"Sherlock"

Well, my eye's still extremely painful and swollen, but I went to the doctor's today and was prescribed some eyedrops. I desperately hope they work, because I don't know how much more of this I can take. On the plus-side, my fingers are pretty much healed now. The thumb's still bleeding, but it's hurting less. It's been a crazy, crazy week.

I didn't know the BBC was making a modernized Sherlock Holmes series until a few days ago, and when I did find out, I was pretty skeptical. I'm something of a Sherlockian, and modernizing classics usually just feels cheap and gimmicky to me--not something I can enjoy. I was also a bit intrigued though, for a few reasons:

1) The actors playing Holmes and Watson
2) Stephen Moffat is one of the series creators
3) The preview didn't actually look that bad. In fact, it looked . . . good?

So, last night, when unable to sleep due to my eye hurting so much, I tracked the first episode (which apparently aired on the BBC on Sunday) down and watched it. And I actually really, really enjoyed it! It wasn't perfect by any means, but it was extremely good. The dialogue is quick, witty, and well-written as well as well-delivered. Both Holmes and Watson are spot-on, and I think I can say with confidence that they are the best Holmes-Watson duo I have ever seen on screen, save only perhaps the Soviet version. Although living in the present-day, their personalities are perfect, as well as their mannerisms, ways of speaking . . . I loved it.

I didn't appreciate the few 'Holmes might be gay!' gags in the script. Sure, they were just intended as humorous nods towards those fans who maintain it's the truth, but I cannot stand that viewpoint which is irreverent to the characters and canon. I was able to ignore them for the sake of the rest of the story's excellence, and luckily there aren't that many. There were other, more welcome shout-outs to canon-fans, like a surprise appearance from one Mycroft Holmes and a tantalizing hint at the future appearance of Moriarty.

The story itself was very predictable to me, and probably to anyone who's read "A Study in Scarlet", but the actors' performances as well as the style with which the episode was told kept it from being dull. I don't know if it'd be predictable for anyone who hasn't read the story, but anyways. By the end I was both impressed and amused at how the writers changed and updated the canon and yet kept the spirit and the characters the same. Watson isn't an idiot, and instead is a very capable doctor, war veteran, and excellent shot with a gun, as in the original stories (even if he is missing his mustache), and Holmes may not smoke a pipe in this version but he has the perfect blend of charisma, arrogance, and cold intellect, as well as a glimpse or two of an emotional vulnerability which is entirely canon. All in all, the episode (entitled "A Study in Pink") was a perfect opening to a new Sherlock Holmes saga, I can't wait to see the next episode this Sunday, and I hope more episodes are made after these three.

Interested? Then watch these:

Trailer:


Scene from "A Study in Pink":