Elementary: Holmes Solves a Plane Crash

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Not gonna lie... my biggest disappointment in this episode was that it didn't feature the neat opening sequence with the Rube Goldberg-type machine. Aside from that, at least we're not at a hospital! Even so, this episode was still very much like House... the sleuth has a theory that is shot down, comes up with another, it's blown, has a third idea and it fails, and then has an epiphany that solves the case. The "drama" that holds the show together from episode to episode is really pretty weak, making me wonder what everyone sees in this show! Still, we're bound to learn more about "Irene" soon!

Elementary "Flight Risk" (S01E06): Holmes listens to police scanners and jumps at an "unusual incident" near Rockaway Beach. [...and now we can absolutely tell that this was filmed in advance because of how damaged the Rockaways are from Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy.] It's a small plane crash (just a few lawyers aboard) and the police don't want Sherlock nosing around until he notices one of the bodies has injuries not matching the accident. The lawyers were pretty at-odds over a case that will cost an artificial sugar company $100M. The discovery of the blackbox shoots down Holmes's first theory of an on-board fight, and he now thinks that one of the lawyers was killed earlier and put in the cargo hold, resulting in different injuries. He figures that the 200-pound corpse threw off the weight of the plane, resulting in the crash. But, after he and Watson find someone at the sugar company who knew the alleged first victim, things start to fall apart again. This guy doesn't have the grip to have used the wrench to kill the victim. [all of those ergonomic devices were interesting.] Then, Holmes realizes that there was fake sand at the scene, and that someone put it in the tank to forcefully take down the plane... and the first victim might have seen someone funneling the sand into the fuel tank, so he was killed earlier than the rest of them.

Photo Credit: GIOVANNI RUFINO/CBS

Sherlock suspects another pilot, who likely smuggles 30kg of cocaine every time he flies back from Miami. But, he has an alibi - his boss needed a jump-start at the time of the murder. The boss confirms the drug thing but negates the alibi, saying that the pilot asked him to cover. When they get to the pilot's house with a warrant, he's gone... but tons of smuggled cash and even a recently-retrieved-from-brackish-water murder weapon are present. [I'd make such a lousy detective! I don't know that I'd notice any of the things Holmes does!] Holmes realizes that it's unlikely the pilot was the murderer, but now it makes sense that the owner did it and framed the pilot. The owner smells of modeling glue and keeps drinking water without needing to urinate, so Sherlock thinks that he got a severe cut, lost a lot of blood, and used the glue as stitches. Yep, he's the guy!

In the non-case story, Holmes' father is allegedly in town and wants to have dinner, but Holmes tells Watson that the man has no intention to actually eat with them. Watson attends the dinner but Sherlock blows it off. After "the father" asks her how the sex is between she and Holmes, she realizes that he's a fake - Sherlock hired him as a joke on Watson. [a little funny.] She hunts down the actor after she realizes that he and Sherlock knew one another well, and learns that he mentored Sherlock in acting. He also revealed that Sherlock called out a name when high - Irene.