Three Things about Sherlock
Jul. 29th, 2010 08:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
charloweenWhich is actually Three Things This Modern-Day Adaptation Includes That I Think Are Really Clever. But that's too long to fit in the subject line.
I've watched the first episode of Sherlock twice now, and I might go in for a third before the next episode airs. What can I say? I was a fan of Holmes and Watson before I knew what fandom was. Delivering a show like this that's just so good is like a gift. It's Holmesian Christmas, especially for someone (like me) who's totally into adaptations. There's lots (positive lots!) to say about the snappy dialogue, the casting choices, the acting, the costumes, but I go nuts for canon-compliance - so I'll stick to that. :D
There are a lot of creative ways this new series updates the premise of A Detective and A Doctor Solve Crimes. Things, like John Watson's empty blog. I wonder if he'll find more writing material once he starts hanging out with Sherlock, eh? But I want to point out a few that I though were especially neat:
1. They use each other's first names. It's not Holmes and Watson, it's Sherlock and John. Some of the characters call John Dr Watson, but Sherlock Holmes does not. And the reverse is true, 'cause John's crazy new flatmate is named Sherlock.
I'm not sure why I like this so much. Maybe it's because it's indicative of the kinds of small details that Moffat and Gatiss pick up on that make the modernization feel plausible and natural. It would be weirdly formal and maybe a little too public school to have modern-day flatmates call each other by their surnames. Nor do they (yet) know each other well enough to use those surnames as nicknames.
It also says something about how important a name can be in creating a character: this less-formal Sherlock seems to be better able to admit he doesn't see all or know all. His imperious predecessor Holmes doesn't stop to check that his deductions (inductions?) are correct, but Sherlock mutters that there's always one inference that he gets wrong. (Compare with the source for the bit about Harry's phone - ctrl+f for watch and it'll be the first hit.) Holmes never guesses, but Sherlock does. And he's okay with that.
(And speaking of names: the assistant gave her name as Anthea! Hee!)
2. Telegraphing becomes texting. For example, the "Come at once if convenient — if inconvenient come all the same" telegram (from "The Adventure of the Creeping Man") is delivered as separate texts. Hee! Texting (versus calling) helps set up Sherlock's misanthropy, but it's a nice echo of a past technological moment. The show finds a creative way to get the texts into the narrative - by putting the words on the screen as sort-of subtitles* - which means the actors can get on with the business of acting and the story doesn't need to stop in order to read out the contents of the text. We get to process the texts just as the characters do, which moves the action along nicely and lets us audience members have a special access to the characters. John doesn't read out his texts from Sherlock, so the other characters in the scene have no context for his reactions. Clever writing! <3
*I have a screencap of this, but the internet where I'm house-sitting is ridiculously firewalled and I can't actually upload anything or attach files to emails. It's awesome.
The same technique is used when Sherlock is collecting observations. Rather than have him mutter out what he sees (exposition = boring!) we get to read what he discovers as he discovers it, staying with him in his head and avoiding yet another smug enumeration of evidence. Sure, Sherlock still whines about how boring it must be for everyone else, not thinking the way he does, but it's a very neat way to set up how he processes information.
The show also avoids the bother of shooting a cell phone screen. Titles are cheaper than effects shots of screens, so the texting thing is not only narratively-interesting, it's also thrifty.
3. John's cane. I love the decision to give John an ugly, industrial, steel-and-plastic cane. It's not fashionable, it's not polite, it's an angry "back off: I'm a bitter war vet just out of the hospital" cane. It's a good use of a prop to tell you something about a character. Since it's hinted early on that John's limp may be psychosomatic, using that particular cane becomes a particularly interesting choice. He keeps his injury very present.
Of course, the conversation between John and Sherlock at the very end of the episode manages to acknowledge one of the areas of fan discussion and gives an interesting colour to both of the main characters. I've tried to keep this unspoilery as I can, so I say no more.
3a. When they first meet, Sherlock asks John if he's just come back from Afghanistan or Iraq. For all the clever and creative ways Moffat and Gatiss have updated this world, this is one thing they barely had to change.
Stray observation: Benedict Cumberbatch a) has an awesome name, b) does look a lot like Colin Morgan, but in this role he looks like a slightly less human Colin Morgan, c) has the perfect voice for those long ranty expositional monologues.
Stray observation #2: ♥ Martin Freeman ♥ This Watson might indeed like jam but this new Watson is too interesting to be defined solely by his opinions surrounding fruit preserves.
Character-stuff spoiler alert: I think this is my favourite bit for setting up this less formal, more flappable Sherlock Holmes and this bored-and-dangerous, survivor John Watson: the part where Sherlock is trying to figure out the significance of a bit of evidence, and asks, "If you were being murdered, what would your last words be?" John answers (with the teeniest bit of sarcasm), "Please, God, let me live?" and Sherlock immediately replies, "Oh use your imagination". To which John replies, "I don't have to" - and there's an excellent little pause before Sherlock starts up again with a slightly cautious "Yeah, but..." and continues on.
It's such a good moment. Well-written, well-acted, and shot in a series of close-ups that exclude the other, like, six people in the room from this bit of revelation. I don't think John directly addresses his war experience anywhere else in the episode - it's just people making assumptions (the therapist) or deductions (Sherlock) and there's nothing (like in A Study in Scarlet where John gets to details how he came to be invalided out of active service.
