Elementary My Dear Thursday (SPOILERS)

OH CBS!  YOU MAKE THURSDAYS WORTH BEING THURSDAY!  While tonight's episode of The Big Bang Theory was wonderfully hilarious (Kunal Nayyar giving us some lovely acting), this Thursday belonged to the 2 hour season finally of Elementary.  If there was any doubt this show didn't hold up the the Sherlock Holmes mega-fandom these two hours have put those naysayers to bed.  Now, I am usually the kind of person who makes a keen effort to figure things out for myself, using extensive amounts of time on the internet combined with my connection to the film/tv world.  I generally find out what I want to know.  And for the life of me I could not figure out who would be playing the infamous Moriarty.... needless to say, tonight's big reveal caused me to only write "Holy Fuck" in my notes about the episode.  So, if you haven't watched tonight's episode WARNING READ NO FURTHER!  This is not a recap but I give everything away.  Please don't ruin this for yourself.

Now, Sherlock Holmes has been born and reborn again like a million times in the last few years.  We've had House and Wilson, we've had steampunk Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes and of course the ever sexy Benedict Cumberbatch Sherlock... so when re-re-re inventing a plot one begins to kind of role their eyes at the idea.  When Elementary came around switching Watson's gender and the location from London to NYC, it didn't seem all that exciting.  But, both Jonny Lee Miller's and Lucy Liu's performances kept it all fresh and I couldn't stop watching until I was totally and completely in love with this new-new modern spin on the premise.  So, I was sad when the season finally began to approach, but with promos of Sherlock overdosing I was also kind of excited to see where it was all going.  Now last week we finally met the love of Sherlock's life, Irene Adler, played by Game of Thones actress Natalie Dormer.  But who would be playing Moriarty... who... WHO.... WHO!?

THAT'S RIGHT JONNY!  IRENE IS MORIARTY!  This photo was a clue!  It's no wonder they kept who was playing Moriarty such a tight secret there was no other actor!  This is by far the biggest twist that I never saw coming ever.  Let's dial it back a bit.  At the beginning of the episode we are given a tortured broken Irene Adler, mentally destroyed over a year of psychological torture.  How could this sweet young American artist be anything but the woman Sherlock loved and lost?  But, when she and Sherlock make plans to go on the lam, Sherlock notices she's had a mole surgically removed.  How could somebody who has been kidnapped so long have had a mole removed?  And that's when he realized she worked for Moriarty.  Well I wasn't so surprised that she would be working for Moriarty, she does in every incarnation of the character, but when she shoots Sherlock's would-be assassin to death and declares herself Moriarty well... a piece of my brain leaked out of my ear.  No seriously I don't know how I'm going to get the stains out.

Natalie Dormer really wowed me tonight.  I mean I love her as Margaery Tyrell (aka boobs) on GoT, but she really got to show range, damaged American vs. English psychopath.  Also, her American accent was flawless.  I had to IMDB her just to see whether or not she was in fact American.  We also of course got great moments from Miller and Liu.  My favorite scenes being Sherlock's terrifying anger over his realization that Irene was working for Moriarty (pre-the big reveal) and Liu having a tense meal with Moriarty where she showed no fear in the face of true danger.

It was a big risk to once again change the gender of one of the Sherlock characters, but this one really served a purpose.  In my mind since minute one, despite the gender difference, Watson and Sherlock have no love connection, just the love of great friendship.  But, it is a great tool to have Moriarty and Sherlock actually love each other.  In every Sherlock/Moriarty pairing there is always great respect and reverence  but to actually love each other.  That is a whole new depth that has never before been explored.  They could never truly kill each other because love binds them, but like all people in love, they will constantly hurt each other.  What was even more interesting about this double gender twist is that there is an almost jealousy that Moriarty has towards Watson.  Watson becomes the confusing variable.  What is her purpose if not for sex?  Moriarty's inability to figure that out becomes her downfall.

Now, the actual ending seemed like kind of a cop out.  I was hoping the OD would lead to a cliff hanger ending, but such was not the case.  I really hope, however, that Dormer's reign on this show is not over.  Currently Moriarty is just in jail and a woman of her power can probably easily get out.  Here's hoping for more sexy girl Moriarty next season!

So that's my diatribe on all that, and while I would normally live blog something like this episode, I did write down some of my favorite quotes.  I hope you enjoy:

Sherlock:  No!  This is your home!  (when Watson asks if she should leave now that Irene is back)

Sherlock:  I've never had a nemesis before!

Moriarty:  Would you prefer I just kill you?
Sherlock:  Yes.

Sherlock:  We both made the same mistake.  We fell in love.

Sherlock:  There's only one person in the world who could surprise you.  Turns out there are two.  (on Watson being the brains being the Moriarty take down)

Watson:  You named a bee after me?