Elementary, one of our favorite detective drama/comedies, continues tonight with an all new episode entitled “Dead Clade Walking.” On tonight’s show Sherlock finds himself in uncharted territory when his duties as a sobriety sponsor cross his personal boundaries. Did you watch last week’s episode before the hiatus? We did and we recapped it right here for you.
On last week’s episode when a body was found in a barrel, Holmes and Watson launched an investigation into the mafia’s ties to the murder. Meanwhile, Sherlock attempted to make amends with Detective Bell. Peter Gerety guested stars as Deputy Commissioner Frank Da Silva and Paul Sorvino appearred as Robert Pardillo, a suspected mafia boss.
On tonight’s episode when Joan revisits one of Sherlock’s cold cases, she discovered an unsolved murder is connected to a rare prehistoric fossil. Meanwhile, Sherlock found himself in uncharted territory when his duties as a sobriety sponsor cross his personal boundaries.
Are you looking forward to Elementary season 2 episode 14 “Dead Clade Walking.” Be sure to come back here later tonight at 10 PM EST for our live recap of this episode, which is sure to be an awesome one. In the meantime, hit up the comments below and let us know what you think has been the best part of this wonderful season!
Tonight’s episode begins now – Refresh Page for Updates
Sherlock gets a text from Randy asking to talk. He says he’s busy but will call him soon. He’s got a drill in his hand and a skull on a pike. He drills into the skill. Randy texts and says he’s thinking about getting high. He comes looking for Watson and instead finds a woman who says she’s Gay and that she’s also a lesbian. He welcomes her and then Joan comes down.
He tells her that Randy is struggling and he has to meet him. He asks what she’s doing and she’s working on the Doug Newburg cold case. He says he remembers it and the guy was a philanderer. His notes are disheveled. She shows him a black stone she found and that Gay is there to tell her about the rock because she’s a geologist. They are headed out to look at the rock and he wants to go. Joan reminds him about Randy.
Sherlock meets Randy at a diner. He wants to tell Sherlock what’s going on and he agrees to listen although he’s not thrilled. He says that he lived with a girl that he started using with and always got high with – but the girl is back and wants to live with him while she detoxes. Sherlock questions why he would let a drug addict move in with him and he says that’s why he’s stressed. Randy asks for his advice. Sherlock says that he understands the allure of a dangerous woman and that he must cut Eve out of his life. He says his sobriety is fragile and won’t withstand her influence. He asks if Sherlock cut his bad woman out and he says he had to.
Joan and Gay head to the murder house and find the rock. Gay tells her it’s marine limestone and really old. She says it’s cretaceous – 65 million years old. She says it was cut out of the ground like an archaeological specimen and was put there intentionally. They wonder if something is in it.
Sherlock meets Joan and tells her that Randy is still sober. The guy comes in that scanned the rock and shows them there’s a dinosaur in the rock. Sherlock says the dinosaur in the murdered man’s back yard totally escaped his notice…
At a museum, Jerry Thomas, a fossil curator meets with Joan and Sherlock. He takes a look at the scans surprised and asks if it’s real. He tells them it’s amazing and is a nano tyranous – like a miniature T-rex. He says it’s an infant. Joan asks where it came from and he says it’s probably from Mongolia. He wants to see the rock and Sherlock concludes it was smuggled and Thomas says it’s worth high seven figures.
Sherlock has a new collage up for the Newburg case and says he’s been back through all his notes. He says Newburg was a dullard and doesn’t seem like the black market type. He wonders if someone in Newburg’s orbit was dirty. She asks how it is working on a case he first worked on when he was using and he says he failed to give the case his best efforts and that troubles him.
Randy texts and says he couldn’t cut Eve off. Sherlock tells Joan that he’s now a confidant and if he cuts Randy off now, he could compromise his sobriety. He texts Randy that he’ll do better next time. Sherlock says the rock wall wasn’t random. Randy texts and asks to see him and Sherlock is annoyed and asks her how she made a career out of dealing with addicts. He tells her the wall is not a collage because he doesn’t do crafts.
