S05.E20: The Art of Sleights and Deception

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Holmes and Watson get mixed up in murder and magic when they investigate the death of a magician killed while performing a classic stunt. Watson suspects Bell is being targeted by the ex-husband of his girlfriend, Chantal, after a false allegation lands him the middle of an Internal Affairs investigation.

Promo:

 

Edited April 17, 2017 by ElectricBoogaloo

[paigow]

On 4/10/2017 at 3:23 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Quote

Watson suspects Bell is being targeted by the ex-husband of his girlfriend, Chantal, after a false allegation 

Did somebody alter the Matrix?? Deja vu....Dude already tried this in the bar..... Is David Blaine the victim????

Edited April 13, 2017 by paigow

[Gregg247]

Did anyone else notice how many plot points were uncovered simply by Sherlock or Joan "googling" the information?  I understand that background is important in the case, but it seemed like very little was deduced this episode, just researched.

I don't care about Bell's girlfriend issues, especially since they're now stretching out over multiple episodes.  Just give us the case of the week!  If they're going to focus on side characters, how about making them about Sherlock's father, or his brother, or Moriarty.

[paigow]

Nazis with carpal tunnel syndrome? Bell has a revenge arc now...Is Watson going to look the other way?

[thuganomics85]

In typical Elementary fashion, a case involving a dead magician somehow ends up being tied to Nazis!  I say this with love, but sometimes I feel like the show puts a bunch of random things into a hat, pulls two out, and finds way to have them be connected.  Not sure who the actor playing the eventual killer was, but I've seen him somewhere before.

Should have known they would bring Bell's girlfriend back, only to kill her off.  I'm guessing the ex boyfriend will end up being a red herring though.  Since she's with the D.A., I'm guessing it will end up being part of some case she is working on.

I wonder if Joan is going to ever make Sherlock pay her back for the magic book he purchased with her credit card.  Along with the amount of the melon he smashed, that Joan had to pay the understandably irate merchant for.  Being Sherlock's partner can be expensive!

[Vermicious Knid]

Relatively few twists and red herrings this week. But did no one at CBS realize this was going to air on Holocaust Remembrance Day?

Hi Marcus' girlfriend! Bye Marcus' girlfriend!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I am applying current HIPAA laws to this episode and I will admit that I don't know what the regulations were back in the late 50s when this Nazi guy was part of a carpal tunnel study, but I can tell you that where I work, we do not keep data for 30+ years. We are required to keep consent forms for five years after the study ends (not five years after the person participated). After that, we shred that information. We would not put paperwork into a storage facility. The data we might keep a little bit longer than that so it's possible that the raw data would exist more than five years after the study concluded, BUT the data is never linked to anyone's name. Each participant is assignd a code or number so that if you were to find the data and you had a list of the participants, you wouldn't be able to link any data back to a specific participant. But the point is that if you went digging through our files 20-30 years later, you might be able to find the raw data with a subject number, but no names. As soon as Joan said that they might be able to find this guy by searching through the old study data, I as like ehhhhh, probably not.

Marcus was up and down for me this episode. I totally laughed when he said they could collect the rich guy's $2 million prize for figuring out who wrote the magic book. But he lost me later when he got very judgey and accusing with his girlfriend about how she could have been with a guy like her ex. Most abusers don't start out abusive, so simmer down there with the condescension.

Edited April 24, 2017 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Ailianna]

4 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

Relatively few twists and red herrings this week. But did no one at CBS realize this was going to air on Holocaust Remembrance Day?

It wasn't originally scheduled to air last night.  Remember the last episode ended up being pushed back a week for some sort of sports event (golf?) so it would have aired last week.  Now, when the schedule changed, I'm presuming the reason they didn't change the order was because of the arc with Marcus.

2 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Marcus was up and down for me this episode. I totally laughed when he said they could collect the rich guy's $2 million prize for figuring out who wrote the magic book. But he lost me later when he got very judgey and accusing with his girlfriend about how she could have been with a guy like her ex. Most abusers don't start out abusive, so simmer down there with the condescension.

I didn't read it as condescension, but rather honest wondering on his part.  By the time Marcus knows him, the ex is blatantly aggressive, scamming the pension system, and generally pretty obviously NOT A GOOD GUY.  I think what he was trying to ask is what she saw in him, what a smart person like herself, with so much on the ball and so much success in her life (because he didn't know Chantal back then either).  For the moment, he was reacting to the two of them as they are now, and asking, were you both so different then that you would be a couple, since clearly the Chantal of now would never go out with the Roy of now.

