(CBS)

After five episodes with minimal involvement, Captain Gregson (Aidan Quinn) gets an entire episode devoted to his personal life. The nod to Gregson’s character seems only fair after Detective Bell (Jon Michael Hill) received his personal episode in season one of “Elementary.” While that episode had few implications outside its one-hour boundary, “An Unnatural Arrangement” may have recurring themes and elements as the season progresses, especially for Gregson and Sherlock’s relationship. 

Upon returning home, Gregson’s wife (Talia Balsam) encounters a masked invader demanding her husband’s whereabouts. She evades the man, fires a few rounds through her locked door and calls the police as the man flees leaving a small trail of blood. As would be expected from a police officer’s wife, she provides an intricate, structured account of the story to Bell, Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller) and Watson (Lucy Liu).

Bell takes the lead on the investigation due to Gregson’s involvement and begins the hunt. Sherlock and Watson devote their time to this case, despite Watson’s agreement to consult with a new detective with a small case on her own. When the investigation commences, the truth comes out that Gregson and his wife separated almost a month prior. As a result, his vulnerabilities appear in small doses throughout the remainder of the episode, giving Quinn a rare chance to delve into his character’s personality. 

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The team initially zeroes in on a stalker that vigorously followed Gregson’s career. Sherlock, Bell and Watson find the man injured in his apartment from a self-inflicted gunshot to mimic the home invasion and confess for the crime. Naturally, his insanity is dismissed and they move on, but a gross oversight occurs as Sherlock and Watson—and Bell for that matter—ignore the fact that a random citizen acquired details about the crime, such as the gun calibers. 

In any event, the home invasion turns into a murder investigation. Sam Clennon, a soldier between tours to Afghanistan, is gunned down in his home. A quick search into his time abroad finds that his lieutenant was Gregson’s neighbor, thus illuminating a mysterious connection. The killer mistakenly invaded Gregson’s home the first time before returning later to kill the lieutenant. 

Sherlock and company interview a disgruntled member of Clennon’s team, Jacob Esparza, who had an altercation with him and the lieutenant. Esparza reveals that his fight with Clennon began when he confronted the soldier about an affair he was having with a married woman, an archaeologist who had been overseeing a dig in Afghanistan at the time. 

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Moving further down the rabbit hole, Sherlock and Watson remove the possibility that her husband had taken his revenge, before discovering that an artifact had been taken from the dig. By now it becomes clear the archaeologist had collaborated with Clennon and his lieutenant to steal a valuable artifact. Once back in the States, she had them killed by her husband in order to ensure the money from the artifact went solely to her. 

Sadly, the investigation became so convoluted the real meat of the episode fell to the side. Sherlock solves the case Watson took on her own, preventing her from gaining some valuable practice without his assistance. He offers a repentant gift in the form of a chest full of cold cases that even the great Sherlock Holmes was unable to solve. His acceptance of worthwhile partnerships is cemented later when he consoles Gregson, who had become worried his wife would leave him. Sherlock is beginning to expand his circle of friendships beyond Watson. He shows more respect to Gregson than ever before and rarely uses condescension with Bell. Maybe next week he can continue building a relationship with Mycroft!

Read more by Michael at MHMovieReviews.com.

Contact Staff Reporter Michael Huard here.