Elementary: The Sixth Season

The producers of this modern take on the Sherlock Holmes stories, starring Jonny Lee Miller as Holmes and Lucy Liu as Joan Watson, the latter a former surgeon and sober companion who becomes his partner and is a talented detective in her own right, knew the show was possibly endangered when they embarked on this sixth season, so they developed it with the idea that it could be the final one. Both Sherlock and Joan face a death in the family that prompts them to contemplate their complicated relationships. Meanwhile, Holmes confronts a medical diagnosis that threatens his cognitive abilities and, by extension, his sobriety, and he finds support from a fellow recovering addict (Desmond Harrington) who turns out to be a serial killer engaging in a cat-and-mouse game with the detective. And Aidan Quinn's Captain Gregson faces his own crisis when his daughter—also a police officer—is traumatized when the serial killer targets her best friend. The show continues to delve into issues of addiction and treatment and explores the deepening friendship between Sherlock and Joan, and there are return visits from Sherlock's father Morland (John Noble) as Holmes struggles to resolve their troubled relationship. The season ends with a twist that serves as a fitting farewell episode, although an abbreviated seventh and final season has been announced for 2019. Compiling all 21 episodes from the 2018 sixth season, extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes and deleted scenes. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)