‘Elementary’: How the Show Wrapped up in Series Finale

Elementary wrapped up its seven-season run with time jumps, guilty verdicts and a final confrontation between Sherlock and Moriarty. The Johnny Lee Miller, Lucy Liu-led drama series ended Thursday with a series finale that gave the characters the happy endings they deserved.

Spoilers ahead for Elementary Series Finale: “Their Last Bow”

Picking up the action three years after Joan Watson (Liu) and Sherlock Holmes (Miller) took down Odin Reichenbach (James Frain) and Sherlock faking his death, the series showed Joan being interviewed on a morning show after a judge sentenced Reichenbach with 148 years in prison for his crimes.

As Joan discussed why Reichenbach was not charged with the murder of her partner, it was revealed she wrote a book about her adventures with the detective. At the police station, fans were delighted to find out Joan finally got the family she wanted with son Arthur. Marcus (Jon Michael Hill) was also revealed to have been promoted to captain.

When she got home, Joan was surprised to find a lawyer wanting to talk to her about Jamie Moriarty (Natalie Dormer), revealing that she had died “on the job.” The lawyer revealed she was instructed a package be delivered to Sherlock, and now Joan in the event of his “death.”

Knowing the importance of the package, she visits his grave and tears it down. The next morning she is woken up to find Sherlock in her home, willing to help with her latest predicament. Sherlock boasted about Odin’s incarceration and told Joan what he had been doing for the past three years. He revealed he used different identities to find and destroy Moriarty.

He told Joan he doesn’t believe Moriarty is dead and the whole thing was a plan to get him out of hiding and back in New York. Their conversation is interrupted when Joan is asked to go to a crime scene where authorities found the body of the lawyer.

Sherlock tells Joan to pretend she doesn’t know the victim and they reunite to catch up. He revealed he cut contact with Joan after she revealed she had adopted Arthur. It wasn’t until she released her “revenge” book that he thought he should reach out again.

The two partners teamed up with Marcus to investigate the lawyer’s murder, while also keeping an eye on any clues of what Moriarty might be up to. After looking at some clues, Sherlock came to the conclusion that Moriarty is not actually behind luring him out of hiding, but another mysterious foe.

After meeting with one of Moriarty’s employees, Joan found out Moriarty knew about Sherlock being alive for a long time but never stopped him because of their past relationship. She also found out Moriarty’s people killed the lawyer for working with the mysterious enemy. When she gave Sherlock an update, the call started to fail and Sherlock was confronted by NSA Agent Dean McNally (Tim Guinee).

McNally reveals he was the one who brought Sherlock back to New York not to kill him, but to offer him a job with the government. The conditions for the job, however, would prevent him from ever coming out of hiding again. At the station, Joan and Marcus discussed how Sherlock is doing three years later, with her saying she has no intention of revealing a secret that would stop him from doing his work.

At her house, Sherlock said he was considering accepting McNally’s offer and leaving one day later. The pair agreed to have one last dinner together before he headed back out on another mission in Europe. Sherlock also had one last heartwarming talk with Gregson (Aidan Quinn), where he called the detective out for lying to himself about having feelings for Joan. Sherlock also revealed he relapsed during his seclusion. He said the real reason he stayed away was because he didn’t want her son to see him struggle with his addiction.

After Gregson reveals a harsh truth to Sherlock, he goes to Joan and confronts her about the fact she has cancer. She reveals she is starting chemo soon and she didn’t want to burden him. He tells her not to worry because he will stay for her.

The show then jumped ahead a year to Sherlock standing in a funeral site. It was revealed that he rejected McNally’s job offer and Joan had overcame her disease. He revealed the funeral was for Jamie, though he was still convinced the woman was not dead.

The pair headed back to the station to ask for their consulting jobs back. “As long as we’re together, what does it matter?” Sherlock to Joan as the series wrapped up.

What did you think of the Elementary finale?