Elementary (TV series)

Plot

Episodes

Cast and characters

Main

• Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes: A former Scotland Yard consultant who now lives in New York City after completing drug rehabilitation for addiction-related problems. Sherlock is a deductive genius with a variety of unusual interests and enthusiasms that assist him in his investigations. Feeling that the more interesting criminal cases are in America, he stays in New York. He contacts an old associate, Captain Thomas Gregson of the NYPD, to resume his previous work as a consulting detective. He is forced by his father to live with Dr. Joan Watson, his "sober companion" who provides him with aftercare. Miller's Holmes displays many canonical aspects of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's character, while his familial relations, most notably his resentment for his father, have been added into his narrative. In between seasons 2 and 3, Sherlock spends eight months in Britain working for MI-6 and returns to New York in "Enough Nemesis to Go Around" with a new protégé, Kitty Winter. At the conclusion of season 3, Sherlock suffers a relapse, but his father's connections allow him to resume working for the NYPD. In Season 4, it is revealed mid-season that his mother, May Holmes, was also an opiate addict like him. In the last few episodes of season 5, he is shown suffering from severe unexplained headaches that affect his concentration, as well as hallucinating a woman who is based on his mother; the season 6 premiere reveals that he is suffering from post-concussion syndrome, requiring him to be put on a carefully balanced system of medication as well as taking on assorted mental activities to try and help his brain heal, albeit hampered by Sherlock's 'need' to use his work to escape his past addictions. By the beginning of season 7, Sherlock is officially recovered, although he notes that one more hit to his head could have serious consequences for his health. In the penultimate episode of the series, following his father's murder at the hands by Odin Reichenbach, Sherlock has a showdown with Reichenbach in which he fakes his death, allowing Reichenbach to be arrested and finally convicted of his numerous crimes some time later. In the series finale, after three years in hiding, he returns after his nemesis / former lover Jamie Moriarty lures him out by making a false threat against Joan's life. He later opts to stay with Joan as she undergoes cancer treatment, and the two partner up again a year later when she recovers. With 24 episodes per season, by the end of season 2, Jonny Lee Miller became the actor who had portrayed Sherlock Holmes the most times in television and/or film, beating Jeremy Brett and Eille Norwood.
• Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson : Holmes' sober companion. Watson was previously a successful surgeon, which adds to her complement of skills; however, she stopped practicing medicine after one of her patients died during surgery. She comes to Holmes when she is hired by his father as his sober companion, to help him remain abstinent after his release from rehabilitation. After her contracted time is finished, she remains on after lying to Sherlock that his father had continued to retain her services. He gradually comes to value her input and grows to trust her as she helps him come to terms with his life after addiction. Eventually, Sherlock reveals that he found out that Joan is no longer being paid to stay as a companion. He offers her a position as an apprentice, telling her how much she means to him and how she helps him to focus. Joan accepts and starts her training as a detective with Sherlock. After Sherlock leaves for London, Joan becomes the go-to consulting detective for the 11th Precinct, while also taking on more traditional private investigator-type cases that Sherlock eschews. Despite this, the two resume working together after Sherlock returns to New York, albeit with Joan taking on the occasional independent case away from Sherlock. Joan has a brother, Oren, and a half-sister, Lin Wen. Joan and her half-sister Lin have the same father, but different mothers. In the final two seasons, Joan starts to take steps to becoming a mother, and in the series finale, taking place three years after Sherlock fakes his death to ensure the arrest of Odin Reichenbach, she is revealed to have adopted a son named Arthur. During this time, she has also written and published a book recounting her partnership with Sherlock, and continued to consult for the NYPD. Near the end of the episode, she reveals that she has cancer and is starting chemotherapy, prompting Sherlock to stay with her through her recovery, and she recovers within a year's time.
