The Coming of Harrison Sherloque Wells

This week, the CW Network gave us another TV Sherlock who, at first glance, seemed quite the "Sherlock in name only" sort of generic pastiche of Holmes we see now and then. But was he?

Harrison Sherloque Wells, appearing in "The Death of Vibe," the third episode of The Flash's fifth season, was yet another of the many Harrison Wells characters that the show has trotted out since adding a multiverse element to the show. When the situation calls for it, the show's heroes summon a version of their old friend Wells from an alternate dimension for his brain power. This week, they called upon the Steve Jobs version of Wells, who routed them to a Sherlock Holmes version of the guy.

When he first appeared, in shadows as a very Sherlockian profile, his first words were a bit of a shock . . . because they weren't in a British accent, but French. (I'll let you assign the quality of said accent.) But, hey, Sherlock Holmes had French ancestry, so we'll let it go.

He does some observation/deduction tricks, demands a high fee, and proceeds to deduce who the murderer is. There's just one problem . . . he didn't really deduce it from clues, he just identified the same guy who did it in every other universe he had solved the case in. And we, along with the show's characters, have to cry "FRAUD!"

This is not our Sherlock Holmes, as he would never cheat like . . . tha . . . .

Wait? What's that, Canonical Sherlock?

"Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which serves me so well."

That's our Sherlock, solving "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor," using another case he heard about to solve the mystery.

So maybe Sherloque Wells isn't just a "Sherloque" in almost-name only. His character seems to be continuing, so we'll have to see what other Sherlockian traits he exhibits in weeks to come. Between Will Ferrell's Holmes movie and CW Sherloque, this is going to be a weird year for Sherlocks, to be sure.