BBC’s ‘Sherlock’: Season Two Stunning Opener
by Evan PokroyAs is apparent from perusing Big Hollywood for any given amount of time that the current crop of Prime Time Television shows leave quite a bit to be desired. There is also nothing new under the sun, plots are rehashed, and even series’ are being recycled. Occasionally, though, an old dog can be taught new tricks. So it is with the BBC’s Sherlock.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous creation has been a regular in all known forms of media. From the Strand magazine where Holmes got his start, through radio and television and on to the big screen, the great detective has spanned the generations. He is considered the most played character in all of media, with at least 75 different actors taking on the role.
While American audiences have most recently been treated to Robert Downey Jr.’s performance on the big screen, the real gem of modern mystery is the BBC’s mini-series Sherlock. Now entering its second season, it is a luscious masterpiece.
The most fantastic part of the series is that it isn’t new. Each episode works with an existing Holmes story but takes it to another level. Each episode is more of a movie, running for ninety minutes, allowing the plot to build and the characters to gain more depth.
The first season had episodes based loosely on “A Study in Scarlet” and “The Five Dancing Men.” The sophomore outing begins with “A Scandal in Belgravia,”obviously a new take on “A Scandal in Bohemia.”
The brilliance of the series is on full display once more as it delves into the relationship between Watson and Holmes, Holmes and Irene Adler, Holmes and his brother Mycroft, as well as Watson’s own failed romantic interests. The intrigue and tension is palpable throughout, while managing to break it with surprisingly humorous interludes along the way. Even the cutesy little special effects used to show Holmes’s thought process add a layer to the proceedings, where similar tricks in other shows tend to come across as heavy-handed and rather stupid.
The plot, like the original story, is based around a royal personage who has been compromised by a romantic liaison with the inimitable Miss Adler. While the story diverges wildly from there, hardcore fans of Holmes will catch a myriad of small details that harken back to the original. As a quick example, when trying to get in to visit Adler, Holmes disguises himself as an injured priest. This is not unlike the scene from the book where he, also dressed as a clergyman, inserts himself into a staged altercation and is struck, prompting Miss Adler to invite him into her house.
One of the most fascinating bits of this reboot is how it has been adapted for the 21st century. Watson, instead of writing up the escapades for publication, keeps a blog of his friend’s adventures. The photograph from “The Scandal” has become a smart phone filled with digital pictures and other incriminating information.
The whole episode is perfectly paced, each scene building to a spectacular crescendo. One is left feeling that it cannot improve on the previous 20 minutes and left reeling as it goes and does so, from start to finish. Benedict Cumberbatch portrays Holmes to a tee–brilliant, acerbic and dealing with Asperger’s, while Martin Freeman’s Dr. Watson, veteran of Afghanistan, is the perfect foil–earnest, slightly nebbish, and loyal to a fault. Lara Pulver (Claudine Crane from “True Blood”) does a wonderful job as Irene Adler, at once unflappable and calculating while exuding a calm sensuality, hitting the right notes of unstoppable confidence and shocked fear with the slightest change of facial expression.
This might be the best bit of television I’ve seen in a decade. I eagerly await the next two installments of the year. The show airs on BBC1 in the UK and appears on PBS in the US about three months later. The first season is available on Blu-ray as well as Netflix streaming. Highly recommended.
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28 Comments
Hmph! …no liberal cheapshots? No socialist atheist UK-BBC induced agenda? …I may have a look see… then…
It's on Netflix.
You have to wait until a later season. Like 24. Or NCIS.
Can't wait for series 2. Love this show to bits….
We're thrilled with the new Sherlock Holmes. Perfectly updated to a modern world and with energetic young leads, it's captured our teen children's attention as well as ours. We watched the shows together and they love it as much as we do.
Here's the most totally awesome part. The scripts follow Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories. There's great plot twists, gun battles, and no nonsense masculinity. No political correctness. No socialist moralizing. No liberal tell! You'll love this series. Catch it while it's hot and the liberals haven't yet destroyed it.
I love this show. I just caught the new episode a few days ago, and am happily waiting for the next one. It's Hound of the Baskervilles, and then the Reichenbach Falls for the finale of the season.
One thing the author of this piece didn't mention about the new episode was the picture of Holmes in the famous deerstalker cap, which was hilarious.
It’s been years since I’ve watched network TV. In fact, the only American show I catch is occasionally South Park and The Office (I also like the original version). I’ve watched BBC programing since I was kid. From Doctor Who to Yes, Minister, to French and Saunders, to Cracker, to Torchwood and so on. They make unique programming with good character development that are populated with actors who would never be cast on an American show.
With Sherlock and Downton Abbey the British are proving they're still capable of producing a "quality" product.
There's another little known mini-series on Netflix about WWII on the Channel Islands called "Island at War". Good stuff, especially the locations and sets. It's like being in an authentic pre-war British town and portraying life as it once was.
Why is all English drama based on the past? It's like life in the UK stopped after Agatha Christie.
The guy behind Sherlock, Stephen Moffatt, isn't necessarily above putting in his soapbox moments (he's done it with Doctor Who and Coupling)… however, far more often than not it fits his story. There is a purpose.
