S04.E07: Miss Taken

[Kromm]

I could definitely see Moriarty taking an interest in her and maybe helping her get away with it. Or she could already be working for her. The fact that she peaks Sherlock's interest is reason enough for either.

As I said before, I really hope not.

I can see cases where having baddies working together is a good thing for a show, but in this case I think it would diminish Fake Mina's own cleverness/resourcefulness enough to be detrimental to a great character they've built.

I think as fans we always want to see our favorite toys play together, but for me it feeds into that kind of fan service thing where a show's writers start thinking less about what serves stories or characters best, vs. putting together favorite things to make fans happy. Which don't mistake me... to some extent any show these days has to please it's fans to survive, but to my mind the best thing for the sanctity of this episodes' story and that villain is for her to be this smart and this ruthless all by herself.

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

Elementary Introduces A Female As Strong As Hell
Sherlock and Joan meet a cute new nemesis.

[sjohnson]

In some respects, this episode I think is Elementary copying itself. Specifically, the episode "Child Predator" where Johnny Simmons played the title role. It's gender-switched and they've amped up the evil in a female by making her the killer of a retired FBI agent. 

[Blakeston]

I agree with the criticism that it was too confusing how fake Mina found out about real Mina.

So the real Mina was living with her captor, and remembered her mother, but was presumably too psychologically scarred to leave? And then fake Mina had some sort of interaction with her, and recognized her as the adult version of the girl who disappeared ten years earlier? And because the person who recognized her just happened to look enough like her to pass as her, she stole Mina's identity?

If that's what happened, it could have been explained a lot better.

As for Fake Mina being a genius liar, she sure made a dumb move by admitting to Sherlock and Joan that she was fake. She should have just kept her mouth shut, and let the parents go on insisting she had to be their daughter.

Edited January 11, 2016 by Blakeston

[Kromm]

I agree with the criticism that it was too confusing how fake Mina found out about real Mina.

I don't know if I'd call it "confusing" as much as "unrevealed". I mean does the story really demand it be revealed, or would that just be to feed the viewer?  It's not like the show ignored it--Holmes even acted frustrated he didn't know how she did. In real life there are plenty of aspects of crimes that never get figured out, even if they catch the criminal. Probably the only reason she's reveal it would be to brag... and being a braggart is not shown as a particular weakness of hers.

As for Fake Mina being a genius liar, she sure made a dumb move by admitting to Sherlock and Joan that she was fake. She should have just kept her mouth shut, and let the parents go on insisting she had to be their daughter.

True. Overall she wasn't ego-driven, but this may be the one moment where she fell prey to that. Edited January 12, 2016 by Kromm

[Blakeston]

I don't know if I'd call it "confusing" as much as "unrevealed". I mean does the story really demand it be revealed, or would that just be to feed the viewer?

 

I'd say it was confusing. I've seen lots of comments online along the lines of, "Wait, did they explain that or not? I couldn't tell."

 

And not explaining it comes across to me like a way for the writers to avoid having to explain a highly implausible part of their story, more than it seems like a tantalizing mystery.

[KAOS Agent]

 

So the real Mina was living with her captor, and remembered her mother, but was presumably too psychologically scarred to leave? And then fake Mina had some sort of interaction with her, and recognized her as the adult version of the girl who disappeared ten years earlier? And because the person who recognized her just happened to look enough like her to pass as her, she stole Mina's identity?

 

She did say that she watched a documentary that showed an aged up version of Real!Mina. It's possible that she saw that and realized who Real!Mina was. That gave her the idea and she hatched a plan. It's not unheard of for a kidnap victim to be let out and not tell anyone who they are. Elizabeth Smart and Jaycee Dugard both dealt with the public. I think that there are even some pictures of Elizabeth Smart at some party. I think that's why Sherlock asked if she'd spent some time in the town where Real!Mina had been living. He figured it was sheer coincidence that this girl had recognized Mina and took advantage. 

 

 

Also, I think she was unduly confident, with her whole "I've never committed a crime; you can't prove the murder because I have six explanations for it."  They may not be able to prove the murder, but they sure as hell can prove fraud -- her deception to the parents.  And that carries actual jail-time.  Unless she's hoping to get a suspended sentence with a sob story about a horrible childhood and wanting to belong to a loving family?

 

This bothered me as well. There was also the assault on Mina where she shaved her head. I don't think she'd gain lots of sympathy from a jury when there was proof that she knew where the real kidnap victim was and left her in that horrific situation to go screw the grieving parents out of money. If Mina was taken by a sex offender, then Not!Mina left her to continue to be raped and abused by her kidnapper. A sob story isn't going to mean jack when Real!Mina takes the stand.

[Ailianna]

But realMina couldn't identify her attacker; she wore a hoodie or something.  And it happened in a different jurisdiction, she was never charged or convicted, and a good lawyer could probably keep all mention of it out of the trial.

