I continue my binge of Elementary as Series 2 adds Rhys Ifans as Mycroft into the mix
“So, your client’s statement is that she couldn’t have killed her husband because she was too busy *planning* to kill her husband?”
Here’s my 10 favourite performances in Season 2 of Elementary.
- She rightfully belongs on the Series 1 list but I couldn’t really talk about Natalie Dormer’s performance without potentially spoiling it for someone who hasn’t seen the show yet (like me!). As the presumed dead Irene Adler, she’s an arresting arrival; as the uncloaked Jamie Moriary, she’s fricking fantastic
- As series opener ‘Step Nine’ takes us to London, there’s a whole load of recognisable faces. Chief among these is Rhys Ifans who takes on the recurring role of Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock’s brother with whom things are fractious
- Sean Pertwee takes on another of the iconic roles of the Conan Doyle canon, albeit completely reimagined a la Ms Hudson, with a sozzled take on Sherlock’s former police colleague Gareth Lestrade
- Tim McMullan cameos briefly but entertainingly as a bumptious DCI Hopkins
- And I fancy Rufus Wright so his Lawrence Pendry also gets a mention
- Episode 2 ‘Solve for X’ stars the lovely Jeremy Jordan as Joey Castoro, a man with complicated ties to Watson’s past – it’s a shame he doesn’t get to appear again as it’s an interesting connection
- ‘Poison Pen’, the fourth episode, continues a very strong start to this series, with Laura Benanti’s work as Anne Barker – a nanny involved in one case but whose past Sherlock suspects links her to another
- In the same episode, achingly good star of The Inheritance Samuel H. Levine also appears as Graham Delancey, one of the boys under Anne’s care
- As a sceptical prosecutor, Elizabeth Marvel is deliciously dry in tenth episode ‘Tremors’ as Cassandra Walker, asking so many of the questions that defy logic about how Holmes and Watson work with the police in this show
- Building into the season finale, Jim Norton’s shadowy Sir James Walter is a crucial part of the conspiracy in Episode 23 ‘Art in the Blood’, revealing secrets about both Holmes and his brother
