Elementary: The Diabolical Kind Recap

Elementary: The Diabolical Kind (2×12)

Synopsis: When a child is kidnapped and Sherlock identifies the ransom caller as one of Moriarty’s men, the Napoleon of crime herself is brought out of maximum security to assist on the case.

Rating: ?????

It’s a new year and Sherlock Holmes is back. No, not that Sherlock… I mean yes, he’s back too, but I’m talking about the modern Sherlock who is actually held accountable for his actions. That’s not just me firing shots at “The Empty Hearse.” As you may have noticed, I, your resident Elementary recap-er, fell off the face of the earth for a while (no, I did not fake my death to destroy my nemesis’s crime network, I was trying to graduate college), so we have some catching up to do.

Before the midseason break, Mycroft tried and failed to persuade Sherlock to come back to London under the pretense that Daddy Holmes would cut him off if he remained in New York. Sherlock and Joan decided that New York has been too good for Sherlock to give up, and that they’d make it work, but this probably isn’t the last we’ll hear from Mycroft on the matter. However, Sherlock’s less than legal methods of investigation as a consultant to the NYPD have resulted near-deadly consequences. That is, our beloved Detective Marcus Bell took a bullet to the abdomen saving Sherlock from a disgruntled suspect who lost his job and was getting sent back to jail due to Sherlock’s prying. Due to surgical complications, Detective Bell is now working to regain use of his arm.

Sherlock can pretend he only affords Joan decency because he finds her exceptional, but facing Detective Bell’s totally understandable cold shoulder has been hard on him, and his guilt over the matter, is clear as day. Whether or not he believes when it comes to the cases he investigates, the ends justify the means. So now that all this is going on, why not throw Moriarty back into the mix?

If I didn’t love Jonny Lee Miller so much, I’d probably just say ditch him and give me a show that’s all about the tension between Joan and Moriarty, because damn. Hey Joan, maybe Moriarty is so interested in your unsuccessful dating life because she’d like to take you out to dinner? Steal some expensive jewelry and give it to you? Paint an enormous portrait of you? Oh wait…

Anyway, the fact of the matter is that taking Moriarty out of her cozy maximum-security lodgings was never going to be a good idea. I guess I should be thankful she did at least leave Ramses Mattoo alive (Pakistani-American actor Faran Tahir playing a queer character… is there any hope they’ll bring him back? Because hell yeah). But to save a child, it’s no surprise that deals were struck. It is a surprise that the child was, in fact, Moriarty’s own daughter. That fact leaves me craving more backstory. A whole series’ worth. Add “a Moriarty spinoff starring Natalie Dormer” to my list of things I want.

But I’ll take future stories too. Moriarty isn’t dead, and she seemed confident that Sherlock would continue his correspondence with her. I’m highly anticipating whatever’s to come.