• Aidan Quinn as Captain Thomas "Tommy" Gregson: The Captain of the New York City Police Department's 11th Precinct. He was previously assigned to Scotland Yard to observe their Counter-Terrorism Bureau, where he crossed paths with Sherlock and was impressed with his work. He genuinely likes Holmes, and the two have a mutual respect for each other, with Sherlock describing Gregson as an investigator he both respects and admires, though Gregson admits that Sherlock is a "pain in the ass". In season 2, Gregson separates from his wife of over 20 years, Cheryl, and they are divorced by season 3. In "Rip Off", it is revealed that his daughter, Hannah, is an ambitious patrol officer with the 15th Precinct; by season 6, Hannah has been promoted to Sergeant. In "Absconded", Gregson is offered a promotion to Deputy Chief due to the good work of his unit, but despite hints that some higher-ups wanted him to accept the offer, he decided to remain, as he valued his current role and ability to interact with people more than the possibilities offered by the promotion. It is also mentioned in that episode that he served at the 14th Precinct as a newly promoted Detective and was made head of the Major Case Squad at age 40. In season 4, it is revealed mid-season that Gregson is now dating Paige Cowan, a former detective who quit the NYPD after her unit was accused of taking bribes; they briefly break up after Joan runs into them at a restaurant, as Paige claims she does not want people to think ill of Gregson, even if she was not involved in her unit's actions, but Joan soon learns that Paige actually has multiple sclerosis and convinces Gregson to give the relationship another chance; the two later marry. During season 6, when Bell contemplates a transfer to the United States Marshals Service, Gregson observes that Holmes, Watson and Bell make a good partnership because Bell stops them from bending the rules too far when they are conducting investigations. In the beginning of season 7, Gregson is shot and wounded while investigating a cold case, which leads to the revelation of a conspiracy helmed by social media mogul Odin Reichenbach. In the series finale, which takes place three years after Reichenbach's arrest, he is revealed to have retired from the NYPD a year earlier, to spend as much time as possible with Paige, who is revealed to have succumbed to her MS some time prior. He is a recipient of the U.S. Flag Bar, World Trade Center Bar, NYPD Medal of Honor, NYPD Medal for Valor, and the NYPD 170th Commemorative Breast Bar.
• Jon Michael Hill as Detective First Grade/Captain Marcus Bell: A junior officer with the 11th Precinct with whom Sherlock and Joan often work. While initially against the idea of getting help from Sherlock, he comes to recognize Sherlock's abilities and readily takes advice from him. Gregson explicitly observes that Bell is a good partner for Sherlock and Joan as he recognizes when circumstances require them to bend the rules without letting them break anything that would compromise later court cases. He is briefly reassigned to an observational role in season 2 after sustaining a potentially serious shoulder injury at the hands of a hostile witness Sherlock had questioned earlier; this strains his relationship with Sherlock, but a confrontation with Holmes helps Bell overcome the psychological issues that were hindering his recovery and he soon returns to his old role. In season 4, Bell considers taking the Sergeant's exam for the increase in paycheck to help support his ailing mother. In season 6, Bell is offered a position with the United States Marshals Service and decides to put in an application for transfer upon completing his Master's degree in six months. However, he later passes up the job after Sherlock takes the blame for the murder of serial killer Michael Rowan to protect both Joan and Gregson's daughter Hannah from prosecution at the end of the season, and then again when Gregson is shot and critically wounded at the start of season 7 to help investigate the conspiracy. In the series finale, taking place three years after the events of the previous episode, Bell is revealed to have married and become a father, and has been promoted to Captain of the 11th following Gregson's retirement a year earlier. He is a recipient of the U.S. Flag Bar, NYPD Excellent Police Duty, and the NYPD 170th Commemorative Breast Bar.
