Elementary Recap: “Details”

Elementary Recap: “Details”
Original Air Date (CBS): Thursday, February 14, 2013
Season 1 Episode 16

by Solomon J. Inkwell:

During this season of CBS’s Elementary, my favorite episodes have been those which give us a deeper glimpse into the souls of the characters. I applaud the curious connection the writers have created between Holmes and Watson. It’s pretty fun to watch. While the action and adventure definitely draw you into the plot each week, the relationship that Holmes and Watson share is the extremely engaging icing on the cake. And we continue to see their relationship deepen in the latest episode, DETAILS.

Watson enters a dimly lit Brownstone. As she removes her coat, she is interrupted by a stranger in a mask who demands to see Holmes. As he approaches her, Watson dives frantically toward her purse to retrieve her pepper spray, but the stranger has managed to swipe the bottle before she could do so. He steps closer and she begins to run to the living room when she is tripped by wire that has been secured to the floor. It is then we realize the intruder is actually Holmes. After Watson’s dangerous encounter with Agent Diaz in last week’s episode, Holmes thinks it high time that Watson develop self-defense skills. He informs her that he had reached out to a handful of martial artists with the hope that one will reply to his request for training her. Until that time, Watson is to expect more tests of her endurance. She is, of course, less than enthused about this and storms out to her room. “You have been warned…,” Holmes mutters.

A few miles away, Detective Bell is leaving a message for Captain Gregson when a rather impatient driver begins to tailgate him. Growing aggravated, Bell motions for the driver to pass him. As the car begins to pass on the opposite side, shots from an automatic weapon ring out. Bullets riddle the driver’s side of Bell’s car causing him to lose control and flip while the perpetrator(s) speed away. Luckily, though Bell’s car is totaled, he escapes with minimal injury. Holmes examines Bell’s car and concludes two things: the shots were made with a modified MP5…and that the shooter had terrible aim. Holmes goes on to tell Bell that as soon as he heard of the attempt on Bell’s life, he began looking into Bell’s case files. Through that research, Holmes has determined that Bell has been an excellent detective throughout his career, so he has managed to amass a rather lengthy list of criminals who would love to see him six-feet under. But, Bell believes he knows precisely who is at fault—a felon named Curtis Bradshaw.

At the station they begin to look over the Bradshaw case. Bradshaw, a local drug lord, had managed to barely remain out of arm’s reach of the law. He was never directly involved in any of his schemes. While this made Bradshaw easy to arrest on suspicion, it gave him a slick coating to which direct charges could never stick. One detective, Detective Hudson, had even tried to plant drugs at Bradshaw’s apartment so that he could be taken off the street, but the cover-up was exposed. Finally, Bell “Caponed” Bradshaw, using lesser charges to take him off the street long enough to begin chipping away at his organization. After his trial, Bradshaw had warned Bell that once he was free again he would come after Bell. As they leave the conference room, Bell is notified of a message left for him by a “Mister Cheese,” the codename of one of his “informants.” He is also stopped by Officer Rayas, who asks how he is doing after his encounter. Holmes immediately assesses that Bell and Rayas had been involved…at least ten times. Bell only confirms the two had gone out and leaves it at that. From the look of Rayas’ hands Holmes has also noticed that she boxes. He suggests that Watson and Rayas get together for some sparring sessions. Watson dismisses the suggestion, which she deems as Foxy Boxing, to which Holmes replies, “So, you consider yourself…foxy?”

Gregson, Holmes and Watson go to question Bradshaw, who is at a local park with a couple of his cronies playing basketball. Gregson asks Bradshaw if he can account for his whereabouts between the hours of 10:00 and 10:30 the evening of Bell’s attack. Slyly, Bradshaw acknowledges the attack on Bell and that he understood the perpetrator had missed Bell while shooting at him, adding to hit Bell one would have to “shoot low.” Both of Bradshaw’s partners provide him with different alibies. With a smirk, he tells Gregson to pick the one he likes best. Suddenly taking the basketball from one of Bradshaw’s partners, Holmes offers up a wager. If Holmes can make a basket, which hangs an impossible distance away at the opposite end of the court, Bradshaw has to give up the location of the car used in Bell’s attack. Thinking it ridiculous, Bradshaw laughs and agrees to the bet. Holmes readies himself, and after a few stretches he manages to throw the ball onto the roof of the recreation center directly behind them. “He wasn’t going to tell us anyway…”

Bell goes to visit Mr. Cheese, who turns out to be Bell’s older brother, Andre. Andre had been involved in the gang life and is now on parole. Andre offers to ask around about who could have attempted the hit on Bell, but Bell refuses, citing that contacting any of Andre’s former associates would violate his parole. Though the brothers obviously care for one another, their different paths in life have placed an apparent strain on their relationship.

