BBC's Sherlock - Almost a Decade Later
One night a week or two ago I had some free time and thought I would catch up on some shows while I gamed. I have several different TV shows on the go currently; one I’m about half way through, one I wanted to rewatch the first season before I watched the second, and one that had been on my list for quite some time and had been meaning to check out.
So I did the thing that I am notorious for, I decided to start a fresh rewatch of a show that I had watched and rewatched easily half a dozen times.
That show is BBC’s Sherlock.
WARNING - FULL SPOILERS AHEAD
For those unfamiliar, it ran from 2010 – 2017, had four seasons, thirteen episodes each clocking in around ninety minutes. It was a modern take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s deductive detective, Sherlock Homes and his partner in solving crimes, Dr. John Watson. For those who haven’t seen it yet, I think you should. It really is a clever show that puts the time into crafting cases that are intricately layered.
This was far from the first time I had rewatched the series since its completion, but I felt like it affected me differently than before. While I don’t exactly remember the last time I watched it, I know it was after December 2020. It largely doesn't matter, but what does is that a lot has changed since I had last watched it. To start, I was now a father to the nest little bundle of chaos that I could ever ask for, and on top of that, my wife and I bought our first house.
What I'm trying to say is that perspectives change, but quality doesn't.
I wasn't expecting anything from this watch of Sherlock, only to be entertained like usual. The acting is always great, which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman carry this show on their shoulders and they do one hell of a job. You believe that Cumberbatch is a troubled genius who uses drugs to cope with an intense boredom from being a man among monkeys, and that he has a heart that is bigger than he understands. It's also believable that Freeman is a veteran who cares deeply for people, but who also has a calling for risky situations. I’ll also mention Mark Gatiss, who does a superb job playing Sherlock’s older brother Mycroft Holmes. He is a genius above Sherlock who is an integral part of the British government and truly feels like the most powerful man in any room he is in.
But for me, it’s the villains of the series that stand out more than anything else. Andrew Scott portrays a Jim Moriarty that is more intelligent than Sherlock, but is more unhinged than our consulting detective could ever predict. The rage and complete psychopathy is usually masked by a cool and calm demeanour, but frequently it bleeds through. Lars Mikkelsen portrays the slimy character known as Charles Augustus Magnussen. Magnussen had an inexhaustible wealth of knowledge that he uses to blackmail and control anyone he chooses. He terrorizes any other character he comes in contact with and constantly uses his power to show his dominance. He is scum, and since Mikkelsen plays him with such a strong vile, I cannot disassociate the actor from the character.
Then there is Eurus Holmes, Mycroft and Sherlock’s forgotten sister who makes her brother’s look like idiots with her brilliance and manipulation. Sian Brooke was cast as Eurus and she might be one of the best parts of the show. Eurus was never a character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, instead she was made for this show, and I think she fits in as the perfect final antagonist for the series. She is cunning and manipulative, more so than anyone else, and she comes closer to beating the duo of Holmes and Watson than anything else.
The surprise that I found was my thoughts on how the seasons ranked in my opinion. Personally I would rank them as follows:
Season Three
Season Four
Season Two
Season One
Now, I might be a little biased since I had watched seasons one and two far more than the others, but I don’t think the second half of the series gets the credit that it is due. But any time watching Seasons One or Two is filled with the anticipation of another Jim Moriarty scene.
Season Three I think is the perfect example of combining episodic procedurals with an overarching plot. The episodes on their own are quite clever, with increasingly confusing mysteries that Sherlock solves expertly by the end of it (The Sign of Three is a personal favourite). But the whole season explores the character of Mary Watson, who is expertly portrayed by Amanda Abbington, with her shocking past as a deadly gun for hire. From start to finish it is such a satisfying watch.
Then there is Season Four, which is shadowed by Eurus’ presence throughout, although we don’t know it for most of the season. She makes frequent appearances, and it is true, we really don’t know what we are looking at, even when it is right in front of our eyes. It is filled with tragedy for all involved, and it ends on a bittersweet note of perseverance and acceptance.
Whether it was the little sprinkles of foreshadowing they put in with the mentions of Red-Beard, or Mycroft frequently mentioning, “there’s an east wind coming”, you can tell that they had these arcs planned for a while. It motivates me as a creative and pushes me to be smart and clever in my writing; the worst thing I can imagine is that a reader guesses the twists and turns before they are revealed.
Comments
Post a Comment