Sherlock (Seasons 1 and 2) - (2010, 2012) I approach adaptations to the screen of my favorite books with great trepidation. It is so easy to fall short. When you're plowing a field that has been so thoroughly explored as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes (I just reviewed "The Complete Sherlock Holmes" e-book) you face even greater challenges. Trying to find a way between just the same old interpretation and going completely over the edge is tough.
On the whole this version, created by Mark Gatiss and Dr. Who's Steven Moffat, does a remarkably good job. With two exceptions.
The high points first. They choose to bring Holmes and Watson forward to today. Always risky since Victorian England is an integral part of the original stories. But Moffatt and Gatiss love the canon and are astoundingly respectful even as they make the needed changes. Benedict Cumberbatch is wonderful as the Great Detective and Martin Freeman is absolutely scene stealing as John Watson. Watson tells his stories now via a blog and just like the originals Holmes becomes a star even though he doesn't wish it. The two leads absolutely sparkle together, the dialogue and characters are just amazing. The updates of the stories ("A Study in Pink", "The Blind Banker" and "The Great Game" draw from "A Study in Scarlet", "The Naval Treaty" and "The Five Orange Pips" among others) are done with great fidelity to the originals while being completely of the 21st Century. Really well done. In the second season they take on three of the best known stories - "The Hound of the Baskervilles (The Hounds of Baskerville), "A Scandal in Bohemia" (A Scandal in Belgravia") and "The Final Problem" (Reichenbach Falls). That last episode is absolutely brilliant.
There are two places where Holmes interpretations almost always step wrong. They are Irene Adler and James Moriarty. And Sherlock gets both of them badly wrong.
Irene Adler is always played as the great unrequited romance of Holmes's life. Sadly that's just wrong. Adler fascinates him but there is no romance there. But no one can resist. They want it there and so they put it there. To make matters worse they decide (for no good story telling reason I can discern other than titillation) to make her a dominatrix and have her wander around semi-naked or completely naked for long stretches of the episode. Adler is also supposed to be one of the great beauties of the age and I just don't think Lara Pulver pulls it off. Interesting note that Oona Chaplin, granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin, has a supporting role in the episode. Adler appears in exactly one story where she shows herself to be the completely modern woman. Smart, in control, able to rumble with the big boys and capable of beating Holmes. Why does she need to be anything else?
Then we have Dr. James Moriarty. The greatest criminal mind the world has ever known. A man with a genius that even Holmes acknowledges as his equal. Or as "Sherlock" presents it, Jim Moriarty. A chattering psychopath who preens and prances and just generally embarrasses an other fine version of the classic stories. I could tolerate Adler but most of Moriarty is just repellent and wrong. From a cold and cunning mind we are left with the currently popular psycho-sadist villain (what is wrong with us that we seem to insist on these kind of characters?) I called the final episode of Season 2 brilliant but it nearly gets derailed by the awful character created by Moffat and Gatiss. No disrespect for Andrew Scott who plays him. He gives his all in the role. Beyond that we have the apparently irresistible urge to make Moriarty the great recurring villain. While he is mentioned in passing in a couple stories the great criminal mastermind really only appears in "The Final Problem".
Oh and they get Mycroft physically wrong. Most versions do. Holmes's elder brother is described as "...heavily built and massive..." and Mark Gatiss who plays him is anything but those. But a trifle.
So in the end where are we left? If you know nothing but the basics of Holmes (and most of us do) you will almost assuredly love this version. On the other hand if you know and love Holmes in detail you will still probably love the series but your viewing will be interrupted periodically by angry shouting at the screen. Watch it anyway.
Rating - **** Recommended (and highly so)
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