Sherlock (BBC)

[Incanus 5,713]

Right-o Jason! I'll have a concentrated read of all of it when I have time.

[Jay 37,323]

We are worth your time!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Damn right!

[Incanus 5,713]

Undoubtedly!

Unfortunately writing an essay for classes demands my attention even on Friday night.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Excuses!

[Incanus 5,713]

Very good excuses surely. I am trying to improve myself.

[Marian Schedenig 8,179]

I am perhaps most unsettled by our high functioning sociopath's murderous finale in episode 3 though. It is undeniably dramatic and tragic but somehow feels a bit wrong for a "hero". I can't for the life of me remember if Holmes killed anyone in the original stories so intentionally.

I really am not bothered by that. Holmes was thoroughly outsmarted and out of options. Not just his own future was on the line (which he probably would have accepted), but also that of his best friend Watson and Watson's wife, who he felt indebted to for saving his life. And in Mary's case, it wasn't just her future but possibly her life. None of them would ever be free while Magnussen was, and at this point it was clear that the only way to stop him was to kill him. So Holmes sacrificed his own future for his friends' freedom. Rather seems to be a moral decision to me.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Thank you!

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

Spot on.

[Incanus 5,713]

Indeed well said Marian and my sentiments exactly and it indeed is a great moral decision and dilemma. Unfortunately the gravity of his decision is diluted by the fact that he will return and it seems at the moment it cost him nothing.

One of the central ideas about these great detectives is their unerring moral compass. They might break the law to achieve greater good or to right a wrong but killing is something they very rarely do. I am not saying that they couldn't change things to a modern direction, indeed they should, but it when there are no actual repercussions for a murder, no matter how justified in the sense that the hero selflessly sacrifices himself for his friends and their future, renders the whole sacrifice hollow in a way. But of course this is the more "grey" take on Holmes, not purely good or evil but depicting all the spectrum in between.

[KK 3,307]

I agree Incanus. On top of that, the murder felt like a cop out to me. It would have been far more impressive if we were able to see Sherlock outsmart CAM with his wits, as Sherlock would rather than a gun.

[Marian Schedenig 8,179]

On top of that, the murder felt like a cop out to me. It would have been far more impressive if we were able to see Sherlock outsmart CAM with his wits, as Sherlock would rather than a gun.

But that was the whole point, wasn't it? Holmes' wits were, for once, no match for his opponent. His only options were to either not act at all or use brute force. A blunt instrument, actually, in the end.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

I thoroughly appreciated the appalling, brutal "conceptual" reality of Sherlock shooting Magnussen. Not the action or the on-screen violence...but the horrifying idea beneath it.

You can be a highly intelligent person, top of the world, just topped the smartest man in England, and you ruled the WORLD with the abilities of your mind.

Within a fraction of a second your brain, the weapon, the tool that has led to your conquest of the world, has ceased sending signals throughout itself and your body, and it is splattered on your front patio.

In the same way, it's beautifully mirrored on Sherlock's end. You can be a highly intelligent person, just back and top of the world again, you pride yourself on control and logic, you've never killed anyone intentionally, and all of a sudden your brain, overcome by the reality of the situation has led you to pull the trigger.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

On top of that, the murder felt like a cop out to me. It would have been far more impressive if we were able to see Sherlock outsmart CAM with his wits, as Sherlock would rather than a gun.

But that was the whole point, wasn't it? Holmes' wits were, for once, no match for his opponent. His only options were to either not act at all or use brute force. A blunt instrument, actually, in the end.

Yep!

[Olivier 5]

Nice analyses, gentlemen.

I am perhaps most unsettled by our high functioning sociopath's murderous finale in episode 3 though. It is undeniably dramatic and tragic but somehow feels a bit wrong for a "hero". I can't for the life of me remember if Holmes killed anyone in the original stories so intentionally.

Well, Holmes knew the meeting at the Reichenbach Falls would probably end in the death of either Moriarty or him; he did not try to outwit Moriarty, but accepted the principle (alone, no help) as a gentleman, including the possibility of having to kill Moriarty to defend himelf.

In short, it was a gentlemen's duel.

Yet the stakes were very high, since everyone in the country, including the most powerful, was under the sway of this "businessman" who did not care for the consequences.

