Sherlock

Okay, so I may be a little behind on this one, but I am glad I was, as it allowed me to take it all in very quickly.

I started watching BBC's Sherlock the other day, and oh my exclamation! it was amazing!

Let me just say that I am very good at being oblivious to something. It's actually kind of incredible, and unexpected. I mean, I'm a guy who loves to pay attention and know things, but when it comes to television, literature, or movies, I am very good about ignoring everything associated with a work until the last possible minute. Some love the hype, and I love the excitement which comes with it, but I have accidentally ruined movies and books by paying attention to the spoilers and gossip. Now, I do my best to keep the excitement alive, but try not to learn anything else, judging the piece by itself, not by a previously construed perception of it. 

Why did I go into that? Well, because it might surprise anyone who knew/knows/was excited for the show to know that I had no idea it was set in modern times. I thought it was based, like all Sherlock Holmes stories and portrayals I had seen before, in the industrial age. Boy, was I surprised when I found out!

And that leads to the main reason as to why I love the show: its ability to give a fresh spin on an old set of characters. Sherlock takes out any of the foolish, nigh deus ex machina, deductions and notions normally attributed to the story, and adds a fresh new spin, while emphasizing the good traits.

Let me be less vague now and explain a little further. Sherlock Holmes is known as a master of deduction. He is generally a detective who solves crime through keen observational skills, hyper-intelligence/deduction, and via various forensic techniques. That has not changed for this show. However, while I have not read all or really many of Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, what little I have read and heard referenced by friends, it seems Sherlock had a terrible tendency to just pull solutions out of thin-air. Sometimes, he would take seemingly unconnected observations and deduce a pattern or likely culprit, and sometimes, it seems, he would come up with a solution which hinged on one piece of evidence or deduction not as well received, noticed, or strongly supported by the audience or by the facts. Please correct me if I am wrong about any of this, I would gladly hear your comments, but this is what I felt was wrong about the character of Sherlock Holmes.

Yes, he's supposed to be extraordinarily intelligent, but not so much so that we, the audience, cannot truly appreciate him. They toy with that idea a little in the show, that Sherlock is so smart that he cannot possibly be for real, but the show also does a great job of showing you a little of how his mind works.

The cinematography is amazing! It lets you into the mind of Sherlock and gives you a real idea as to how he is able to solve crimes so well and so quickly. When you get right down to it, even Sherlock himself admitted to the ordinary nature of his abilities, claiming them not as supernatural, but highly attuned. Basically, he is incredibly observant, and uses his intelligence to draw connections between the things we should but normally do not see. Here is a great example, from the first episode. (Not spoilers, really, just a minor scene)

Sherlock is called upon the scene of what appears to be a suicide. Woman, dressed in pink, died of asphyxiation, seemed to scratch a note into the floor where she died. That's pretty much all the cops see and all we really see upon first glance. But not Sherlock.

First, he notices that the woman is left-handed, as evidenced by the location of the writing, and the scratches upon her fingernails. Obvious enough. He then notices the word she wrote, Rache, and thinks it could mean the German word for revenge, or more likely, the incomplete writing of the name Rachel.

Okay, no big leaps there. He then runs his fingers down the back of her jacket and the word "wet" appears on screen. He then checks her other hand and notices an umbrella, which he notices is dry.

Checking under her jacket collar, Sherlock observes that it is also wet. As he continues to look, Sherlock notices that the woman is wearing a necklace, earrings, a bracelet, and some rings. Taking off her wedding ring, Sherlock makes the observation that the while all the other jewelry is clean, the outside of the wedding ring is dirty, while the inside is clean. Along with the general state of her appearance, and some splash marks on the back of her leg, he makes the following deduction:



Professional woman, probably works in the media (judging by the state of her dress and over-alarming use of pink) Unhappily married for 10 years at least (as seen by her wedding ring, the only part of her jewelry not cleaned; state of her marriage right there) , serial adulterer (the inside of her ring is clean, the only polishing it gets is when she works it off her finger. It's not for work that she removes it, look at her hands. Serial adulterer as she has been unhappily married for so long and could not keep up the pretense of being single for that long), came from Cardiff earlier in the afternoon (coat is wet, didn't come from far that long ago, collar is wet, turned it up against the wind, but umbrella in her jacket pocket is dry, she didn't remove it on account of a strong wind. No rain in London, only place in last few hours to have strong wind and rain is Cardiff [as evidenced by his quick weather-checking on his smartphone]). 

