Misanthropey Was So Simple, Watson. Elegant. Sometimes I Miss It- Sherlock Holmes.

Misanthropey was so simple, Watson. Elegant. Sometimes I miss it- Sherlock Holmes.

Love and Justice in Elementary — "The One That Got Away"

I rewatch this episode from time to time, and it strikes me over and again just how committed it is to non-legal means of justice, which is particularly rare given that Elementary technically operates within the copaganda genre (with some room for outliers here and there).

When Kitty is about to murder Gruner, the man who sexually assaulted and tortured her, Sherlock shows up. Typically within the police procedural, Sherlock would be the Character Who Reminds [X] That Killing Is Wrong and Legal Justice is Right. But Sherlock doesn't do any of that. He tells Kitty that she deserves to know that he's found a way to prosecute Gruner - he will spend eternity in jail. He tells her that this is an option she can take if she doesn't want the stain of murder on her. While following the law is not what Sherlock thinks Kitty ought to do, it is a viable option nonetheless. What would be unfair, Sherlock understands, is for Kitty to have no way out but murder.

Kitty responds, "What does that have to do with me? With what he did to me?"

And she's right, prosecuting Gruner has nothing to do with what he did to her. What the police wants is not what she wants. Kitty's assault was a singular event, and only she can determine what justice should be. It's an oddly refreshing take, given that most procedurals would remind to Kitty to uphold the law (e.g. SVU).

Sherlock replies, "Nothing. Everything. Wish I could tell you. If you decide that killing Gruner will make you feel whole again, I won't stop you. But whatever you decide, you will always be my friend."

I've thought a lot about this scene, and how it places Kitty's decision and Sherlock's love at the center of what justice should be. It also brings to the forefront Sherlock's struggle with addiction — he doesn't have many friends which means that his gesture of love is completely genuine. It's a gesture of unconditional love from a stoic man who finds it difficult to love, to a woman whose experience of love has been destroyed by sexual abuse. It doesn't matter to Sherlock if Kitty kills Gruner because the fact that she is his friend will always come first. What happens, as Kitty soon realises, is that she is offered something that she has wanted for so long but thought she couldn't have. That someone loves her so much that she feels, for the first time, that she is able to say it back and mean it. So it is beautiful that the episode ultimately ends with Kitty saying: "Do you know what I haven't said to anyone in a really long time? I love you. Isn't that the saddest thing?"

While the heart of Elementary will always be Sherlock and Watson, stories like Kitty also reveal that sobriety requires love at its center, and it requires that Sherlock show up for his friends. He's a self proclaimed misanthrope, but his time with Joan has changed him; instead of embracing being a lone genius, he puts in the work to be worthy of the care and love that he receives in return. It may be corny or whatever, but the series is about true, genuine love, the kind that is so huge that it passes on from one person to another, healing everything in its way.