Praised by many as one of the “Must See TV shows” of recent years, I hesitated a long time to turn to “Sherlock”. The reason being… well Sherlock Holmes. This is a character in literature that I never felt affection for. The prototypical “clever detective” character, the stories lacked literary craftsmanship, and the convoluted plot twists and arbitrary resolutions made me lose interest after reading a couple of the stories many years ago. Where’s the tension when you will be presented with an abundance of logically deduced and irrefutable evidence at the end, none of which was initiated before?
But then again, it is a character of British national heritage, so why not entertain the idea of a modernised version, but still rooted in the original set of characters and storylines? Still better than the rather dull recent film versions where Holmes is limited to fist-fighting and fast smart talking. Smart talking he does in the BBC show, too, but you have to give them that they found a balance of… I would call it modern antique, a merging of time-honoured traditions and modern London. Most characters are nicely British in their quirkiness and the baggage of complexes they have to deal with. Some good British acting talent is seen, not just the two detective buddy heroes with perennial phobia of being identified as a couple, but also housekeeper, brother Mycroft, detective whatshisname… Lagarde? This tv show being of the somehow “family friendly” nature, it just lacks the raw edge other tv shows display these days. Also, it has too much stress on its wittiness and snappy dialogues, and is too happy with its set of lead characters – meaning even at greatest peril, there is nothing really at stake. Even when you see Holmes fall off a high building or Watson get buried under a burning pyre, there is nothing to worry, the show does not look as if it was willing to lose either of them.
Hence: solid entertainment for a while when TheBridge, TheKilling and all the other much better tv shows are on break, but no real need for enthusiasm.
thomas4cinema 