- With Watson kidnapped, the Holmes brothers are extorted to buy her back by acquiring something the gangsters greatly value. As the clock runs down on Watson's life, Sherlock is forced to work with his despised brother Mycroft.
- "Elementary" - "Paint it Black" - May 1, 2014
Mycroft gets a call from Joan's phone but it is not Joan, but her kidnapper. He says there's something Mycroft needs to do.
We cut to Sherlock leaving Joan what he says is a fifth message in as many hours. He is very concerned about her. Mycroft shows up and tells him what's happening and Sherlock freaks way out, which does show just how much he cares for Joan.
Joan wakes up in a strange place, zip-tie handcuffed and two men chatting in the corner. One comes in and accuses her of being a cop. She says she's a consultant. He says it's not much of a distinction. He shows her the police drawing he found. She says she wasn't investigating him she just wanted to let Mycroft know that Guillaume de Soto, a known criminal, was in his restaurant. The kidnapper says de Soto has already been in touch with the Holmes brothers and they will help de Soto with a problem.
Meanwhile, at the brownstone Mycroft explains to a very angry Sherlock that he he got mixed up with these guys because he needed money and it was their idea to open a Diogenes in New York so they could have an HQ in the U.S. Sherlock says he should've asked their father. Mycroft says Sherlock never would've done that. Mycroft says the requests began small and got larger. Sherlock says he wishes the leukemia had killed Mycroft. Mycroft says sometimes he wishes the same thing. Sherlock asks what they need to do.
They have to go after an executive named Pierce from a private Swiss bank who recently downloaded the names and information of 1000s of the bank's wealthiest customers which is bad for just about everybody. They have to find him before he can sell the list. The idea to save Joan through these means came through Mycroft himself. They have 48 hours or Joan dies. Sherlock freaks out again. Mycroft says he knows Joan is the person who Sherlock loves most and even though he is not Joan, he knows Sherlock and can keep him on track and he won't let him fail in this mission. Sherlock says when this is done, Mycroft will extricate himself from Sherlock and Watson's lives forever.
Sherlock and Mycroft go to the bank using their father's good name and put their cards on the table saying they need to find Pierce which is in the bank's interest. He says he will deliver Pierce and his list to them and none of the other interested parties. If they turn him away he will let the president's manic depression be known to the world. They agree to help him in the pursuit.
They examine Pierce's office and ask for his computer, which is apparently in storage. He looks inside a plant in the office and finds a handheld video game device which he hurls against the wall.
At the kidnapper's lair a bad guy comes in with an injury, Watson offers to help. She says they need to operate.
Leaving the office Sherlock and Mycroft are stopped by the NSA, who were watching the Swiss bank. They are taken for questioning. They tell them that they think the Swiss bank has ties to terrorists, it's not just about the list. The agent asks who hired them. Sherlock says they are working with a friendly government and told them they'd give them the list as well as the U.S. and at the moment they've discovered nothing. The agent says he's going to try Diogenes tonight because he's heard it has great food and good clientele. Sherlock destroys their phones and Mycroft's watch so the NSA can't track them because if they find Pierce first they won't have anything to trade for Joan.
Back at the brownstone, Sherlock studies the video game he found in Pierce's plant. Pierce didn't play the game, he was using it to communicate with someone. They think perhaps an accomplice. He reaches out as Pierce on the game and waits for a response. Mycroft formally apologizes for putting Joan in this situation and if anything happens to her he'll feel terrible. Sherlock says if anything happens Mycroft will be dead by his hand.
Mycroft gets a call on the disposable phone from and he says things have gotten complicated. The British person on the other end says all of this could've been avoided if Mycroft had removed Sherlock from New York a few months as the man instructed. He says as long as he winds up with Pierce and his list, Mycroft may still get out of this and hangs up.
Sherlock and Mycroft goes to see the video game contact. He's not Pierce's conspirator but his boyfriend Darren-- even though he's married to a woman. The guy says to ask their questions fast since his wife is on her way home. He says he's been seeing Pierce for about a year and they met on a phone app. They look at Pierce's profile and figure out where he's hiding.
Back with the kidnappers' Joan has finished the surgery on the kidnappers' cousin-- using boxcutters and Vodka-- and says if he cares about that guy he needs to go to a hospital. He says she insisted on helping, he didn't ask. He wants her to remember that since no matter what, if they don't get what they want he's still going to kill her.
At the hiding place, a summer house on the Hudson, they break in. No one appears to be home. Sherlock is annoyed that Mycroft almost willfully isn't making simple deductions while observing the house that Sherlock reads as if they were words on a page. The clues lead them outside to a shallow grave. Pierce is dead. Mycroft is bereft, since they were supposed to trade Pierce for Joan.
They dig him up and bring him back to the house and Sherlock determines he was killed by someone he knew and let in the house, someone who was a highly trained attacker. He finds a rare bug on the corpse and determines that Pierce has been dead at least 8 days but the bank data breach happened six days earlier so it wasn't Pierce who did it. He wasn't a criminal, but a victim. They killed him and then used his computer to frame him.
Back at the brownstone they meet with the security guy from the Swiss bank, Yoder. They get a list of people who may have accessed his computer and then taser him. When he awakes, he is bound and Sherlock tells him they know he killed Pierce and is the one selling the list. Yoder denies it. Sherlock says it doesn't matter since for his purposes Yoder did it and he will happily trade his life for Joan's and threatens to torture him until he tells him where the stolen list is. He lays out a bunch of weapons and torture devices: hooks, wires, pliers. The man fidgets as Sherlock sets about is work. The man cracks says it's on a hard drive on a compartment in his car.
At the kidnappers' lair the injured man is babbling. Joan says he's in shock and needs a hospital and she is kind to the injured man. The kidnapper says her time is almost up and she doesn't seem concerned. She says her friends will come through. The kidnapper says Mycroft isn't worthy of her friendship and they didn't force him into business with them but that he needed money and proposed opening the New York restaurant not them. He says Joan should know the truth.
Sherlock and Mycroft look at the list, it is remarkable. Sherlock goes to call the NSA. Mycroft is confused. Sherlock says that he's an idiot and once they give de Soto the list they'll murder Joan as well as them and they need back up. Mycroft thinks this is a bad idea. Sherlock says since it was Mycroft's poor judgment that got them into this, they're going to do it Sherlock's way. Sherlock starts to call the NSA and Mycroft tasers him. He calls his contact and says he's on the way with the list and Yoder.
The injured criminal's condition continues to worsen. Joan says he's bleeding internally and if he wants his cousin to live he has to go to a hospital. The kidnapper shoots his cousin dead. Joan is aghast. The kidnapper gets a call from de Soto. He tells Joan the exchange is on.
Sherlock goes to the NSA agent and appeals to his sense of decency to help save Joan and also thinks Mycroft may have double-crossed them all. The agent says he can only tell his people to keep their eyes peeled. Sherlock says he'll go to the NYPD instead.
At the meeting spot, Mycroft shows up with Yoder and the list and gives them both to de Soto. He thanks de Soto for "this opportunity" and says Watson poses no threat. De Soto tells his henchmen to kill them. Mycroft says he's been a good partner and done everything he's been asked to do and begs him not to kill her. De Soto says all good things must come to an end and drives off as the henchmen point their guns at Joan and Mycroft. He asks for a few last words and is granted them and says "Paint it Black." As he says this shots ring out and all of the henchmen are picked off by snipers. Several SUVs roar up with a SWAT-like team in them of British-accented operatives. One of them says to Mycroft: "You all square, sir?" Mycroft nods. He goes to Joan and takes her by the arms and says "Obviously, there's a great deal I need to tell you."
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