Elementary (TV Series) Tremors (2013) User Reviews

SPOILER - Plot hole makes for awful episode

[rebtay888 · 3/10 · 5 December 2013]

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

In an episode where we are being led to believe that Holmes did something outrageous and finally gets caught is told through testimony at a disciplinary determining if he and Watson will be dismissed as NYPD consultants, the big moment arrives when Watson finally explains the story of how an officer was shot after the conclusion of a case.

Because of Holmes questioning a suspect at his workplace, putting pressure on him by revealing a secret he was keeping within earshot of co-workers, that suspect later loses his job and likely his freedom. So the suspect decides to shoot the man he believes is responsible (Holmes) but an officer takes a bullet for Holmes, causing the hearing.

This would work if the writers had made the secret anything other than that the suspect had a criminal record. While Holmes found this out through less than legal means (something he lies about in the hearing), logically if any actual police officer was to question a suspect, he would have looked up his record before doing so and found the same information legally (and in fact that is probably standard police procedure) which would have been used to intimidate the suspect in the same way as Holmes did and therefore would have had the same result.

Any police officer, including the Captain and Commissioner characters at the hearing and certainly THE character known for deductive reasoning, Sherlock Holmes, would have been able to argue that and the whole hearing would have been moot.

I am neither a lawyer nor a police officer and I spotted this plot hole a mile off. All the writers had to do was make the suspect's secret be anything other than something any police officer could have easily found in police records.

Extremely disappointing, lazy and sloppy.

Moronic

[AzSumTuk · 5/10 · 6 March 2018]

This episode is, as always, well acted, which is why I'm being so generous with the rating. That being said, the writing is so amateurish that I can't possibly understand why it was allowed to be made.

Sorry. Most of the time when a procedural show is trying to break its own formula, you can be sure that the story they're trying to tell is not that interesting. This episode is not an exception - the case itself is solved in about 15 minutes. The rest is flashbacks and some courthouse talk that belongs to a different show.

SPOILERS

Holmes and Watson are at a hearing where a judge has to decide whether they are suitable for police consultants or not. The reason? Holmes supposedly did something outrageous that caused Detective Bell to get shot. The problem is that Holmes, as it was shown to us, was not at fault for what happened at all. He went to a potential suspect's workplace, mentioned that the potential suspect had been in jail until recently, some of the potential suspect's coworkers informed his boss about that and his boss fired him. Also, his parole officer found out that he violated his parole, so he would have to go back to jail. Naturally, the potential suspect decided to take his revenge, brought a concealed gun in front of the police precinct and shot at Holmes. Detective Bell bravely stood in front of the weapon and took the bullet.

Which was utter bull. First, a trained police officer like Bell would not take the bullet. He would see the man reaching for his gun and try to stop him. He was close enough - Google the 21-foot rule, if you don't believe me. He could jump at him, he could grab his gun, he could... He could do anything. Instead, he sacrificed himself and let a dangerous criminal brandish a gun, endangering God knows how many people.

Second, how exactly was this Holmes' fault? What would be the result if a police officer went to the potential suspect and had a similar conversation with him, after legally obtaining the information about his criminal record? What would be the result if the potential suspect's parole officer called him on the phone while the potential suspect was at work? Someone would still overhear the conversation and inform his boss, and he would still be fired. Why didn't the so called judge at the hearing understand this?

Anyway, this is the worst of the show's episodes so far. Sorry.

This is substandard drivel.

[unspiek · 2/10 · 4 April 2022]

Generally I am a fan of Elementary. I own a boxed set of the series run. But this episode is stupid clear through, and not even internally consistent.

Another reviewer called it 'moronic', but that's not accurate. This travesty was crafted by serious professionals; one has to wonder what was in their marching orders to produce such lamentable output. Even worse is that this episode starts an arc that ground on and on interminably.

It was running on a cable channel just now, and I had to change over to Looney Toon reruns, which impressed as a lot more logical.

At least I never worry about the acting in this series.

[CrimeDrama1 · 5/10 · 17 February 2022]

I had no prior knowledge of Aaron Lipstadt's directorial work (directed six episodes in this series) but many of you know the writing is far from perfect in this series. It is better than some others. I felt confused not knowing what actually led to the police department hearing until near the end. That is backwards of how the majority of episodes play out not just in this series but all crime dramas. Apparently, not all writer's believe that everything they put on paper must make sense to the viewer. Plus, Holmes was not at fault for the shooting. The episode ends with Detective Bell not acknowledging Holmes' apology and tells him he doesn't want to see him back at the hospital. This really doesn't make sense because we know that Bell respects Holmes and surely doesn't blame him for his injury. Plus, we infer that he previously told the Police Commissioner he would like to keep Holmes and Watson on as consultants. Also, Bell never carries a grudge against Holmes even if he doesn't like his methods. So why this reaction? It doesn't make sense to me. He could've accepted the apology and then told Holmes he didn't want to see him again until he recovers and returned to active duty. That would make sense. It MUST make sense to the viewers!