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Andy Trinh
Professor Lynda Haas
Writing 37
26 November 2014
Watsons Escape
There are conventions of the detective genre that Conan Doyle created along side Sherlock
Holmes and John Watson. One of these conventions was how Watson was not as knowledgeable
or interesting as Holmes. As mentioned in Doyle, Watson squeaks out a gentlemans C in the
quiz about the hat (Panek 86). Panek states that Watson is a mere representation of average.
However, this is changed through the modern day television show Elementary. Lucy Liu plays
the role of Joan Watson, the equivalent of Doyles John Watson. Although her character closely
resembles Doyles Watson at the beginning of the show, Joan Watson transforms into a entirely
different character by the end of the first season. This is in part due to Joan Watsons storyline.
Brian Chapman states, The other key change in the Watsons is that Joan isnt ex-militarythis
simply opens more possibilities for story lines (3). He explains that there are more opportunities
to shape Watsons development as a character because of her background on the show.
Elementary takes advantage of this by creating a storyline that breaks the convention of Watson
being incompetent to Holmes. In the process, the show turns her into a more interesting and
impactful character.
In the episode Risk Management,, Holmes and Watson attempt to solve a mans murder.
Despite Joan Watson seeming completely useless when first meeting Holmes, she surprises him

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with a deduction that ultimately solves the case later on in the episode. From the time 31:40 to
33:40, Joan Watsons character is given the spotlight for the case. It starts out with her coming
into room to find Holmes puzzled about the case and staring at the display of evidence. They
break into a small argument, which leads into a close up of Holmes being slightly heated. Then,
Holmes snaps and releases his anger out on a bulletin board with a forceful strike. In attempt to
diffuse his the situation, Joan Watson sends Holmes off to the kitchen to grab some food. As she
cleans up the mess, the camera focus shifts from Holmes to Watson, , emphasizing Watson as
the main character of the current scene. This is where she develops a new idea about the
situation, stimulated by picking up a photo that fell. As Holmes returns into the scence,. the
camerea is in a deep focus with Watson far behind. This allows the audience to see Holmess
reactions to Joan Watsons telling him her revelation in the case. A close up of Holmess shocked
face relays his surprise of Joan Watsons new idea. This is in contrast to the excerpt, Doyle,
which Panek explains how it all relates to Watson. As he points out, Holmes feels impelled to
point out Watsons errors and to show him how to do the thing correctly (Panek 86). This quote
shows Doyles representation of Watson, a man of lower intellect to Holmes. However, In
Elementary, Watson has no errors in this deduction and outshines Holmes. He struggled to come
to this conclusion despite countless hours spent analyzing the bulletin board. Also, Holmes is
usually the one who decides to work alone and sends Watson off to do some type of errand. In
this case, Watson flips the script by requesting Holmes away while she cleans up and by studying
the evidence that is picked up eventually solves the case. Watson became Holmes in this moment
because she figured out the solution alone with intellectual deduction. The deep focus on Holmes
in this scene not only allowed the viewers to see Holmess reactions, but also made it feel as if he

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was the representation of the target audience. This scene revises the classic Watson convention,
through her moment of observation and explanation to Holmes, instead of the other way around.
She breaks out of the shell created by Conan Doyle and develops a new definition of Watson.
In the last episode of season one, Heroine, Watson is shown to be just as dynamic as
Holmes. At first, Holmes lies to his partner and travels to a location given by Moriarty; however,
Watson is not fooled and tracks Holmes to accompany him. The two find Irene, The Woman, in
an abandoned house, where Holmes feels impelled to watch over her wellbeing. The show then
gives flashbacks of the history between her and Holmes to let the audience understand his strong
desire to be near her. Holmes puts his faith in Watson and sent her off to work with the police.
Back at the deserted household, Watson deducts a specific type of paint being used and quickly
gives the police a strong lead towards the suspect that left Irene stranded. Watson is given the
spotlight in the scene between 1:16:00 and 1:24:37 of the episode. The scene starts with a
criminal working for Irene punching Holmes in the face. When the police send him away,
Holmes and Watson get a room to themselves. The conversation between them escalates quickly
with Holmes getting furious for not being able to stop the crime.. Throughout the show, there is a
frequent point-of-view shot between Holmes and Watson to show what each of them is seeing.
Usually, Holmes is the one doing the talking so the point-of-view is predominately from
Watsons perspective. In this episode, however, Watson is making points that do not
automatically get shot down from Holmes, depicting her growth as a character. During the
exchange Holmes, a recovering addict, confesses that he almost took drugs. At this point of the
argument, the point-of-view shot on Watson at a lower angle rather than at eye level with
Holmes. A low angle shot makes the target seem more important and powerful, which was
Watson at that moment. The strong points made by Watson along with the confession by Holmes