[Kelda Feegle]

Pretty ordinary episode but I did chuckle when Marcus said Sherlock could see other detectives if he became desk-bound.

[vibeology]

I don't think I'm getting smarter so I guess the show is getting easier. I saw every step of the mystery coming. As soon as they revealed the illustrator used a fake name, I guessed he was also the author. Once they introduced the Nazi book, I guessed the connection there too. I also figured the argument that solving the mystery would have been just as good for the publisher as having it go unsolved just because any news should help drive book sales. Plus, once we learned Chatal's ex had been released, I knew she'd be in trouble, though I assumed Marcus was going to walk in on the attack not the aftermath. Still, the interactions were good with Marcus and Joan really making this work. It was good but I do feel like this season hasn't been as strong as part seasons.

[Rambler]

I thought it was pretty funny that the lady magician wrote a threatening note after the victim "stole" her bullet catching trick. I’m pretty sure that trick has been around since before she was born. I wonder if she flies into fits of rage when she sees other magicians stealing her trick of pulling rabbits out of a hat :D

[vesperholly]

7 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Marcus was up and down for me this episode. I totally laughed when he said they could collect the rich guy's $2 million prize for figuring out who wrote the magic book. But he lost me later when he got very judgey and accusing with his girlfriend about how she could have been with a guy like her ex. Most abusers don't start out abusive, so simmer down there with the condescension.

What a weird scene that was. Spooky music too. Why was it even included, since it was already pretty established that her ex is a Bad Dude? And if it was to setup Marcus again, it's pretty illogical because as a cop, he's going to know how to handle a crime scene.

[basiltherat]

I was so scared when Bell was walking into girlfriend's house -- I thought HE might be getting shot!  As I was telling Bell earlier that night, you can do better than her.

[illdoc]

7 hours ago, Ailianna said:

It wasn't originally scheduled to air last night.  Remember the last episode ended up being pushed back a week for some sort of sports event (golf?) so it would have aired last week.  Now, when the schedule changed, I'm presuming the reason they didn't change the order was because of the arc with Marcus

Um...no. True, an episode did not air due to golf. However, last week (Easter), no Elementary was supposed to air---originally it was a rerun of NCIS LA. They replaced the NCISLA rerun with a new episode of Elementary (the one that got bumped). This is the episode which was regularly scheduled for this date.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

45 minutes ago, illdoc said:

Um...no. True, an episode did not air due to golf. However, last week (Easter), no Elementary was supposed to air---originally it was a rerun of NCIS LA. They replaced the NCISLA rerun with a new episode of Elementary (the one that got bumped). This is the episode which was regularly scheduled for this date.

Yup, all true. When I originally created this episode thread on April 10, this episode was already scheduled to air on April 23. Easter Sunday was a planned hiatus. 

[johntfs]

I was fine with this episode being on Holocaust Remembrance Day.  The overall message of it was, "yep, Nazis are still horrible people" which fits the theme of the day.

[HawaiiTVGuy]

I know they figured out a way to connect Marcus' accuser with the ex, but a simple cross-examination would have completely destroyed the guy's story.  The ex obviously doesn't know the first rule of a true credible witness in a "scary" intense situation, you don't provide so much detail.  Way too many ways of getting tripped up later.  Seriously, identifying not only the make but the model of the gun that is pointed at you?  Not only in the dark, but from the distance of the width of a car?  Instead of doing a photo array lineup of Marcus for the accuser to identify, do a photo array lineup of various firearms, shot in low light, for the guy to pick out the exact make and model that he claims he could identify as the one that Marcus brandished.  But yeah, as soon as the NAZI book was mentioned, I knew what was up.

[tennisgurl]

You know, I was so surprised that, around the 30 minute mark, we had basically stuck with one basic theme, the magic stuff, and it seemed like we were going to stick with that, when, all of the sudden, NAZIS! I should have known, there's no way the writers can resist pulling out millions of red hearings and amazingly differing topics. I know the second they mentioned the Nazi book what was going down. I also raised my eyebrow at Joan being all "now I don't know if I care who killed him", like it wasn't immediately obvious he got the book for research purposes.

Sometimes, I really am convinced that the writers just keep a dart board in their lounge, where they have endless topics, places, and events, and they throw darts to come up with their weekly plots.

Wow, Bells plot escalated quickly. It went from the ex just being an asshole screwing with his ex and Bell and being an asshole, to him murdering his ex wife. I like Bell, but its going to suck if we end up getting drawn into some kind of revenge plot with him.