He surmises that she must have a suitcase, as the splash marks on the back of her leg would indicate, and that more clues could be found there. Since they are unable to find her phone or suitcase, the police and Sherlock branch out to find it.

And that's just one, early example. I know that this is a television show, and thus the protagonist is probably going to be more right than they are wrong, but the two things I love about that scene and so many others in the show, is that the cinematography shows us what he's thinking, and the deductions, while brilliant, at least seem grounded in observation. Of course, his deductions will be more likely right than wrong and in real life a leap like that could be incredibly wrong/dangerous, but honestly, it's brilliant and it makes sense.

And the show continues in just such a manner. Benedict Cumberpatch plays Sherlock Holmes, and does it very well, I might add, and Martin Freeman plays Dr. John Watson. I guess I got a little spoiled by Jude Law's Watson in the recent Sherlock Holmes movies, because I do miss seeing Watson fight bad guys, and even Sherlock once or twice, using a sword cane. But, Freeman's Watson does get some verbal and actual jabs in now and again, and as the show progresses, we see a really great friendship and trust forming between the characters. Sherlock still comes across as a god sometimes, but then again, the show is called Sherlock.

Each episode is 90 minutes long, another surprise for me, but I loved every minute of it. Below, there be spoilers.

Two interesting twists of previously seen characters include Irene Adler, and James Moriarty.

Irene Adler appears in several Holmesian tales, and always appears to be a woman of singular wit. Portrayed by Rachel McAdams in the recent movies and by Lara Pulver in BBC's Sherlock, Ms. Adler is always a force for Holmes to reckon with.

A dominatrix who enjoys what she does and seems to use people to press an advantage, it seems that Ms. Adler has some photos of a member of the royal family. Holmes is asked, near ordered, by his brother (a high ranking member of the English government) to go get the pictures back. We see an interesting reflection as the two of them try on different clothes before meeting each other. It's a classic move, which sets the stage for some kind of battle between two characters who could have sexual tension between them.

Sherlock decides to go dressed normally, but is completely surprised by Irene Adler's appearance. She arrives to her antechamber completely naked, not only shocking Holmes, but making her impossible to read.

It is an excellent scene, as we see Holmes a little taken aback, and Adler shows off her wit, charm, and sets the stage for a counterpart to Holmes. Their dialogue is quick, witty, sharp. I love it, and honestly, it's a better play between characters than I have seen in most other television shows and movies. Their flirting is dangerous, sexy, and bitingly delicious. Whenever she is on the scene, things get really interesting, so I am looking forward to getting to see her a little more.

James Moriarty was an intriguing surprise. The first time we see him, he is actually posing as a gay friend of a colleague of Sherlock's. We find out later he was just spying on Sherlock. When we finally come face-to-face with Sherlock's hitherto notorious villain, we see a rather unassuming, young, kind of quirky young man.

I wasn't sure I liked him at first. I was used to Moriarty being this grand, scheming character, worthy of Holmes' attention. However, his unassuming nature made me think that the creators had carried it a little too far and I wasn't quite convinced of the danger Moriarty posed.

But, as the series progressed, Moriarty's brilliance, evil-nature, and complete disregard for law and order made his character not only interesting, but worthy of my attention. His hatred for Sherlock and his charismatic, humorous, and dark portrayal of the character make for some interesting chess between characters. The show delves a little into the relationship between Sherlock and Moriarty, namely how they are opposite sides of the same coin, as it were, and my only complaint is that things moved a little too fast.

My friend and I have been wondering what they are going to do for a third season, or as they call them in England, series, as they left things on a rather interesting note, but I for one am very excited for what will come next.

Smart, sexy, fast-paced, hilarious, and brilliantly portrayed, Sherlock is worth watching. IMDB gives it 9/10, and I couldn't agree more.

P.S. I love carving my own style, but my oh my does Sherlock ever look good. I think I'll have to go out and update my wardrobe a little.