Reaction: Elementary 1.01

[caffienekitty]

Well, I suppose I should post something.



Dear CBS,

Stop showing me who did it before the opening credits. Except in this case they actually didn't, so that was refreshing. Still, is there a quota for "murders taking place within the first two minutes" on CBS or what?

Anyway.

I'd probably like it if they had abandoned the Holmesian aspect and went with original characters, but since they didn't....

Inner Holmes-fan "Nooo!" count: |||| .

Inner Holmes-fan *facepalm* count: | . ||||

(The dot represents the Opening Credits, and I'm not specifying the moments because this is a brief cursory reaction post.)


Like or laugh lines or moments:

-Brief pre-ad violin flourish on soundtrack.
-"Personal valet."
-"Tall men in your life, I'd like a list."
-Bees, and the book on bees, title and all.
-Sabotaging her clocks.
-Sudden swab in the mouth, bam!
-"Just read a book would you!"
-Matching plaid, and so soon!
-"You are so full of it."
-"I notice you don't have any mirrors around here." Touché!
-Sneaking into the opera with shouty whispers: "Watson!"
-His little "pleeease" in the opera.
-*husband outlines the 'hypotheticals' in their faces* Now that's a ballsy perp.
-"In case you hadn't noticed, I don't have meaningful connections." Ha ha.


"LOL What?!...okay, yeah." Moment:

-Crashing her car.


Literally applauded:

-"Rice is a natural desiccant." Niiice. I even knew that and it got past me.


Other random observations and thoughts:

-Gregson seems like a bit of a spud right now. Hope he gets more character development.

-I do not know what it is about JLM's accent but it always sounds so fake to me, no matter which accent he's using. I do not know why. Same with John Barrowman. I truly do not know why.

-HOLY SHIT, THE GUY PLAYING GREGSON (Aidan Quinn) PLAYED THE COP IN PRACTICAL MAGIC! I knew he looked familiar! Now there is a crossover verse waiting to happen. O.o

-It's a little less than halfway through (10:25), I'm officially calling that the husband got his wife to get plastic surgery to make her fit the victim profile and then baited the actual murderer into attack somehow, then killed him. Details will work themselves out. He's been giving me perp-vibes all along, and this is CBS, which has a tendency toward telegraphing if not outright showing the audience who the perpetrator is.

-Ah, new therapist and steroids instead of Xanax. Did they say the husband was a therapist at the start at all? My sound was horribly muddy, so they might have.


Verdict:

...I'll watch it, see how it goes. Seems watchable and undemanding so far. Again, I would probably like it a lot more if they'd just had them be non-Holmes characters in the same sort of dynamic, but it's not quite as dire a version as I'd feared it might be.

ETA:(Icon used shouldn't necessarily be taken as a comment on the show. It's just been seen.)

Comments

[earlgreytea68.livejournal.com]

I always feel the same way about JLM's accent! It sounds so fake to me! I don't get it!

I haven't watched yet--it's on my DVR--but I will say that I have said all along that it's probably a perfectly respectable show, and I think that naming the characters "Holmes" and "Watson" was a blatant plea for publicity to make an otherwise standard procedural get some press, and I hate the crassness of that, because it's like really bad fanfiction, or something. HOWEVER, I haven't watched it yet, so maybe I'll change my mind.

[ciaranbochna.livejournal.com]

I agree with all of your positive moments. Mom and I just couldn't get past the "noooo!!! Never!!! Oh dear gods what the hell?" aspects though. I will probably still watch it, but they certainly should have created a show without Sherlock ties. JLM accent--err...just off.

[caffienekitty]

I'm sure you're right about them using Holmes as a blatant hook rather than trying to be an adaptation. It is crass particularly considering they approached the BBC and Moffat to do a US Sherlock adaptation and they said no, but they're doing a version of Holmes now anyway.

At the moment I find it watchable, but I didn't find the first episode engaging on a fandom level, per se.

[caffienekitty]

There were a few big "Oh god no!"s in there. There was I think one tiny bit where I thought, "Okay, there's a Holmes moment" but it blew past so fast I didn't make a note.

[irismay42.livejournal.com]

I probably shouldn't have read this seeing as we haven't had Elementary in the UK yet, but you've intrigued me with the comments about JLM's accent! He's had an American accent in nearly everything I've ever seen him in, so I'll be interested to hear his English accent! (I'll let you know if it sounds fake!)

[x-cat11.livejournal.com]

No I refuse. No way can this be fit to watch. Not happening, not ever. Conan Doyle is spinning. He may even come back and it won't be pretty.

[percysowner.livejournal.com]

"Rice is a natural desiccant." Niiice. I even knew that and it got past me.

I know. Just last year my daughter's boyfriend dropped his IPhone in the toilet and we searched the Internet and found out about putting it in rice to pull out the moisture and save the phone. It never even occurred to me when they were looking for the phone. I didn't eve get it when they pointed out that mentally ill killer bought rice that he was allergic to. I kind of facepalmed when I realized that for once I actually KNEW and had used the clue that helped solve the mystery.

[caffienekitty]

I don't know whether it's some mid-Atlanticness in there or the very deliberate way he speaks sometimes, it just seems odd no matter which way he's going.

[caffienekitty]

That is a fair viewpoint and one I held for a long time. I will admit I am partly watching to see if it does turn into an absolute train wreck. (Speaking of Doyle spinning, one of these days I do intend to watch the Holmes adaptation with the dinosaurs.)

[caffienekitty]

I know! It was shockingly subtle for CBS. There was a lingering shot of the bag of rice early on that made me go "hunh, that must be significant", but it didn't click until then for me either.