Joan tells him they need to go for ice cream and he says it’s the dead of winter. She agrees and tells him that a guy who owns ice cream trucks who was a friend of Newburg’s has a criminal record. She says that he has permits to operate his trucks in winter when everyone else shuts down. She thinks he’s smuggling in his ice cream trucks. They go to see Gregson. Sherlock asks if anyone has claimed the baby dino and wants to take it home with him but Gregson says no. They watch the ice cream truck and see a transaction happen. Gregson tells the units to stand by and then they move in on the buyer and the ice cream seller.
He plays innocent and Gregson looks at some Cubans that have no customs stamps. In interrogation, he says he doesn’t know why they’re asking about a dinosaur and Doug. He says they grew up together and they were best friends. The guys from immigration are there and Gregson puts them off. He tells them he did take delivery of a rock but the buyer fell out. He says he asked his friend if he could leave it there and Doug said yes. He said he figured that Doug was killed for the rock but said he thought it was taken by the murderer. Doug had it in the garage and he says he didn’t know it was in his backyard.
Sherlock wants to put the rock on the black market to try and get a lead. Gregson is upset that the evidence cop handed the rock over to two guys claiming to be Feds but he never checked their ID. Sherlock tells the guy he just aided in the theft of a priceless archaeological sample and evidence in a murder trial. The guy is shamed.
[10:46:04 PM] Rachel Rowan: They watch the video footage of the fake Feds that took the rock. Gregson says customs is going to help in the investigation. Sherlock says they have a source in customs since the rock wasn’t in the news. He says they also timed it to get there before the real IC agent. He says they also have to be wired into a network of people that would buy something like that. Diego (the ice cream dude) gave them a list of people who knew about the rock back in the day.
There is also a source they may be able to use – but they only have the letter C from his notes. Sherlock says he and C have intimate correspondence and Joan clarifies that he writes dirty letters with her. Joan asks how his naughty pen pal could help and he says she’s at a high end auction house. They see a woman wearing a scarf he says was described in one of the letters and he goes to her. He asks if he looks as she imagined. She says that it’s hard to say since he’s fully clothed. He tells her she has a rare gift for erotic words. She tells him she doesn’t know much about smugglers but does know one. She says he calls himself “The Magpie” but you can’t contact him. If you have something he needs, he’ll contact you.
Sherlock is in the midst of an art project to attract the Magpie when Joan comes in. He’s got lots of pages hung up. He’s making fakes of Martin Luther’s 95 theses that he says are early drafts. He says he’s posing as someone who inherited the documents but has no clue. She reads some of what is written and it’s funny – there is tickling.
Sherlock gets a text and says he’s got a solution for the Randy problem. He found out that Eve has open warrants in Chicago and was going to have her hauled off to jail out of town. But he decided he couldn’t do it because he understands the addict’s dilemma. She says he’s being compassionate and he denies it.
Joan is making dinner and Sherlock says he’s not sure if he’s doing the right thing with Randy and Eve. He’s worried if he’s too firm with Randy his sobriety might go off the rails and it’s now a matter of pride that his mentee doesn’t go off the rails.
Sherlock goes to play with the skull and drill some more when he gets yet another Randy text. He meets him at a diner. Randy apologizes and says that Eve asked him for money. Sherlock says it has to stop. He says she’s a practicing addict and has to go now. He says there is nothing else to discuss. Randy says okay. Sherlock says he needs to cut her off.
He says he’s concerned about Randy’s sobriety. He tells him he’s going to the bathroom. Sherlock gets a call from Joan and she asks where he is. He says he’s with Randy. She tells him the dummy email for the 95 theses got one likely response. Sherlock tells her to answer back and set up a meeting. He hangs up on her while she’s still talking. The waitress tells Sherlock that Randy left.
