Detective Series Elementary Now Free to Stream on Roku

The era of the great American cop show has ended. Franchises like NCIS and Law & Order will likely continue indefinitely, but network television used to feature many idiosyncratic crime-solvers working alongside local law enforcement. That stopped sharply in 2020 when cultural conversations about copaganda changed what audiences wanted from escapist entertainment.

That shift ended a solid era for crime television. The 2010s included many mystery-of-the-week shows where fake psychics, con artists, famous writers, and supernatural creatures helped police departments solve complex homicides. One of the most critically successful shows from that period, the CBS Sherlock Holmes adaptation Elementary, streams for free in its entirety on the Roku channel.

Elementary modernizes the Sherlock Holmes story in present-day New York City. At the start of the show, Holmes, played by Jonny Lee Miller, is newly sober after a stint in rehab for narcotics addiction. He relocates from London to Manhattan.

Holmes’ father hires Dr. Joan Watson, played by Lucy Liu, to live with him as his sober companion without consulting him first. Watson, a former surgeon turned addiction specialist, gets drawn into Holmes’ life as he pursues his passion of solving murders as a consultant for the NYPD.

Miller portrays Holmes as brilliant, unfocused, and constantly on thin ice with everyone around him. This version differs significantly from the mellower Holmes in Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories, but Miller’s character is newly sober and recently traumatized. After a few episodes, his raw-nerve demeanor makes sense.

Watson begins the show as a relatively normal person pulled into Holmes’ chaos, leaving her with little to do initially. Once she finds her footing, her medical experience gives her an advantage over Holmes on several cases.

There may never be another show like Elementary

The episodic mysteries drive audience attention. Elementary moves quickly, remains clever, and usually provides enough clues for viewers to guess the perpetrator before the big reveal. Occasionally, recognizable guest stars give away the culprit, though that remains a common television trope.

The elements of Elementary that have aged the most involve its focus on addiction, recovery, and healing. While groundbreaking in 2012 for one of fiction’s great cocaine addicts, the emphasis on trauma can feel repetitive. That dynamic often makes the one-off episodes more entertaining than the longer-running plot arcs.

Elementary represents a style of television currently out of fashion. Miller portrays Sherlock Holmes as a socially maladjusted genius who succeeds because his methods yield results. Viewers can watch a few episodes to see if this interpretation of Sherlock Holmes appeals to them.

Source: Polygon