Monday, December 23, 2013

'Elementary' GifTweetCap: Is There a New Guy? But What about Bell?

"Internal Audit" is a bittersweet episode of Elementary, hinting that one of the characters could be leaving (that is left up in the air), but that a fan-favorite character may be sticking around a little more often. The highlight in this episode is the characters, so character issues will be covered first this time around, followed by the mystery.

The episode starts out with Bell having trouble writing with his injured dominant right hand. Watson brings him some ready-to-eat dinners, which is just about the sweetest thing she could do for poor Bell. He recoils a bit when she asks whether he'd like to talk about his troubles, but softens quickly thinking about the sweet gesture. Fortunately, Bell is offered a choice job with a "demographics unit" (as in, surveillance). It's much better than being forced I to a desk job, but not so great for fans if it means that he leaves the show. At least the character would be happy.
Meanwhile, Alfredo (fan-favorite Ato Essandoh, who was also fantastic on Copper. You can catch Season 1 on Netflix and Seasons 1 and 2 on Amazon) is watching Sherlock try to break into a half-million dollar car. With the guilt of being partly responsible for Bell getting shot after provoking the shooter, Sherlock is feeling a bit testy, although he continues to claim that he did nothing wrong. Still, he has trouble working while Alfredo watches, and winds up kicking the car when the alarm begins sounding and he fails to break in.
Alfredo convinces Sherlock to come to a meeting, but he mostly wants to introduce Sherlock to fellow addict Randy. Sherlock begins the introduction with a slight insult, wondering whether Randy is a name or adjective. Then, Alfredo "ambushes" Sherlock with a proposal: for Sherlock to sponsor Randy. Initially, Sherlock merely states that his job leaves him no time, and he skips out as soon as he gets a text from Watson, leaving without giving a complete answer.
Watson reminds Sherlock that nobody else "has time" to sponsor someone either, and basically tells Sherlock that he should get over himself and sponsor Randy. Sherlock responds by continuing to be upset and selfish, breaking into Alfredo's house and car in the middle of the night in order to ease his mind.
Later, Sherlock finally decides to sponsor Randy, but that decision is not entirely obvious when Randy enters Sherlock's home. Sherlock stands straight and rigid, making Randy believe he is only there to be rejected. After a long uncomfortable silence, Sherlock finally explains that he will be a strict sponsor rather than a friend; he is there to help him stay sober, nothing else.
The mystery part of the episode begins with a man named Donald Hauser getting kneecapped as he's about to commit suicide. He is then tortured before being murdered. Tough luck.
When Sherlock and Watson are called in to help, Sherlock begins his odd process by sniffing Hauser's mouth, then pulling out some residue and rubbing it to feel the texture.
Sherlock initially suspects Chloe Butler, Hauser's personal chef, because she acts a little jumpy. It turns out that Watson knows Butler from when she was a client, and Butler didn't know how to act when seeing Watson at the crime scene. She's also a recovering addict, like Sherlock.
It is assumed that Hauser was tortured and prevented from committing suicide (the easy way out) because he was similar to Bernie Madoff, stealing millions of dollars in a Ponzie scheme. But then Rosalie Nunez, a journalist who exposed Hauser, is herself tortured and murdered. Sherlock continues his process by licking the residue left on a door from the bottom of a shoe, and offering Joan a taste.
The residue is from a certain species of orange that can be found in a park that is popular with skateboarders. Sherlock suggests checking the footage of the narcisisstic genetalia-crushing, meme-seeking skateboarders, hoping to spot something unusual. Watson does the work, clearly having learned Sherlock's multi-screen viewing skills.
She actually spots someone she recognizes, who used to be friends with Butler. Butler insists that she hasn't seen the man, Nelson Maddox, ever since she was an addict. Butler wants to keep her connection to him quiet because she's in a custody battle for her child.
Watson is adamant that Sherlock cannot inform the police of her friend's connection to the case, knowing that Butler had nothing to do with it. Sherlock protests until Watson reminds him of what happened to Bell: dragging Butler into the case could have serious repercussions for her, and for no good reason.
Watson does hand over the footage, and enough information for the cops to possibly solve the case without involving Butler. There had been a laptop missing from Nunez's apartment, and Maddox appeared to be carrying it on the video. The cops release the video on TV to find leads to his location. Weiss, a non-profit director who worked with Hauser, calls in a tip stating that he recognizes Maddox, and that Maddox was connected to the art world. The information leads to a gallery with disturbingly bad "artwork," including a pile of crocheted dynamite.
Oh, and there's a body in the dumpster behind the gallery. Sherlock has a rare gross-out moment, pulling out a tissue to lift a bag, revealing Maddox's body. They also find evidence that Maddox killed Hauser and Nunez, and gallery girl Fabiana tells them he was a silent partner of the gallery, and the gallery was a client of Hauser's. But why did Maddox kill Nunez, and who killed Maddox?
Sherlock then notices something peculiar: the red dots indicating that a piece has been sold are dispersed at every three pieces, indicating that someone simply slapped down the dots at regular intervals as they walked through the gallery. This leads Sherlock to conclude that the gallery is a front for money laundering. Nunez had discovered what was going on, so that explains why Maddox killed her.
Weiss' non-profit is actually a front for a Holocaust charity. He did help some folks, but also embezzled millions, laundering money through the gallery. He was the one who had Maddox torture and kill Hauser when he decided that stealing from Holocaust victims was too low, even for him. He had told Nunez what was going on, so Nunez wound up on the hit list as well. And when Maddox's face appeared on TV as the killer, he killed Maddox as well to cover his tracks.
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