Elementary - s2, Ep15

5/5/2014

Episode: “Corpse De Ballet” (2x15)
Aired: 4/5/14
Channel/Time: Channel Ten, Sunday 8:50

The Episode

Holmes investigates the death of a ballerina. Watson works a case by herself involving the abduction and a homeless war veteran.

The Good

This episode was wonderful for a number of reasons, but the main one is this: Elementary took stereotypes that are overtly present in our society and completely subverted them. We’re presented with various scenarios while examining the case, the first being the sexist trope of a competitive diva murdering her competition.

Elementary says nope! That’s not it.

Scenario 2: a queer murderess committing a crime of passion against her lover. Now, not only is this sexist, but it’s also a bad form of queer representation.

Elementary says nope! That’s still not it!

Then who is the murderer, you ask? A man. A man who sought to profit off of the sexualisation and sensationalisation of two queer women through manipulative and violent means.

But wait! That’s not all!

We have all of this partnered with a huge side story involving perhaps one of the most stigmatised mental illnesses of them all: schizophrenia. With the beautiful help from one Joan Watson (and Sherlock later on), Elementary portrays the sufferers as whole people – people who deserve respect and to be taken seriously. Bonus points for Joan solving her second case independently.

Speculation

The episode, as glorious as it was, is definitely a standalone. Hopefully some of the stories (ahem, Joan’s father) make a reappearance at some point, but it is hard to guess when.

Highlight

The glimpse that we got into Joan’s backstory was fabulous (plot points which are few and far between) and the sweet Joanlock moment at the end.

Written By Chelsea Groth