serai | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

So last night I watched the new Sherlock. Christ, I was EXHAUSTED afterwards. All that bling-bling sparkle-sparkle LOOK AT US AND HOW CLEVER WE ARE. It was a relief to get back to the more story-and-character-focused calm of Elementary.

I did like the little hat-tip to fanfic writers, though. Cute!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Do you live in the UK? Sherlock's season three hasn't started airing yet in the US. I recorded Elementary this week, but haven't watched it yet. I have never seen this show, but so many people love it that I decided to give it a look.

Nope, I live in L.A. Downloaded the show online. ;)

You downloaded season 3? Where did you find it, if you don't mind my asking?

I get most of my TV eps from an online community I belong to. Unfortunately, their membership is closed right now. I also torrent some things I can't get there.

Thanks. I have downloaded a few things from iTunes, but I don't have sufficient bandwidth to download much...not like people who have cable and unlimited Internet. I'm in the rural White Mountains area of northern New Hampshire and satellite Internet is all that's available here. It's horribly expensive, but there's no choice if you want an Internet connection. Cable companies aren't interested because the population is too low to make it worth the time and expense of stringing cable.

We'll have Sherlock in less that two weeks. I've learned to be patient out of necessity.

Elementary is wonderful. Personally, I think it's a better show than Sherlock. It's not nearly so impressed with itself, for one thing - like I said, all that sparkly FX stuff comes off narcissistic to me. Plus, Holmes is not nearly as much of an asshole as he is on the British version (though that Sherlock is slowly coming around.) This is a sore point for me, as I went back to reread the canon last year and discovered that Holmes was actually nowhere near as ill-tempered, snotty and rude as he's made out to be in modern versions. It's that whole antihero-worship nonsense, the idea that a protagonist can't possibly be interesting if he's decent, polite, and well-mannered, grrrr.

Elementary is also doing far more interesting things with the canon characters, in my opinion. If you jump in now, you're going to be a bit confused (if you know the canon, that is), because their take is quite creative in some respects. I really like where they're going with it - the directions feel more organic than in the British version, where I can feel the strain of the writers trying to be original and impressive rather than just getting on with it. All in all, I prefer the US version, though I'll keep watching the British one because frankly I fucking love Martin Freeman and will watch anything he does. (Have for years, actually. Have you seen his Rembrandt in Nightwatching?)

I haven't seen Elementary yet, but the British Sherlock is definitely not canon. For that matter, I suppose Elementary isn't either since both shows transport Sherlock and Watson to modern times. I don't particularly care for how they portray Watson, but I enjoy the show and just roll with the changes.

I have the DVDs of Sherlock seasons one and two and insisted that my husband watch them. He was seriously unimpressed. He definitely prefers the movies starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.

Well, the Rathbone version wasn't exactly canon, either, but so many people are accustomed to it that it seems canon. (Nigel Bruce was much too old for Watson, for one thing.) The one that's truest to Doyle is the Jeremy Brett BBC version from the 80's - that one is incredibly faithful to the original stories, and wonderfully acted and produced, to boot. Brett did a fantastic job striking the right balance between Holmes's knowledge of his own superiority and his fastidious courtesy and sympathetic ear. (Watson makes a point of mentioning that several times in the original stories - after all, how could Holmes have been so popular as a private detective, especially for people with delicate or scandalous problems, if he'd been a raging asshole?)

Elementary is doing some very off-canon things, but in my opinion, what matter most is whether it's a good show, whether it treats the characters it creates with respect and organic fidelity, than whether it hews to canon. I've never been a purist of any stripe, in any fandom, so what's done with Watson and Gregson and Adler and Moriarity - for that matter, with Holmes himself - just has to make sense and catch my sympathy and interest, and I'm happy. :)

The one that's truest to Doyle is the Jeremy Brett BBC version from the 80's - that one is incredibly faithful to the original stories, and wonderfully acted and produced, to boot.

Ahh yes...I was trying to think of his name when I commented about my husband liking Basil Rathbone. I preferred Jeremy Brett.

I've never read any Sherlock Holmes stories so I really don't know what is canon and what's not.

Ah, then you are in an enviable position, as you can watch these versions and judge them on their own merits, rather than comparing them to Holy Writ. (I kinda wish I could have done that with the LOTR movies.) Sherlock does include some quite canon things in clever ways, for which I give them credit. Here's an example: in the original stories, Watson had indeed been in the military and been wounded - in Afghanistan. That's serendipity for you!

Since you're not familiar with what's canon and what isn't, I'd be very interested to hear what you think of Elementary, so do come back and give me your opinion. :)

I will. I plan to watch Elementary later this evening.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only