To celebrate the fact that I can now legally rewatch my favorite moments from Season 3, I thought I'd give a review of the show so that I can maybe get a few of you hooked to it as well.
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| This is for the DVD cover. I do not own it. Please don't sue me. |
Sherlock depicts London "consulting detective" Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) in solving various mysteries. Holmes is assisted by his flatmate and friend, Dr John Watson (Martin Freeman), who has returned from military service in Afghanistan with the Royal Army Medical Corps. Although Metropolitan Police Service Detective Inspector Greg Lestrade (Rupert Graves) and others are at first skeptical of Holmes, over time his remarkable intellect and powers of observation persuade them of his value. In part through Watson's blog documenting their adventures Holmes becomes a reluctant celebrity, with the press reporting on his cases and eccentric personal life, and both ordinary people and the British government ask for his help.So basically, it's in a modern setting, different from our own world only in that the Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes books don't exist.
Although the series depicts a variety of crimes and perpetrators, Holmes' conflict with archnemesis Jim Moriarty (Andrew Scott) is a recurring feature. Molly Hooper (Louise Brealey), a pathologist at St. Bart's Hospital occasionally assists Holmes in his cases. Other recurring roles include Una Stubbs as Mrs Hudson, Holmes and Watson's landlady, and series co-creator Mark Gatiss as Holmes' elder brother and government official Mycroft.
Each episode is reminiscent of a canonical Sherlock Holmes story ("A Study in Pink" instead of "A Study in Scarlet" for example). I haven't actually read many Sherlock Holmes stories, but from what I've heard from fans, the modern-day stories aren't very similar to the old ones at all. They share some elements and characters, but obviously the modern setting makes everything different and exciting, even for those who are long-time fans of all Sherlock Holmes books.
There are only three seasons so far, and each season only has three episodes. Yeah, I know, that's hardly any. Trust me, I know. It's painful how few there are.
But each episode is an hour and a half long, so it's like getting three movies per season. What this means is that you can watch them at whatever pace without necessarily HAVING TO click "next episode." Except for the last episode of each season, which always ends on a cliffhanger. Be warned.
However, it also means that you have really long hiatuses. Like two-year-long hiatuses. (...hiati...? Nope. Squiggly red line says "hiatuses.") The producers spend a really long time making the new episodes amazing (which I highly appreciate), but then they release all three episodes three weeks in a row. So you get one month of Sherlocky awesomeness, and then you have to wait two years for more! It's insane.
For that reason, I've probably rewatched these episodes more than any other show or movie I've ever seen. They're just so good that I keep wanting more, but there aren't any more. Thus, I rewatch.
If you know anything about Doctor Who, then you know who Steve Moffat is. And you know that he's notorious for getting you super attached to characters, only to make heart-wrenching things happen to them. Well, Steve Moffat directs Sherlock, and he pulls no punches, so prepare yourself for feels.
This show has everything I love: great characters/great actors who create great characters, great plots, and great direction.
The Sherlock Holmes character is extremely well-known. Apparently he's the most-adapted character. Ever. So there's really not much new I can tell you except that Benedict Cumberbatch does an amazing job. You all know him from Star Trek, War Horse, or Amazing Grace, probably (you might even recognize him as the voice of Smaug in the Hobbit), but I first knew him as Sherlock (not to sound like a hipster or anything...).
Sherlock himself is a very analytical, unexpressive person, but occasionally he'll get really excited about something or need to play a role for a case, and it's like he turns into a completely different person. Benedict Cumberbatch brings life to any role he plays. I mean, you compare him as Khan with him as Sherlock at his best, and it's like, "Wait. That's the same actor?"
Sherlock:
Khan:
And here he is in Amazing Grace, just to further prove my point:
Yeah, make-up and costumes to a lot, but just look at the expressions just in these photos. He's awesome.
Martin Freeman is spectacular as John Watson, too. (You may know him as Bilbo Baggins in the Hobbit.) Rather than stumble around in Sherlock's wake saying, "Wow! How do you do it? You're amazing, Sherlock!" he's an ex-military man who's fully capable of taking care of himself and isn't afraid to put Sherlock in his place. His and Cumberbatch's chemistry in the show is great. Both Sherlock and Watson are so unemotional and snarky, yet they're such good friends and really care so much about each other. Just wait until you get to Season 3. HOLY. CROW.
Anyways, all of the actors are great. All the villains are menacing in their own way, and I just love everyone's British charm. I'm glad I studied English, too, so I understand more of the cultural references and lingo. For example, "hoovering" means "vacuuming." Just FYI. :)
The plots of the episodes are really well done. They keep you guessing the whole time, because really only Sherlock's brilliant mind can work it out. But then (as is the norm for any Sherlock adaptation), we get a run-through from Sherlock of how he deduced everything, and it makes total sense in hindsight and leads to a satisfying conclusion. Our minds just work much slower. I love the direction of this show, though, because it shows us in real time what's going on in Sherlock's head. It's brilliant. As is the music and cinematography overall.
But I wonder how long it takes these people to put these complicated plots together. Like, do they have a team of conspiracy theorists at their disposal who combine all their crazy coincidences and details to make the most unlikely (but ultra-believable) scenarios ever?
"Okay. Sherlock's gonna go see the scene of the crime, which is in a school yard. In the school yard, he'll find mud. The mud will have come from the shoe of a little school girl who happened to visit a duck pond five miles away. At the duck pond, Sherlock will find red dog hairs. The dog hairs will belong to the Irish setter of the murderer. Case solved!"
Wow, my own attempt to make a crazy plot just failed miserably. Now I'm extra impressed at how well-done the Sherlock plots are. :)
The best thing about Sherlock is that it's relatively family-friendly! Some shows on BBC have no qualms about dropping the F-bomb and being very explicit (all under a TV-14 rating!!), but this one, even though it has an all-adult cast and is aimed at an older audience, has clean language, isn't explicit, and isn't ever graphic or anything, either. You get occasional innuendo (Season 2, episode 1 is the worst offender), but overall it's great for any age.
So I hope I've convinced you to give it a shot the next time you're bored and looking for an hour and a half episode to fill your spare time! I apologize in advance for any Sherlock addiction you may experience as a direct result of this promotion. Then again, no, I'm not sorry. :)
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