Back at 221b Baker Street.

[nausicaa83]

Here it is, guys. The first Sherlock entry in two years. Drumroll and all.

The actual review is under the cut, but I think it needs a little preamble for you to see where I come from. During the last two years, because of various things, I've fallen a lot out of love with Sherlock. I realized I preferred the fandom version to the actual show, which I kept finding more and more troubling. With only six episodes, I only liked four, because one was too racist and one was too sexist. And under the faboulous acting, directing, cinematography, London and all, I came to realize the show missed a heart. In other words, if Elementary was about the Heart of this story, Sherlock was the Brain. That 'something' that I loved came more from fanfics than from the actual canon.

Tie that with a very, very disappointing Doctor Who season by the same showrunner, and I grew bored with the wait. To be fair, I never actually cared how Sherlock even faked his own death. I was more interested in his return, in his reunion with John, in how they could make it work after what he had done. And recent happenings at the screening of the first episode a few weeks back didn't help in bringing back that old joy I found in this show.

That being said, today I came back from therapy, made myself a cuppa, and sat in front of the tv to enjoy the new episode with a huge breath and a clean mind.

First and foremost, I literally just saw it. So I definitely got something wrong, got too excited about some stuff, and stuff that now left me cold will probably work better in a second viewing. In general, I really liked it. I found it weird, and quirky, and cold in some places. But the old feeling was back, the music, the cinematography, the actors in their costumes. I really love Mary. She's not the usual Moffat woman, always with a snarky comeback, flirty and dangerous, and that's a nice change of pace. And I really liked Molly in this, how she got free of her old obsession, four for you girl!

I found it weird how Sherlock could be so cold and unfeeling. Yes, it has been established that's the way he is, but I wasn't expecting him to laugh John's grief off in that scene in the train. I found that scene a bit too cruel even for him, while I liked how oblivious he was to 'human nature' for the rest of the episode.

I really liked Sherlock and Mycroft's scene in Baker Street. Funny, but right now it's probably my favourite part of the episode. And having been established that Mycroft knew everything from the start in the last season, plotting with Sherlock against Moriarty and all, I like that we got an actual scene of them interacting without it being fake. Also loved the touch with the parents.

I liked how they did the death scene over and over again. I think maybe they went a bit too heavy with the repetitions, but it was funny. Also funny how the real explanation was literally the First Theory that ever appeared on tumblr. Air bag, ball in armpit, cyclist, clockwork. Literally the first. I still remember the diagram and the pictures from CSI Whatever explaining how the ball trick works. So I absolutely loved Anderson's comment, it was perfect and a great conclusion to all the theories the fandom went through. Me, I wasn't disappointed because after the tiny-Doctor-inside-a-robot a simple, neat solution was exactly what I wanted, but I bet most people were expecting the Moriarty-in-a-mask thing. So yay for defying expectations and laughing it off with the fans.

I really liked all the nods to canon, especially the guy at John's clinic, that was gold. And the terrorist subplot was interesting without it being too overcomplicated. Although the underground/Underground thing was a bit ridicolous. My first thought was an image of this spy a-la James Bond gargling blood in front of Mycroft "it's an underground network" " colour me surprised" "no, I mean it's the tuuuuuube!" "what? oh well, he's dead, nevermind". And I think it would have had more impact if they'd aired it last November, on the exact anniversary.

All in all, the one thing that gives me pause is how cold the reunion felt. It was literally all on Martin Freeman's shoulders and his brilliant acting. I was hoping for Sherlock to show a bit of remorse, or something, by the end of the episode, but it all turned into a big laugh among friends. I laughed a lot at Sherlock's pathetic attempts at surprising John, and wasn't really expecting anything teary or sentimental, but it felt like all that tension and grief was getting somewhere, except... it didn't. John forgave him because Sherlock emotionally manipulated him, and then shrugged it off because that's what he always does. So I'm really, really glad we got that scene with Mycroft, to show us why Sherlock cares about having John around, although I would have wanted something similar with John too.

But again, I shouldn't come to this show for the heart, but for the brain. The heart I find in fanfics, in how we expand this world talking about it with my friends, that's how it always has been. In conclusion, this episode confirmed what I had already realized about this show during this long, unnecessary wait, and made me appreciate it for what it is. ^^

Comments are much appreciated, I'm downloading a 1080p version for a second viewing, I'm betting it'll feel a lot different now that I've already seen it. ^^

Comments

[entangled-now.livejournal.com]

It honestly felt like such a long time to wait that my enthusiasm had simmered down a bit too. But I did love seeing everyone again, I'd missed the banter and the ridiculous crime-solving immensely, and I found the repetitive explanations pretty fun. But the whole episode did feel oddly clunky, overly emotional in some strange places, with unexpected OOC-feeling moments here and there.

Maybe I need to watch it again too.

