Being Geek Chic is a blog about one woman navigating the male-dominated industries of production and tech. It's written by Elizabeth Giorgi, Founder, CEO and Director of Mighteor - one of the world's first internet video production companies. Learn more about Mighteor here.
Elementary is back. This is great for lots of reasons, but here are my key reasons: Lucy Liu is a goddess. Jonny Lee Miller is like the future husband I imagine for myself. The secondary female characters on the show are always surprisingly well thought out. And the show has a history of handling addiction with delicacy and thoughtfulness.
But as we move into the fourth season of the show, I can’t help but long for some new characters. After such a successful third season, which largely hinged on the introduction of Kitty Winter, it only makes sense that more amazing women enter the show as secondary characters.
And why not? Sherlock’s dad has had a prominent role in the first few episodes, but I’m itching for a little more diversity in the ranks. As such, I’ve done a little literary history thinking and I believe I’ve pulled some inspiration from Doyle’s original stories that are worth considering.
Characters Elementary Should Consider Bringing to the Show:
- Mrs. Neville St. Clair: Don’t mistake this woman as just some dude’s wife. She is the instigator of basically all the madness in The Man With the Twisted Lip. You can read more about her origins here.
- Beryl Stapleton: The Hound of the Baskervilles is one of the most adapted stories from the Holmes Canon, which is why Beryl is one of the most common characters we see in screen adaptations. She’s played differently nearly every time, sometimes helping Holmes, sometimes deliberately getting in the way. Either way, she’s got plenty of potential. You can read more about her here.
- Sergeant Sally Donovan: Fans of BBC’s Sherlock will recognize this name. It’s the Scotland Yard cop who often distrusts everything Sherlock has to say, in large part because of how he handles himself, not necessarily because of his lack of insight. On Elementary, we rarely see cops challenging Holmes. It might be a nice time to bring a new character like Sally to the plot. You can read more about her here.
- Baker Street Irregulars: In Elementary, they regularly use Irregulars to solve cases, but surprisingly not often in their most common form: as street children. In the original stories, these homeless kids often served as Holmes’s eyes and ears in dark alleys, so why not bring a few female youths to the show? You can read more about the literary history of the Irregular Girls here.
For those that aren’t aware, I’ve been reviewing Elementary for years for the Baker Street Babes, a fantastic organization for all the ladies of the Holmesian fandom. You can read those reviews here. I’m not reviewing Season 4 because there are just not enough hours in the day, so if you’re looking to get into TV reviewing and want to write reviews, let us know!
Kitty Winter is one of those characters from so deep within the Sherlock Holmes canon that even the most dedicated Baker Street Irregular may not recognize the name. She’s rarely seen in adaptations. She is only found in one of the original stories. And she’s a mistress, so as you can imagine, the number of stories she would be useful in are rather slim.
And yet, Kitty Winter is making a come back of sorts with her appearance in Season 3 of Elementary.
A little background first. Kitty Winter first appears in The Adventure of the Illustrious Client. The story involves a case where Sherlock is hired to find evidence that a local Baron is a murderer and a cheat after a General’s daughter has fallen hopelessly in love with him. Normally, this may not be a case Sherlock would entertain, however, the Baron had just recently been acquitted of murder of his previous wife in a rather nefarious legal battle and so Holmes and Watson begin their quest to discredit the man. And this is where Kitty Winter makes her appearance.
Kitty is the Baron’s most recent mistress and she is hell bent on exacting her revenge on the Baron. She tips Holmes and Watson off about a small book that the Baron keeps to track his various female conquests. When the knowledge of the book doesn’t dissuade the hopeless General’s daughter, Kitty attempts to team up with Holmes and Watson again to steal it from the Baron’s home. They are indeed successful in the quest, but not without Kitty facing charges for throwing acid at the Baron in her final moments of rage.
She’s a short-lived character, but she’s full of fire in the original story. The Kitty Winter we have met through CBS has been less vivacious, but much of the ethos is there. It’s so rare to see a deeply hidden character from canon on screen, that it seemed worth investigating why she’s been a great resurrection in the first place.
Read more about Kitty Winter over on the Baker Street Babes.
Elementary Season 3 is nearly halfway done and I’m ashamed to report that I haven’t kept you in the loop. We’ve been reviewing the show week after week over on the Baker Street Babes and this season has been a lot of fun. Let’s talk about some of the reasons why:
1. Joan Watson is living on her own. She’s got a fantastic apartment, but that’s not the real issue. It’s changing her relationship with Holmes and caused a new, fantastic character to enter the brownstone.
2. Kitty Winter is Holmes’ new protege and she is all kinds of kick ass.
3. Holmes is facing some new levels of fear, frustration and well, boredom, with his quest to stay sober. It’s creating more opportunity for Jonny Lee Miller to be truly brilliant.
Catch up on the reviews here.
So the ladies of the Baker Street Babes (of which I’m a member) are doing something rather novel this summer. They’re partaking in a thorough review of all the ladies of Sherlock Holmes. This means diving into the back story, canon reveals and adaptations of the characters, from as far back as 1895 to today.
While many people have come to know and appreciate the world of Holmes for all the male characters, it’s really many of the supporting females that give the stories and their television and film adaptations their humor, levity and heart.
So I compel you… If you want to get to know Molly Hooper, Mary Morstan, Violet Smith, Irene Adler, Mrs. Hudson and Lady Mary Brackenstall a little better, then the Baker Street Babes’ Femme Friday is required reading.
And if you think Lady Mary Brackenstall is an obscure character, well, my friends… We’ve still got quite a few more women to profile, so just you wait. New profiles come out on Fridays (that should be obvious, but you know) at bakerstreetbabes.com
This here blog is successful (by my standards…) in large part because of the amazing Tumblr following I have. Plus, it’s how I connected with the amazing Baker Street Babes and went on to become one of them.
So, why not go to DashCon, right? The Tumblr Con for Tumblr lovers!
Myself and a few other members of the Baker Street Babes will be at this year’s DashCon recording a live podcast. We’re on from 4-6 on Friday, July 11th. We’d love to see you there!
