to-air TV in the UK on Sky-owned channel Pick on February 6, 2017.

On February 3, 2013, Elementary was broadcast after Super Bowl XLVII as the official lead-out program. The episode drew 20.8 million viewers, despite running out of prime time in the Eastern time zone as a result of a game delay.

As of 2025, the series is available on Amazon Prime Video and Hulu.

Tie-in media

In February 2015, Titan Books published the first official tie-in novel, The Ghost Line (ISBN 9781781169841), written by Adam Christopher. A second novel, also written by Adam Christopher and titled Blood and Ink, was published on April 26, 2016 (ISBN 9781785650277).