Elementary, Season 7, Episode 1: England means Canon!

The year of the co-detective continues. Elementary spoilers ahead!

We started with Holmes and Watson in theaters, a tale of raising the good doctor up to co-detective status with Holmes. And now, with the resumption of CBS's Elementary in its final season, which left Holmes and Watson as co-detectives with neighboring offices at 221 Baker Street in London, the theme . . . one hopes . . . continues.

In the final moments of Elementary last season, the Canonical location brought a Canonical tale being investigated at the last. (Not that the previous six seasons didn't have two or three Canon-based episodes over all those years.) And in the opening moments of its first season-seven episode, Elementary goes full Canonical again . . . and actually enhances "Six Napoleons" in a rather cool way. Boscombe Valley gets a mention, and Abbey Grange. England means Canon!

And Holmes and Watson's British police contact, a female Athelney Jones, has a very Holmes and Watson bias against Joan.

"Just because I'm American doesn't mean I love guns," Joan Watson argues, but I'm already harkening back to Dr. Grace Hart and Millicent from that movie, who identify themselves as "American ladies!" and whip out their guns. Did the writers see that bit?

There's an acid-throwing that's not done by Kitty Winter, as she herself soon tells us. She's an investigator herself, specializing in missing girls. We might have had a glimpse of Clyde in the episode's very first scene. (My little bedroom TV was not up to side details like the terrarium in corner screen.)  And with a quick scene of Detective Bell getting a present in the mail from England with Captain Gregson there to comment, it would seem the gang's all here.

Did Joan Watson dye her hair blonde to mimic DCI Athelney Jones's blonde locks? Sure it doesn't seem like Joan, but Watson does seem to care about Jones's regard.

Sherlock buying ice cream for Kitty Winter's son Archie is a real treat for me, since my one piece of AO3 fanfic is ice cream based. Sherlock Holmes and ice cream, trending!

Detective Bell is not only looking sharp this season, though, he is sharp, and working Gregson to clear Holmes from the mess that pushed him back to England. We all know that Holmes and Watson have to go back to New York at some point, but England seems to have such brighter, newer police facilities.

Joan Watson wears pink pants now? (American pants, not British "pants." Joan having "Pink Pants Thursdays" is a place that . . . well, it might be appropriate, given John's Mondays. You tell me.) That blonde dye-job may be affecting her wardrobe. She's not happy in England, though, and the blonde hair and pink pants seem to have something to do with it. Sherlock, however, is so healthy and happy in London that you have to wonder how much New York might have been responsible for all his issues. Also, Gregson is being a real dick, so he's not making NYC any more attractive.

If it seems like I'm ignoring the main investigation here, even though I've developed a more accepting attitude toward Elementary, like its fellow procedural Lucifer, I'm still here for the ongoing character stuff and not the mystery-of-the-week. It's the odd thing about these procedurals -- even though the characters can be as alluring as the fallen angel himself, the little mysteries never seem to draw me in for some reason. Perhaps because the central figure in these cases is always dead, unlike most Canonical cases which usually had a living client we could care about. Or even a Scotland Yard inspector who actually came asking for help, not irritated that Holmes and Watson keep hanging around the office. (That nice, clean, new British office.)

When the villain is finally caught, Sherlock's simple look and nod of "Yes, you're caught!" makes me laugh. It's almost like a male criminal needs to check with another male in a room of female authority figures, but that thought makes me stop laughing, dammit. That was still such a good face Jonny Lee Miller made.

But then, big cliffhanger at the end, and we're left feeling a bit guilty for thinking Gregson was a dick, as he's lying in the hospital near dead. If only they could have moved him to England in some exchange program, at those nice, clean London cop shops before this!

Twelve episodes left to go -- that's a full Adventures, Memoirs, or Return in old-style Canon -- and this episode's title "The Further Adventures" was a nice touch in that direction, especially as this final season came as a bit of a surprise to all. On we go.