Elementary ep reaction
I can't believe I actually managed to write an episode reaction to a show the very first episode without even missing part of it!! Usually I only watch a show like two or three years after it was first made. :P
Anyway, I was pretty interested in watching this new Sherlock adaptation starring Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu.
It tickles me that Jonny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch were both in Frankenstein (alternating roles) and now they are both playing Sherlock. Hm. Next I guess Ben will be playing Sick Boy in some remake of Trainspotting? Jonny has beautiful eyes. He has gotten older and I prefer him as a blond but his pretty eyes are the same. :)
So the premise is that Sherlock has been sent to New York City for rehab and to start over clean. They don't actually mention what drug he used unless I missed it. Lucy Liu is Joan Watson and apparently she is a professional "sober companion" which stands to reason I guess that very rich addicts could hire a sober person to follow them around. She is hired by Sherlock's "father" about whom we learn nothing except that he has five properties in New York, so, very rich, and also willing to kick Sherlock out onto the street if the companion catches him using.
The casefile that they developed on the show was pretty good and Watson did notice one or two things that helped Sherlock.
Jonny has an interesting incarnation of the character. He is less ethereal than Ben or even Jeremy Brett. He doesn't have that fey energy going on. He seems a little more embodied. He claims to be revolted by sex but it doesn't ring true. (So far I didn't see any chemistry between Joan and Sherlock at all, which is fine, as long as the show doesn't pin hopes there. Friends is fine! Really! it worked with Mulder and Scully for the best years of XFiles....) This Sherlock doesn't do the rapid fire calculations that BBCSherlock does (which is one of my very favorite aspects of the BBC character), but he does do the whole body crime scene investigation, which is good canon. :)
I am not fully satisfied with the treatment of Watson. She is guarding her backstory a little much. Sherlock deduced that she used to be a surgeon and why she is now a companion instead. Her medical knowledge does come into play so that is good. As far as I can tell she was never a soldier, which bothers me. Watson is a soldier and a doctor, in my book. So I hope they still have more backstory for her. Lucy Liu was good. I haven't seen her in all the things, but I thought she did a good job with what she was given. I think the character is weirdly opaque. Comparing to BBCSherlock seems inevitable, because I think Martin Freeman's incarnation as John is perhaps THE best ever. (Sorry Jude, you rock but still not quite there imho). To a great extent, BBCSherlock works so well because John is the sympathetic everyman, the pov character, and he falls under the spell of this crazy genius. I like that a lot. With this new show, for some reason, they are trying to preserve Watson as a mystery for Sherlock to deciper... I think it's a mistake, but I guess we'll see with next episode. I couldn't identify with Joan, nor yet with Sherlock, whereas with BBC, I identify strongly with both of them from the get go. i think it's because of Martin!John's amazing vulnerability and openness, his bravery and his being brought back to life by Sherlock. How will Lucy!Joan develop? I hope not by falling in love with Sherlock. Even if you ship Watson/Holmes (which I do) the romantic bit has to be secondary to the partnership. They've begun to develop the partnership but they have a lot farther to go, I think. With BBC, it was all there in the pilot -- John's astonishment, his reinvigoration, and Sherlock's cautious flowering under John's attention. With Jonny!Sherlock, he's ... not as obviously wounded? There was a pretty hamhanded stab at Lucy guessing that the problem in London had to do with "A Woman" (Irene, I assume) -- BORING.
So.... I was fairly well pleased with the first episode, but there is a lot of room to grow. I like Jonny, I like Lucy -- but what I really care about with Watson/Holmes is the relationship -- and I haven't seen it yet. Why do they need each other? That's what I want to know. So far, it is only because Lucy has been hired. She doesn't seem intrigued or astonished by Holmes, which is what I want to see in a John. And Sherlock's only motivation for keeping her around as opposed to anyone else is that she has potential as an investigator. To me, in this first ep, they are phoning it in a little. Well, maybe it will have a slow but steady growth. I am willing to watch again next week.
ps, I saw two very familiar faces on the show leading in, "Person of Interest" with Ben from Lost and Amy Acker. Only the scenes with the two of them were any good. It looks like a terrible premise. And oh, Miles from Lost was also there, and I like him, but that other guy was Not a person of interest. Urgh. it was a slog, sadly. Ben from Lost, you can do better -- you and Amy both, you are terribly overpowered for this level of work. And btw ? AMY ACKER, you are a fantastic actor!! You were so 3D in that 2D role! you go girl!!!