[andromeda331]

It doesn't matter if the realMina couldn't identify her. She found the realMina and instead of

helping, her saving her or even just calling the cops, she attacked her, shaved her hair,

took that hair so she could claim she was Mina to scam the parents out of their money.

[Sarnia]

I thought they needed a hair root, not just the hair itself, to get a DNA sample? 

They do, and that really bugged me. In a hair, there is only nuclear DNA (usually used to look for genetic markers) in the root, so not available in a hair that has been mechanically cut or shaved. You can find another source of DNA, mitochondrial DNA, in cut hair, but this type of DNA is only transmitted by the maternal line (unlike nuclear DNA which comes from both parents) so it cannot be used to match a daughter to her father.

I quite liked the story up to that part and the ending that felt really rushed and totally unrealistic. But Cassie was a great villain. I would enjoy to see her trial and Sherlock's efforts to prove her guilty (and then I hope she doesn't linger on too much in the series).

Edited January 13, 2016 by Sarnia

[krimimimi]

They do, and that really bugged me. In a hair, there is only nuclear DNA (usually used to look for genetic markers) in the root, so not available in a hair that has been mechanically cut or shaved. You can find another source of DNA, mitochondrial DNA, in cut hair, but this type of DNA is only transmitted by the maternal line (unlike nuclear DNA which comes from both parents) so it cannot be used to match a daughter to her father.

Given Faux!Mina was presented as very bright, I assumed she would have tried to match the trauma she caused herself to the trauma she caused Mina so that the evidence would appear to match up. As there were a number of cuts in her scalp, I'd thus expect the hair she took from Mina to also have some blood on it as well as the occasional root where it was effectively gouged from her scalp, which I also assumed was deliberate, as the point was to thwart DNA testing. (For example, if she had used an electric razor on Mina, somebody should have wondered why the resulting pile of hair didn't look right and match up with Faux!Mina's injuries.) That said, I had issues with no one sneaking a swab from Faux!Mina's bleeding scalp, but handwaved it was out of respect for the traumatized youth.

[Ailianna]

It doesn't matter if the realMina couldn't identify her. She found the realMina and instead of

helping, her saving her or even just calling the cops, she attacked her, shaved her hair,

took that hair so she could claim she was Mina to scam the parents out of their money.

But if no one can identify fauxMina as the assailant, none of the rest of what you present can be presented IN COURT as having anything to do with her.  We the audience know this, but for those thinking this is evidence going to be used in court, there's no EVIDENCE to connect fauxMina to realMina.  At best they can argue she took advantage of the situation, but without proof she was involved in the attack, or proof that she knew where realMina was, et cetera, no jury will ever hear any of what you mentioned.

[jhlipton]

As stated above, FakeMina will still stand trial for fraud, and the parents can also pursue a civil action against her, seizing every asset she has and every asset she ever acquires.  Both of these are slam dunks since there is ample evidence that she pretended to be RealMina, and won't matter if she knew anything at all about where RealMina was.

[KAOS Agent]

The giant pile of Real!Mina's hair that was found in the bathroom with Faux!Mina is going to be a big problem for her since she used that as DNA proof that she was Mina.  She can't claim that she didn't know whose it was or where it was from or at the very least that she didn't know Real!Mina was alive somewhere once the DNA test was run.

[Mermaid Under]

I didn't like super-grifter sociopath Mina character - and although it goes without saying she will be back, I'm not thrilled about it. I can already tell you how the next episode to feature her will start. Either Gregson or Bell will let Joan know that (somehow!) super sociopath has managed to escape without a trace from prison.  Some poor red-shirt cop might die to get her next plot moving. And instead of moving on to her next mark, she will feel compelled to stay in New York and torture Sherlock, because she doesn't really just want the money, she wants intellectual stimulation.

Why is the current trend in TV super-intelligent, super-skilled, almost comic-book, charismatic sociopaths.  Did this start with Josh Whedon's season by season Big Bad's for Buffy to slay, or can I blame someone else?

In reality most criminals are not brilliant, which is why they are criminals.  Just like most detectives are not Sherlock Holmes, and so most of them actually have to work hard to catch these not so brilliant everyday criminals.   

I understand that these kinds of characters make writing a  42 minute weekly episode easier.  When you back yourself into a corner, super villain can just use their x-ray vision to see through the wall. I just find it lazy.  And its getting repetitive.  Can we move on to the next trend, already. 

Edited January 15, 2016 by Mermaid Under

[Trini]

Question: I might be wrong, but the authorities can't positively ID "Cassie"/Faux!Mina, but they can still try her with an alias or as 'Jane Doe', right?

[Louder]

My favorite part of the episode was the little joke they snuck in.  Joan, speaking to Kathryn Erbe's character, says "what about Bob Underhill..." and of course, Kathryn Erbe played Anna Marvin in What About Bob? in 1991.  I laughed like a loon when it hit me.

Edited January 18, 2016 by Louder