Elementary - Recap: Cancer For the Cure

Recap and review of Elementary - Season 2 Episode 18 - The Hound of the Cancer Cells:

One thing that police procedurals don't always do is illustrate the toll of a career in law enforcement. Some do, but not all; and among those that do, it's never explored nearly enough. However, "The Hound of the Cancer Cells" serves as the Elementary take on how a career in law enforcement is far more emotionally and psychologically taxing than one might realize. Naturally, this is an arc that comes to the fore in the secondary storyline of the week centering on Detective Bell (Jon Michael Hill), but it's also something that comes out in the margins of the story focusing on Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller) and Joan's (Lucy Liu) search for the killer of a famed cancer researcher. It's another episode that features two central mysteries, except these never intersect, as both have their own purposes: one is to entertain; the other, to humanize. It's a credit to "The Hound of the Cancer Cells" that both succeed.

Credit: CBS

When world-renowned cancer researcher Barry Granger turns up dead as the result of an apparent helium-based suicide, it doesn't take long for Sherlock to piece together that Granger has been murdered. Someone taped off the ventilation and pumped helium into the locker room at the lab while Granger was showering, only to then pose the body and type up a hastily-written suicide note. This isn't to say, necessarily, that Granger didn't have cause to end his own life: he was on track to make billions and change the world of medicine with his newest invention, The Hound, a breathalyzer that could detect cancer. It was also due to make a fortune for his business partner, Hank Prince (Mather Zickel), who is facing financial troubles of his own due to his pending divorce and the greed of his soon-to-be ex-wife's lawyers. But things fell to pieces when an anonymous whistleblower named "Adam Peer" published an article accusing Granger of fabricating the test data on The Hound, making it appear more successful than it actually was. Though everything in the article was a lie, it was enough to discredit the invention publicly, and investors backed out in droves. So who killed Granger, and why?

Credit: CBS

It's a bit of a circuitous story, as it funnels through the world of corporatized science. Granger was very much a soldier of ideals in the industry, looking to make a real difference in medicine through science. However, he found himself stopped at every turn by the greed of corporations, finding that even those with the noblest of intentions were inevitably converted to the worship of the almighty dollar. And so, in a surprising reveal, we learn that Granger himself was "Adam Peer" -- or, rather, one half of Adam Peer. Turns out "Adam Peer" was a pseudonym he shared with a colleague of his, and they used the identity to anonymously whistle-blow on pharmaceutical corporations. But, unfortunately, the tables turned on Granger when someone discovered he was behind Adam Peer and, knowing he wouldn't clear his own name for risk of exposing himself as Peer, used the pseudonym to defame Granger's own work. It's all a bit much to take in, at points, but it's kept interesting through the use of a solid guest starring cast. Shiri Appleby is terrific as a secretive, stoic Mossad agent with whom Granger was well-acquainted from their time together at Columbia University. She's the person who sets Sherlock on the right track with key emails uploaded to a hard drive. Her role in the story is minimal but crucial, and she plays her part very effectively. As does Mather Zickel, most recently seen on Showtime's Masters of Sex. Here, he plays Hank Prince as a businessman who could go either way: slimy and self-serving, or downtrodden but innocent. One of the most effective things about the story is how long it keeps his guilt in doubt, and Zickel's commitment to playing the character as a guy who's getting a raw deal from an unknown person out to frame him is what keeps the mystery alive.

Credit: CBS

But we inevitably learn that it was, in fact, Prince who had Granger killed. With his wife standing to gain millions as a result of the divorce based on his projected net worth as a result of The Hound, Prince needed to find a way to temporarily make The Hound worthless so his wife wouldn't take a huge chunk out of his fortune. So he discredited Granger and then had him killed, waiting for later to release evidence that would prove that the Hound-discrediting report by "Adam Peer" was a complete falsehood. Yet The Hound's stock bounced back too fast after Granger was vindicated, so Prince had to keep stalling. So he decided to remove his wife from the equation altogether by simply murdering her in cold blood, with his own gun. The idea here was to commit a crime so clumsy that no one would believe he'd be stupid enough to have actually done it. In essence, Hank Prince framed himself for a crime he actually committed. It's a pretty genius twist on the usual formula, and I found myself loving the wildly implausible plausibility of it all. And Jonny Lee Miller continues to be terrific as Sherlock, a note that pretty much goes without saying, particularly when he's left to find the more human center of Sherlock Holmes. Such as he does when he learns about a celebration being thrown for Det. Bell, who is returning to field work after a long recovery. Sherlock is invited but looks for ways to avoid going, for fear that he'll detract from Bell's celebration, given that he's the reason Marcus was shot in the first place. Yet there's also a deeper issue here, as the weight of the law enforcement profession is beginning to weigh on him. As he notes, he feels, essentially, like an outsider. He's neither law enforcement nor common Joe. Worse, his commitment to the job and the colleagues with whom he works has caused him to actually care. "Misanthropy was so easy, Watson. Elegant," Sherlock says. "I miss it sometimes."

Credit: CBS

However, caring affects no one this week more than it affects Bell, who investigates a teen who's gone on the run when faced with having to testify in the shooting death of her boyfriend. She's pregnant with the dead boy's child, and is terrified that the gang leader who killed him will come after her, so she stays with a schoolteacher who's become legendary for his no-nonsense attitude towards gangs and violence. In fact, Manny Rose (Ron Canada) is as close to a straight-up saint this show has ever seen, given the work he's done in the community, and the number of kids he's helped get back on their feet and away from gang life. He's housing the girl to keep her safe, but he feels she should testify against the gangbanger. Yet the teen refuses out of sheer terror, and Bell doesn't want to pressure her either, believing that the DA will still be able to make a case against the shooter. Sure, the criminal will likely plead out and only serve a few years, tops. But if they don't get him on this one, they'll get him on the next one, Bell rationalizes. But Manny, who still feels he hasn't done enough to actively change the violent, dangerous reputation of his community, decides this isn't good enough. And so he pulls a Gran Torino, tracking down the shooter and killing him in cold blood, forcing the gang to retaliate by killing him on the spot in front of a slew of witnesses, basically ensuring that they're all going to go to prison for his murder.

Credit: CBS

This is a bit much for Bell to take, as he feels the pain of losing a good man, and wonders to Sherlock if he's really ready to be back in the field, given how much he underestimated the effect of such situations. Sherlock can't assure Bell about the job, but offers him an ear to hear him out, and so they skip on the bar celebration for a moment and head to a cafe. It's a lovely character-building moment, in which two men take stock of their choices, contemplating the extent to which their chosen career path has damaged them, both emotionally and psychologically. It's the kind of story Elementary does all too rarely for how exceedingly well it does it.

"The Hound of the Cancer Cells" isn't necessarily a deep episode, but it's both moving and entertaining in almost equal measure. And really, striking that perfect balance between procedural interest and character focus has long been a strong suit for Elementary, and I see no reason to think it won't continue to be.