'Elementary' boss on Mycroft Holmes episodes

The Nov. 14 episode of Elementary is going to find Sherlock in the state he least prefers: distracted.

The source of this distraction, as you might guess, is his brother, Mycroft (Rhys Ifans), who comes to town from the U.K. in the Nov. 7 episode seeking help from his brother. “[Mycroft]’s a bit of a distraction to Sherlock and the bearer of some difficult news that is even more distracting, and there’s nothing Sherlock loathes more than distractions,” says EP Rob Doherty. “The episode is about finding the balance between a case and having some unwanted family in town, which is probably something a lot of people can relate to.”

The episode, titled “Blood Is Thicker,” will also find Joan and Sherlock working a case that was partly inspired by the classic Sherlock mystery “The Problem of Thor Bridge,” in which a body falls from above and lands on a moving object, in this case, a poor delivery man’s truck. (Some exclusive photos from the episode are shown here.)

“With Sherlock, once he’s, for lack of a better word, pregnant with a case,” explains Doherty, “it’s very hard to get him to focus on anything else. So I’d say this is a story about Sherlock being forced to carve out a little time for his brother, who will not be in town very long.”

Elementary airs Thursdays on CBS.