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The character of Sherlock Holmes has been enjoying quite a revival since Guy Ritchie’s 2010 film of the same name brought us a much more action-packed take on the Holmes/Watson duo with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law in the starring roles.
Here in the U.S., we’ve seen the premiere of a new TV series called Elementary that’s basically a contemporary version of the Holmes/Watson pairing, with Jonny Lee Miller cast as Sherlock and Lucy Liu as (a female) Watson. In Elementary, Sherlock is a consultant to the NYPD, called in on the more unusual crimes, or when the usual detectives are stymied.
The show does not acknowledge that there ever was a famous literary figure whose name was Sherlock Holmes, but it includes some of the key tropes of the original books. First, Holmes is a recovering addict. Second, Watson is a doctor who no longer practices medicine. Third, Holmes is a brilliant misanthrope, a man obsessed with solving puzzles and gifted (or maybe cursed, depending on how you look at it) with an uncanny observational sense. His ability to surmise everything from a person’s profession to recent travel locales after just a few moments spent looking at them is unnerving, but his seeming inability to keep all that he knows to himself is alienating.
Jonny Lee Miller’s Holmes is something of a womanizer and a loner, but glimmers of concern for his fellow human beings shine through occasionally.
The BBC America show Sherlock (5/5 stars average Amazon review rating, currently priced at $4.99 per episode or $9.99 for all three episodes per series, currently FREE for Prime members to view) has a few things in common with Elementary, but it’s actually quite a bit darker and different.
Sherlock has a modern-day setting and doesn’t acknowledge the existence of a literary Holmes, and Holmes in this incarnation is a brilliant, misanthropic recovering addict who acts as a consulting detective to Scotland Yard. However, he’s also a self-admitted, high-functioning sociopath who never shows any evidence of care about those around him beyond the part those people may play in the mystery at hand, or apart from his highly evolved sense of honor and fair play.
The part of Watson in Sherlock is played by Martin Freeman, the star of the new Hobbit movies. This Watson is an Afghan war veteran who’s a dead shot with a gun and quite brave, to boot. As you’d expect, he also provides a certain amount of the comic relief, mostly on account of his ongoing amazement at Holmes’ skills of deduction and breathtaking cluelessness about normal human relations.
Sherlock also introduces Holmes’ arch-nemesis Moriarty early on, and sets him up as the criminal mastermind whose intellectual prowess rivals that of Holmes.
My Take
I’ve been watching and enjoying the Elementary TV series, and Jonny Lee Miller is excellent in it, but I have to say that overall I think Sherlock is the better show. I love how fearless the writers of Sherlock are, never giving in to the impulse to make Holmes “nice” or heroically self-sacrificing. This is a Holmes who’s fascinating to watch and definitely worthy of admiration, but he’s also a man you’d probably never want to meet in real life.
He reminds me of Dr. Gregory House, the damaged, addicted, yet brilliant doctor from the TV show of the same name. Like House, Holmes can leave no puzzle unsolved. Like House, Holmes is a master of observation and inference. Like House, Holmes is grossly insensitive to the emotional needs of those around him, and has no patience for others’ human failings.
Watson is an interesting character in his own right in this show, and his evident empathy and sympathy for others creates a sharp contrast between himself and Holmes. In the end, it’s clear that both types of personalities are needed to complement one another, not just in terms of the characters’ crime-solving but also in terms of the writing and characterization on the show. It’s also very refreshing to see a Watson who’s not only intelligent and knowledgeable about medicine, but also handy with a pistol and brave enough to step right into the fray of battle without hesitation.
Anyone who’s a fan of House, Elementary or the Guy Ritchie Holmes films will probably like Sherlock a lot. Seasons one and two are both included in the Prime library. I rate the show 5/5 stars.