Since he had been hired by Lady .. something... , who ranks quite high in the Intelligence service, it was almost like being given the right to do whatever was necessary. Mycroft's reference to Bond is thus more than an amusing reference but a logical confirmation after consideration of the facts.

Personally, however, Mycroft does resent his brother having had to resort to this.

[Glóin the Dark 1,220]

"What have you done?" says Mycroft after Sherlock has shot the mastermind Magnussen.

Why couldn't Watson have said that? Thud! Credits!

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

"Oh misty eye of the mind palace below..."

[Incanus 5,713]

On top of that, the murder felt like a cop out to me. It would have been far more impressive if we were able to see Sherlock outsmart CAM with his wits, as Sherlock would rather than a gun.

But that was the whole point, wasn't it? Holmes' wits were, for once, no match for his opponent. His only options were to either not act at all or use brute force. A blunt instrument, actually, in the end.

It is a very effective ending in that it creates this insurmountable obstacle for Sherlock and he knows he has been bested. He still had a choice and chose to kill yet he apparently gets away with it, even though it first seems he won't. There is no punishment for this crime, the most awful crime to which Sherlock succumbed to in the extreme pressure. Yes he did it for the greater good you could say, but morally it is really an interesting conundrum and that is why it feels so horrifying. Hero gets away with murder, where any killer in this series would probably not.

This is of course not to say the justice is always done and everyone who deserves their punishment gets it. It just makes Holmes a bit less likeable as he in the end chose to murder, when he was bested in the game of wits. Or actually it balances between admiration and loathing. But as I said, it is a very gruelling choice he had to make and really illustrates his enormous friendship and love for Watson (and in lesser degree for Mary). It is a great achievement to make such a choice feel so important and dramatically weighty in a world of heroes who kill armies of bad guys in every movie without much moral qualms. Really succesful and thought provoking writing from Moffat.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I just watched His Last Vow again.

Interesting that even though Sherlock despises Mycroft, in his memory palace he always plays an authority figure (the judge in The Sigh Of Three, and one of the people telling him how to stay alive in this one)

Love the reference to The Empty House, even with a supposed dummy.

The episode is very carefully written so that Sherlock in deed has no other choice but to kill CAM.

Its interesting how he constantly underestimated him. Believing he had the file of Lord Blackwood in London, being wrong about the glasses, and ultimately the vaults.

CAM's final downfall was his superiority complex though. His desire to humiliate and control people. Belittling John by flicking his eye, humiliating Sherlock by boasting about his vaults not existing. Something he could have done after Mycrofts men arrived.

But Sherlock's act is a terrible one. And it would be interesting to see if the writers follow up on it in some way next series. I doubt they will send him to jail or anything like that. But actual feelings of remorse, or guilt, a crises of confidence that he has been defeated. There should be some acknowledgement.

Having Moriarty in the Mind Palace, taunting the dying Sherlock lends credence to the possibility of the character returning, which is exactly why I find it unlikely. Oh I'm sure Andrew Scott will be in it. As a nightmare, or for flashback stuff. But as a Moriarty that has survived?

It would make the already kinda ridiculous rooftop scene totally preposterous if both characters planned their deaths separately and both got away with it.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

A Study In Pink (The Unaired Pilot)

They did a 55 minute version of A Study With Pink to serve as the pilot for the series. It was later decided to retool to format to 90 minutes and the entire episode was re shot by a different director.

Interesting to compare this one to the now well known version.

For a the greatest part of the episode scenes are word for word identical. The 90 minute version has additional scenes though.

-The pilot has no montage of the previous victims being forced to take the pill, nor does it have the press conference that Sherlock interrupts with text messages.

-No Mycroft either. After leaving Sherlock left him at the crime scene, John goes to his old apartment. The scenes with the phones ringing, the pick up and the conversation with Mycroft are not there.

-The taxi chase is completely missing.

-The minor plot point of the pink woman writing "rache" on the floor while dying, and there fore the whole dead daughter/password plot is missing.

-Sherlock deduces the killer is a taxi driver while waiting in the restaurant with John for the cab to appear.

-Instead of the murderer going to Sherlock's house to pick him up and entice him to copme with him to show how he committed the murders Sherlock actually tries to confront him right after the scene in the restaurant (the one where John leaves his cane). The taxi driver drugs him, and takes him to Baker Street where they go through their "battle of minds".

