Elementary Exposes Watson’s Past with Anika Noni Rose

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Elementary hasn’t even had a chance to worm its way into our hearts with its modern take on the classic Sherlock Holmes character and not-so-classic Joan Watson – in the character’s original depiction in Arthur Conan Doyle’s books, Dr. Watson was a man – yet it is already planning to take us on a journey into the pasts of its characters. Because of Watson’s gender swap, her history is a tad more interesting than Holmes’ own backstory. Naturally, when you are examining how a character got from point A to point B, you’d need some sort of catalyst to trigger the flow of memories. And Dreamgirls’ Anika Noni Rose will play Watson’s catalyst.

According to TV Guide, Rose will join Lucy Liu and Johnny Lee Miller for a single episode as Dr. Carrie Fox, a former friend and colleague of Dr. Watson (Liu). She’ll serve the purpose of disagreeing with Watson’s critical diagnosis of a patient, which will naturally bring up memories of their time working together. Specifically, because of Fox, Sherlock (Miller) will learn why Watson left her surgery career behind, a part of her past I’m sure she’s not looking forward to having brought up. And I bet this Dr. Fox doesn’t even ask permission before she divulges such personal details. How inconsiderate. But if people didn’t flap their mouths when they aren’t supposed to, we’d never have any helpful exposition!

With the series not evening on the air yet – it premieres Thursday, Sept. 27 – we cannot say if this will actually be the only episode of Elementary Rose appears in. So long as she survives this initial episode, there’s no reason to not have her around again later on in the season, especially given her connection to Watson. Then again, if the show is as focused on the relationship between Holmes and Watson as other versions of the series is, there might be no room for anyone else beyond a one-off episode. That is, until Irene Adler creeps into Holmes’ life.