Giggled at Sherlock buying the book with Joan's card. I hope she has a big ass bill lined up for all the crap he spends with her money for the sake of drama.

[CaptainTightpants]

I'm usually happy to see an episode that focuses on Marcus or Gregson, they just don't get enough screentime. 

But the thing that annoys me about this arc with Chantal's ex is that as Marcus said at dinner, "he is an idiot". Why and how is this guy, who failed his sergeant's exam no less, able to run circles around the department AND the dynamic duo? He has been portrayed as a small minded, petty, lazy loser.

 

I know they figured out his little scam in the end but this guy barely qualifies as as a pimple from what we've seen. It's not like he is an evil mastermind. Why is he back for another arc? I actually groaned when he popped up on my screen. ?

[CaptainCranky]

Boy this is a tough crowd. I enjoyed the episode. Not the best Elementary for sure but it's still better than 95% of the tripe on TV these days both cable and commercial networks.

[HawaiiTVGuy]

39 minutes ago, CaptainTightpants said:

I'm usually happy to see an episode that focuses on Marcus or Gregson, they just don't get enough screentime. 

But the thing that annoys me about this arc with Chantal's ex is that as Marcus said at dinner, "he is an idiot". Why and how is this guy, who failed his sergeant's exam no less, able to run circles around the department AND the dynamic duo? He has been portrayed as a small minded, petty, lazy loser.

 

I know they figured out his little scam in the end but this guy barely qualifies as as a pimple from what we've seen. It's not like he is an evil mastermind. Why is he back for another arc? I actually groaned when he popped up on my screen. ?

To be fair, he hasn't done a great job "running circles" around everyone.  He was discovered to be in the pay of...I can't even remember who it was, to cause trouble for Marcus and Chantel, and by causing trouble, he gave Marcus leverage over him with proof of his disability scam.  And in this episode, everyone knew he was the one that was behind it, making it really easy for everyone to connect the dots and find the link they needed to pressure the accuser.

[Mama No Life]

I honestly don't even try to figure out the crimes or understand them when they are solved. I used to but it gave me headaches. Now I just watch for interactions between the core characters, all of whom I love.  I actually laughed out loud when Sherlock was waving his adoration for the magician who put the flash drive in the honeydew (I assume he assumed he was watching).  He was clearly delighted and it delighted me.

[MisterGlass]

I liked that we got another Marcus episode, even though it was another relationship based one.  I'm surprised they would go as far as killing the girlfriend.  Elementary is making a habit of that.  Last time it was Joan's boyfriend, and she swore off relationships after that.  Sherlock at least thought his girlfriend was dead.  ETA: Gregson's second wife has a serious degenerative disease.  There seems to be more than the usual risk in relationships on this show, even by TV standards.

I have a suspicion that this is going to relate to Shinwell's gang, somehow. 

Edited April 25, 2017 by MisterGlass
Addition

[minamurray78]

If the writer's heir was willing to kill to keep his granfather's nazi past unrevealed ( that was why, wasn't it?) then why risk and sell the book again? Shouldn't he be tracking down all those nazi books and burning them? I know it was more money, but he was willing to cause a fire and kill to keep the identity secret... Maybe I got it wrong.

[shapeshifter]

21 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I am applying current HIPAA laws to this episode and I will admit that I don't know what the regulations were back in the late 50s when this Nazi guy was part of a carpal tunnel study, but I can tell you that where I work, we do not keep data for 30+ years. We are required to keep consent forms for five years after the study ends (not five years after the person participated). After that, we shred that information. We would not put paperwork into a storage facility. The data we might keep a little bit longer than that so it's possible that the raw data would exist more than five years after the study concluded, BUT the data is never linked to anyone's name. Each participant is assignd a code or number so that if you were to find the data and you had a list of the participants, you wouldn't be able to link any data back to a specific participant. But the point is that if you went digging through our files 20-30 years later, you might be able to find the raw data with a subject number, but no names. As soon as Joan said that they might be able to find this guy by searching through the old study data, I as like ehhhhh, probably not. . . .

I don't know either, but I do know that medical books published in the 50s still showed photographs of people with various maladies and conditions, whereas in recent decades I am pretty sure only drawings are generally permitted.

So was was that a little shout out to the show, Psyche, when they had the cop who took the 911 call be named Lassiter?

[GaT]

As soon as they said the ex had been booked & then released, I knew what was going to happen next.

[LisaM]

I loved the melon smashing and watching Sherlock exasperate Joan. Never fails to amuse. 

