Elementary Review: Give Me The Finger (Season 6 Episode 6)

On Elementary Season 6 Episode 6, “Give Me The Finger”, family drama is connected to something even darker in the episode’s final seconds.

Recently, this show has been getting into a trend of crimes whose motives swing through a variety of high drama potentials. That holds here, when we move from crime families to…hacking and nuclear weapons?

To be fair, there’s plenty (not including bad puns) to make this plot genuinely interesting besides a runaway train of a plot. Still, it feels like we’re pressing in as many twists as possible when it’s not all that necessary,

Making seemingly innocuous details be major game changers is a common tactic in crime dramas. Here, a burnt-out apartment that seems huge is actually just an act of happenstance, though of course there’s still more to it than that.

I like the work to connect that fire with the one thing that would identify the real killer. Sherlock, of course, must make the reveal in as dramatic a form as possible, complete with subjecting a room full of people to smelly fruit.

There’s also that killer being calm and collected enough that we almost admire her grit. Of course, when she acts that way with ten minutes remaining in the episode, we know she’ll be caught. The double-cross needed to do it is a nice approach, though.

This is the kind of thing I find more engaging than shoving in as many angles as possible, or even thumb drives in fake pinkie fingers. Trapping a man in a small compartment on a boat isn’t necessarily on the list, but at least it’s an interesting alibi.

Still, the “case of the week” here is meant to play second fiddle to family drama, in this case involving Captain Gregson and his daughter, Hannah.

There’s a lot tied into Hannah’s revelation of her struggles with alcoholism. For one thing, the connection it draws between her and Sherlock quickly takes a lot of the wind out the grudge the captain is holding against his unofficial employee.

There may be more to unpack not only between father and daughter, but other characters as well. Joan reveals a major secret to Sherlock without much prodding, and if that comes out, it could have consequences.

For now, though, Hannah’s troubles are themselves used for a twist that I did not see coming—the murder of her old friend at the hands of Sherlock’s new one.

I’ve been expecting that Sherlock, despite his genius, would be kept in the dark for at least a while longer. His health struggles could conceivably put him off his game enough. Now I’m unsure where things are going.

A trusted acquaintance secretly being a terrible person works as a season-long plot. This may still be an ongoing arc, but with everyone in the know, it’s going to go very differently. Perhaps a villain arc along the same lines as “M”?

In the meantime, Sherlock will have another personal case to dedicate himself to for more reasons than one. His inadvertent connection to the man who murdered his daughter’s friend could potentially reopen wounds with the captain.

It’s also entirely possible that this whole story will be over in the coming episode, with the bad guy in jail and everyone moving on. We have lots more to explore, still including Joan’s interest in motherhood.

All the same, these past few episodes are telling us in glaring terms that nothing is ever simple. If that’s true here, it can be bad for everyone.

What did you think of this episode of Elementary? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Elementary airs Mondays at 10/9c on CBS.

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