Sherlock tells Joan it’s the last time he takes her advice about Randy and she reminds him that she gave no advice, she was just chopping vegetables. They are headed to their meeting with who they hope is the Magpie. The doors to the building are unlocked and it’s strange. Joan calls out for Mr Magpie. She finds a dead guy on the floor and texts the cops. They find chalk striations and realize the rock with the fossil in it has been smashed.
Turns out the Magpie is a guy named Turner and he was shot and struck with a blunt object. Sherlock wonders why the killer would destroy the fossil. He’s not sure why anyone who knew it’s value would destroy it. He says there is an interesting motive at work and they need to ferret it out. Joan is shocked to find Gay asleep on their sofa and he says he wore out the geologist. He says he knows why the fossil was destroyed.
He finds something called dead clade walking. It’s all about the comet destroying the dinosaurs theory. He says there is a new theory that some dinos survived the comet. This is the dead clade thing. He says it’s very controversial in the field and there is a lot of conflict. She says it sounds like an episode of Nova. The rock has certain features that would indicate that it’s the first complete skeleton that could prove the dead clade walking theory.
Joan asks if someone would murder to disprove a scientific theory and Sherlock says people would kill for less. They assemble a cast of likely suspects that are vehemently opposed to dead clade walking. They are all at the police station and Joan explains why they are there. They want DNA from all of them to compare to a sample at the crime scene. Marcus says it’s optional, but participating will clear them. One man refuses and leaves.
Sherlock thinks they now have a likely suspect. Joan says the guy has to know they are now watching him. They want to follow him and scoop up a tissue that may have DNA on it. Sherlock checks his phone and Randy hasn’t contacted him. Marcus tells them they have a match on the DNA – Andrew Donnelly – a scientists in a wheelchair. Gregson isn’t buying that he could have killed a career criminal and then bludgeoned him.
Sherlock says the guy has quite a bit to lose if the theory is validated. Marcus comes and says the DNA from Newburg’s murder doesn’t match the DNA from the Magpie. Donnelly’s lawyer is there and tells them that he has an airtight alibi. He was leading a tour while the murder happened. She has Instagram photos and statements from a host of millionaires that were on the tour. She demands his immediate release and an apology. Gregson asks Sherlock how the guy’s DNA got to the crime scene if he wasn’t there…
[10:58:21 PM] Rachel Rowan: Sherlock is working on another craft project when Joan comes in. He’s cutting up the Magpie case file and says he’s cutting it into navigable chunks. He cites a weird fish study and then tells her that the one guy who wouldn’t give his sample left a soda can and they pulled DNA but got no match. Joan says they should check the Magpie’s records and he sarcastically tells her he would have never thought about it. The problem is, he used pseudonyms for all customer names.
Joan wakes to find a book in her bed. It’s a paleontology book and a map of the Museum of Natural History with an x on a specific room. She finds Sherlock there and he’s got a cardboard sign that says “This is a fraudulent dimetrodon.” He’s trying to get “Snipes’” attention. He thinks the guy was buying black market bones to try and complete the skeleton. The guy they met – Thomas – cataloged the dig and lied about the skeleton being complete. The DNA at the scene is from Donnelly and he co-wrote a book with Thomas. He tells her that his textbook sales would plummet about dead clade walking. Thomas shows up and Joan accuses him of killing the Magpie. Sherlock says he used a tool that Donnelly had used at a dig and that’s why he inadvertently left his co-author’s DNA at the murder site. Sherlock says the warrant is on the way to search his lab and home to find the murder weapon and he’s giving him the chance to confess.
Sherlock turns off the news that announces Thomas’ arrest for the Magpie’s murder and Newburg’s. He turns off the TV and gets out his drill. Joan comes in and hands him a package that was on the porch It’s the remains of the mini T-rex even though it’s basically just a pile of dust. She asks how he feels about giving Newburg’s family some peace of mind about why their son died and who did it.
There’s a knock at the door and Sherlock finds Randy there. He tells Sherlock he got high with Eve last night. He says he woke up and kicked her out and told her it was over for good. He asks if Sherlock is still his sponsor and he takes Randy to a meeting. Guess that’s a yes.