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represents a shift in importance and shows how far Watsons character has grown. As Chapman
explains, You need to have characters worth developing. Joan simply has more time to be
fleshed out on screen, and the character is better for it (3). He describes Watson, in Elementary,
as a character worth paying attention to. There is more reason to develop her personality in the
show, which is what happened at the end of this first season. While the argument grows, Watson
keeps her calm and explains to Holmes that it is time to let Irene win. At first, Holmes does not
understand and gets ready to storm out, but goes along with the plan. At this point, the audience
is tricked into believing that Holmes overdosed on drugs. It is not until Holmes wakes up on a
hospital bed with Irene standing across the room, that the viewers learn the truth of Holmess
surrender to Irene. Watson figured that Holmes pretending to overdose would draw Irene out.
That is exactly what happened. There was use of a flashback when Holmes explained to Irene the
situation he was in. It consisted of Watson pulling Holmes back in order to make him understand
what she meant about letting Irene win. More importantly, Holmes mentioned to Irene that there
are now two people who can surprise her. These two points clarify how Watson has grown into a
detective on the same level as Holmes. She is the change in convention of Watson not being as
capable as Holmes in the science of deduction.
Along with Sherlock Holmes and Watson, Conan Doyle conceived conventions of the
detective genre. These conventions included established character development and roles. These
conventions have been changed through more modern versions of the Holmes tales. The
convention of Watson being of lower intelligence than Holmes, has been challenged through the
television show Elementary by making Watson a female and giving more her more opportunities
for character development. Chapman states, I think this is one of the reasons why Joan is so

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much more interesting than John has becomethe rest of the time needs to be filled with
character development (3). Chapman describes how the character development of Joan Watson
produces a character that is much more interesting than Doyles verison of Watson. In the two
scenes discussed, she shows the deduction skills she picked up from all the time spent with
Holmes. Watson is given the spotlight , which is in contrast to the whole idea of incompetence
when related to Holmes. In his article Its Elementary, Sherlock: How the CBS Procedural
Surpassed the BBC Drama. Handlen states, Over the course of the first season, Watson helped
bring balance and perspective into Holmess world, while he, in turn, offered her a glimpse of the
challenges and gratification of investigative work. Its an equal partnership that allows Watson
agency and standing without diminishing Holmes gifts,. Handlen describes the partnership
between Holmes and Watson is equal. In the beginning of the show, Watson was just a sober
companion for a recovering drug addict who knew a whole deal more than she did. As the season
progresses, Holmes provided an environment that helped Watson grow. It could even be said
that it made her an addict to the crime and detective work. Watson got so worked up in these
cases that she quit her job to live full time with Holmes and be a consulting detective herself.
Watsons progress was developed throughout the entire first season as it takes a while for a
character to change and develop a new personality. The two specific moments where she shines
is when Watson surprises Holmes by solving the case at the end of the Risk Management and
Heroine. In both cases, She figures out the truth about the situation from observations that
Holmes overlooked. In the last episode, Heroine, the title reflects how Watson has broken free

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of the inferior shell and has evolved into a heroine who is capable of solving cases as efficiently
as Holmes.

Works Cited:
Chapman, Brian. "10 Reasons Why Elementary is Better than Sherlock." What Culture. What
Culture, LTD., 9 Jan. 2014. Web. 11 Aug. 2014.

Handlen, Zack. "It's Elementary, Sherlock: How the CBS Procedural Surpassed the BBC
Drama," A.V. Club. The Onion, 20 Jan. 2014. Web. 11 Aug. 2014.

Panek, Leroy. An Introduction to the Detective Story. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State
University Popular Press, 1987. Print.

Risk Management. Elementary. CBS. New York, United States. 9 May, 2013. Television.
"Heroine." Elementary. CBS. New York, United States. 16 May, 2013. Television.