Lucy Liu created a layered study in empathy on Elementary that suggests second acts are possible in life

Vulture

"I prefer to remember Joan as she was before the seventh season squandered her," says Angelica Jade Bastién of Liu's Joan Watson. "I’ll remember the empathetic way she interviewed those mired in grief as a detective, how she carefully navigated the emotional strife of her familial dilemmas, and the gentle chemistry she shared with Sherlock, which demonstrated how a deep friendship can stir us as human beings. I’ll remember watching Elementary with my mother, feeling inspired by how Joan faced her future with a gimlet-eyed exuberance that made me believe that second chances in life are possible. I’ll remember all the times Joan chose empathy over being jaded, in a world where that choice remains preciously rare."