enough time has passed, the REAL best consultant (full, semi-detailed breakdown PJ vs Elementary Holmes)
Don't see a lot of love for my boy Sherlock (Elementary) on here, hopefully I can do him justice. Best portrayed and written, and one of the smartest detective consultants on television.
Cognitive - Sherlock Mid-High Diff
FSIQ - Sherlock
Shown more knowledge of all areas of science (including soft sciences) during investigations. Able to apply scientific knowledge to his cases, intelligence is well-shown, no asspulls unlike a certain BBC Sherlock.
WMI - Sherlock
PSI - Sherlock
Sherlock's version of the "memory palace" is both more rooted and complex than PJ's. Both have demonstrated great feats in short term memory but the reason I give WMI and PSI to Sherlock is because he has shown higher highs in regards to processing information from many different sources and retaining said information (see: "View From Olympus", "The Long Fuse")
VCI - Sherlock
Shown to pick up languages faster, able to decipher codes much more easily. Dabbles in conlangs
VSI - PJ
PJ, by virtue of being a mentalist, demonstrates more situational awareness and casing. This is not to say Sherlock's VSI isn't high, but admittedly he has been caught off guard in regards to spatial information.
FRI - CGEW (I have Sherlock by a hair)
Sherlock's line of reasoning is more sophisticated than Patrick Jane's in respects to gathering of evidence and the rhetorical work done to said evidence. However, Patrick Jane can solve most Sherlock cases, and visa versa.
Emotional - Patrick Jane High-Mid Diff
EP - PJ
EU - PJ
Despite conventional truisms, throughout Elementary Sherlock is shown to be able to read people to a T, matching PJ. However, PJ can be faster and showcases a deeper understanding of his own emotions.
EF - CGEW (I have PJ by a hair)
Both men can use emotional tells to guide them successfully to their goal. PJ has slightly higher proficiency in this.
EM - PJ
I mean Sherlock was on drugs, one of his narrative journeys in Elementary is recovering and learning to handle himself better.
Social Intelligence - PJ Extreme Diff
Social Cognition - CGEW (one of their most evenly matched categories)
Both Sherlock and PJ shows a deep understanding of social cues and how to use them to their advantage. However, both goes about using the social situation in different way.
Social Integration - PJ
Both Sherlock and PJ are shown to abrasive in their shows but PJ can dial up the charm when he wants do, Sherlock powers through it via breaking the situation.
Adversary Capacity - Sherlock Mid-High Diff
Both has shown great feats in all categories when acting as and facing against an adversary. I gave Sherlock this category by virtue of Moriarty being a much daunting rival than Red John (let me know if you want to see this scaling for this matchup). Yes, Red John killed PJ's family but Moriarty has inflicted similar emotional wounds (she didn't kill his family cuz Sherlock doesn't give a shit about his biological family), while being in much closer proximity to Sherlock and taking on more risks. Similarly, Sherlock works much closer to his antagonists in most episodes and proves to be a more difficult opponent than PJ, whose opponents are mostly fodder.
Ownership - Sherlock
Reach - Sherlock
Reach - Sherlock
Endurance - PJ
General Intelligence - Sherlock Mid-Diff
Crystalized - Sherlock
He just knows more about more disciplines.
Fluid - Sherlock
Has shown a better capacity of taking in information and processing it in different ways.
Observation - Sherlock High Diff
Visual - Sherlock
Can take in much more from more sources
Auditory - PJ
Sherlock's senses have been addled to a small degree by drugs. PJ is able to pay more attention to audio
Proxy-receptive Observation - Sherlock
SLAMS via his Irregulars (network of experts at different fields that are employed by him) as well as Watson
Foresight - Sherlock High Diff
Anticipation - Sherlock
Has shown to be more prepared for different scenarios. Rarely caught off guard. This is not to say that PJ does not shown great feats in this category as well, Sherlock just does it more often and in more complex situations.
Prediction - Sherlock
Preclusion, Obviation - CGEW (irrelevant)
By the nature of both shows, this category does not have much feats about it as they need events to happen in order to have an episode.
Manipulation - Patrick Jane Mid Diff
Direct - PJ
Indirect - PJ
The show IS called the Mentalist for a reason.
Logical - Sherlock
Consistently subdues and guides more difficult adversaries through his sheer demonstrations of intellect (see: "All in the Family")
Emotional - PJ
Methods - PJ
Deception - CGEW (I have Patrick Jane by a hair)
Misdirection - PJ
Fabrication - Sherlock
Sherlock has spun up ruses more that are more elaborate and harder to disprove than PJ in shorter amounts of time. He learned from the best (Moriarty).
Sophistry - CGEW
PJ has more charm and is able to lull his opponents. Sherlock overwhelms someone enough through his intellect that they are inclined to believe him.
Acting - PJ
Concealment - Sherlock
Sherlock has demonstrated active ways that he keeps things hidden, both in physical reality (eg. hidden notes, cameras, scattered around his house while presenting it as slovenly) and in conversation. PJ is good at concealment but Sherlock is better in more fields.
Reasoning - Sherlock Extreme Diff
Deductive - Sherlock
Logic is Sherlock's wheelhouse and he shows a better mastery of it throughout his episodes than PJ does in his.
Inductive - PJ
PJ makes extreme leaps sometimes, but most of the times his reasoning is true and it works out. Sherlock falls behind in generalization.
Deductive - Sherlock (not CGEW close, but very close)
Sherlock's own mastery of many fields comes into play here. It is much easier for him to make inferences based on inconclusive results because he has more ways to interpret said results.
Psychology - Sherlock Low-High Diff
Theory of Mind - Sherlock
Psychoanalysis - Sherlock
Profiling - CGEW (I have Sherlock by a hair)
Pysch Techniques - Sherlock
More knowledge of soft sciences, has put its principles to use more times than Patrick Jane, who sometimes can be reliant on the narrative fact "oooh I'm a mentalist I can read you". Sherlock can read people do, and he is shown to be more adept at it (see: " The Adventure of the Nutmeg Concoction", "M", The One that Got Away", "Just a Regular Irregular", "The Marchioness" among others)
Reading - PJ
Conditioning - PJ
Patrick Jane has more instances of putting these categories to use for his work. Sherlock isn't as reliant on them
Adaptability - Sherlock Mid Diff
Input - Sherlock
Output - Sherlock
Has been put in more perilous and difficult situations (physically and mentally) than PJ, Was able to navigate through them well (see: "All in the Family", "Paint it Black)
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Overall: Sherlock Holmes Extreme-High Diff
Something to note, I did not include all categories in my analysis, but rather the most important and pertinent ones to this matchup. Thank you for reading! <3
^(PS: What I mean by stuff like "Mid-High Diff" is the win on the mid end of high difficulty category. Therefore, "High-Mid Diff"" means it is on the high end of the mid difficulty category. When I use hyphenated phrases like "Mid-High Diff" it does not mean that it is middle to high difficulty.)
Agenda Corner: People need to STOP talking about BBC Sherlock. He is a narrative fraud and his feats aren't worth analyzing. The writers for the show suck, Elementary better Sherlock Holmes shows. Watson for Elementary is the BEST Watson adaptation from any media.