The season five finale of Elementary continued the events set in motion last episode as a gang war erupted in New York City.
At the start of the episode, Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller) sat at home with a parcel. He was testing his memory to see if he could remember what was inside. He opened it up to discover he was wrong. Watson (Lucy Liu) turned up to see if he had got her messages and he said he had.
She thought he had been distracted a lot recently and asked him if he was using drugs again. He said he wasn’t and offered her to inspect his body for needle marks as proof.
Meanwhile at an SBK street party, three gunmen turned up and opened fire with automatic weapons. They killed 6 SBK members plus 2 of their girlfriends and even 2 children. Captain Gregson (Aiden Quinn) said it looked like the shooters were from Mar Tres, a rival gang. The feeling was that the death of the SBK leader, Bonzi, had caused all out gang war.
Sherlock decided to try and meet with Halcon (Jon Huertas), the Mara Tres leader, to try and stop the war. Getting to Halcon involved visiting a priest that Sherlock knew was helping launder money for Mara Tres. He requested that the priest pass a message to Halcon that there was no need for war as SBK was to be taken down.
Watson and Gregson paid a visit to Tyus Wilcox (Stephen Rider) and showed him pictures of the shootings. He was angry at them coming to him again. Gregson wasn’t messing about and accused Tyus of running SBK and poisoning Bonzi. Gregson warned him against retaliating against Mara Tres and Tyus made a threat back.
Back home, Sherlock found the mystery woman from his meetings waiting for him. He said her visit was unexpected and she mentioned the memory boxes. She told him she loved him and wanted him to let her help him. He refused to tell Watson about her and she said it was his last chance to do the right thing or he’d never see her again.
The doorbell rang and two Mara Tres members were there to take him to Halcon. At the meet, Halcon said Sherlock had things wrong and that his gang didn’t start the war. He said the shootings were retaliation for SBK killing his sister, he had her body in a box and a DVD, he showed Sherlock both. He thanked Sherlock for the message but asked that he and the police stay out of the way. He said he wouldn’t stop until every member of SBK were dead.
Sherlock went back to the precinct to update them. He wondered if someone was trying to frame SBK for the murder of Halcon’s sister. Sherlock and Gregson went back to Tyus and offered not prosecute him if he talked. He admitted to giving help to Bonzi but said they had a rule not to mess with Halcon and Mara Tres. He said all that mattered was stopping the fighting.
Watson met with the roommate of Halcon’s sister. She told Watson she was scared of Mara Tres. Later she gave Watson info about the abduction of Halcon’s sister. She said the man who took her was dressed like a gang member but didn’t seem comfortable with a gun or have tattoos.
Sherlock returned home and Watson updated him. She requested that he attend a memorial service for Shinwell and he agreed that he would. A surprising development then happened when Tyus gave himself up to the police. He gave them details for the entire SBK gang in exchange for immunity. He also gave details of the man who killed Halcon’s sister.
Gregson thought it was a win for the department but Watson wasn’t so sure. She was convinced that Tyus was behind the murder and wanted immunity taken off the table. The DA felt what they had was enough and refused to give them more access to Tyus.
Watson went to the memorial for Shinwell and was the only one there. She was upset that Sherlock hadn’t shown up. She then received a call from Tyus who taunted her and said she was responsible for everything that had happened. She promised that she would find a way to put him in prison.
Back at the Brownstone, Sherlock tried another memory box and failed again which made him angry. Watson was watching the DVD of Halcon’s sister again. She was furious at Sherlock for missing the memorial service. Sherlock apologised and said he lost track of time. An argument broke out because she didn’t believe he forgot. he compared Shinwell to Tyus and called him an imbecile. Watson showed him the written confession from Shinwell for what he had done in the past.
Watson then met with Halcon to tell him Tyus killed his sister. She gave him details of how impossible it was to get to Tyus. She offered to help but said she needed his sister’s body. She said if Tyus got sent to prison then Halcon would have an easier time getting to him.
Sherlock read the confession from Shinwell and then received a call. It was the mystery woman again, she had called to say goodbye. Sherlock confessed to her that the text he accused her of sending (last episode) was sent by himself but he forgot. He could hear a noise in the background and she said she was close. She was in a room of the Brownstone and it was on fire. Sherlock rushed to her aid, breaking the door but the heat was too much and he was knocked back.
Back at the precinct, Watson and Detective Bell (Jon Michael Hill) had Tyus brought in again. They found blood on Halcon’s sister belonging to Tyus. As he had lied it his immunity deal was void. SBK would be dismantled and Tyus was going to prison too.
At the end of the episode, Sherlock went to the hospital and the mystery woman was with him in the waiting room. She said she was glad he was there and apologised for the previous night. She said his memory box tests weren’t enough and he wasn’t well.
Back at the Brownstone, Watson saw the broken door and mess everywhere but there was no sign of a fire.
Sherlock asked why the woman looked like his mother. It turns out she’s just a figment of his imagination. She offered to hold his hand as he was scared. He was then called in for an MRI scan of his brain. It seems Sherlock is unwell and really has been forgetting things.
Elementary will be returning for a sixth season.