• John Noble as Morland Holmes : Sherlock's estranged father, who arrives in New York after Sherlock relapses at the end of season 3. He works as an eminent business consultant, making arrangements for various companies to achieve their goals regardless of what they might be, with Sherlock describing him as a 'neutral' party in that he has no concern about the consequences of his clients' goals so long as they are achieved. He decides to stay in New York for unknown long-term reasons involving Sherlock, with Joan speculating from independent research that he suffered serious stomach damage after becoming the victim of a failed murder attempt two years before, and may believe that he is being targeted again. With a view to resolving the threat, at the end of season 4, he takes over the leadership of Moriarty's organization, intending to dismantle the group from within and thereby shield his son and Joan from any further harm. Morland later returns on two separate occasions: once during season 6, following his older son Mycroft's death where he and Sherlock mend any remaining fences between them, and then again during season 7, where Sherlock recruits his help to bring down Odin Reichenbach. However, after Morland's machinations cripple Reichenbach's company and nearly result in him being ousted, Reichenbach retaliates by having Morland murdered by one of his own associates, setting the stage for a final showdown between Sherlock and Reichenbach.
• Nelsan Ellis as Shinwell Johnson : A previous patient of Joan and an ex-convict and gang member for the SBK. He and Joan become acquainted once more when he is released from prison and placed on probation. During his time on probation, Joan helps him settle back into his life outside of prison while also assisting him in his attempt to build a relationship with his daughter. He was briefly an unofficial informant for an FBI agent and is now an official informant for the Bronx Gang Squad. His relationship with Sherlock and Joan falters when Sherlock discovers that Shinwell was responsible for the death of a friend of his during his original time in the SBK, but Shinwell wrote a confession for this crime as he was preparing to bring down the gang, only to be killed by another member of the SBK.
• Desmond Harrington as Michael Rowan : A recovering addict who becomes impressed with Sherlock's methods of dealing with his addiction and becomes his friend and leaning post as he tackles his post-concussion syndrome. He is later revealed to be a murderer after burying a woman's body in an unknown location; eventually, he is revealed to be a serial killer, who has killed an estimate of more than a dozen women in multiple states, and has credited Sherlock with convincing him to focus on his "work" in order to kick his heroin addiction. When Sherlock's health problems diminish his investigative abilities, Michael leaves New York for a time to allow him to recover. He returns near the end of the season where, after he is revealed to have murdered the addict husband of one of his friends years earlier, he attacks Joan, only to flee after being seriously wounded, and is later found dead; the murder is later revealed to have been committed by Gregson's daughter Hannah as retaliation for Michael's earlier killing of her roommate.
• James Frain as Odin Reichenbach : A well-renowned tech mogul that Sherlock and Joan meet after he hires them to find who made a kidnapping threat against his niece. It is soon learned that he made up the claim as a way to test the two, believing that he had found kindred spirits within them due to their willingness to go the distance to protect the innocent. It is also revealed that he was indirectly responsible for triggering the events that led to Gregson's shooting at the beginning of the season. Odin later reveals to Sherlock his intention to use his infinite resources, both online and offline, to create a system that prevents future crimes by flushing out the would-be-perpetrators and having them killed before they can carry out any offenses. However, despite Reichenbach clearly wanting to do good, Sherlock feels that his system does not work, citing how he killed a bus driver who was ranting on social media about her plans to kill her passengers; a brief study of the woman's media history confirmed that she had made similar rants in the past at the same time of year and never followed through with any of them. While presenting himself as willing to listen to Sherlock's input, Reichenbach soon proves himself extremely ruthless in proving that his system works, to the point of having a target and the target's parents killed in a staged murder-suicide, and then later having Sherlock's father Morland murdered after the latter assists his son in crippling Reichenbach's company and nearly getting him ousted. The latter action later results in a showdown between the two, where Sherlock fakes his murder at Reichenbach's hands in order to finally see him arrested for his crimes. In the series finale, taking place three years later, after a lengthy trial, Reichenbach is finally convicted of numerous murders and other crimes related to his conspiracy, and is sentenced to 148 years in prison.

