Sherlock

              Sherlock Holmes is really big right now.  Not that he ever isn’t big, but I feel that for the last several years Sherlock Holmes has been around more than I can remember him ever being before.  There have been movies, TV shows, and books all taking different thoughts on this famous detective.  Some of these new versions I have looked into, and others I haven’t.  So far there is only one that I have become attached to, and that is the BBC’s Sherlock.                

                Dr. John Watson (Martin Freeman) has returned from war in Afghanistan not sure what to do with himself.  His leg is injured from the war and he is seeing a therapist, but there is not much else going on in his life.  That changes when John runs into an old friend.  The friend learns of the difficulties John is going through and believes he can help.  He knows of a very interesting man who may be just the right person to get John back on his feet.  That man is Sherlock Holmes.

              At first John doesn’t know what to make of Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch).  To tell the truth, in all the episodes I have seen, I don’t know if John ever gets over that feeling.  Sherlock is rude, distant, and a self-proclaimed sociopath.  Why people put up with him, I don’t have any idea, but they do.  His landlady is devoted to him and soon John becomes that way too.  He also becomes Sherlock’s conscience.  Without seeing a need for a filter, Sherlock says whatever is on his mind.  This hurts a lot of people and with Sherlock’s lack of awareness, or caring, this leaves a lot of messes for John to clean up.  That’s why it must have felt so good for John when Sherlock insisted John punch him in the face.  With this act, which of course went much farther than a single punch, John was finally able to get all the aggression he had against Sherlock out. 

                Although Sherlock has a great number of character flaws, he does have a great mind, which he will remind everyone of regularly.  He can see things others don’t and come to conclusions faster than anyone else.  People from all around come to Sherlock for help, including his brother Mycroft (Mark Gatiss), but Sherlock does not always agree to take the case.  If he’s going to involve himself in something, that something has to be interesting.  Any time Sherlock believes a case is boring he will say so, even when the client is directly in front of him.  He then leaves John to pick up the pieces which probably makes John want to strangle Sherlock all over again.

                There are not many episodes to this show, but each one that does exist is really well done.  The only hitch is sometimes I feel I have missed a connection somewhere, and it’s not because Sherlock talks so fast.  There are times where I truly don’t understand how things got from A to B.  Maybe that’s intentional because John doesn’t always get it either.  When dealing with someone like Sherlock Holmes, who really can?         

                Even though this show is set in modern times, it doesn’t necessarily feel that way.  Today’s technology is used, but much of the surroundings feel as though they could have been around when the stories were originally written.  It’s as though the writers of this show took the original stories and gave them a twist.  All the same characters and plot lines are there, but they each have noticeable differences from the originals yet somehow stay true all at the same time.  That must be quite a trick to write.  Fortunately one thing that did not carry over was Sherlock’s drug use.  It’s mentioned briefly in one of the episodes and it’s only his addiction to nicotine that ever truly appears.  Even that is minimal, which is good.  Addictions can easily take over a plotline leaving little room for anything else.  With it being practically non-existent in this show, we are left with plenty of time to investigate the case and explore the relationship between John and Sherlock.                 

                While I fully believe Mr. Cumberbatch does a fantastic job as Sherlock, the one I find myself watching most closely is Mr. Freeman’s John.  There is always so much going on with John, and he has to deal with everything quietly.  Spending one minute with Sherlock can send a multitude of different emotions through John, but because of Sherlock’s character he is forced to react very little.  This must be absolutely maddening.  Then on top of it, John is constantly trying to have a normal life, which is not easy when dealing with a man like Sherlock Holmes.  I don’t know how many relationships Sherlock has ruined for John.  In one of the episodes there is even a joke about the number of girlfriends John has had.  Somehow I get a feeling Sherlock played a hand in each one of those relationships ending. 

              This series has very few episodes despite having three seasons. I wish there were far more episodes than there currently are, but not so many that the quality goes down. It’s one of those catches that is so irritating. You want more of something, but more can mean production is pushed which makes the quality bad. With the bad quality, you lose what you loved in the first place. On that note, I’ll stick with things as they are. Although, I don’t think one extra episode would hurt all that much, would it?