At Brownstone, Holmes fiddles with a tennis ball while he reviews Bradshaw’s file. He takes particular interest in the frame job that Detective Mickey Hudson had attempted on Bradshaw. However, there is little detail that can be gathered outside of the existing case file as Hudson took his own life when brought up on charges related to the tampering. Watson begins to walk away and as she does Holmes hurls the tennis ball at her back. “That could have been a knife.” Watson becomes furious. She walks over to Holmes’ collection of padlocks, which arranges in an alternate order each day. She knocks them to the floor walks away daring Holmes to continue with his aggravations, insinuating she has the ability to be just as annoying.

In the lower side of town, a woman notices a man loitering on the steps of her apartment building. She asks him to leave, but he doesn’t respond. Finally, she threatens to call the police and steps inside not realizing the man is dead. It is the corpse of Bradshaw, who has been shot and killed during the early morning hours. Holmes and Watson arrive at the scene and Holmes takes in the clues, which lead him to believe that Bell may have had something to do with Bradshaw’s demise. The manner in which Bradshaw was shot leads him to believe the offender was a trained officer, and the tread from the footprint left at the scene belongs to a size ten Pagotti boot, a brand of boot that Holmes knows Bell to own.

Gregson and Holmes visit Bell to tell him of Holmes’ observations. Bell naturally denies any involvement, and though Holmes and Gregson both agree that Bell’s involvement is unlikely, to remain in compliance Gregson places Bell on administrative suspension. Gregson wants to play by the rules to keep everyone’s career safe. Holmes asks to visit Bell’s restroom, and after he leaves the room Gregson assures Bell that they will continue to look into the matter. Holmes quickly walks back into the room and suggests that he and Gregson leave.

At her therapy session, Watson realizes her therapist is no longer amused by Watson’s continued involvement with Holmes. With the recent attack Watson endured, her therapist considers Watson’s relationship with Holmes to now be a risk to her life. Her therapist offers her professional opinion, suggesting that the relationship between Watson and Holmes has run its course. Watson should sever ties.

Watson arrives back a Brownstone to find Holmes conducting his own ballistics test on his sparring dummy. Bell is visiting with Andre when he receives a text from Holmes asking him to pay Brownstone a visit. Before Bell leaves, he and Andre have a slightly heated exchange because Andre had reached out to some of his former associates for clues related to Bell’s attack. That Andre has risked his freedom over the case angers Bell. As Andre walks away, he notes that Bell could not possibly begin to know what it’s like to be in Andre’s predicament, but one day Bell will. Bell arrives at Brownstone as instructed. Holmes admits to conducting his own ballistics examination, but informs Bell that he did so using a gun that he had found hidden in Bell’s restroom earlier that day. The bullets match those used in the murder of Bradshaw. Holmes agrees that he doesn’t believe Bell could have been involved, but it is obvious someone is trying to frame Bell.

At the station, Holmes fills Gregson in, leaving out the fact that the gun was found in Bell’s home. Rather, Holmes claims he found the gun in a dumpster. Bell and Holmes leave the conference room together. Holmes confesses that he didn’t tell Gregson the full details about the gun, because to do so would definitely place Bell in hot water. Rather, Holmes asks Bell for the key to his apartment so he and Watson may examine it further. Someone close to Bell is apparently involved. He/she was able to enter his apartment undetected, which has led Holmes to believe they have a key. As Holmes leaves, Bell sees Andre enter the station. Andre and Bell go to a conference room where Bell proceeds to indirectly accuse Andre of framing him. The questioning escalates to the point where Andres punches Bell in the face before he leaves.

