Tonight on CBS their crime comedy-drama Elementary premieres with an all-new season 5 episode 2 and we have your Elementary recap for you below. On tonight’s Elementary Season 5 episode 2 Shinwell (Nelsan Ellis) asks Joan (Lucy Liu) for a favor that may be out of her comfort zone.
Did you watch when a serial bomber became active again after being dormant for six years, Watson sought help from Shinwell Johnson (Nelsan Ellis)? If you missed it and want to get caught up before tonight’s premiere we have a full and detailed Elementary recap, right here.
On tonight’s Elementary season 5 episode 2 as per the CBS synopsis, “When the leader of a local street gang abducts Holmes to compel him to find the person responsible for a hit on his men, Holmes and Watson get caught in the middle of an international hunt to recover a centuries old, priceless artifact. Also, Watson debates whether a personal favor Shinwell asks of her is outside her comfort zone.”
So make sure to bookmark this spot and come back between 10PM – 11PM ET for our Elementary recap. While you wait for our recap make sure to check out all our Elementary recap, spoilers, news & more, right here.
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#Elementary starts with Joan with Shinwell looking at a place for him so he can leave the halfway house. It’s a dump but better than the house. Sherlock has been kidnapped and delivered to Halcon, a crime lord, head of the Meritrase gang.
Sherlock asks what he wants since he hasn’t killed him yet. They show him a lineup of dead bodies. Halcon says three of them are his and this was the place of business of Ray, one of the dead guys. He says Ray brought him things for his business.
He tells Sherlock someone will die for this and he will find who did this for them. Halcon says he wants to hire him, not kill him. Sherlock tells them Ray was the primary target and that he was tortured so he would give away the location of this and pushes back a cart.
Crime on crime case
He says it’s a smugglers cache and reveals a hidden area and says it looks like crystal meth was stashed there. He says there were five or more attackers with a military background likely sent by another smuggler. Sherlock says he doesn’t want to solve their case.
Halcon threatens him and Joan. Sherlock says you have to let me go so I can investigate and need to offer me a carrot. He refuses money and says he wants a name and tells him he wants the name of someone selling some bad heroin.
Sherlock says the heroin killed a friend of his. Sherlock goes and tells Joan about the case. He says the warehouse was burned down after he left. Sherlock tells her how dangerous Halcon is and that he plans to kill whomever Sherlock tells him about.
Smuggler scrutiny
They watch helicopter footage of the docks and Joan updates him on Shinwell and the apartment. Sherlock tells her that Shinwell’s reduced circumstances are hard on him and why. Sherlock shows her a footprint he found last night.
The boot was North Korean and Sherlock says they’re into smuggling now. Sherlock and Joan find a ship of interest. They bring in a ship captain and ask him about Ray’s murder. He says he shot him but did it alone and says all of his crimes were done alone.
Joan asks what kind of gun he used. He doesn’t have the right information to tie him to the crime. The man insists he’s the only one and says that his family will be hurt if he tells on his employers. He says Ray didn’t like competition and told him to stay away.
Meth and death
The captain says Ray raided his ship and took his meth. He says they also took items from his safe. He says it was a locked metal box that a man back in North Korea gave him. He says he didn’t know what was in it. He says he had to get it back.
He says it took a week to find it. He says Ray was dead when he got there but the box was gone so they stole back the meth. The team talks and wonders what was in the box. Sherlock says the Captain’s phone has photos of Ray’s various buildings.
Sherlock spots a house in Long Island. They think it’s Ray’s mistress. Joan goes to meet Shinwell and Sherlock and Marcus head to Long Island. Shinwell signs his papers and asks if Joan does this for others. He asks her for a favor and tells her about his daughter.
Another case to work
He says Shavonne’s mom left him off the birth certificate then the mom CeCe died. He says she had an overdose. He says he’d like to find his daughter and says his ex is from Trinidad. Shinwell says he thought maybe she’d have an idea.
Asian men come to the door and call Joan by her Chinese name. Shinwell lets them know he’s there so they don’t try anything funny. Joan asks what he wants. The man says they heard Sherlock was looking for something in a metal box. They want it too.
Joan asks what it is and why he wants it. The man says no but leaves her a phone number and a number they will pay if they get it back. They leave. They offered $50 million for it. In Long Island, a guy answers the door and that surprises them.
Chinese artifact worth several cities
Ray’s lover is a guy not a woman. They ask him about the metal box. He says Ray told him that it was worth a fortune and he was going to auction it off for a ton so they could move away together. He says it was a green rock with snakes carved on it.
Sherlock asks some questions about the object. Sherlock looks at the desk where the guy says Ray kept it. Sherlock sprinkles sand on the desk. He blows it and finds an imprint. There are Chinese symbols and Sherlock says it was the most valuable missing object in history – the imperial jade seal of China.
Sherlock and Joan discuss the seal and she says it’s been missing for a thousand years. She says the men were Taiwanese. Sherlock says it’s supposed to grant you the divine right to rule China. Sherlock says that Halcon has no idea this is why Ray died.
The search for the seal
Joan wonders how the Taiwan men knew about the seal. Looks like on the bidders knew that Ray had the seal. Sherlock says Ray’s lover told them that Ray met with some of the bidders. Sherlock makes a call to a catering company and shows her Ray’s credit card transactions.
Sherlock thinks Ray was ordering fancy snacks for his bidders. Joan and Sherlock get the address and head to a vacant building that Ray used that has a private garage. They poke around. Halcon calls Sherlock for an update and he ignores the call for now.
