Was a decent watch. The guy playing Holmes seemed to have an almost Aspergery thing going on, which fit the character in my opinion.
Do you want to have sex? I think we should have sex. CASUAL SEX.
I'm Only Sleeping
The times when Sherlock uses his deductions on the police squad are hilarious and his behaviour overall is spot on, I think. The fake out with Mycroft gave me a "phew" because the guy struck me as really rather narmy.
... which would have made it slightly unbearable for him to be the arch-enemy. Also narmy: the serial killer. I've seen that actor in other stuff and he just strikes me as a rather narmy actor and the big scream of Moriarty, a name everybody saw coming and was in no way a dramatic reveal was a great case.
Dinsdale!
. I've seen that actor in other stuff and he just strikes me as a rather narmy actorThat's Mark Gatiss, co-creator of Sherlock. Wrote some Doctor Who Expanded Universe novels, wrote some episodes of the new series, and starred in one too. Also notable as being The League Of Gentlemen. He was pretty narmy in The Lazarus Experiment, but much less so in the three-part horror story he did called Crooked House.
No, I meant the serial killer. Which is why I mentioned him right before that statement. Philip Davis. He's a recognisable British actor so obviously he's been on Doctor Who (Fires of Pompei). I saw him in "Whitechapel" where he plays the earthy DS Miles. Did. Not. Work. The scene in that where his character tries to do some clever deduction about who betrayed his squad was just laughable.
However, Davis can do a smary creep well. Normalish bloke who is actually a bit of a shit, that he can do. However creepy serial killer, not so much. For this character it actually made him more original. No JigSaw rip off, no easy Freudian Excuse. Just sort of your worst fear about cabbies.
It was definitely Nightmare Fuel. Damn you Moffat! Not only do I have to worry about Angel statues and cracks in the walls, but now I'll never want to get in a cab again!
It ain't over 'till the ring hits the lava.
Richard III?!
I liked it, but I like most things Sherlock Holmes-y. I'm also pleased to see, between this and the recent * movie, that Watson is no longer being portrayed as a bumbling idiot. I hope the change sticks.
As far as the serial killer goes, it was a good problem to show Sherlock's character but I wish it hadn't reminded me of The Princess Bride so much. Besides, to get four out of four, the guy had to have the game rigged some way. Also, I figured out the "cab driver" answer before Sherlock, and I can't tell if I was supposed to or not.
edited 30th Jul '10 5:31:07 PM by MissHap
The Cosmic Dickwad
He dropped a hint or two early in the story...if anything it's weird that he didn't figure it out. Rule of Drama, I suppose.
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Re the serial killer - they took the method and basic idea from the original Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet.
So it's The Princess Bride which is reminding you of Sherlock Holmes.
It ain't over 'till the ring hits the lava.
Richard III?!
^Thanks. I guess that proves I've watched that movie more often than I've read A Study in Scarlet. Makes sense, I haven't read the novels nearly as often as the short stories.
^^ I was surprised that Sherlock * took so long to figure it out, as well. When he started chasing the cab I was sure he had it.
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Seriously, did we really need two full explanations of the wedding-ring? 
Oh man, this show is amazing for Sherlock nerds like me. Loved the bit about drunk Watson's brother trying to plug in his cell phone.
The mayo-lution will not be televised.
After two episodes, I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed at the very weak female characters. We had the awkward and easily manipulated forensic pathologist swooning over Holmes, the Scotland Yard woman introduced by Holmes' deduction that she spent her time on her knees in her male coworker's flat (and who in later scenes does nothing but bitch) and fussy old miss Hudson, who seems even more helpless and weak than in Doyle's works. I know that the original works never had a focus on female characters anyway, but I would appreciate it if the few that appeared weren't caricatures of themselves. (Am I just overly sensitive because I still have Moffat's misogynist comments ringing in my ears? I do like his writing on Doctor Who though) That said, I do like Cumberbatch and Freeman in their roles. I think their roles were adapted well to our times. The first case did not seem clever at all (making people swallow pills at gunpoint, meh) and the use of mobile phones is a bit excessive as if to make a point that This Is Modern, but all in all I rather liked it.
edited 6th Aug '10 9:00:31 AM by Marseille
（´∀｀）
I just saw the first episode of this. I've been a big fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories for a long time (I've even visited his apartment and met Watson! And bought a deerstalker cap! :P) but have generally had pretty mixed feelings about all the adaptations. And by mixed feelings I mean I've been pretty put off by them. I've never been able to get into the Jeremy Brett series at all, despite everybody going on about how he is the best Holmes ever. Meh. Also I still have a bad taste in my mouth about the Guy Ritchie film, and I haven't even seen that thing.