  Recurring

• Ophelia Lovibond as Kitty Winter: Sherlock's newest protégée, whom he brought with him from London after leaving MI6. She was initially tasked with spying on Watson until being discovered. Sherlock tends to be strict with her, but admires her detective skills. Kitty's real name is unknown as she was kidnapped and raped in London prior to meeting Sherlock, and had changed her name in an effort to forget her ordeal. Her character is based on Kitty Winter in Doyle's "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client". After confronting and disfiguring her rapist, she decides to leave the United States to avoid arrest, and to go somewhere where she could use the skills that Sherlock and Watson had taught her.
• Ato Essandoh as Alfredo Llamosa: Sherlock's NA sponsor who is a recovering addict himself. Alfredo is also reformed from a life of crime stealing cars. He is now paid by various car companies to test their cars' security systems, and he occasionally lets Sherlock try out his own skills on them. Alfredo is one of Sherlock's few real friends, but does not hesitate to criticize Sherlock when he makes a poor decision and pushes him to continue his rehab regimen, including becoming a sponsor himself. He also teaches Joan how to bypass automotive security. Sherlock later 'fires' Alfredo as his sponsor so that he could help Alfredo as a friend.
• Rhys Ifans as Mycroft Holmes: Sherlock's older brother who still lives in London. He and Sherlock had a very bitter relationship in the past, but Mycroft begins taking steps to reconcile with his brother, and becomes good friends with Joan. He owns a chain of restaurants called Diogenes and is an excellent cook. It is later revealed that Mycroft is in the employ of MI6, and it becomes necessary for Mycroft to fake his death in "The Grand Experiment", an act that his brother felt represented a lack of faith in Sherlock to find another solution to the current dilemma. It is revealed in season 6 that Mycroft has died due to a brain aneurysm. His last known location was New Zealand and Sherlock briefly grieves for him when he learns of this, regretting not being able to make up with his brother before his death.
• Natalie Dormer as Irene Adler / Jamie Moriarty: As Irene, she is Sherlock's former lover, while in her true identity as Moriarty she is a criminal mastermind who romanced Sherlock and then faked Irene's death to draw his investigations away from her criminal activities. It was her supposed death as Irene that caused Sherlock's already established drug use to escalate out of control. Despite Sherlock discovering her true identity, and her subsequent imprisonment, the two continue to have conflicting feelings for each other — Sherlock noting during a conversation with Bell that "the love of life is an unrepentant homicidal maniac" — and great mutual respect for each other's intellectual powers. She has also gained a certain amount of respect for Joan, as the latter's ability to fool her is what got her arrested; when Joan's life is threatened by drug kingpin Elana March, she arranges the criminal's death in her cell. At the end of Season 4, Morland Holmes takes over her organization with the goal of dismantling it from within to prevent its resources being used against his son and Joan. She plays a major unseen role in the series finale, supposedly plotting against Sherlock, only for it to turn out to be a false alarm. Three years later, Sherlock attends her funeral, although he expresses doubt that she is actually dead. Series creator Robert Doherty confirmed in an interview that Moriarty is still alive.
• Sean Pertwee as Gareth Lestrade: Sherlock's British colleague and rival. While Sherlock was based in London, he worked with Lestrade, who was then a member of the Metropolitan Police. Due to Sherlock's preference to work in anonymity, Lestrade took credit for solving the cases that they worked on together Lestrade is clearly not in Sherlock's league, and his overzealousness and impulsiveness tend to impair his judgement; however, he is a skilled detective in his own right.
• Candis Cayne as Ms. Hudson: An expert in ancient Greek who essentially makes a living as a kept woman and muse for various wealthy men; Sherlock allows her to stay at the brownstone after a breakup, and she subsequently agrees to clean for them once a week as a source of income. Sherlock initially attempts to make Joan pay for the work, as she complained about his messiness, but she refuses and they settle on sharing the expense. Ms. Hudson is seen in single episodes in each of the first three seasons, but mentioned in numerous others through season 4.
• Betty Gilpin as Fiona "Mittens" Helbron: a brilliant software engineer for a technology company called Pentillion, who also is known as 'Mittens' in the hacker community. She is on the autism spectrum, and is a cat lover. She is briefly considered a suspect in one case, but later assists Sherlock and Joan in their investigation. She later contacts Joan for assistance in another matter, and begins a romantic relationship with Sherlock.
• Jordan Gelber as Dr. Eugene Hawes, M.E.: A New York City medical examiner that provides Sherlock and Joan with details relating to murders that cross paths with their investigations. He and Sherlock are regular chess partners. After he is almost killed when a bomb is detonated in the city morgue, he develops a drug addiction. After noticing the indicators, Sherlock implores him to get help. He takes a leave of absence to recover, but returns to active duty as the M.E. in the season 5 episode "Ill Tidings".

  Characters from the Sherlock Holmes stories

Development

Casting

Relationship to BBC's ''Sherlock''

Production

Reception

Ratings

Awards and nominations

Broadcast

Tie-in media