Elementary Review: Sober Companions (Season 6 Episode 7)

The true nature of a “friend” may give Sherlock a new long-term nemesis on Elementary Season 6 Episode 7 , “Sober Companions.”

It’s a good thing I’ve finally managed to learn Michael’s name, because this new major enemy isn’t going away anytime soon.

…Okay, yes, he does go away at the end of the episode, even swearing not to hurt anyone until he returns to Sherlock. But he also promises to return, and that promise will keep us with baited breath through the season.

There are quite a few villains who affect Sherlock personally, but we haven’t seen someone really outsmart him since “M”- a Moriarty whose true identity sends Sherlock into tailspin. That outsmarting alone should be enough to engage us.

Logically, a bad guy has to have some sort of considerable advantage to be able to one-up Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock is at a disadvantage now because of his illness. Still, Michael’s efforts incite him and us.

That isn’t the only motivation, of course. We’re talking about a serial killer who murders an elementary teacher and roommate of the captain’s daughter. In most cases, the entire police force would track such a man down quickly.

Michael, however, not only outwits them, but temporarily manages to kidnap Sherlock and then release him unharmed– not that I expected much else when Joan conveniently left him alone in a weakened state to retrieve medicine.

This incident, the personal implications for Gregson, and Michael’s previous manipulations of Sherlock all work in making us care enough to see this arc last long-term. We can believe they won’t let this go.

A few other things require a little more suspension of belief, particularly the way nobody questions Michael’s shady conversations, even when they’re literally stuck on a bus with him. As Sherlock often notes, people can be oblivious.

Given how much this case impacts her, I wish Hannah had gotten as much time for this as is given to the discussion of her alcoholism. She is devoted to finding the killer, but we only see parts of her involvement play out.

She does certainly serve to highlight just how creepy Michael is, though we get that in many other ways besides. Dressing victims in the clothes of other victims and burying mannequins? I’m surprised he doesn’t get more press.

Perhaps the general public should be clamoring over the story of a serial killer in their midst. And yet they probably won’t until Michael does start killing again—most likely towards the end of season.

As we move temporarily onto cases that are more or less normal (at least for Sherlock and Joan), I hope we’ll get to see continued exploration of personal struggles. Sherlock’s headaches are certainly present here, but mostly as a plot device.

Besides this major factor in our main character’s life, there’s also a lot to talk about for everyone around him. If Hannah sticks around after this trauma, it would be nice to see both her and her father get more focus.

Finally, we still have only glimpsed Joan and her exploration of adoption. Sherlock does have more pressing matters, and doesn’t even know about her interest yet. I hope that doesn’t mean it’s put on the back burner and forgotten.

 

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Elementary airs Mondays at 10/9c on CBS.

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