TV REVIEW: Elementary’s “The Illustrious Client” Was a Stellar Night of TV

By Cindy Jackson

We open this week’s episode of Elementary with Joan at her new office. She gets a call from Sherlock and meets him at the brownstone to break the news to Kitty about her attacker being in New York. He and Joan believe he planted his latest victim’s body to announce his arrival to Kitty. Sherlock states he and Joan will be working on the case without Kitty in order to protect her. Sweet idea, but she is having none of it.

The victim, Melanie Vilkis, bears a resemblance to Kitty, suggesting the killer is making this personal. Sherlock suggests Kitty not do the same. She does not take this advice. Like, really really doesn’t. Just wait.

At the police station, Captain Gregson, Holmes, and Kitty verbally lacerate the officer in charge of the latest victim’s case before they announce they are taking it over. He hangs his head in shame, and may have actually peed a little. (Cocky Gregson is a treat. More, please.)

A recent and rare selfie from the victim suggests she may have recently joined a dating site. Her match-date tells Gregson that on the night she died, Melanie was supposed to meet him at a bar, but he stood her up. That leads Joan to a missing cell phone belonging to a Simon DeMerville.

DeMerville was running a prostitution/sex slave ring out of his home. Upon investigation, Gregson finds the branding iron that was used on Melanie and Kitty, and Bell finds a body in the garage.

Joan visits one of the women found at the home and brings Kitty with her. (No one thinks this is a bad idea?) She explains that Simon gave orders and watched the girls, but the man that brought the girls over from Europe was a known sex trafficker named Evan Bogdony. This was the man Bell found dead at DeMerville’s home. The woman explains the awful things that were done to the women that were captured, leaving Kitty visibly disturbed by it. (Really? Nobody else saw that coming?)

Pictured: Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes and Ophelia Lovibond as Kitty. Image © CBS

Sherlock deduces that Simon was cut badly and needed to go to a hospital, likely the one where his sister Violet works. She tells them she stitched him up and left and she doesn’t know anything else. (Sure you don’t.) While there, Simon stole a very expensive drug, which he likely used to trade for shelter from the authorities. Joan appeals to her boss to help her get a list of people who have the rare disorder treated by the stolen medication.

Meanwhile, Kitty pays a visit to Simon’s sister. She talks her way into the apartment and begins to shut the lights off, stating she doesn’t want the police parked outside to see her. Understandably confused, Violet asks Kitty, “Don’t you work with them?”

“Not tonight,” Kitty replies, as she whips out her fighting stick like a ginger ninja.

Next thing you know, Violet is at the station, revealing all sorts of new information, including a phone number. She even offers to call him so they can try to trace the call. Simon hangs up before they can nail down anything except the cell tower it was using. However, Sherlock pulls a heck of a, well, Sherlock and says he knows Simon is on a boat because of the sound of a man urinating and the flushing of a marine toilet in the background of the phone call. Keen observational skills can be weird sometimes.

At one of the local Marinas, Sherlock notices some artificial turf which matches some that he saw outside of Simon’s place. This leads them to a man who used to park his boat in Simon’s driveway. The man goes to call his wife, but the police are already at her home because their boat was set on fire. A badly burned body is found inside.

Dental records prove that the body is Simon’s, but Kitty says she isn’t sure that this is the man that held her captive. Sherlock tries to empathize with her uncertainty by sharing his stuggles with sobriety. She tells him that he knows nothing about how she feels and she goes to Joan’s apartment instead to talk. There she overhears Joan talking to her boss on speaker phone and recognizes his voice. In a heart wrenching moment, she tearfully explains to Joan she is sure that her boss’s voice is the voice of the man that hurt her.

This was a really enjoyable episode. All of the actors brought their A-game, with particular kudos to Ophelia. I wasn’t sure how I would feel having Kitty front and center, but she absolutely nailed this very emotional installment. In addition, the amount of caring and compassion Holmes and Watson showed for Kitty is heartwarming. (Joan called her family, awww.)

This two part storyline concludes next week in what is sure to be another hour of stellar writing and performances.