Elementary - Season 1 Episode 15 - Recap and Review - A Giant Gun, Filled with Drugs

Recap and review of Elementary - Season 1 Episode 15 - A Giant Gun, Filled with Drugs:

Elementary often acknowledges just how recently Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) was mired in the muck of addiction. Yet the series hasn't really dealt with the temptation that accompanies any period of recovery for an addict, whether it's an alcoholic, a drug user, or someone hooked on high-end fashion. There's always an itch to use again, always a fear of being surrounded by the threat of that temptation. "A Giant Gun, Filled with Drugs" forces Holmes to confront his temptation, to make a decision: to embrace the familiar, temporary comfort that drugs provide, or to reaffirm his commitment to overcome his past weaknesses by refusing. That central conflict, between Sherlock and his addiction, anchors what turns out to be a pretty fantastic episode. The "case of the week" is a lean, focused affair, allowing room for more character work. From top to bottom, it's an episode I don't really have anything bad to say about, which is something I haven't been able to say since "M.", the benchmark for the series so far.

Holmes is confronted with a figure from his drug-addled past, Rhys (John Hannah), the former dealer from whom Sherlock used to get his supply. Rhys' adult daughter, Emily Grant (Allie Gallerani), has been kidnapped and he needs Sherlock's help. Watson (Lucy Liu) is leery of having an ex-dealer around Holmes, but Sherlock is set on helping him. I've talked in the past about the show easing off serialization, yet much of Sherlock's desire to help Rhys can easily be seen as a byproduct of his friendship with Gregson (Aidan Quinn) going up in smoke, for the most part. Holmes isn't someone who has very many friends beyond Watson, and there's an overall sense that he's the kind of man who privileges loyalty to his friends. Even Rhys, who facilitated the excesses of Sherlock's darkest period, counts among his friends, out of a sense of loyalty (and also respect for Rhys' own rehabilitation, of sorts. He still uses, but he's no longer dealing). The kidnappers are demanding vast sums of money in exchange for her release, though Holmes is convinced he can figure out her whereabouts before time is up.

The investigation leads to a night club where Holmes deduces that Xande Molina (Michael Irby), one of the members of a Dominican gang, is actually an undercover DEA agent. The Molina insists that this isn't the case, but Holmes launches into a deductive assessment of the gangbanger's tattoos that illustrates just how excellent this show is when it's letting Sherlock simply do his thing. It's downright exhilarating to watch Holmes deduce that the tattoos the man has gotten were all inked together, since they all have the same amount of wear and fade to them, which suggests that he got them hastily in an attempt to fit in with the gang. When Molina persists in his assertion that he isn't in the gang, Holmes heads over to confront the head of the gang about it, at which point Molina attacks Holmes to keep his cover, whispering information concerning what he knows about the kidnapping (that this gang isn't responsible for it) into Holmes' ear as he beats on him.

With no other leads, and having received Emily's severed finger by the kidnappers to show they mean business, Rhys tries to compel Holmes to start using again, arguing that he's a better detective when he's high. Holmes absolutely flips out on Rhys, telling him that he's not that person anymore, and that if Rhys feels he needs to embrace drugs again, then he's sorely mistaken. Holmes goes for a walk to clear his head and also, presumably, to create space between himself and the temptation that Rhys represents, as Holmes earlier admitted to Watson that Rhys does conjure images of his drug-fueled past (in particular, the image of heroin bubbling on a spoon). Holmes' willingness to discuss the potential Rhys has to compromise the process of his recovery is part of why Watson is so ardent to defend him against Rhys, as evidenced when Watson snaps at Rhys upon discovering him smoking a joint in the house, telling him that she won't hesitate to report him to the cops as a dealer if he ever uses in Sherlock's house again. We see, in this episode more than any other, the practical application of Watson's work as his sober companion, and how strenuously Holmes commits to the process of recovery, not only attending meetings of his own volition, but acknowledging just how badly he needs those meetings as a safe space to discuss his feelings. It's a continuation of the theme set up by our last episode, "The Deductionist", which questioned whether Sherlock could prevail over his addictions, or whether he was doomed to succumb to them.

This factors into the conclusion. While clearing his head on his walk, Holmes calls his father to procure the money for Emily's ransom. With a little more time, he could have solved the matter himself, but he doesn't want to have to be around Rhys any longer, so he offers to do any number of demeaning tasks for his father in exchange for the money. When he goes to meet the kidnappers, he recognizes Dominican gang members at the scene. He realizes that the person behind all this is Molina, and it's one of the few genuinely excellent plot twists in the series so far, even if the show didn't really introduce enough potential suspects for it to have been anyone else. Molina gains entry to Holmes' house via his DEA badge, alleging to have information of value to his case. However, Holmes is busy making the cash drop-off, so he takes Watson and Rhys hostage. Rhys recognizes that he was wrong about Holmes, and was wrong to try and get him to use again. He tells Watson to tell Holmes he's sorry, as pulls out a hidden knife and cuts the both of them free, and then charges at the distracted Molina. Molina gets off a few shots with his gun that puncture Rhys' body before he's taken down. Watson grabs a porcelain bust and smashes it over Molina's head, rendering him unconscious, as she tells Holmes to call 911. At the station, Gregson is able to break Molina in the interrogation room, and his vehemence in defending Holmes and Watson's version of events not only shows his commitment to the truth, but a verification of his faith in Holmes, after having it shaken by his actions in "M." Emily is found, safe and sound, and Rhys pulls through from his injuries to be forgiven by Holmes.

"A Giant Gun, Filled with Drugs" is an incisive, engaging exploration of temptation, and Sherlock's commitment to his recovery. His partnership with Watson is also worth noting, as they've grown into a singular, effective unit with a heartening rapport. It's one of TV's best crime-solving dynamics, and it only gets better from week-to-week. This was a huge improvement over the post-Super Bowl episode, an episode which itself was pretty good. That should tell you all you need to know about how successful this episode is in telling a compellingly nuanced story.