Mark my words, they changed Watson into a chick because they wanted to have their cake and eat it too. 'We need sexual tension, but we mustn't alienate the Bible Belt with homo-eroticism, so let's hedge our bets.'
Um... except there's very blatantly no sexual tension between Sherlock and Watson in this show and Word Of God claims there isn't going to be any? In fact, their relationship in this show is one of the better (and only) examples of a platonic, yet meaningful, friendship between a man and a woman I've seen in modern pop culture.
I agree that Elementary isn't particularly innovative, the crimes fairly mundane, the look and feel is classic "crime procedural," and overall the show doesn't offer much we haven't seen before — on the surface. What it does offer is a show that's actually pretty rewarding if you look beyond the superficial things and look a little deeper. There's a heart and maturity to it that I haven't seen in many other shows, certainly not Sherlock Holmes adaptations — and I appreciate that it makes damn sure that we see that New York isn't just white-straight-cisgender-heterosexual-middleclass people, and that the people of color and minorities are always treated as actual people and not as campy stereotypes.
It also offers a show where being smarter than average doesn't make you "Special," nor does it entitle you to treat people like your inferiors — as Sherlock Holmes here is often reminded. Speaking as someone who got really tired of seeing a certain other Sherlock Holmes bully and verbally abuse people around him with few if any real repercussions, I approve. ^_^
Good points, though there hasn't yet been any mainstream adaptions of Holmes where the "homoeroticism" has gone further than gay jokes, so in comparison to all other adaptions doing absolutely nothing new with Watson and Holmes, the gender flip is a step up.
Um... except there's very blatantly no sexual tension between Sherlock and Watson in this show and Word Of God claims there isn't going to be any?
You must not be familiar with how TV interviews work. See, there is no polygraph machine, and...
Anyway, snark aside, you're both right, it's hardly a bad show. In fact it's okay. I'm just not in the market for 'okay'.
I'm a skeptical squirrel
I know generally a defensive fan is supposed to go into huge big rants about everything wrong about a negative review, but honestly, the only thing I feel an extreme urge to complain about is, "also Watson's a surgeon, so we'll get to spend half of our time in TV's favorite setting: the goddamned hospital."
She's no longer a surgeon. Having watched the first two seasons, I can only think of a few scenes that take place in a hospital, even counting ones where characters are hanging around just outside one.
Plinkett reference?
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Aims for the middle - Hits it perfectly
I didn't expect great things from Elementary. My initial thought was, "Please don't set it in New York." In fairness, it's our (Americans) closest analog to London, and our recent attempts at, say, Chicago-based shows tanked. The problem is that this setting has been mind for all its worth. Furthermore, post-Giulliani New York City isn't exactly a hotbed of crime. Hotbed of winos and halal food, yes. Manhattan is a big mall.
(As an aside, this is why I sort of liked the reboot of Spider-Man. It stuck to nighttime and make the city look as menacing as it did in Kojak's day. Not here.)
Next, Elementary is not very ambitious. I can see rabid fans of Holmes and young noobs (13-21) loving the crap out of it. Geezers like me (28) can spot all of the imagery lifted from past shows. Miller may as well be Dr. House, right down to the juvenile dress sense and taste for hookers. Moriarty was lifted straight from Law & Order Criminal Intent, right down to the method Holmes uses to resolve the case. Watson isn't defined at all, which is hysterical given how silly the gender change is. Some executive wanted to have their cake and eat it too. 'We need sexual tension, but we mustn't alienate the Bible Belt with homo-eroticism; let's hedge our bets. Boy, I sure love Moonlighting." Talk about out of touch. What's the biggest draw in Sherlock? Cumberbatch and Freeman.
Also Watson's a surgeon, so we'll get to spend half of our time in TV's favorite setting: the goddamned hospital.
The show offers literally nothing innovative and refuses to take risks. It's a combinaton doctor/cop show in NYC, and those are a dime a dozen.