This is probably the most important difference between the two episodes. In the 90 minute version Sherlock goes willingly, because of a burning desire to how how the taxi driver did it. He knew the gun was a fake. In the pilot Sherlock is kidnapped and brought to Baker Street (this is actually rather hard to believe)

-Because of this the whole stuff with the GPS on the pink lady's phone, and John using it to track Sherlock's position doesn't happen.

-The drugbust at Bakerstreet by Lestrade also doesnt happen.

-John still shoots the taxi driver, but we dont see him do it.

-The Moriarty subplot is missing. The taxi driver did not kill for money.

-Anderson in the pilot has the beard ho would only grow after he becomes obsessed with Sherlock still being alive

The cast is mostly the same, apart from Donovan who is played by a different actress. The art direction at Baker Street is rather different.

One of the main differences is the pacing. Sherlock is a very fast-paced show, but the pilot moves even quicker. Having Freeman and Cumberbatch exchange dialogue very fast. Too past if you are used to the 90 minute version.

And that's where the biggest difference comes in. The direction.

The pilot as directed by Coky Giedroyc is fine, serviceable...nothing really wrong with it. But unremarkable.

But it is completely missing the visual style that Paul McGuigan gave the 90 minute version. The texts to show what Sherlock is deducing, the crisp, digital look, the slo mo. Pretty much everything that became stylistically significant about Sherlock is missing from the pilot (they did do some bullet time though).

The pilot looks like a fairly standard TV show. The 90 minute version has motion has a far more interesting feel to it.

I am sure the success of the 2009 movie had a lot to do with this more cinematic style.

Also even with the stuff they added fro the 90 minute version, the story gets far more chance to breathe. Freeman and Cumberbatch get to add more nuance to their performances. Finetune things. The opportunity to add a little pause between a line of dialogue, little touches. It helps...

Both are fine in the pilot. Like everything in the pilot is fine. But by re-shooting it they have made essentially a decent episode of TV into something really excellent.

Lastly the score. Arnold and Price also scored the pilot. Many themes already turn up. BUT...the now well known theme for Sherlock Holmes, the one played on cimbalon is not there. I'm guessing it was added after the producers saw the Robert Downy Jr. film.

An interesting watch certainly. But the version they eventually aired is superior in almost every way.

[Jay 37,323]

Cool, I still haven't seen it. Maybe I won't bother....

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

It would actually be fun to watch this one, and then watch the 90 minute version (which you haven't seen for years, right).

Actually startling how different they feel even though it's essentially the same script acted by the same cast.

[Jay 37,323]

I've seen each of the 9 episodes of Sherlock exactly once, the day of or the day after they aired. Except for the first season, which we didn't watch until a couple months after it premiered.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

With series 3 i made it a point to rewatch the episode a few days after the broadcast.

It's amazing how many little things you pick up that you missed on the first showing.

For example I missed the newspaper headline about Lord Blackwood committing suicide in His Last Vow. Or the Redbeard reference in The Sigh Of Three.

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

Yeah it's a show that benefits hugely from obsessive rewatching.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Lol not obsessive.

Watched them twice, and ill probably go through the series again just before season 4. Quite easy to do with only 9 episodes so far.

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

I meant the way I watch it....

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

How do you watch it?

Once a week, in the lotus position, totally naked, but wearing a deerstalker?

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

You have been spying on me after all!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I went to my mind palace.

[Hlao-roo 389]

It’s Elementary, Sherlock: How the CBS procedural surpassed the BBC drama

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

Too bad it sucks.

[Olivier 5]

It’s Elementary, Sherlock: How the CBS procedural surpassed the BBC drama

Thanks!

I found it an excellent analysis, well thought-out.

The format surely does play a great part in the differences, both in time constraints (few episodes, albeit longer ones) and time luxury (many many months to write and rewrite a single episode or a trio of episodes), so that Sherlock's writers focus on crafting little gems, perfectly written and directed & edited, while those of Elementary work on the long run and do go deeper.

Boh series are great in their own rights and I love them both, but it's ture that, as the title suggests, one is mostly Sherlock-centered to the point of neglecting the development of the other characters, and the other considers the whole.

