(CBS)

Following last week's dip into absurdity, the fifth episode of season two of “Elementary,” titled “Ancient History,” tackles a more standard plotline for procedural dramas with the Russian mob making its way to New York. To counteract the relative monotony of the murder investigation, this week’s episode includes numerous lighthearted moments complimented nicely by an array of humorous lines from Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller). 

The episode opens with a close shot of a motorcycle crash site that has claimed a young man’s life. This sets up the murder, but immediately the audience is taken to Watson (Lucy Liu) as she shops with her friend. Watson admits that Sherlock has grown restless with a lack of interesting murder cases so her friend offers an opportunity. She wants to find a man she met the year prior during a one night stand worthy of cinematic portrayal. Watson relents, much to Sherlock’s chagrin. 

The crash victim is Leo Banin. He collided with a minivan, killing the woman inside, but she is hardly mentioned apart from the later filings for murder. As it turns out, Leo Banin is actually Vitaly Andropov, a hitman for the Bratva in the Warsaw syndicate of the legendary Russian mob. Apart from the atrocious pronunciations of the Russian names, the episode continues in a fairly typical vein. 

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When consoling the wife—whose accent wavers from nonexistent to bizarre—Sherlock connects with her by discussing how excruciating it is to discover a loved one has a dark heart. Again, “Elementary” hints at the pain caused by Irene Adler/Moriarty, but the moment is fleeting. 

From the wife and a cocaine-using contractor, Sherlock and Watson learn Andropov had been funding a nursing home with stolen money from Russell Gertz (Mike Starr, or the hitman with an ulcer from “Dumb and Dumber”). Gertz relays the same information we already knew: the Russian mob is after Andropov. The reason: Andropov stole roughly $30 thousand from the Bratva before fleeing to the United States. 

Sherlock, Watson and Gregson (Aidan Quinn) revisit the site of the motorcycle crash and find the body of Grigori Andrev, another Bratva hitman. The autopsy reveals Andrev had been on a delicate mixture of prescription medicine, which leads to an amusing encounter at the doctor’s office. Sherlock threatens suicide since legally the threat would require the doctor’s immediate treatment. Without much fuss, the doctor reveals the name of Marko Zubkov, who is—you guessed it—another member of the Bratva. 

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Thanks to a unique tourniquet used on Zubkov’s injured leg, Sherlock determines that the wife had been in on her husband’s murder from the beginning. While hardly a shocking twist, her motive became oddly complex. She had “acted” in films of the sexual nature that her husband discovered; the religious hitman did not approve. Since he threw all of their money into the nursing home and threatened divorce, she disclosed his location to the Bratva and assisted in his murder when the first two hitmen—Andrev and Zubkov—failed miserably. 

As for the one night stand, it was Sherlock. He admitted to following Watson at the beginning stages of their collaboration and found her friend attractive. Before Watson can come clean to her friend, Sherlock seduces her yet again, completely nullifying any emotional progress made in the prior reference to Moriarty. The situation, while humorous, does reignite the question of their lives outside the investigations. Additionally, what happened with the successful date Watson had a few episodes back? 

“Ancient History” is not the cleanest of “Elementary” episodes in terms of plotline and structure, but the entertainment value of Sherlock and Watson’s interactions shines.

Read more by Michael at MHMovieReviews.com.

Contact Staff Reporter Michael Huard here.