Elementary Review: Whatever Remains, However Improbable (Season 6 Episode 21)

On Elementary Season 6 Episode 21, “Whatever Remains, However Improbable,” a finale brings several genuine jaw-droppers and the potential for a very different season 7.

Through the season, I’ve wondered if plot decisions were made in anticipation of the end of the show. I have no doubts that this episode is written as a series finale.

Right off the bat, I will say we never do get a good explanation for why prosecutors ignore the gaping plot hole of how an injured Joan could even be capable of murder. Yet with everything else we do get, I’m willing to ignore that.

For a while, there are no huge surprises. In the first half of the episode or so, everything lines up with what we would expect any show to do with a main character suspected of murder.

We expect Sherlock to go to “daring” (read: alarmingly risky) lengths to protect Joan, stealing Michael’s body and having a crime scene burnt to the ground. We expect him to be pushed there by an overly-zealous investigator.

It’s not too surprising when Captain Gregson says he’s unable to help. That makes Marcus’s own efforts, at great risk to his reputation and future as a Marshall, even more poignant.

There are more people taken in by Michael and more who are stubbornly unhelpful. Then, finally, we get a real lead. This is where everything falls to pieces.

Hannah Gregson is guilty of murder. She doesn’t mean to put Joan on the hook, but she’s also not confessing. Worse, her father, our confidant of six seasons, will put everything on the line to protect her. Even Joan.

It’s not hard to understand both father and daughter here. Hannah has seen her best friend murdered. The captain is looking out for his child, who any parent would protect at all costs. Yet what this means cannot be overstated.

Sherlock, of course, insists on forcing a confession. And Joan, of course, won’t allow that. This is where the tension comes between them, pushing Sherlock to his ultimate decision.

He falsely confesses to murder himself, and, using his resources, escapes to England. He bids farewell to Joan forever, ending the season, and once the series, for all involved.

Well, not really. Because after the heart-wrenching scenes between our main characters, still some of the best parts of the entire series, we know they can’t truly be apart. As Sherlock openly states for the first time, they love each other.

So Joan follows Sherlock to England. The show could well have ended here: our heroes, inseparable, still doing everything they do, albeit away from everyone else we’ve come to care for.

But the show is not ending here. Now, a season seven renewal, appreciated as it is, means everything is up in the air.

As it stands now, we may come back to Sherlock, Joan, and an entirely new English ensemble cast. This could work well, especially as Elementary’s success overseas has been a huge part of its continued survival.

On the other hand, how will people handle everything and everyone being left behind? Also, we can’t forget just what that entails.

I have little doubt that Sherlock can work his way back to his adopted home city. I have many, many doubts about what else he’d come back to.

If Sherlock is cleared, Hannah will almost certainly go to jail. The dynamics of our characters have changed forever. Back in New York, we’d see it all on screen.

Is there any moving on from the captain’s daughter going to jail for murder—or from what he was willing to do to try to prevent that? With these characters, I really don’t know.

The one thing we do know is that when we do return, nothing will truly be the same. It’s exciting and bittersweet, and it might only last a season. Still, I anxiously await whatever’s about to come.

Finally, on that confession of love: this has never been a “will they/won’t they” show, though the possibility of a romance has never been fully ruled out. However, I don’t think that’s what’s meant here.

Sherlock Holmes and Joan Watson are about as close as two people can be. Their love is true and powerful regardless of romance. This, above all, is why the show works. A celebration of friendship that so many ignore.

Ships are great, but they can be emotionally fraught, leading to disappointment and tense fandoms. Tied to that is the notion that lovers are somehow “more” and friends are somehow “less.” Elementary has never fallen to that belief.

Regardless of whatever happens for our heroes in the future, they have an inseparable bond for the rest of both their lives. An iconic relationship indeed—and we still have more of it to see.

Other Notes

• Realizing that Lenny, who helps Michael without knowing of his nature, is played by Dan Butler, AKA Bulldog Briscoe from Frasier, is nearly as much of an OMG moment as any of the plot twists
• I don’t blame the man whose daughter-in-law was killed by Michael for not wanting to track down the man’s killer. Sherlock could press the angle that she won’t have her killer named now.
• Again, when I say Sherlock stealing Michael’s body is “daring”—if not for the Hannah reveal, I’d expect that plan to majorly backfire as a complication.

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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