I think it's pretty certain I'll watch this episode again before the new one airs. I am so happy to be done writing my thesis so that I can watch tee vee again!
I've watched the first episode of Sherlock twice now, and I might go in for a third before the next episode airs. What can I say? I was a fan of Holmes and Watson before I knew what fandom was. Delivering a show like this that's just so good is like a gift. It's Holmesian Christmas, especially for someone (like me) who's totally into adaptations. There's lots (positive lots!) to say about the snappy dialogue, the casting choices, the acting, the costumes, but I go nuts for canon-compliance - so I'll stick to that. :D
There are a lot of creative ways this new series updates the premise of A Detective and A Doctor Solve Crimes. Things, like John Watson's empty blog. I wonder if he'll find more writing material once he starts hanging out with Sherlock, eh? But I want to point out a few that I though were especially neat:
1. They use each other's first names. It's not Holmes and Watson, it's Sherlock and John. Some of the characters call John Dr Watson, but Sherlock Holmes does not. And the reverse is true, 'cause John's crazy new flatmate is named Sherlock.
I'm not sure why I like this so much. Maybe it's because it's indicative of the kinds of small details that Moffat and Gatiss pick up on that make the modernization feel plausible and natural. It would be weirdly formal and maybe a little too public school to have modern-day flatmates call each other by their surnames. Nor do they (yet) know each other well enough to use those surnames as nicknames.
It also says something about how important a name can be in creating a character: this less-formal Sherlock seems to be better able to admit he doesn't see all or know all. His imperious predecessor Holmes doesn't stop to check that his deductions (inductions?) are correct, but Sherlock mutters that there's always one inference that he gets wrong. (Compare with the source for the bit about Harry's phone - ctrl+f for watch and it'll be the first hit.) Holmes never guesses, but Sherlock does. And he's okay with that.
(And speaking of names: the assistant gave her name as Anthea! Hee!)
2. Telegraphing becomes texting. For example, the "Come at once if convenient — if inconvenient come all the same" telegram (from "The Adventure of the Creeping Man") is delivered as separate texts. Hee! Texting (versus calling) helps set up Sherlock's misanthropy, but it's a nice echo of a past technological moment. The show finds a creative way to get the texts into the narrative - by putting the words on the screen as sort-of subtitles* - which means the actors can get on with the business of acting and the story doesn't need to stop in order to read out the contents of the text. We get to process the texts just as the characters do, which moves the action along nicely and lets us audience members have a special access to the characters. John doesn't read out his texts from Sherlock, so the other characters in the scene have no context for his reactions. Clever writing! <3
*I have a screencap of this, but the internet where I'm house-sitting is ridiculously firewalled and I can't actually upload anything or attach files to emails. It's awesome.
The same technique is used when Sherlock is collecting observations. Rather than have him mutter out what he sees (exposition = boring!) we get to read what he discovers as he discovers it, staying with him in his head and avoiding yet another smug enumeration of evidence. Sure, Sherlock still whines about how boring it must be for everyone else, not thinking the way he does, but it's a very neat way to set up how he processes information.
The show also avoids the bother of shooting a cell phone screen. Titles are cheaper than effects shots of screens, so the texting thing is not only narratively-interesting, it's also thrifty.
3. John's cane. I love the decision to give John an ugly, industrial, steel-and-plastic cane. It's not fashionable, it's not polite, it's an angry "back off: I'm a bitter war vet just out of the hospital" cane. It's a good use of a prop to tell you something about a character. Since it's hinted early on that John's limp may be psychosomatic, using that particular cane becomes a particularly interesting choice. He keeps his injury very present.
Of course, the conversation between John and Sherlock at the very end of the episode manages to acknowledge one of the areas of fan discussion and gives an interesting colour to both of the main characters. I've tried to keep this unspoilery as I can, so I say no more.
3a. When they first meet, Sherlock asks John if he's just come back from Afghanistan or Iraq. For all the clever and creative ways Moffat and Gatiss have updated this world, this is one thing they barely had to change.
Stray observation: Benedict Cumberbatch a) has an awesome name, b) does look a lot like Colin Morgan, but in this role he looks like a slightly less human Colin Morgan, c) has the perfect voice for those long ranty expositional monologues.
Stray observation #2: ♥ Martin Freeman ♥ This Watson might indeed like jam but this new Watson is too interesting to be defined solely by his opinions surrounding fruit preserves.
Character-stuff spoiler alert: I think this is my favourite bit for setting up this less formal, more flappable Sherlock Holmes and this bored-and-dangerous, survivor John Watson: the part where Sherlock is trying to figure out the significance of a bit of evidence, and asks, "If you were being murdered, what would your last words be?" John answers (with the teeniest bit of sarcasm), "Please, God, let me live?" and Sherlock immediately replies, "Oh use your imagination". To which John replies, "I don't have to" - and there's an excellent little pause before Sherlock starts up again with a slightly cautious "Yeah, but..." and continues on.
It's such a good moment. Well-written, well-acted, and shot in a series of close-ups that exclude the other, like, six people in the room from this bit of revelation. I don't think John directly addresses his war experience anywhere else in the episode - it's just people making assumptions (the therapist) or deductions (Sherlock) and there's nothing (like in A Study in Scarlet where John gets to details how he came to be invalided out of active service.
I think it's pretty certain I'll watch this episode again before the new one airs. I am so happy to be done writing my thesis so that I can watch tee vee again!
