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Elementary (CBS) - season 1 thread (1 Viewer)

Walter Kittel

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IMHO, the most enjoyable of the new shows I've visited this week with solid work from both of the leads. (I didn't have an opportunity to watch 666 Park Avenue yesterday evening though.) CBS appears to have a really solid line up on Thursday evenings.
- Walter.
 

Patrick Sun

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While it's just one episode in, I like having to concentrate and pay attention while watching this show. I don't necessarily devote my full attention to other shows because I don't have to to keep up with them. :)
 

Jeffery_H

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I thought it was a very good opening and liked most of it. It will be interesting seeing the dynamic between the two consider how Watson was introduced and the new spin on that character. The first show was good enough to at least give it a chance and hang with it for some time.
 

Walter Kittel

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A solid second episode. I loved the scene with Holmes' dialog with the other sister asking her why the masquerade was still taking place if all of the victims had been dispatched. Fun bit with the violin in the middle of the episode; liked the out of focus shot of Holmes - is he doing what I think he's doing? :)
- Walter.
 

Stan

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Very enjoyable episode. Nice that Jonny Lee Miller has relaxed a bit, not as hyper as in the pilot and much easier to understand his dialogue. This might be one of the winners of the new season.
 

Stan

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Mikah Cerucco said:
Really? Do you watch The Mentalist?
Not sure if that comment was directed at me, but actually no, I don't watch "The Mentalist". I watched maybe half an episode a year or two ago and found it to be pretentious and a waste of time so never tried again.
I may give it a chance now that is has been picked up by one of the cable channels, but at this point can't compare it to "Elementary".
 

Mikah Cerucco

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Well, I don't watch The Mentalist anymore, but I did watch the first season. Elementary feels like a knockoff with a different cast. Obviously it's not a direct copy, but after watching episode 2, it felt just like watching The Mentalist. That isn't to say that it can't be a good show, have good things going for it, or even be the hit of the season. Who knows? But with a sample size of 1 (me), it just feels like a Mentalist knockoff. Actually, as I was writing this, I did a quick Google search and it seems others who've watched both shows have made similar comments.

I'm not a Sherlock Holmes study, but I think one of the things that's turning me off the story is the brightest idea they've had so far is how you take a story set in London that has been told many times before and "update" it to be like a show you already do. 221B Baker? Gone. Scotland Yard? Mostly gone. Sexual tension? Present! Moriarty? We'll see. Again, it seems just about everything that makes the Sherlock Holmes story distinctly Sherlock Holmes has been removed and what's left (deduction & a sidekick) is essentially The Mentalist.

Then again, it's early. Who knows how the show will develop? This may be a show I end up watching on DVD after S1 plays out because except for liking the leads, I'm not really sold on it. In the meantime, I'll keep recording it, reading the threads, and possibly engaging in some low priority watching.

For the record, I'm not inherently against remakes, updates, and reimagings. BSG was appointment TV for me.
 

Robert Crawford

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I think it's much too early to make any judgements. Last year, many of us had questions about POI, but as the season went on, the episodes got better and it found its traction. Until Watson becomes his full-time partner in solving crimes, I'm going to withhold any judgements other than whether the show is entertaining enough for me that keeps me watching it weekly.
 

Stan

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Robert Crawford said:
I think it's much too early to make any judgements. Last year, many of us had questions about POI, but as the season went on, the episodes got better and it found its traction. Until Watson becomes his full-time partner in solving crimes, I'm going to withhold any judgements other than whether the show is entertaining enough for me that keeps me watching it weekly.
I think that Watson becoming a full-time partner is the key to this being successful in the long run. Right now she's given so little to do, she could almost be written out and we'd hardly notice.
Last year I went with "Unforgettable" which I thought was fairly well done, but obviously didn't make it, rather than POI which did survive. I didn't start watching until about halfway into the season, and really enjoyed it. This year I'm giving "Elementary" a try, hopefully it continues to improve and doesn't get axed after one season, but all new shows are a gamble. I'm normally pretty good at spotting the duds and don't waste my time, but sometimes we all miss on what does and doesn't work with audiences.
 

Walter Kittel

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Big fan of the Mentalist, and I'm still not happy about the move to Sunday. But, I won't hold that against Elementary, nor am I suggesting that anyone is doing so.
Do I believe that Elementary is similar to The Mentalist? You bet. Holmes is more socially awkward than Jane but both speak their minds and both shows revolve around protagonists whose stock in trade is observation. In episode two of Elementary Holmes uses a ruse to smoke out the doctor, a plot point often used on The Mentalist. They differ in that (so far) law enforcement isn't as directly involved in Elementary and I doubt that Holmes and Watson will develop a romantic friction contrasted with Jane and Lisbon on The Mentalist (which is hinted at from time to time.) Will Elementary develop a Moriarty for Holmes? Certainly Red John comprises such a role for Jane in The Mentalist. Lots and lots of similarities between the shows. This isn't a critique of Elementary, but yeah there are more than casual similarities.
Still plan on watching both shows.
- Walter.
 

Mark_B

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The difference between the two shows is that Holmes gets to keep his English accent where Jane has to hide his.
 

Matt Hough

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Originally Posted by Mark_B /t/324059/elementary-cbs-season-1-thread/30#post_3985672
The difference between the two shows is that Holmes gets to keep his English accent where Jane has to hide his.
Simon Baker is Australian, isn't he?
 

Johnny Angell

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I believe it was an NPR interview in which Lucy Lieu stated that romance between the two has been ruled out, no exceptions.
 

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