The fourth season of Elementary did not surprise me by managing to lift itself from a third season which was a noticeable step down from the previous two. I am not sure why it bothered me more this time, but the episodic nature of the show was more apparent – too much felt like it was of no consequence. Part of this is just the nature of 'case-of-the-week' but in this season it was also related to how many plot plots seemed unnatural and didn't really seem to serve a function other than filling time. The father, the half- sister, the relationship, the cop battling Watson, and so on – very little really had a weight to it that is needed to provide that backbone to a show like this.
The cases continue to be pretty distracting and entertaining, although there are probably too many this season where they didn't get a consistently high standard. They were all professionally done, and the cast all did their usual work, but there was not as much fleeting fun here, while also lacking that aforementioned meat. It is a shame because there are elements in here which deserved better – the introduction of Moreland, the return of Moriarty's organization, but they are used more as 'big ideas' perhaps to try to get the viewers in, rather than really making the most of either of them.
I am outside the US, but I understand the show was moved to a Sunday night slot for this season. Usually this signals a loss of confidence in the show, and I assume the fifth season will probably be the last. Hopefully they can regroup, deliver some enjoyable "case" episodes, but also produce a strong core thread which builds across the whole year and makes for a satisfying ending. The last two seasons suggest they can't, but hopefully they can find it.