[stardust-made.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting your review, it was an interesting read! Indeed, Sherlock (the devil!) is such a central point of that episode, isn't he? I get the feeling that people will be debating his motives and behaviour for years to come.

Unless the second and the third episode give us more of a character development for him and in the dynamic between him and John? We'll see soon.

frozen_delight said something in her review that ties in quite well with my feelings right now: "I felt that Sherlock was just being such a dick because he was so overwhelmed by everything." It's character-consistent, I think.

You know, I'm getting confused about the resolution. I finished watching the episode convinced that we didn't learn how Sherlock had done it. (You know, my wondering whether Anderson didn't imagine the scene plus them making a point of having John ask Sherlock about it at the very end.) But now some of you say this was the actual resolution...Confused!

[frozen_delight]

Thanks for your review. I'm glad you liked it, given how many negative thoughts we shared during the past couple of weeks. My own reaction wasn't quite as pleased as yours, though I did enjoy watching it. You've highlighted quite beautifully what struck me as painfully wrong and why I wasn't really emotionally engaged by it all:

I was hoping for Sherlock to show a bit of remorse, or something, by the end of the episode, but it all turned into a big laugh among friends. I laughed a lot at Sherlock's pathetic attempts at surprising John, and wasn't really expecting anything teary or sentimental, but it felt like all that tension and grief was getting somewhere, except... it didn't.

I certainly hope the next to episodes will show us more of Sherlock and John's relationship and make it a little more plausible why John is still hanging out with the truly heartless bastard of a consulting detective.

[sunshine1112.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your review!

I enjoyed the program, it didn't feel like 1 1/2 hours at all.

I enjoyed the funny ideas the Sherlock fans. I chuckled at the Moriarty/Sherlock one. I liked Mary as well, very clever, they like each other and she'd worked out the code of the text before reaching baker street.

To be honest, I came away thinking we didn't know how Sherlock did it. I thought he was playing with Anderson, but I suppose that's up to personal opinion. I liked John didn't instantly forgive him. I need a t-shirt that says " I don't shave for Sherlock". I liked his treatment of John on the tube train. Showed him being his usual self, testing people all the time. Loved Sherlock and Mycroft's games, Operation and deduction. Loved them. Loved Mrs Hudson. Loved Sherlock's parents being Benedict's parents.


What didn't I like? Nothing much on first viewing.

I wanted to see more of the new baddie, although I think that's coming in episode 2 +3.

[harriet-yuuko.livejournal.com]

Direi che la tua recensione esprime un buon 90% di quel che ho pensato anch'io! Mi è piaciuto molto, anche se l'ho trovato un po' troppo "affollato" di cose, forse, e, sì, per quanto ho adorato il momento del primo incontro tra Sherlock e John, in effetti forse mi aspettavo qualcosa di più, entro la fine dell'episodio. Voglio dire, Sherlock ha avuto un briciolo di vaga umanità per tutti, persino per Anderson, e sono con John è rimasto la solita autentica merda!XD
A parte questo, in generale mi ha soddisfatta. Adoro Mary, mi è piaciuta Molly, mi è piaciuta anche la svolta di Anderson... E poi vabbè, la qualità tecnica in generale di questa serie è una cosa che ho sempre amato moltissimo.

Capisco il tuo discorso sull'aver riveduto un po' i tuoi sentimenti per questa serie. A me non è successo, in generale il mio approccio alla serie rimane lo stesso (per me è sempre stata una serie che mi fornisce divertimento, richiami geniali al canone e un sacco di Londra, con occasionali feels. In questo, l'episodio non mi ha delusa), però il tuo è un punto di vista che riesco a comprendere.
Spero che i prossimi episodi si mantengano a questo buon livello.

[7veilsphaedra.livejournal.com]

I haven't been able to screw up enough of a give-a-damn to see this next episode. The first show and episode of Sherlock left me with a fever-pitch all-time-high emotional investment in the series. It dampened with The Blind Banker, recovered slightly with the Hellhounds episode, and tanked at Scandal. I might have been recovered with Reichenbach, but after the wait, the thrill is gone ....

[nefertina86.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for your review!

I think I also need to watch the episode again to get everything right. I had a lot of fun with this episode, but on the other hand I´m really upset with Sherlock HOW cruel he reacts to John... But I still hope for some more feelings in the next episode, that Sherlock is able to TALK to John!

Mary is awesome, I really like her! But I´m a bit confused what happened to Anderson... And we didn´t see Donovan (did we...?!).

But I also loved so much about this episode! Still the characters, the scenes, the pictures. Even if I thought: Oh, that´s James Bond like. Oh, and this is Vendetta like ;)

It sounds like I didn´t enjoy it, but I did, I really did and even if I still need to reflect a few things - I´m still in love with this show!

At the end: One of my fav. scenes: Anthea and Sherlock´s coat and her simple words: "Welcome back, Mr. Holmes." <3