Fall First Look: Elementary

Very few pilots are guaranteed a spot on the fall schedule. As the networks discuss which shows to pick up, ditch, experiment with, there are never any pilots that are, without a doubt, making the schedule. CBS' new crime drama Elementary is one of the rare exceptions, however. Just thinking about the auspices of the first episode should make it an easy sell: a modern-day Sherlock Holmes drama, starring Jonny Lee Miller (most recently known for playing the titular Eli Stone in the short-lived ABC series), Lucy Liu (perhaps best known as one of Charlie's Angels in the 2000 movie update, but she's been in a whole lot), and Aidan Quinn (an Emmy nominee for the 2007 HBO movie Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee), not to mention a pilot written by Rob Doherty (producer on cult hits like Ringer, Tru Calling, and Medium) and directed by Michael Cuesta (an Emmy nominee this year for directing the pilot of Homeland). The series just screams "potenital hit! potential hit!," right? Well...basically, it is. For everything you would think to find here, you should be heavily satisfied. The story itself is a pretty basic crime with the usual twists and turns, although Sherlock's spunk certainly makes the scenes a little more fun. The best part of the entire episode is when they explore character relations, specifically Sherlock (Miller) and Joan Watson (Liu, yes, Watson is now a female). The chemistry between these two is already so strong and they get some pretty powerful scenes, although it's kind of a shame that the pilot episode has already spilled out their pasts for us, as that would have been great material to dive into further on into the season. Miller, if the work stays consistent, is a threat for a Best Actor in a Drama Emmy nomination next year (hooray for broadcast TV nominations!). Liu is pretty solid, better than I was expecting. Quinn was given a good amount of screentime, but I imagine they'll dive further into his character as the season progresses (I could see the potential for him having some skeletons in his closet). As of right now, these three are the only series regulars, so hopefully they add some fresh blood so we don't get bored of the same three characters. Cuesta does another fantastic job with the direction here, and if he doesn't take home the Emmy for the Homeland pilot, let's cross our fingers and hope he gets a second chance with this one! Overall, I was highly impressed with this first episode and I will definitely be tuning in to watch it this fall, as I suggest you should too! Below is a little trailer to whet your appetite until September 27th when Elementary premieres on CBS:

Evan