Elementary (TV Series) Pilot (2012) User Reviews

A great start to a great series!

[mercychaplet · 9/10 · 26 May 2019]

I have to admit, way back when I heard that this version of Holmes and Watson was not only moving the character to modern day New York, but that Watson was going to be female, I really thought the show would be pandering to the "PC" crowd, and was prepared to be uninterested. Wow! Was I ever wrong!

Here we have a Holmes as quirky and brilliant as Doyle's character, who, oh, btw, is just getting out of rehab! And if that bothers you, go back and read Doyle, where Holmes chronically uses cocaine... Watson, as in the original, is a medical doctor, but due to very difficult, possibly traumatic experiences, she has left the field. Watson had also done this in the books (although he did eventually go back to practicing medicine). Her role as his "recovery companion" makes her a great fool, as she has something to offer him, to help him through the difficulties of his early recovery, and we aren't just watching her stumbling along in his wake, while he explains how brilliant he is. One of the great aspects of this show is showing the ambivalence that many people with substance use disorders have during early recovery, especially regarding accepting help.

I really enjoyed the give and take between the two characters, they have great timing and chemistry. This Holmes starts off very "Jeremy Brett", he is arrogant, a know it all, and doesn't care who he annoys, yet he is fascinating, and so very imperfect. It's just great TV.

Wonderful start to the new series

[Paularoc · 8/10 · 30 September 2012]

When I first saw the advertisements for this new series, I thought uh oh, bet this will be a dog. How wonderfully surprised I was at how very good and thoroughly enjoyable this latest adaption of the Holmes character was. Jonny Lee Miller was great - suitably edgy and oddly engaging. The background stories of Holmes and Watson were plausible and interesting, that Watson is a woman is refreshing, and having it located in New York is also refreshing. Aidan Quinn, an actor whose work I have long admired was good as Gregson. However, Liu seemed a bit too wooden as Watson and it will be interesting to see if she becomes more at ease as the show progresses. The murder investigation and resolution to it was top notch. Don't be put off because it's a new adaption made while the excellent Cumberbatch series is still running. This show is, thus far, also great entertainment.

Not Bad For A Start!

[MockingSilence · 7/10 · 9 October 2012]

This has very minor spoilers. Barely gives anything away.

As someone who has watched Sherlock, I can't help but compare the two shows. But I'm going to do my best to keep an open mind and remember that Elementary and Sherlock are completely separate entities. So, unlike just about every other review of this show, I'm going to avoid the topic of BBC's Sherlock.

The show begins with Sherlock Holmes' first day out of rehab. His new sober companion, Joan Watson meets him at his house to help him make the transition back to the real world as smooth and natural as possible. She is supposed to be staying with him for six weeks, but since a show that only spans six weeks (besides 24) would either be a failure or a mini-series, Watson will clearly stay for longer. She will, no doubt, fall in love with Sherlock's way of thinking and puzzle-solving and stay on as his sidekick for a long time. I say "fall in love with his way of thinking," because the creators promised that there will be no chance of the two of them getting together romantically.

We don't learn too much about Joan Watson in the pilot. We know that she was a surgeon who left her job to become a drug sitter, which is quite unusual for someone who has never had issues with drugs. She is easily intrigued (she quickly caught interest in Sherlock's way of thinking and the case he was investigating) and fairly quick to anger. Hopefully her personality will expand soon, because right now, she is neither interesting nor relatable.

On the flip side of the coin, we learn quite a bit about Sherlock. He used to be a consultant for Scotland Yard, which gave him the freedom to work as he saw fit and he didn't have to answer to anyone, which would clearly be a major difficulty for him. As Arthur Conan Doyle intended, Sherlock is hyper observant, he can determine an occupation from the calluses on one's hands and will notice if the tiniest detail doesn't add up. But he isn't afraid to fact check, Google is his friend. He can keep a ridiculous assortment of facts in his head, he's writing an entire book without writing anything down! Manipulating people comes easily to him, and he doesn't hesitate to do so in any situation.

One thing about Sherlock's brilliance that really irked me was that so much of what he deciphers would be impossible, even for a savant to do. He figures out the exact outcome of a baseball game, down to the plays. He would have to know every single statistic about every player on the field and be lucky for that to happen. But sometimes it's the little things that drive me the most crazy.

Since this is a police (more or less) show on CBS, you should definitely expect a standard procedural with some elements of Doyle's work. If you are a big fan of either procedurals or Sherlock Holmes (or both!), you should definitely tune in. If you tend to only follow serialized shows, this is not going to be your new favorite show. I have very little doubt that Elementary will become a hit, seeing as crime procedurals are what CBS does best. And if Watson becomes a genuine, lovable character and the writers manage to keep the cases interesting, I think that Elementary has a real shot at being a fun, captivating show.

Very watchable

[jasongeorgisdaniel · 9/10 · 12 April 2022]

The fact that one reviewer says "I like a pretty Asian woman" says enough about the reviewer.

It's a good solid series and well worth getting into.

Each storyline can stand on its own but there is also a progressive thread running through the series.