As a great example, in an episode of Coupling one of his lead characters (a fast car driving, womanizing, corporate fella named Patrick) is described as a right-wing guy who loved Thatcher. One of the other leads (a youth/looks obsessed, neurotic cosmetologist named Sally) goes after him and tries to enlist the help of one of the other gal's "date" who is actually a gay fella. He balks at Sally's assumption that he must be a left-wing guy… and supports Patrick in his love of Thatcher.
A liberal writer created a fun and likable character… who happens to be conservative… who gets to lovingly tweak a liberal character. They're all pretty people, a little flawed but they all have their hearts in the right place.
Had Coupling taken off in America they probably would have cut that scene. (They may have actually filmed it for the American version, but I'm sure it was canceled long before that episode.)
Thanks! Going to watch the first episode now!! See ya in a bit…
You will probably be disappointed with the pacing of Episode 2. After what happened in Ep 1, it felt like they were going in the right direction with Holmes, but suddenly, it felt like this was an Season 1 episode that was left on the cutting room floor and placed in Season 2.
Holmes kinda takes a step back from what he matured into in Episode 1 and just kinda returns to his Season 1 general douchiness. It's a great episode, but, it leaves a lot to be desired when compared to episode 1.
Most of their best literature is all in the past.
I've got to get into Sherlock. I watched I think 2 episodes when it started, but I didn't see it on BBC America; it was on one of the old PBS channels. And then I lost track (because PBS is terrible at keeping it's scheduling most of the time). I'll have to catch up.
I'm totally into Downton Abbey.
And Doc Martin (although I hope they will be giving us the newer season on PBS and not just ending it and then going back to the beginning).
This series is terrific. It's wonderful the way they make the same familiar characters interesting all over again.
A few years ago Rupert Everett played the vintage Sherlock Holmes perfectly. I hoped he was going to pick up the series. He was dark and troubled with a sickly white face, while still the brilliant man we love to watch. He's a highly skilled actor that's been sadly under worked.
What I liked about the first installment was that I expected Watson to be a shell-shocked veteran of an unpopular war and that was how it seemed to start. And then when Holmes is on his way to the first murder scene, Watson tells him he's seen more than any man ought to ever see. Holmes asks, "Want to see more?" And Watson answers, "God, yes." Hooked me.
I watched the whole Sherlock series on PBS and have watched it again on Netflix. I was amazed at the first Downton Abbey and couldn't wait for the next episode. I kept waiting for the political correctness to emerge and when the gay character emerged I thought "Here we go", but it didn't dive and was, to me, appropriate to the story.
I fear, however, since it has become so popular here in the U.S. the series will devolve into the drivel common to U.S. dramas. I certainly hope not and dislike that I have to continually be wary of being lectured, preached to or propagandized by the director, producer or screenwriter.
I don't think that Downton Abbey will be written to play to the U.S. It is a new series. Wat just came on TV this January is the 2nd season, which already showed in Britain last fall.
But that said, a couple of the "likable" characters are Sybil, the youngest daughter and budding feminist, and the chauffer, an avowed socialist. Sure the gay guy turns out not to be well-liked but I don't think it's because he's gay (which is actually also a good thing – people's race, age, gender, sexual orientation should not be a basis for being either all good or all bad because people are individuals, not automatons); he's just a jerk, just like O'Brien is (what she did to her Ladyship was so disgusting and even though she felt bad about it, she's still acting like a byotch and I wish someone would just figure her out already and fire her!).
So I am kind of waiting to see what comes of Sybil and the chauffer and how they will be portrayed, especially the chauffer. And I'm also waiting to see how the continue to deal with the family as a whole. The father and mother are aristocratic, but also very kind to their staff, but not in a condescending sort of way. They helped Carson and the cook (2 times). I don't know if they are what we would consider to be "conservative" politically or not, but I hope they don't turn out to be Progressives of some sort or Fabian Socialists or whatever. But I'm not up on aristocratic politics in England at that time and I certainly don't need them to put an American spin on politics (British conservatives are not as conservative as we are in America for instance) just for my own happiness.
Thanks. I'll look.
Saw via Netflix last year. Fantastic. Riveting. Leaves one hungry for more. There's hope for Hollywood yet.
Oh wait – it's British! For years I've often expressed the opinion that Brits understand acting and drama far better than we.
It's even better than the review!
Frostwire
I gotta tell you, this Sherlock Holmes fan had a bleak outlook on the future of my favorite detective on screen when the Downey version came out. Nothing against Robert Downey Jr., but…COME ON.
Then this wonderful series came out, and it was like the sunlight breaking through a dark, gray storm. It was like a cool breeze on a blazing hot day. It was like…Aw, heck, it was awesome. Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are perfect in their roles. Can't wait to see the next one!
I loved Cumberbach as William Pitt the Younger in "Amazing Grace," and he's perfect for Sherlock. Only wish the series had more episodes; I've seen the few they released on PBS endlessly repeated. I'm glad to hear that there will soon be more.
Huh… so did Peter Jackson get any other actors for The Hobbit from this show, or did he decide that Bilbo and Smaug were enough?
Loved the first season and have been waiting for the next ones. Finally they have arrived! The people making these definitely "get it" about Sherlock Holmes. Great on screen chemistry between the principles and clever "modern day" adaptation of what Sherlock Holmes is all about.
It isn't. But Americans are more likely to buy/watch British dramas set in the past.
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