At Bell’s apartment, Holmes and Watson have little luck finding clues. Holmes is disappointed that Watson isn’t taking her need for self-defense lessons seriously. Aggravated, Watson walks away and begins talking about boundaries that their relationship lacks, especially between a recovering addict and his sober companion. It is at that point that Holmes announces he is aware that Watson has been in his company for free. When Holmes had contacted his father to obtain money for the release of the kidnapped Emily Hughes weeks before, his father had told him that Watson was no longer under his employ. Not knowing how to respond, Watson turns away. Then, Holmes offers a proposal. He suggests that Watson remains with him, not as a sober companion, but as his companion. She may continue to reside at the Brownstone for free and receive payment comparable to her previous salary for companionship. Holmes knows he is better with Watson, sharper, more focused. He doesn’t quite know why. He suggests that Watson take time to think about his proposition.

Bell goes to Andre’s apartment to reconcile only to find that Andre has been wounded. Someone had shot him in the back through his apartment window. With Andre bleeding on the floor, Bell places a frantic call for back up and medical assistance. Bell notices that Andre has written three words on the floor in his blood: “Was not Marcus.” At the scene, Holmes and Watson examine Andre’s apartment. Holmes notes the resemblance to other clues at the Bradshaw crime scene, notably the familiar Pagotti boot print that is outside.

At the hospital, Holmes and Watson stay with Bell while the doctors tend to Andre. Since Bell had done “a service” during the Bradshaw case, Bell was able to request an early parole hearing for Andre. Bell tells them of Andre’s stubbornness and his refusal to name those in Andre’s gang, even though it would have secured an earlier release for him. Watson is then able to conclude that Bell was the whistleblower in the Mickey Hudson case with Bradshaw. It had been Bell who had provided the details that led to Hudson’s arrest. Bell admits to this citing that while he wanted Bradshaw behind bars just as bad as anyone else, he wanted it to happen honestly. Holmes realizes that anyone involved in the original detail had the motive to frame Bell.

At the station, Officer Rayas is called into question. She had served on the original detail. Not only that, she had direct involvement with Bell and had access to his apartment. Rayas was a trainee of Hudson and respected him immensely. Holmes also believed that Hudson had put Rayas up to stealing the drugs which were been planted in Bradshaw’s apartment, a charge she had initially denied during Hudson’s investigation. She had applied for Vice three times, and had been denied each time…by Bell. Rayas was also directly connected with the case against a Danny Vargas, a felon who specialized in modifying untraceable weapons. All three guns where from Vargas’ stock. Unsurprisingly, Rayas refutes her involvement in all of this. That is, until Holmes tosses Pagotti boot ringlets recovered from Rayas’ home onto the table, the only material that remained from her attempt to burn the boots to cinders.

While in Andre’s hospital room, Andre tells Bell that he wrote of Bell’s innocence in his own blood because he knew his brother would never try to harm him. Bell had told Andre someone was attempting to set Bell up, so he realized when he was attacked it was related to further attempts to do so. The two brothers reconcile with Andre stating the worst thing any of his exes did to him was cut the spokes on his bicycle.

At Brownstone, Holmes once again arranges his locks, this time by date of manufacture—earliest to latest. After a moment of silence, Watson says she likes to be paid on Thursdays. She goes on to say that she will reside at Brownstone rent-free until she finds another place. Lastly, the final condition of their companionship will be that Holmes will continue to attend sessions with her at group recovery. Holmes agrees. Before walking away, Watson picks up a basketball and calls to Holmes. When he turns around, she pegs him in the nose with it. “That could have been a knife…”

As she walks away, Holmes rubs his nose and smiles.

Another wonderful episode! And the games continue. Could we find out more of the elusive Moriarty in the coming weeks?

You can view the episode, via CBS, here.

DarkMedia contributor Solomon J. Inkwell (James Grea) is a screenwriter and author of juvenile horror. He is the author of Vickie Van Helsing and Haunting Thelma Thimblewhistle from the Dead Anna series.  His forthcoming works include The Frighteneers and the screenplay The Winter Files. You can find out more about Solomon and his not-so-dead friends here.