Back at 221b Baker Street.
Jan. 2nd, 2014 03:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nausicaa83Here 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. ^^
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. ^^
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no subject
Date: 2014-01-02 10:49 pm (UTC)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.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-03 07:53 am (UTC)ANYWAY. Nella seconda visione più o meno riconfermo tutto, tranne forse la mia reazione alla scena nel treno alla fine. Sapendo già cosa sarebbe successo ha bruciato meno, anche se continuo a trovarla una scena davvero OOC perfino per Sherlock. E strana anche la reazione di John che gli sorride così prontamente. Io un altro cazzotto lì ce l'avrei ben visto.
Nella seconda visione perde molto la sottotrama dei terroristi, sembra anche più tonta di prima. Mi dispiace un pò perchè a me i casi fregano poco se c'è tanto character development, ma qui di character development ce n'è stato pochino dove serviva (tra Sherlock e John), e il caso si reggeva su un pun e su un cattivo blando da morire.
Vedremo il prossimo episodio, il cattivo mi incuriosisce e spero che abbia un'entrata in scena degna. *______*