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When I first heard of the premise of Elementary, I was both hopeful and skeptical. Hopeful, because although I really like the BBC's Sherlock, on the whole I don't care for the way it (in general) handles women and people of color. Skeptical, because Sherlock is brilliant, and how could they hope to match it, and Hollywood always goes gimmicky.
I watched the first episode, and was not impressed. Not disappointed; it was decent, I was just kind of meh about it.
But I gave it a chance and kept watching, and I am so glad I did. It's definitely grown on me. It's not smart in the same way as Sherlock; they weren't trying to do "an American Sherlock with a genderswapped Watson" (to their credit). They took Conan Doyle's canon and modernized it in their own way. It's not flashy, but it's solid, and I believe in its realness in a way Sherlock has never quite convinced me. I love Sherlock, don't get me wrong, but there's quite a lot of suspension of disbelief on my part. With Elementary, I don't have to do that because the characters feel real to me, like I might bump into them on the street. They're still a bit larger than life, but not over-the-top/theatrical about it.
I particularly love Joan Watson. She's smart, she's professional, she doesn't take crap from Holmes. And she has a reason to stick around to get to know Sherlock beneath the weird exterior besides "it's needed for the plot!" She has her own life and her own issues, and they don't revolve around Sherlock, though they do include him.
Is anyone else out there watching this show?
I watched the first episode, and was not impressed. Not disappointed; it was decent, I was just kind of meh about it.
But I gave it a chance and kept watching, and I am so glad I did. It's definitely grown on me. It's not smart in the same way as Sherlock; they weren't trying to do "an American Sherlock with a genderswapped Watson" (to their credit). They took Conan Doyle's canon and modernized it in their own way. It's not flashy, but it's solid, and I believe in its realness in a way Sherlock has never quite convinced me. I love Sherlock, don't get me wrong, but there's quite a lot of suspension of disbelief on my part. With Elementary, I don't have to do that because the characters feel real to me, like I might bump into them on the street. They're still a bit larger than life, but not over-the-top/theatrical about it.
I particularly love Joan Watson. She's smart, she's professional, she doesn't take crap from Holmes. And she has a reason to stick around to get to know Sherlock beneath the weird exterior besides "it's needed for the plot!" She has her own life and her own issues, and they don't revolve around Sherlock, though they do include him.
Is anyone else out there watching this show?
no subject
Date: 2012-11-13 12:13 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2012-11-13 12:27 am (UTC)From:I think the Beeb's Sherlock is more about two completely lost creatures finding somewhere to lick their wounds and that space just happens to be common to them and allow them to co-exist. If either of them grew beyond it (and, let's face it, if anyone grows beyond it, it'll probably be Watson) then it's going to get inordinately messy, because Cumberbatch's Sherlock is the freakiest of control freaks.
But, yes, the actual development of an actual friendship would be wonderful.