Jared Leto's transgender controversies following the Oscars telecast Sunday night have made me think of Elementary's Miss Hudson this week. Remember her?
Ushering in an interesting new character and then dropping them has always been Elementary's MO, due to the fact that their episode-to-episode continuity isn't the strongest. But over time, we've see good characters return. Alfredo Llamosa, the addiction sponsor, was most notable in this spot, as he was a new creation of the show. Old stand-bys like Mycroft, Lestrade, and Moriarty are people we'd expect to see time and again . . . as would be a show's Mrs./Miss/Ms. Hudson character.
And yet, while all the others have found reasons to return even though they had to cross the Atlantic to do it, in the case of the Canonical sorts, Miss Hudson remains unseen. And she was supposed to be Mr. Elementary's housekeeper, coming by the house on a regular basis. Of all the Canonically-based characters, she's the one we would have expected to see the most of.
But, no.
When she first appeared, CBS seemed very excited about Candis Cayne's part as Miss Hudson on Elementary. She had appeared as a regular character on eleven episodes of Dirty, Sexy Money on ABC, so she wasn't some walk-on non-actress, but we still had to wonder if Miss Hudson's character was more of a novelty choice than a serious commitment to having someone transcending normal gender roles in the cast. Now, most of the way through season two and after the return of Gareth Lestrade, we are left to wonder even more.
If Candis Cayne is now unavailable for some reason, Elementary will take heat if they don't recast with a similar actress. But from a Sherlock Holmes fan's point of view, leaving Miss Hudson out entirely is a loss to the show as well.
While Elementary might be about to set records for "Holmes/Watson" airtime, as far as that lady named Hudson is concerned, I'm afraid it will always be lagging behind about every other serial spin-off of Sherlock Holmes. And that is a shame.
The ongoing investigation of Sherlock Holmes, reported from the Peoria, Illinois outpost of Baker Street's dirtiest half a dozen.
Mrs. Hudson is a minor, if important, Canonical character. She appears or is mentioned in only seventeen of the sixty stories--and that includes the infamous "Mrs Turner". Mrs. Hudson was introduced in one episode of season one and mentioned once in season two. It does seem odd to add her to the series and then not utilize her. Perhaps like Alfredo Llamosa they are waiting for the opportunity to use her as more than a glorified extra. Very good points, Brad and I like this constructive tone you're taking towars the series.
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