[Clanstarling]

16 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Sometimes, I really am convinced that the writers just keep a dart board in their lounge, where they have endless topics, places, and events, and they throw darts to come up with their weekly plots.

Wheel of Plot Points :)

9 hours ago, MisterGlass said:

There seems to be more than the usual risk in relationships on this show, even by TV standards.

But not by Bonanza standards.

[johntfs]

9 hours ago, minamurray78 said:

If the writer's heir was willing to kill to keep his granfather's nazi past unrevealed ( that was why, wasn't it?) then why risk and sell the book again? Shouldn't he be tracking down all those nazi books and burning them? I know it was more money, but he was willing to cause a fire and kill to keep the identity secret... Maybe I got it wrong.

No amount of clever detective work can substitute for criminals being a bit stupid.  That was the case both here and last week with the pitcher guy throwing away the murder weapon instead of disposing of it properly.

[HawaiiTVGuy]

13 hours ago, GaT said:

As soon as they said the ex had been booked & then released, I knew what was going to happen next.

Was it the ex?  Or was it the accuser?  I thought they only had time to get the accuser and then needed to follow-up with a warrant for the ex?

[GaT]

11 minutes ago, HawaiiTVGuy said:

Was it the ex?  Or was it the accuser?  I thought they only had time to get the accuser and then needed to follow-up with a warrant for the ex?

I thought it was the ex.

[ZoqFotPik]

On 4/24/2017 at 6:36 AM, Rambler said:

I thought it was pretty funny that the lady magician wrote a threatening note after the victim "stole" her bullet catching trick. I’m pretty sure that trick has been around since before she was born.

I was coming here to say the same thing. That trick has been around since the 1700s.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Mr. EB said the same thing when we were watching the episode. It reminded me of how some people get really territorial about stuff that they didn't create. I remember one instance in dance when we were choreographing a bunch of different routines for a performance and one girl said to another girl, "Did you know I already put that move in my dance?" I was like girl, you don't own center splits.

[iMonrey]

Speaking for myself, I am far more invested in a story involving Marcus than I am in anything that involves Shinwell. If they are going to do subplots with supporting characters, I much prefer they do them with people like Marcus or Gregson, not boring new characters nobody cares about. The last two episodes have been blessedly Shinwell-free and the better for it. I appreciate Marcus having more to do.

I loved the bit where Sherlock was doing the "prestidigitation" trick and Joan goes "Is that my credit card?" "I didn't have any cash to pay for the book." LOL.

[jhlipton]

I thought that the killer bringing down the entire publishing company because his Nazi grandfather wrote one book (which had nothing to do with Nazis) was more than a little stupid.  Once the magician won the auction, just say you've found that "The Arts of Sleights and Deceptions" was written by a Nazi and that you're immediately ceasing publications and donating some portion of the profits to the Holocaust Museum.

[johntfs]

See my previous post about criminals being a bit stupid.

That said, it's possible that others in the publishing house might want to shit-can the grandson to appease (theoretical) public outrage.  Also, grandkid would suffer embarrassment with his close associates.  That might seem trivial, but consider this list of common fears and note how many of them are social in nature.

For me, I wouldn't want them to stop publishing the book since it is an important "textbook" for magicians, though donating some of the profits to the Holocaust Museum, Jewish Anti-Defamation League, Southern Poverty Law Center, etc would probably have gone a long way toward quashing any controversy.

Edited April 29, 2017 by johntfs

[theatremouse]

On 4/24/2017 at 6:22 AM, vibeology said:

I don't think I'm getting smarter so I guess the show is getting easier. I saw every step of the mystery coming. As soon as they revealed the illustrator used a fake name, I guessed he was also the author.

Yeah I thought that was fairly obvious. I didn't like the scene in which Sherlock "figured out" they were the same, because the fake-illustrator-name seemed to telegraph it. It'd have made more sense if he'd said he suspected it immediately and then explained how he'd confirmed it. He seemed too unSherlocky that he didn't at least suspect it right away.

[jhlipton]

19 hours ago, theatremouse said:

He seemed too unSherlocky that he didn't at least suspect it right away.

He hadn't Googled it yet...  (seems to be the theme for this episode)

[theatremouse]

I meant that if illustrator and author both have fake names= one same real person, is what he should have suspected immediately. Not that he'd have done his google confirm. They wrote it like the google research later is what made him suspect they were one person, instead of him suspecting they were one, then googling to support it.

[jhlipton]

I agree with you -- I was being snarky.

[theatremouse]

I am jet-lagged and beg your pardon. ;)

[jhlipton]

NP