It's official: Elementary has spoiled me for Sherlock BBC's casual racism.

[gardnerhill]

WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Sherlock BBC's Christmas mini-sode, and for the ACD story “The Empty House.”

I saw the mini-sode teaser for Sherlock BBC's season 3.

In a word? Ugh.

Comments

[only_po]

The moment I saw the candles being lit, and then the hooded monks, I groaned. Then when Lestrade kept pointing out that it's not exactly hard to spot a blonde, Caucasian woman in a monastery of bald Tibetan monks . . . it's sad when an episode points out that a character is being foolish when we are supposed to be believing that character. For that matter, why does Sherlock have to go globe-trotting in the first place? (Let alone globe-trot to the same places in the Canon.) Unless it's an integral part of tracking down Moriarty's snipers and taking them out so that it is safe for him to be undead, it's part of Canon that didn't need to be adapted. I get the whole "going home" element they were going for but that could have been accomplished through other, more believable ways.

I have no problem with adaptations trying to stick to Canon material, but I don't think Sherlock's writers have necessarily done the best job of choosing Canonical elements that work best in this world. (John's service in Afghanistan and Sherlock's tobacco addiction are examples of good adaptations; this minisode is an example of a bad one.) Elementary works on a couple levels: the Canonical references are subtle, like Easter eggs for the fans, but it is still a good Holmesian show on its own merits. It's possible they used the Sherlock Holmes name to draw in viewers initially, but to say it's not really "Sherlock Holmes" because it doesn't follow Canon very closely is both unfair and insulting. It's not the case that makes a Sherlock Holmes story; it's the character(s). The Basil Rathbone and Ronald Howard films are most certainly "Sherlock Holmes" stories and they most certainly do not stick with Canon.

I just don't like how Sherlock is portrayed. I was pretty much over the "brilliant narcissist" portrayal about five years ago and now I'm really sick of it. That's only one aspect of the Canonical Holmes, anyway. Frankly, "because Sherlock!" is no longer an excuse as to why John, Mrs. Hudson, and Lestrade put up with him. Maybe if he comes back changed, even a little, I'll change my mind. I'm still looking forward to seeing the new episodes, though, so I'm working with an odd dichotomy. :/

One final thought: having token minorities does not a diversified cast make, and if the scripts belittle the minority characters on top of that, the writers and producers have missed the point of diversity in the first place.

[gardnerhill]

Couldn't have said it better myself.