Sherlock Holmes for the 21st Century - *SPOILERS*

[Fricka]

Well, did you watch that third episode, becke? If so, what are your impressions? Would you say it exceeded your expectations, or was there another let-down at the ending?  I had taken an evening nap, intending to watch it, but when it came on, I found myself disinclined to watch it, and so clicked it off. The thing is, as we have discussed, is the endings. I hate feeling at loose ends at the end of a mystery,  and that's how I felt after the first two episodes. Of course, if it's a cliiff-hanger, or the first of two connected episodes, that's a different story, but this wasn't like that. You know my previous theory--that there might be several writers working on this? When I saw the credits running, I saw the writer's name, and apparently he is the active agent in getting these episodes into being. Unfortunately, it seems to me that his ambition outstrips his writing ability, and so I decided not to watch. I assume there will eventually be a re-run, and if I hear positive feedback from others in here who liked it, I MIGHT decide to watch it later.

[dulcinea3]

I managed to catch a rerun of last week's show and also saw the one last night.  But I don't want to give away spoilers, since Fricka hasn't seen it.  The series is all right, not great.  I'm not sure the special effect of flashing graphics like words, numbers, etc. on the screen is very effective.  I don't really understand what they're trying to do with that.

I hadn't realized that there was a special about Sherlock Holmes on afterwards, so I missed the first half hour or so of it (finishing up watching a movie starring, coincidentally, Martin Freeman, along with Gwyneth Paltrow, Penelope Cruz, and Simon Pegg, called The Good Night, that I had started watching earlier in the day On Demand).  Then I was going to turn off the TV and start reading The Picture of Dorian Gray (for the Classics club here).  When I turned off On Demand, and the picture returned to PBS, what should I see but Stephen Fry talking, and before I figured out what the show was about, a photo of Oscar Wilde, and the narrator mentioning that Wilde had used some commission money to write his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray!  Twilight Zone time!!!  Then I wanted to know what the show was, and found out that it was about Sherlock Holmes, so I watched the rest of it.  I guess the connection to Wilde was that Conan Doyle also received a commission, which he used to write The Sign of the Four, if I figured that out correctly, and also later they mentioned that Conan Doyle had found out that Wilde was a fan.  The show was interesting, and they also mentioned the Brett series near the end and what an excellent portrayal of Holmes that was.  Apparently, Sherlock Holmes was based on a professor or mentor of Conan Doyle's named Dr. Joseph Bell, who was famous for coming to conclusions based on trivial details that he observed.  One Holmes expert, when asked her opinion of the inspiration for Watson, believes that he is based on Conan Doyle himself, so Watson's stories about Holmes are kind of like Conan Doyle telling stories about Bell. 

So, Mystery is over for a while, but the show about John Lennon next week looks interesting.

[becke_davis]

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Fricka wrote:

Well, did you watch that third episode, becke? If so, what are your impressions? Would you say it exceeded your expectations, or was there another let-down at the ending?  I had taken an evening nap, intending to watch it, but when it came on, I found myself disinclined to watch it, and so clicked it off. The thing is, as we have discussed, is the endings. I hate feeling at loose ends at the end of a mystery,  and that's how I felt after the first two episodes. Of course, if it's a cliiff-hanger, or the first of two connected episodes, that's a different story, but this wasn't like that. You know my previous theory--that there might be several writers working on this? When I saw the credits running, I saw the writer's name, and apparently he is the active agent in getting these episodes into being. Unfortunately, it seems to me that his ambition outstrips his writing ability, and so I decided not to watch. I assume there will eventually be a re-run, and if I hear positive feedback from others in here who liked it, I MIGHT decide to watch it later.

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I saw it, and like the other episodes, it started out great. But it quickly went over the top, and lost all semblance of a plot. SPOILER AHEAD It also ended in a cliffhanger, which I HATE. 

My husband and I agreed: we like the acting, we like the premise, we like many aspects of the series, including the way it is filmed.In this episode, there were references to some of the original Holmes stories, which was fun. I'd like to see them update more of those instead of going off into lala-land with these plots. The endings have been a let-down for me every time.

Don't let that stop you from watching them, though - they are still worth viewing. 

[becke_davis]

http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Reviews-Essays/Sherlock-Lives/ba-p/3767

[Kimbeey13]

Okay, I bought this series not to long ago when B&N was having a 50% off sale on all British DVDs and I immediately went back to my dorm room and popped it in. It was FANTASTIC! The episodes didn't even feel like 90 minutes long - more like five minutes at most. Though I have to be honest here - I have have never read the original Sherlock Holmes (in fact I haven't read anything that has dealt with Sherlock at all). I did, however, go out and pick up the leather bound edition and I do plan to read it at some point in 2011, not to mention all the other books out there that have Sherlock as the main character (or deals with him in some way) outside of Arthur Conan Doyle's work.

The Complete Sherlock Holmes (Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics)

  

[becke_davis]

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Kimbeey13 wrote:

Okay, I bought this series not to long ago when B&N was having a 50% off sale on all British DVDs and I immediately went back to my dorm room and popped it in. It was FANTASTIC! The episodes didn't even feel like 90 minutes long - more like five minutes at most. Though I have to be honest here - I have have never read the original Sherlock Holmes (in fact I haven't read anything that has dealt with Sherlock at all). I did, however, go out and pick up the leather bound edition and I do plan to read it at some point in 2011, not to mention all the other books out there that have Sherlock as the main character (or deals with him in some way) outside of Arthur Conan Doyle's work.

The Complete Sherlock Holmes (Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics)

  

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I admit, for classic mystery I'm more likely to go to Poe or Christie than to Conan Doyle, but I did enjoy this series. There is a lot of shark-jumping in the plots - even so, I enjoyed the acting and the devices like the thought bubbles showing Holmes' thought process.

If you like the Sherlock Holmes stories, you might be interested in Laurie R. King's Holmes/Mary Russell series that takes up where Conan Doyle left off.

The Beekeeper's Apprentice (Mary Russell Series #1)

 

[becke_davis]

Sherlock Shrugged: Sherlock Season 2 (2012)

http://thepassingtramp.blogspot.com/2012/06/sherlock-shrugged-sherlock-season-2.html

[basson_mommy12]

My husband sat down while I started watching the season premiere and of course, it starts where the cliffhanger left off last season, so that didn't make any sense to him, but he LOVED this show! He loved it so much, he immediately streamed it on Netflix and watched the previous season. That made the beginning of season 2 make much more sense and then he watched the remainder of the season on our DVR.

He so rarely latches on to a show like this. I'm kinda glad it's short with longer breaks between seasons. It's much more likely to keep his interest. Shows like NCIS interest him, but there's such a commitment involved, he fades after the first 100 episodes. LOL

[becke_davis]

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basson_mommy12 wrote:

My husband sat down while I started watching the season premiere and of course, it starts where the cliffhanger left off last season, so that didn't make any sense to him, but he LOVED this show! He loved it so much, he immediately streamed it on Netflix and watched the previous season. That made the beginning of season 2 make much more sense and then he watched the remainder of the season on our DVR.

He so rarely latches on to a show like this. I'm kinda glad it's short with longer breaks between seasons. It's much more likely to keep his interest. Shows like NCIS interest him, but there's such a commitment involved, he fades after the first 100 episodes. LOL

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It took NCIS awhile to grow on me, but now I'm hooked. I'm still working my way through the old episodes. I like it when stories start and finish in one episode, so I prefer the older episodes to last season's multi-episode storyline.

My husband likes the new Sherlock, too. We both like it even when we spot major plot loopholes as in some episodes in Season One. I'm very curious to see how the next season will begin!