Elementary’s sixth season is finding new ways to dicuss its greatest theme

Elementary season six has spent a lot of time navigating a brain injury and it’s the best thing it can do to get back to its core theme. 

Ever since the character was first created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, there have been countless interpretations and re-imaginings of Sherlock Holmes and the world he inhabits. Sometimes it has been a straight reincarnation such as the Robert Downey films or BBC’s Sherlock, others it’s been something more along the lines of House, wherein the basis of the character is transplanted into other occupations.

Elementary, however, went another route altogether. It wasn’t simply enough to tell the procedural adventures of a highly observant detective. It also compounded that by throwing in something that has been a mainstay in the Sherlock Holmes mythos: his use of heroin.

With that, Elementary becomes not just the story of a brilliant man solving convoluted crimes, but, more importantly, one about the day-by-day process of recovery. At its core, Elementary is about something greater than the sum of its parts. It is quite often a sobering look at addiction and the long, arduous steps it takes to simply stay above water.

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This has been Elementary‘s greatest asset since it first premiered and, over the last six seasons, has found a great many ways to come at that, including finding a sponsor, inevitably growing bored with the process, and even relapsing.

In this sixth season, we’ve seen Sherlock get diagnosed with Post Concussion Syndrome, a type of brain injury that occurs after you’ve done enough damage to your skull. In this one graceful move, Elementary has managed to compound an already sticky situation.

It’s one thing to deal with an addiction that nags at you day in and day out, but now you also have to deal with a brain you can’t trust, which might throw hallucinations and memory loss your way, while also being put on medication that might trigger your addiction.

Next: What we know about Elementary season 6

It all works in service of the show’s main theme: Addiction is hard. It might be the hardest thing in the world and, if you’re keeping a close enough eye on it, could swallow you whole.

Elementary airs Mondays on CBS. Let us know what you think of this season in the comments below.