This series is the first Sherlock Holmes adaptation that I've actually found intriguing. I liked the portrayal of Holmes very much, as well as the relationship between him and Watson. They play off each other so well, and by the end of the first episode it's totally believable that these two can totally be BBFS 4 LYFE Y'ALL! Looking forward to seeing more, though I'm putting off watching the second episode because then I'll be one step closer to the end of it. Curse you British Brevity!
JESUS CHRIST IT'S THE FEDS GET IN THE CAR
Where can I see this? I get BBC America, but it looks like they aren't getting it (either that or my Dish search function sucks). And Google has given me nothing.
BBC America aren't getting it until the Autumn/Fall. Don't ask me why.
It ain't over 'till the ring hits the lava.
Andy Dyslexia
Well, that was disappointing.
After such a great build-up over Moriarty's identity, they really could have done something a lot more original than an over-the-top, hammy villain.
For some reason I had gotten it into my head that Moriarty was female, and was alternating between Mrs Hudson, Lestrade's sergeant, and the doctor that had a crush on Sherlock. But IMO, any other character in the show (Sherlock, Lestrade, Mycroft, any-bleeding-one else!) would have been a better choice than the camp 'boyfriend' shoved gracelessly into an earlier scene, just to give the pretense of foreshadowing.
I'll still be tuning in next season though...
edited 10th Aug '10 3:52:11 PM by AndyDyslexia
The Cosmic Dickwad
The camp boyfriend thing disappointed me too, on some level. Nothing specifically wrong with it, it just bugs me for some reason.
The cliffhanger ending also annoyed me, particularly as we have to wait more than a year to see how it ends :(
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See, it felt ok that I wanted to punch Moriarty in the face, your villain doesn't always have to be cool, it can be enjoyable just to have them be despicable and having them act in a way that plays that up but here I just wanted to punch him in the face. Man Behind the Man who was holding people hostage with bombs and blew up an old lady? That guy wasn't on screen, it was just Jim the Ever Punchable.
What. Just watched The Great Game and wow, what a crushingly disappointing ending to an otherwise great episode. I mean, really?
This campy, flamboyant out of nowhere character is the reveal they've been building up to all this time? He could've come straight out of the Adam West-era batman series! I expected them turning Moriarty into The Syndicate (they certainly hinted that way) so yeah, they surprised me but not in an exactly good way.
They obviously had to update the character but this? How was the design meeting for this? OK, so we need a twist for that Moriarty fella. Make him a chick? Nah, we have to keep the Ho Yay at critical mass and having a female character with more importance then a piece of furniture now after 4.5 hours would be stupid. Another established character? Not really. Oh I know, let's take this sophisticated criminal mastermind and turn him into a deranged circus clown, no one will expect this!
edited 11th Aug '10 12:39:20 PM by Ana
Well, they've been playing with this idea of surrogate voices during the entire episode. It wouldn't surprise me if this guy was an actor or The Dragon or something of the sort. Seriously, the real Moriarty cannot really be this camp. They've been so thorough with callbacks to the original stories that it's got to be literally painful to write this. Although it does say something about people who like to be the Voice with an Internet Connection.
By the by, isn't it interesting that Moriarty's worst fear is burning? And now there's that explosive jacket about to go off.
edited 11th Aug '10 2:25:19 PM by Maridee
ophelia, you're breaking my heart
Well Moriarty could be punning on The Goon Show. The character himself, I mean. He calls himself Jim Moriarty, which is also the name of the character performed by Spike Milligan. If Sherlock Holmes never happened before the 21st Century, then Spike Milligan's character is the original. And now my head hurts...
One of the things they were very careful to establish is that Sherlock is a really good actor. Likewise Jim the IT guy also managed to fool Sherlock - so he's also a really good actor. Which means we can't trust that the performance by the pool isn't exactly that - a performance.
edited 12th Aug '10 1:51:21 PM by Bluesqueak
It ain't over 'till the ring hits the lava.
See ALL the stars!
^ Does that mean we should be expecting Grytpype-Thynne? 
edited 12th Aug '10 1:51:34 PM by Yej
Da Rules excuse all the inaccuracy in the world. Listen to them, not me.
Soo... anyone else watching this? I'd be surprised if not. Seems like ideal troper-bait; a Sherlock Holmes update by Steven Moffat, with more than enough Ho Yay to keep the fangirls salivating.
Things I liked:
Any other 'pinions?
edited 25th Jul '10 11:28:32 PM by Iaculus
What's precedent ever done for us?