One of the key points about the British Sherlock is that he is a genius. He just needs to look at an object and many, many thoughts about it spring to mind. We even see it on screen. This seemed like a great idea when I saw it in Sherlock, but it isn't something that Elementary does at all. The problem with this idea is that it effectively makes the character into a superhero that would be at ease in a Marvel film. That doesn't detract from the series, but it does mark it as different. I also really enjoyed it when a drunk Sherlock couldn't get anything better than "thingy" as a label on an object. The point I'm making is that in Elementary, Holmes doesn't have this ability. It's more of a traditional thing, where he walks around and points at specific things on screen and they're all items that we can see. This gives it an appearance that he's actually working for a living, rather than simply walking into a room, taking one look and immediately finding what he's looking for. But Sherlock Holmes shouldn't have super powers. He should be extremely clever, but as with any hero you want to be able to relate to him. I can't relate to a Sherlock Holmes who seems to have an innate ability, but I can relate to one who visibly puts in hard work to the extent that learning as much as possible is his new addiction. It makes the Miller version of Sherlock Holmes a character we can all relate to, whereas Cumberbatch's Sherlock is far similar in mannerisms to Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory.
