The Lying Detective
Well. That was... a bit trippy, strange and not quite shaped back into form. But. What a decided relief from last week's spectacular fiasco.
There was a great deal of mess to clean up after TST caused this entire series to hit the fan in a way it never has before, even though I've certainly had my gripes with past episodes. I think, given the material with which Moffat had to work, he made an admirable effort in ironing out the kinks, although if I am to be entirely honest, The Lying Detective confirmed just how much this absolutely ridiculous version of Mary ruined everything for me. I have always maintained she is a character that never translated well from page to screen, yet whilst it is far from my favorite adaptation, the Mary of the RDJ movies went a good way of altering my opinion on that topic. This Mary, however, confirmed I may not have been so far off the mark.
Literally, I groaned out loud when she first reappeared, and, hallucination or not, having gone in with the expectation we were done with her, her reappearance was chafing enough that I walked out of the room in frustration and went to finish up some cleaning. Because, can't anybody in this effing show stay dead?! That tantrum lasted about ten minutes, and I'm glad I gave it another chance, because Moffat managed to, at least in my humble estimation, repair Sherlock & John's relationship in such a way that I found it both credible and plausible. Without that over the top characterization Gatiss gave us last week, I felt as though the clock had wound back to who they were in S2, if significantly more broken. I think, despite the weakness of his plots, Moffat has been consistent in one thing alone, and that is portraying a warmth and genuine affection surrounding those two, while Gatiss seems to give us drama.
However, to confirm this, I'd have to re-watch the entire series, and that's not happening at the moment.
But, I will say this. Where TST contained forced allusions to the Holmesian Canon, I enjoyed how they were worked in here, and in fact, whilst I may be in the minority here, believed TLD was engaging and cleverly weaved in an updated version of DYIN. I was getting vibes from ASiP during the hospital scene - that may have been intentional on the writer's behalf, but it did not come off as forced. I appreciated watching those two play off each other again, and, dare I hope, that old connection I once saw betwixt them is returning.
There is, of course, the question of the red-head/therapist/Sherringford? Is she really Moriarty in disguise, which would explain why Sherlock did not recognize her in his flat? I've given up speculating where Moftiss are involved, so famous are they for pulling red herrings out of their nether regions.
But I have to say, the only thing that made me start warming up to this episode was Mrs Hudson. She stole the show for me. Because this:
Is PURE BADASSERY. It's worth a re-watch for her one liners alone.
So. Has Sherlock redeemed itself? Honestly, IDK. The writing has been consistently inconsistent, and it is going to take a monumental improvement in The Final Problem for this series and these characters to get back into my good graces.
There was a great deal of mess to clean up after TST caused this entire series to hit the fan in a way it never has before, even though I've certainly had my gripes with past episodes. I think, given the material with which Moffat had to work, he made an admirable effort in ironing out the kinks, although if I am to be entirely honest, The Lying Detective confirmed just how much this absolutely ridiculous version of Mary ruined everything for me. I have always maintained she is a character that never translated well from page to screen, yet whilst it is far from my favorite adaptation, the Mary of the RDJ movies went a good way of altering my opinion on that topic. This Mary, however, confirmed I may not have been so far off the mark.
Literally, I groaned out loud when she first reappeared, and, hallucination or not, having gone in with the expectation we were done with her, her reappearance was chafing enough that I walked out of the room in frustration and went to finish up some cleaning. Because, can't anybody in this effing show stay dead?! That tantrum lasted about ten minutes, and I'm glad I gave it another chance, because Moffat managed to, at least in my humble estimation, repair Sherlock & John's relationship in such a way that I found it both credible and plausible. Without that over the top characterization Gatiss gave us last week, I felt as though the clock had wound back to who they were in S2, if significantly more broken. I think, despite the weakness of his plots, Moffat has been consistent in one thing alone, and that is portraying a warmth and genuine affection surrounding those two, while Gatiss seems to give us drama.
However, to confirm this, I'd have to re-watch the entire series, and that's not happening at the moment.
But, I will say this. Where TST contained forced allusions to the Holmesian Canon, I enjoyed how they were worked in here, and in fact, whilst I may be in the minority here, believed TLD was engaging and cleverly weaved in an updated version of DYIN. I was getting vibes from ASiP during the hospital scene - that may have been intentional on the writer's behalf, but it did not come off as forced. I appreciated watching those two play off each other again, and, dare I hope, that old connection I once saw betwixt them is returning.
There is, of course, the question of the red-head/therapist/Sherringford? Is she really Moriarty in disguise, which would explain why Sherlock did not recognize her in his flat? I've given up speculating where Moftiss are involved, so famous are they for pulling red herrings out of their nether regions.
But I have to say, the only thing that made me start warming up to this episode was Mrs Hudson. She stole the show for me. Because this:
Is PURE BADASSERY. It's worth a re-watch for her one liners alone.
So. Has Sherlock redeemed itself? Honestly, IDK. The writing has been consistently inconsistent, and it is going to take a monumental improvement in The Final Problem for this series and these characters to get back into my good graces.