Sherlock spots a clue that a very heavy vehicle was driven in there – something heavy like a tank. Sherlock thinks it’s a custom built armored car. They stand looking at one and he thinks it was Wayne Vax, a tycoon, that Sherlock knows is obsessed with Asian art.
Ambush Vax
Sherlock says Vax’s secretary told him he was out of the country so they’re lurking. Joan tells him about Shavonne, Shinwell’s daughter, and she’s poking around. Sherlock asks if this is a good idea and says maybe it’s not good for the kid.
Sherlock approaches Vax and a guard tells him to get away and threatens him. A woman with him hands them a restraining order to stay away from Vax and his properties. Joan and Sherlock go home and they spot that the restraining orders were drawn up two years ago.
Sherlock says this suggests they’re on the right track. A woman named Wendy shows up at the door – she’s the daughter of China’s Minister of Commerce. She says her dad told her that the Chinese have more money than the Taiwanese. China is bidding too. She leaves.
Meeting the drug lord
Sherlock says that’s another country and Joan says that’s a one-billion-dollar offer. Halcon calls again and Joan says answer the phone so he doesn’t show up on our doorstep. Sherlock takes the call and goes to meet him. Sherlock tells him he has a suspect and a motive.
Halcon says he has an update for him and tells him to come with him. They go to a nearby dumpster and open it and inside Sherlock sees a body. Halcon says it’s a guy named Jimmy who has been slinging the bad heroin. Sherlock says he wanted a name not a body.
Halcon says they did their end of the bargain and says that wasn’t personal. He tells Sherlock he has two days to deliver and walks off. Joan is cooking when Sherlock comes in and says he found the heroin at the home of the dead body of Coslo. He says he found the tainted heroin.
Bullhorn and bullies
Joan says they can connect the murder to Halcon but the organized crime unit is already on it. Joan asks if they are going to wind up in a dumpster too. Sherlock says they will be fine. Joan says she got the info he asked for and they look it over.
Sherlock goes outside of Vax’s office with a bullhorn and starts listing off people’s name he says that Vax killed. He’s outside the zone of the restraining order and tells the woman to go away. She says that’s slander and false accusation.
He says it’s people that Vax plead guilty to so the deaths are legally his fault. The woman says it’s old news. Sherlock says he’s about to name his co-conspirators he got from the hacker collective Everyone. He shows her a list of names and says he wants a meeting or he won’t stop.
Chat with Vax
Vax says the list he’s releasing could damage others but not him. Sherlock says he doesn’t believe it but Vax says he cut ties with his PACs. He says he wants to help Sherlock find the imperial jade seal. He says he’s the legal owner since he won Ray’s auction.
He says the seal has been in the US for over a century so there are letters of provenance. Sherlock says the seal was smuggled in just over a week ago. Vax says they were about to meet to deliver the seal and Vax says look for the losing bidders.
Joan meets with Shavonne’s guardian and says she’s a friend of Shinwell’s. Joan says Shinwell is out of jail and wants to know if his daughter is okay. Her aunt says she’s amazing and she knew that Shinwell would come for her and she won’t let his lifestyle into her life.
An inside source
The woman says don’t tell Shinwell where Shavonne is. She says men like him only care about themselves and that’s why they steal, kill and do drugs. The woman says he hasn’t changed and asks her to go. C is at Sherlock’s house and says the letters of provenance are forgeries.
The woman says some of the people on this list would buy stolen property but are not assassins. She says there are gaps on the list including certain museums. C mentions the Densham Institute and says last year, one of the brothers is looking for signature works.
She says David Densham was in Asia and wouldn’t tell her where he was – he was completely off the digital map at the time which means North Korea. They think Ray was killed by Densham who was the one smuggling the artifact that he already paid for.
Death by seal
Densham is a bad dude by all accounts. Turns out Densham is dead and was bludgeoned. Sherlock is surprised the murderer left the murder weapon – it’s the seal everyone is looking for. They head to the cop shop and find the seal there.
Sherlock and Joan make imprints using the jade seal. They are sending the prints they’re making to experts to try and confirm that this is the original. They think Densham killed Ray and then Halcon killed Densham. Sherlock says no way and Marcus agrees.
They think that the kill was too clean and too fast. Looks like Ray and Densham were killed by the same guy. They discuss where the seal would go if the cops got it. It would end up back in China. They wonder who wanted the Chinese to get it.
Vax in the poorhouse
Joan says there is a story about a hero sending it home for a reward and they wonder who would want a reward. It’s the college student Wendy. Sherlock says her father will confirm his suspicions. Sherlock goes to see Vax and shows him photos of body parts.
Sherlock says he knows that Vax is nearly bankrupt. Sherlock says he knows about the contract in Western China he wants. Sherlock says his head of security is tall and left-handed and likely bludgeoned Densham then left for Morocco where he can’t be extradited.
Sherlock says Vax won the auction but didn’t have the money to pay for it. Sherlock lays out how he did the crime since the government will give it back to China and Vax will still get his reward. Sherlock tells him those limbs are from a Maritrase murder and they loved Ray.
A deal for a confession
Sherlock says all he has to do it tell the gang that he’s responsible. Sherlock tells him to confess and he might be able to convince the gang to let it go. Joan meets Shinwell who is at his daughter’s soccer game watching from a distance. He says he asked others fort help too.
He says he’s not going to talk to her. He says he wants to but it’s not the time. He says he has to earn her being in his life. Sherlock says Vax confessed to ordering the murderers. He says Halcon agreed to leave them be. Sherlock hangs up a print on the wall from the jade seal.
THE END!