...Well, with that incendiary title out of the way...
Look, the primary legitimate criticisms of this show I've read boil down to the fact that it's Yet Another Network Cop Show and Yet Another Troubled Genius Show with Holmes elements bolted on. I don't think that's entirely true, but it's certainly often true. It's got better taste than, say, the many clones of CSI, but any such program must stand in the twin shadows of House and Law and Order, and inevitably fall a bit short.
I guess I find a Holmes police procedural a bit more palatable than, say, a Lucifer one. And while the episode-to-episode mysteries aren't all perfect, they are generally clever enough to be enjoyable. I get how someone who overstuffs on cop shows might get tired of it, but... well, I just watch the ones I like.
Also, I really do like the clever twists on the source material's mythology. Many of them are spoiler-y, but they're actually genuinely creative and well-executed, with a particular bait-and-switch even being what I'd call brilliant.
Sure, the characters aren't perfect. There've been more than a dozen iconic Holmes performances, and the main cast generally doesn't measure up. And the writing isn't always as on-point as I'd like. Most of this, I put down to the problems of being a network show with a network budget.
...And, finally, the part you've been waiting for since the title, the Sherlock comparisons. Look. At the end of the day, these shows are apples and oranges. But, since I mildly liked the apple and intemperately hated the orange, I feel I owe an explanation.
Sherlock pissed me right off. It was trying way too hard to be clever and edgy and Moffat-ish. Elementary just sets things in the modern day, without comment, and if you catch how it's being clever with it, good on you. Sherlock grinds your nose into it with obnoxious cinematography and constant self-congratulatory jokes about how clever it's being. Elementary isn't afraid to actually give Holmes a bit of human fragility, and while that might be in some sense trend-chasing, it's much, much more tolerable than the Sherlock approach of just making him perfect, making all his flaws conveniently work in his favor, and having literally every sympathetic character gush about him. Compared to Elementary, it is shocking how little effort is put into trying new things with the characters or story. And any advantages Sherlock can claim to have are largely the result in differences in the production process across the Atlantic, rather than actual, you know, solid quality, including its excellent cast.
Elementary might not be an incredible show, but it's a perfectly functional one with some genuinely great ideas. I'd rather have that than some trying-too-hard-to-be-cool show that annoys me too much to appreciate the performances any day.
Much better than Sherlock.
...Well, with that incendiary title out of the way...
Look, the primary legitimate criticisms of this show I've read boil down to the fact that it's Yet Another Network Cop Show and Yet Another Troubled Genius Show with Holmes elements bolted on. I don't think that's entirely true, but it's certainly often true. It's got better taste than, say, the many clones of CSI, but any such program must stand in the twin shadows of House and Law and Order, and inevitably fall a bit short.
I guess I find a Holmes police procedural a bit more palatable than, say, a Lucifer one. And while the episode-to-episode mysteries aren't all perfect, they are generally clever enough to be enjoyable. I get how someone who overstuffs on cop shows might get tired of it, but... well, I just watch the ones I like.
Also, I really do like the clever twists on the source material's mythology. Many of them are spoiler-y, but they're actually genuinely creative and well-executed, with a particular bait-and-switch even being what I'd call brilliant.
Sure, the characters aren't perfect. There've been more than a dozen iconic Holmes performances, and the main cast generally doesn't measure up. And the writing isn't always as on-point as I'd like. Most of this, I put down to the problems of being a network show with a network budget.
...And, finally, the part you've been waiting for since the title, the Sherlock comparisons. Look. At the end of the day, these shows are apples and oranges. But, since I mildly liked the apple and intemperately hated the orange, I feel I owe an explanation.
Sherlock pissed me right off. It was trying way too hard to be clever and edgy and Moffat-ish. Elementary just sets things in the modern day, without comment, and if you catch how it's being clever with it, good on you. Sherlock grinds your nose into it with obnoxious cinematography and constant self-congratulatory jokes about how clever it's being. Elementary isn't afraid to actually give Holmes a bit of human fragility, and while that might be in some sense trend-chasing, it's much, much more tolerable than the Sherlock approach of just making him perfect, making all his flaws conveniently work in his favor, and having literally every sympathetic character gush about him. Compared to Elementary, it is shocking how little effort is put into trying new things with the characters or story. And any advantages Sherlock can claim to have are largely the result in differences in the production process across the Atlantic, rather than actual, you know, solid quality, including its excellent cast.
Elementary might not be an incredible show, but it's a perfectly functional one with some genuinely great ideas. I'd rather have that than some trying-too-hard-to-be-cool show that annoys me too much to appreciate the performances any day.