Anyway, I was pretty interested in watching this new Sherlock adaptation starring Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu.
It tickles me that Jonny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch were both in Frankenstein (alternating roles) and now they are both playing Sherlock. Hm. Next I guess Ben will be playing Sick Boy in some remake of Trainspotting? Jonny has beautiful eyes. He has gotten older and I prefer him as a blond but his pretty eyes are the same. :)
So the premise is that Sherlock has been sent to New York City for rehab and to start over clean. They don't actually mention what drug he used unless I missed it. Lucy Liu is Joan Watson and apparently she is a professional "sober companion" which stands to reason I guess that very rich addicts could hire a sober person to follow them around. She is hired by Sherlock's "father" about whom we learn nothing except that he has five properties in New York, so, very rich, and also willing to kick Sherlock out onto the street if the companion catches him using.
The casefile that they developed on the show was pretty good and Watson did notice one or two things that helped Sherlock.
Jonny has an interesting incarnation of the character. He is less ethereal than Ben or even Jeremy Brett. He doesn't have that fey energy going on. He seems a little more embodied. He claims to be revolted by sex but it doesn't ring true. (So far I didn't see any chemistry between Joan and Sherlock at all, which is fine, as long as the show doesn't pin hopes there. Friends is fine! Really! it worked with Mulder and Scully for the best years of XFiles....) This Sherlock doesn't do the rapid fire calculations that BBCSherlock does (which is one of my very favorite aspects of the BBC character), but he does do the whole body crime scene investigation, which is good canon. :)
I am not fully satisfied with the treatment of Watson. She is guarding her backstory a little much. Sherlock deduced that she used to be a surgeon and why she is now a companion instead. Her medical knowledge does come into play so that is good. As far as I can tell she was never a soldier, which bothers me. Watson is a soldier and a doctor, in my book. So I hope they still have more backstory for her. Lucy Liu was good. I haven't seen her in all the things, but I thought she did a good job with what she was given. I think the character is weirdly opaque. Comparing to BBCSherlock seems inevitable, because I think Martin Freeman's incarnation as John is perhaps THE best ever. (Sorry Jude, you rock but still not quite there imho). To a great extent, BBCSherlock works so well because John is the sympathetic everyman, the pov character, and he falls under the spell of this crazy genius. I like that a lot. With this new show, for some reason, they are trying to preserve Watson as a mystery for Sherlock to deciper... I think it's a mistake, but I guess we'll see with next episode. I couldn't identify with Joan, nor yet with Sherlock, whereas with BBC, I identify strongly with both of them from the get go. i think it's because of Martin!John's amazing vulnerability and openness, his bravery and his being brought back to life by Sherlock. How will Lucy!Joan develop? I hope not by falling in love with Sherlock. Even if you ship Watson/Holmes (which I do) the romantic bit has to be secondary to the partnership. They've begun to develop the partnership but they have a lot farther to go, I think. With BBC, it was all there in the pilot -- John's astonishment, his reinvigoration, and Sherlock's cautious flowering under John's attention. With Jonny!Sherlock, he's ... not as obviously wounded? There was a pretty hamhanded stab at Lucy guessing that the problem in London had to do with "A Woman" (Irene, I assume) -- BORING.
So.... I was fairly well pleased with the first episode, but there is a lot of room to grow. I like Jonny, I like Lucy -- but what I really care about with Watson/Holmes is the relationship -- and I haven't seen it yet. Why do they need each other? That's what I want to know. So far, it is only because Lucy has been hired. She doesn't seem intrigued or astonished by Holmes, which is what I want to see in a John. And Sherlock's only motivation for keeping her around as opposed to anyone else is that she has potential as an investigator. To me, in this first ep, they are phoning it in a little. Well, maybe it will have a slow but steady growth. I am willing to watch again next week.
ps, I saw two very familiar faces on the show leading in, "Person of Interest" with Ben from Lost and Amy Acker. Only the scenes with the two of them were any good. It looks like a terrible premise. And oh, Miles from Lost was also there, and I like him, but that other guy was Not a person of interest. Urgh. it was a slog, sadly. Ben from Lost, you can do better -- you and Amy both, you are terribly overpowered for this level of work. And btw ? AMY ACKER, you are a fantastic actor!! You were so 3D in that 2D role! you go girl!!!