BBC's Sherlock

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Smaug's voice
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Post by Smaug's voice »

Hey y'all. Count me in as a fellow fan. :D And I don't count myself as a TV-person so that's saying a lot. :D

This is honestly the best serialization I have seen in a long time.

I just saw The Sign of Four the other day (I have a few many quibbles with that single episode - limited mostly to Sherlock's characterization) and I don't really know when His Last vow will air here, but I am already hyped to see all the positive reaction for that episode.

(BC is the best Sherlock! Beats Brett imo by a distance)
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Passdagas the Brown
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Post by Passdagas the Brown »

You don't have to apologize for being British. You just have to live with the reality that I was compelled to slap one of your countrymen for having the privilege to watch this weeks before I could. It's a small price to pay, I'm sure. :)
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Lalaith
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Post by Lalaith »

We all loved it!!!!

:happydance:

Just brilliant!

I loved:
Hidden text.
the humor when Sherlock is explaining to the landlady (can't think of her name, atm) why he's not working with John and the scene keeps switching to John examining his patients--with the middle finger up and the "cough." :rofl: I laughed so hard!

I also loved the restaurant scenes. :D Sherlock so deserved all of that.

I don't think they've adequately explained why Sherlock kept the secret from John, but maybe we'll find out more as it goes along.

Again, Martin and Benedict are just brilliant actors. So, so good!
:love:
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Elentári
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Post by Elentári »

Sherlocks' landlady is Mrs Hudson, played by the wonderful Una Stubbs,( the unsung heroine of the series, IMO.) She puts in some marvellous performance in this season especially.

Did you get that Benedict's parents were playing Sherlock's Mum & dad? And that Mary is played by MF's real-life partner, Amanda?
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Lalaith
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Post by Lalaith »

Oh, no, I didn't catch that trivia. How neat! :)

Mrs. Hudson is great.
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axordil
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Post by axordil »

Well that casting explains a LOT.
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Frelga
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Post by Frelga »

Well, for all my grousing, I watched it for the first time last night, in a perfectly legal manner, even though the thing ended at midnight. :x

I have to say, my expectations were too high. I expected more of an emotional punch than I got. The spasmodic editing distracted from the acting, and there were too many "Wait, but why..." moments.

Mary is fantastic, though. I love that they didn't give him a fresh young thing. She is smart, funny, bursting with energy, caring but not clingy. It's great to see a grownup romance on screen.

Beside that, my favorite moment had to be
Hidden text.
Sherlock and Moriarty kissing on the roof
. That just sums up internet fandoms perfectly.
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.

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Lalaith
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Post by Lalaith »

That was pretty awesome!
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axordil
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Post by axordil »

The whole episode was very meta...incorporating the notion of fan "fiction" into a story which is itself a form of fan fiction. And commenting on it: "I could have done it better." "Everyone's a critic."

I did think the cuts toward the end were puzzling, though, in that I'm not sure what they accomplished that a linear version wouldn't.
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Post by narya »

:D Frelga, I agree with your spoiler-shielded comment. I loved the fan-fic and support group moments.

I noticed that the old episodes were available thru the PBS site until 1/19/14 so I sat down and watched all 6 of them. I haven't watched that much TV in years. But I enjoyed seeing the the story developments that spanned several episodes, and having watched them before, I could see the little Chekov Gun moments I hadn't noticed first time around. Then I watched the latest episode. I was a little disappointed because I'd actually figured out a way he could have done it, before the episode started, and I was right. I guess I expected Sherlock to be more clever than me. :D The clues were actually in the cliffhanger of the previous season, if you "read between the lines, so to speak". For example, I noted these things from the previous season, before this season's show started:
Hidden text.
1. Sherlock looks over the edge and we see a large semi truck & trailer that might have had a cloth side that could quickly be lifted to remove/return a large inflateable mattress. There is only one glimpse - all the other shots take care not to show this truck or the sidewalk activities.
2. Sherlock keeps Moriarity from seeing the set up by asking for a moment to himself on the ledge, and then stepping back from the ledge for a later confrontation.
3. Sherlock told John to stay in a certain place so he wouldn't see the end of the fall. The "leaving a note" scene was to let the people below have time to set things up.
4. The bike accident was clearly deliberate to delay John and daze him so he wouldn't be too observant.
5. Sherlock dropped his cell phone so he couldn't be tracked.
The only thing I couldn't figure out is why Moriarty killed himself. It was certainly convenient for Sherlock - so that Moriarty wouldn't see his ruse and let his assassins know - but I don't understand why he did it. Being crazy and unpredictable is not reason enough.
People in the USA can watch the latest episode online (unlimited times :D ) until March 4, here:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wat ... ty-hearse/ which I am, at the moment... :oops:

Oh, and here's John's blog (caution, spoilers): http://www.johnwatsonblog.co.uk/
And Sherlock's: http://www.thescienceofdeduction.co.uk/
Digging thru them now... :D
In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. ~ Albert Camus
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Pearly Di
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Post by Pearly Di »

Lali,
Hidden text.
I LOL'd my head off when John punched Sherlock three times and each time they got downgraded so from being in a posh restaurant they ended up what we call in the UK a 'greasy spoon cafe'. :rotfl:

But oh, the emotion! The shock, betrayal and anger in John's face! Martin was just :love:

Sherlock is SUCH a douche. :D: But you can see, also, how he has developed a bit, emotionally. 8)

Mary is great. :)

Mrs Hudson just gets more awesome. :D

Mycroft working out! :D

The Sherlolly kiss! :love:

The Sherlock/Moriarty almost-kiss! :rofl:
I'm not a hardcore Holmes devotee - I've never read the originals, a fact which perhaps should make me give up my British citizenship. ;)

I shamelessly confess I watch this show mainly for the actors, the feels and the great entertainment. :P
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Passdagas the Brown
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Post by Passdagas the Brown »

The feels? I didn't realize it was that kind of show...
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Frelga
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Post by Frelga »

I found watching it as a mystery story not very satisfying. As a story of two damaged men growing closer together, it is very good.
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.

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Primula Baggins
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Post by Primula Baggins »

I'm not ashamed to admit than when I read the original stories, I've always treasured the rare moments when Holmes reveals Watson's importance to him. That sometimes happens in stories that are weak as mysteries, but I still love them. So I was pretty pleased with "The Empty Hearse."
Hidden text.
There were two elements of suspense, really: the kind of rote stop-the-terrorist-plot one, and the one more central to me, what-the-hell-was-Sherlock-thinking-and-is-Watson-ever-going-to-forgive-him? I enjoyed both, although I thought disarming the bomb with an off switch was even more perfunctory than the rest of it.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
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Passdagas the Brown
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Post by Passdagas the Brown »

After adoring Season 1 and 2, I have to admit to being rather underwhelmed with this season. I almost feel that they should have just wrapped the whole series up with two seasons. It feels almost like a caricature of itself, stuffed with fan service...

While I enjoyed the "Sherlock fandom" element, and thought the relationship between Sherlock and Watson grew deeper, I found it all rather too precious and cute. And I am also sick to death of the rapid-fire camera combined with rapid-fire text combined with Cumberbatch's rapid-fire eye movements as a way of conveying extraordinary perception and intelligence. It comes off as lazy and ham-handed this time around. I much prefer the more sedate (and far more realistic) pace and intelligence of the Inspector Morse series, including the excellent new Morse "prequel" Endeavor. IMO, it's a superior show when compared to Sherlock's season 3.

ETA: Major Spoiler ahead.
Hidden text.
I also found the Watson's wife is a former brutal intelligence agent/ Magnusson subplot to be wholly unconvincing and incoherent. The Moriarty material from seasons 1 and 2 was far superior, IMO. So I am very glad that he's allegedly back. :)
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Lalaith
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Post by Lalaith »

Sorry, PtB, I'm loving it! I just watched season 3, episode 2 last night.

Spoilers:
Hidden text.
The best man speech was brilliant. All of the best man scenes were quite good, deep and touching. I'm really enjoying the friendship between Watson and Sherlock. And I think the addition of Mary is very good. I like the dimension she brings to their relationship.

As someone said above (Elen?), Mrs. Hudson is an under-appreciated character. I think that's one thing I really like about the series--even the secondary and tertiary characters have depth, wit, and subtlety.

So I laughed out loud several times last night, got a little teary-eyed at one point, and was utterly captivated by the whole show.
I'm going to be sad when it's done!
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Passdagas the Brown
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Post by Passdagas the Brown »

I still believe seasons 1 and 2 were two of the best seasons of any show currently on television! Perhaps my expectations were too high this time around, but it all felt... I don't know... contrived.
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Lalaith
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Post by Lalaith »

Mystery-wise, I would agree with you.
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Elentári
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Post by Elentári »

The third episode of Season 3 is certainly more of a return to form...

I would agree with PtB that the first two of this season were more of a send-up (in fact I wrote as much on the previous page) and I did find it disconcerting to begin with, a bit too self-congratulatory. It's become more about the characters' relationship than the actual mystery-solving, which may or may not be a good thing, depending on your mileage...
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axordil
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Post by axordil »

Having never really been a fan of mysteries in general, for a variety of reasons, I very much enjoy the series, precisely because it's almost a deconstruction of the tropes of the genre. Historically, mysteries fall into three categories: ones with dunderhead characters to make the audience feel smart, ones with geniuses to make the audience feel less smart, and TV procedurals that feed out clues according to a precise algorithm to make us feel *just right.* :D

What's memorable about mysteries for me is usually the characters involved, or the atmosphere, or anything other than the actual mystery. Sherlock has a lot of anything other.
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