Elementary Babble-catch up post.
Spoilers for Lesser Evils, Flight Risk, and Another Way To Get Off
I'm continuing to LOVE the show in terms of the characters and relationships, but being incredibly disappointed with the actual, you know, mysteries. Plot holes a mile wide, and red-herrings/clues being telegraphed with all the subtlety of a moose's erection. I've been shrugging it off as 'Ok, it's a CBS procedural; what else do I expect, except I'm starting to think it's actually worse on that level than say NCIS.
Lesser Evils
Was there ever ANY doubt that Dr. Cahill was a drug addict from the minute he showed up on screen? I shouln't be screaming "dope fiend!" at the screen before Sherlock Holmes figures it out, especially this Sherlock Holmes?
Also, just as an aside---I don't like golf myself, but can we cease using any kind of putting green in a place other than a golf course as instant tv short-hand for "scumbag?"
On the other hand....even if I didn't already think Joan was awesome, I'd automatically hate Carrie because she's also Wendy Scott Carr. How awesome was Watson getting all Greg House on her ass, even if she had to fight her own doubts to do it. That snarky line from Wendy Carrie, about "I'm operating on her. Not you." totally earned it. YOU ROCK, JOAN!
Back on the other other hand....another massively convoluted plot where a doctor commits a murder by manipulating someone else into doing it? (Yes, I got that the guy was already a murderer, but the tone of the script makes he clear that he's not EEEEEEEVIL the way the really EEEEEEEVIL doctor is.
Flight Risk
I'm not even going to bother with the "mystery." It was stupid, clumsy and boring and had no dramatic heft whatsoever. I'm still not even sure if the "motive" was the fake sugar or the drug smuggling or something else and I don't care.
Let's go straight to the squeeeeeee!!!! ROGER REES!!!!! Honestly, everything is better with Roger Rees, especially in this part. I could have lived without Holmes as Sally Bowles, which was how the "dinner with father" thing pinged me at first, but Holmes seemed not too woobieish about the whole thing.
I suppose I fell for the character as Holmes' father until the reveal, because I wanted Joan to be right, but once the reveal happened, I was OK with it, and the second scene with Joan and Alistair just made me happy dance all over the place, because 1. ROGER REES, 2. Not so posh accent. 3. Alistair is clearly in love with Sherlock. You may need some slash-glasses to see Holmes/Gregson, but Alistair's heart was all over his sleeve, although it was obviously unrequited, which made it that much more painful, and 4 OMFG! IRENE!
I know I was being manipulated into expecting to hear Moriarty, but that made the "OOF" even better.
One Way To Get Off
I supposed we should be grateful that the serial killer here did not turn out to be the infallible genius, who always outwits the detectives variety, which is joining the detective being framed for murder as my least favorite trope, although I could live without graphic on-screen murder as well. The opening scene creeped me out something fierce, although I guess you could say that makes it effective to convince me the murderer is truly evil and needs to be caught.
Unfortunately there was no way I was ever going to believe Gregson did the framing because he's been established as the sympathetic character and hellloooo, it's AIDAN FUCKING QUINN! (Whose name spelling I have to check every time, because some part of me keeps wanting to spell it Aiden.) Also the ex-partner was sending out shady grove vibes the minute she showed up.
Aidan did an awesome job of being angry, self-righteous, scared and then angry again. Of course I loved the way Sherlock was completely unsentimental when he said how much he respected him, and yes my slash-glasses did read a world of subtext there.
I just go all squidgy everytime JLM has to do a slightly over-the-top American accent. I didn't watch Eli Stone, so I don't know if over the long term he can be American the way Hugh Laurie was, and I love Sherlock's Britishness in America so much, it's not even funny, but the American bits never fail to make me smile.
I'm sorry, but for me the biggest plot hole was believing that Carla Figueroa, would have had an affair with Crewes at all. He looked icky in the present day scenes and the beard/mustache look on the old interrogation videos wasn't an improvement. Also diaries revealing paternity are another cliche that needs to die the death. I think once it's been used in a big famous fluffy musical, it's hard to take it seriously in what should be a grim episode of a procedural.
Meanwhile, back at the brownstone, JLM's delivery of "We were quite close. I did not take her passing well. Good night." was awesome, but ...I'm now putting down money in whatever currency you'd like to bet in that Irene is NOT really, most sincerely dead.