Elementary Pilot

[dalydj-918-255175 · 28 September 2012]

The Americans may not be as good as the British at doing this character but their effort is a very strong one. The story Sherlock is character lately that has done to death but this version is based in USA with a female Watson (Lucy Liu) and a drug addict (Jonny Lee Miller). The case this week is a death that has some similar qualities to another attempt on another woman's life. When Sherlock uses his ways to get people to talk it gets him locked up in prison. The pilot was very enjoyable for me as it set up the relationship well, the case was OK bringing in some new things that Americans do all the time. Jonny Lee Miller brings his version of Holmes which I quite enjoyed especially since Miller was not faking an accent but using his real one (Only the first episode so I will not compare). Liu was OK but I feel that in time she will get better. All to talk about in the episode was the set up and how they fact Watson is a woman might change how Sherlock acts for the better, also we must watch out for a potential drug lapse for Sherlock.

EPISODE GRADE: B+ (MVP: Jonny Lee Miller)

Storyline Is For A Different Series?

[selahgreene-20331 · 8/10 · 16 January 2020]

The storyline listed for this pilot bears little resemblance to the actual story. The NYPD Captain is Tommy Gregson, not Javier Abreu. Dr Mantlo is not a robbery victim, but his wife is an apparent kidnapping victim. Joan Watson is a surgeon who voluntarily left medicine, not a disbarred surgeon. Surgeons are not disbarred (that would be attorneys). The murderer of the doctor's wife is indeed the doctor, who murdered her for her money, not a trophy hunting serial killer .

Elementary, my dear Viewer

[duanezacharyn · 7/10 · 28 September 2012]

While it has been criticized as an attempt to Americanize the ever- popular BBC series, Sherlock, CBS's Elementary is far-off from the hit BBC program: in its own special way. The writers currently seem to be testing the waters, seeing how the ratings fare with the current scheme, before hopefully, unleashing an honest version of Sherlock onto the people of the good old USA. The highlight of this episode was definitely Jonny Lee Miller's portrayal of Sherlock Holmes, an honest if subdued interpretation of Arthur Conan Doyle's character, which had his own quirks, dealing with overcoming his addiction and balancing that with his propensity to get bored easily. Lucy Liu's character of Joan Watson seems to need some kind of character growth, as she is mostly one-dimensional at this point. The future is bright for this show, though.

Good show but Johnny Lee is a little hard to understand

[c-kimball-1 · 7/10 · 28 September 2012]

This review may contain a spoiler. I only gave it a 7 because I find Johnny Lee Miller's accent hard to understand. I usually don't go to British movies because of the same reason. I had no problem understand any one else on the show. I will give the show another watch next week but if I still have the same problem I'm afraid I will just stop watching this show. Maybe he can cut back on the thickness of the accent so that he is a little more understanding. I'm not looking for him to speak American which I know he can do from his previous shows. The show has a good story line and I just love the way he deduces things So we will have to wait and see what the future holds for this show.

Sincerely Kilzum

There's no Sherlock here

[findingdevotion · 4/10 · 28 September 2012]

Even though the main characters are called Holmes and Watson, they have nothing to do with the beloved characters created by Arthur Conan Doyle.

Lately, the "re-imagining" trend starts looking more and more like an excuse to plug a character with a well-known name and none of the story or personality for the sole purpose of cashing in a few dollars from a classic author without giving any credit (note how the show doesn't credit Doyle even for the creation of the characters).

So in that case why not call them Ben Rupert and his sidekick Anna Patrick? In that case you'd lose the audience lured in by the name for the first few episode before they realize that there's no embodiment here for their beloved detective.

Moffat's re-imagining had a little spunk there. There was some background, some of the stories were adapted, etc. Moffat gave up some of the cohesion and some of the logic that made the original characters believable in an effort to adapt them to the modern world. Even though the wit was gone, it was still entertaining.

Ritchie's Holmes kept the character alive and added to it, making it not just witty but also more fun that the pure exercise of intellect that Doyle offered.

We could go over and over and would find better and worse interpretations of Holmes, only to reach this conclusion: "Elementary" isn't necessarily the worst, but its sin is that it is the most annoying. If you're going to throw away everything that made Holmes into Holmes, do it properly, don't drag the name into a show that is aimlessly searching for an identity!

Bottom line is, the show could very well stand its own ground if it wouldn't desperately try to cash in on established characters!

A pilot that doesn't leave you craving for more.

[joedogawa · 2/10 · 25 June 2015]

In contrast to what you would expect from a Sherlock Holmes TV show (as the British equivalent is doing superbly) this show isn't clever. Neither writing nor directing really manage to captivate you, and the soundtrack doesn't help create good atmosphere neither. Worst of all the acting. Lucy Liu is OK, and the fact that i like gorgeous Asian women is the only thing that will make me watch at least one more episode. The very first scene introducing Johnny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes leaves you wondering why he was chosen for the role. Maybe the poor writing denies him a better performance. The rest of the cast doesn't really convince either. All in all you're left with a disappointing pilot, which can't compete with other shows of the genre.