Deadline reports that Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Charlie's Angels actress Lucy Liu has been cast as Dr. Joan Watson, a female version of Dr. John Watson who serves as Holmes' crime-solving partner. Liu's Watson will be a former surgeon who lost her license after a patient died, while consulting for the New York Police Department.
In addition, more information was revealed about star Jonny Lee Miller's version of Sherlock Holmes. This Holmes will be "an eccentric Brit" who was a former consultant to Scotland Yard until his addiction problems led him to a rehab center in New York City. Now just out of rehab (for heroin addiction, presumably), this Holmes lives in Brooklyn with Watson as his "sober companion."
Since Elementary's announcement back in September, the pilot has received considerable criticism as a blatant ripoff of the BBC's modern-day Holmes series Sherlock, most notably from co-creator Steven Moffat. Liu's casting as a female Watson, combined with the take of Holmes being out of rehab and the New York setting, appears to alleviate some of those concerns.