‘Elementary’ season 4 spoilers: Could Joan’s father surface after half-sister reveal?

So far, relationships have been a really significant theme for “Elementary” season 4. We’ve seen this all season long with Sherlock and his father Morland, and more recently with the arrival of Fiona into the mix.

Last night, the series presented another twist that further extended Joan’s only family as she learned that she had a half-sister. This reveal has her more in touch with her past than before, so could this lead to the arrival of her father onto the series? Given the backstory here for this character, there is a lot of material that the series could mine. However, at the same time you want to get this story right since you’re talking about a subject in mental illness that is delicate.

Speaking to TVLine, executive producer Rob Doherty explained that for the time being, it may be best to exercise patience on meeting her dad:

“It’s nothing we talked about for this season, but it came up. It’s such a natural progression. One of us on the staff has to have the right pitch for who he is and where he is now. It’s tricky. We’ve explained in several episodes now that he’s diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. It’s a challenging thing to write, too. Usually, we seize opportunities like that to dig a little deeper into things like the neuro-atypical nature of [Sherlock’s girlfriend] Fiona. But it’s tough. To have Joan’s biological father on the show, we need someone that she can dialogue with. The nature of his disease can make that difficult depending on where he is these days and how he’s treating himself. We just want to make sure if and when we meet dad, we’re doing it the right way.

Given that “Elementary” was renewed already for season 5, it is possible that this is something that can be explored further in the future. There’s no immediate future, but exploring this history would be a fascinating to see on-camera. Hopefully the show can present something that is not only compelling, but also real.

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