Sherlock's Lestrade and Elementary's policemen differ widely. Since i, too, have only seen each episode once, at the time it was broadcast, after so many episodes of Elementary, I was a bit taken aback by Sherlock's Lestrade, who I did not remember was really quite secondary, like Doyle's, and pretty clueless; though naturally leagues behind Holmes, Gregson & Bell do play a greater part in the investigations, we saw in the latest episode that Holmes' methods have rubbed off on Bell, with whom the relationship has changed, and even their version of Lestrade was more rounded, depite his being featured in ony one episode.

As noted in the review, while Sherlock's Watson is a stronger character than Doyle's, Elementary's Joan Watson does allow more room for development, for both Holmes and her.

As I said, I think that it boils down to the format and the approach, both being strongly tied together: Sherlock's trios of episodes are very finely crafted, highly enjoyable, clever, pretty much self-contained entities; Elementar is not as flashy but can probe the characters deeper, and can obviously provide a lot more mysteries.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Elementary seems to me to be like, just another American TV show. I'm sure its quite good, but many shows does what it does.

Sherlock is an event. Only 3 eps once in a blue moon. Don't miss out!

Feels more special somehow.

[Quintus 5,399]

http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/sherlock/28953/sherlock-steven-moffat-and-the-chances-of-a-sherlock-movie

More work for Hans?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

At this point I don't really see what it would contribute?

These are basically films anyway.

[Quintus 5,399]

Cash?

[publicist 4,643]

After watching the first 20 minutes Season 3 Episode 1, i was initially worried that they dumbed the thing down to another noisy show full of indulgent flashy jump cuts and obnoxious sound design for the ADHS generation, but i was sold at the end of it, even more so on Episode 2 with the awkward wedding ceremony. You certainly feel that the team and the actors were allowed huge input in the acting and writing department despite the expected big production values.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Meh.

Also, what is the difference between film and TV these days?

Why would it take 3 years and countless millions of dollars (pounds) to do a Sherlock film while they can do 3 90 minute episodes with a very complex directorial style in basically 18 months?

[Quintus 5,399]

Spondoolies?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Which are?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Arnold gives the piano motif from TWINE's Pipline a nice little cameo in the music for the pre credits sequence.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

The series 3 soundtrack is now available for immediate lossless download, or mp3 download, or physical CD order through SilvaScreen Records:

http://silvascreenmusic.greedbag.com/buy/sherlock-music-from-series/

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Looks like everything i want in on there!

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

Arnold gives the piano motif from TWINE's Pipline a nice little cameo in the music for the pre credits sequence.

Which pre-credit sequence?

[Kusi 16]

It's in the track "Lestrade - The Movie" from the second episode "The Sign Of Three" Also notable is a short brass line which could be directly take from his ID4 score

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

Listening to the first half of "Floating Dust" makes me wish Arnold was returning to Bond.

Assuming it was Arnold and not Price.

[KK 3,307]

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Watched The Empty Hearse yesterday since it aired on Dutch TV (finally).

Structurally it is by far the thinnest of all 9 episodes so far, with the underground terror treat feeling far less prominent then the story arcs concerning Sherlock's return, his friendship with John etc etc.

It's very much a case of the writers indulging in 2 years of internet hype. For a show that always been a bit meta, this is more about itself then usual. It's about Sherlock coming back and being Sherlock. At the expense of the actual case.

Nevertheless, The Empty Hearse is brilliant because it's so often hilarious and exhilarating.

While structurally odd, the script is full of invention and packed with witty dialogue, acted to perfection by every cast member.

Cumberbatch gets to act all outrageous, but it's John inner turmoil that impresses the most. His reaction to seeing Sherlock (the subtle double take) is incredibly convincing.

So many individual scenes that stand out in one way or another that the episode never feels boring.

The tube station bomb scene does feel dramatically false though.

Also, I dislike the concept that Sherlock and Mycroft were fooling Moriarty all along, making Sherlock's disgrace in the season 2 finale utterly irrelevant (on occasion the shows cleverness gets in the way of the dramatic element)

[Sweeping Strings 2,346]

'The Empty Hearse' sidelines the case a bit, but nowhere near as much as 'The Sign Of Three'. Only one of the 9 so far I've flat-out disliked.