NEXT TIME....LISA EDELSTEIN....whooooo-hooooo (and John Pankow.)
I'm continuing to LOVE the show in terms of the characters and relationships, but being incredibly disappointed with the actual, you know, mysteries. Plot holes a mile wide, and red-herrings/clues being telegraphed with all the subtlety of a moose's erection. I've been shrugging it off as 'Ok, it's a CBS procedural; what else do I expect, except I'm starting to think it's actually worse on that level than say NCIS.
Lesser Evils
Was there ever ANY doubt that Dr. Cahill was a drug addict from the minute he showed up on screen? I shouln't be screaming "dope fiend!" at the screen before Sherlock Holmes figures it out, especially this Sherlock Holmes?
Also, just as an aside---I don't like golf myself, but can we cease using any kind of putting green in a place other than a golf course as instant tv short-hand for "scumbag?"
On the other hand....even if I didn't already think Joan was awesome, I'd automatically hate Carrie because she's also Wendy Scott Carr. How awesome was Watson getting all Greg House on her ass, even if she had to fight her own doubts to do it. That snarky line from Wendy Carrie, about "I'm operating on her. Not you." totally earned it. YOU ROCK, JOAN!
Back on the other other hand....another massively convoluted plot where a doctor commits a murder by manipulating someone else into doing it? (Yes, I got that the guy was already a murderer, but the tone of the script makes he clear that he's not EEEEEEEVIL the way the really EEEEEEEVIL doctor is.
Flight Risk
I'm not even going to bother with the "mystery." It was stupid, clumsy and boring and had no dramatic heft whatsoever. I'm still not even sure if the "motive" was the fake sugar or the drug smuggling or something else and I don't care.
Let's go straight to the squeeeeeee!!!! ROGER REES!!!!! Honestly, everything is better with Roger Rees, especially in this part. I could have lived without Holmes as Sally Bowles, which was how the "dinner with father" thing pinged me at first, but Holmes seemed not too woobieish about the whole thing.
I suppose I fell for the character as Holmes' father until the reveal, because I wanted Joan to be right, but once the reveal happened, I was OK with it, and the second scene with Joan and Alistair just made me happy dance all over the place, because 1. ROGER REES, 2. Not so posh accent. 3. Alistair is clearly in love with Sherlock. You may need some slash-glasses to see Holmes/Gregson, but Alistair's heart was all over his sleeve, although it was obviously unrequited, which made it that much more painful, and 4 OMFG! IRENE!
I know I was being manipulated into expecting to hear Moriarty, but that made the "OOF" even better.
One Way To Get Off
I supposed we should be grateful that the serial killer here did not turn out to be the infallible genius, who always outwits the detectives variety, which is joining the detective being framed for murder as my least favorite trope, although I could live without graphic on-screen murder as well. The opening scene creeped me out something fierce, although I guess you could say that makes it effective to convince me the murderer is truly evil and needs to be caught.
Unfortunately there was no way I was ever going to believe Gregson did the framing because he's been established as the sympathetic character and hellloooo, it's AIDAN FUCKING QUINN! (Whose name spelling I have to check every time, because some part of me keeps wanting to spell it Aiden.) Also the ex-partner was sending out shady grove vibes the minute she showed up.
Aidan did an awesome job of being angry, self-righteous, scared and then angry again. Of course I loved the way Sherlock was completely unsentimental when he said how much he respected him, and yes my slash-glasses did read a world of subtext there.
I just go all squidgy everytime JLM has to do a slightly over-the-top American accent. I didn't watch Eli Stone, so I don't know if over the long term he can be American the way Hugh Laurie was, and I love Sherlock's Britishness in America so much, it's not even funny, but the American bits never fail to make me smile.
I'm sorry, but for me the biggest plot hole was believing that Carla Figueroa, would have had an affair with Crewes at all. He looked icky in the present day scenes and the beard/mustache look on the old interrogation videos wasn't an improvement. Also diaries revealing paternity are another cliche that needs to die the death. I think once it's been used in a big famous fluffy musical, it's hard to take it seriously in what should be a grim episode of a procedural.
Meanwhile, back at the brownstone, JLM's delivery of "We were quite close. I did not take her passing well. Good night." was awesome, but ...I'm now putting down money in whatever currency you'd like to bet in that Irene is NOT really, most sincerely dead.
NEXT TIME....LISA EDELSTEIN....whooooo-hooooo (and John Pankow.)