Sherlock 2.03
In which Steve "Blind Banker" Thompson defies expectations and delivers a splendid episode. Given that the second season's weakest ep was the middle one again - written by Gatiss this time - I would be open to the theory that it's a middle episode rather than a writer thing, except that Thompsons s6 of New Who pirate episode also sucked. Still: he more than delivered with Sherlock 2.03, and I doff my deerstalker to him.
Ponygirl commented re: Scandal in Belgravia that it owes far more to and is a response to Billy Wilder's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes than to ADC's Scandal in Bohemia. The Reichenbach Fall owes and is a response to two post Doyle Holmes tales as well: the very successful theatre play The Secret of Sherlock Holmes (in which I had the pleasure of seeing Jeremy Brett in, boast, boast), and Michael Dibdin's The Final Solution. There may be others offering the twist that Holmes = Moriarty or rather that he invented him because he needed an arch nemesis to be truly challenged, but these are the two best known ones, I'd say. Which makes The Reichenbach Fall's twist - that this is how Moriarty brings down Holmes, by convincing (nearly) everyone Holmes did just this, and that it is plausible because of Sherlock's personality - so great. I wasn't that convinced of Moriarty in The Great Game last season, but here he truly worked as a villain, with a master plan that was genuinenly devasting.
This was possible because this season made you, or rather, me, i.e. someone who disliked Sherlock himself in the first season, care for the git by allowing him to actually work on himself and care for people. So when Moriarty delivers his final ace - either Sherlock dies, or John Watson, Mrs. Hudson and Lestrade die - it's ever so much better than last season's finale, not just because the stakes are upped but because you do believe Sherlock cares for Mrs. Hudson as well as Lestrade, not "just" for John.
Of course, the person Moriarty didn't mention was Molly, and that was a pleasant surprise both of the finale in particular and the season in general: the pay-off we got from Molly's unrequited crush from last season. The essay I linked to yesterday pointed out Molly becomes the first person Sherlock apologizes to not so in order he can go on being a jerk but as part of him learning to be less of one. Which might have been a matter of interpretation if solely confined to Scandal in Belgravia but gets confirmed here, as her insightfulness, bravery and support are both pointed out by the narrative and properly appreciated (at last!) by Sherlock. Incidentally, this also makes Irene's faked deaths (one of which Molly is the post-mortem pathologist for) foreshadowing to Sherlock's own temporary exit here.
Doyle never intended to let Holmes survive when he wrote The Final Problem; he retconned it into Holmes having faked his death only under massive readership pressure, and that left canon with the awkwardness of Holmes letting Watson believe he's dead for three years. So I was curious whether or not Moffat & Co. would bother to set this up better (given that they knew they wouldn't kill off Sherlock for good), and I'd say they did. Moriarty's supporting cast of assassins is set up well in advance so John (and Lestrade, and Mrs. Hudson) being under a death sentence unless they see Sherlock die is something that feels coming naturally from the story instead of being a retcon, and the added twist of Moriarty having successfully ruined Sherlock's reputation and having set him up as a criminal also adds reasons for an yet unclear time undercover. Mind you, there is absolutely NO reason why Sherlock should lurk near his fake grave just in time to listen to John deliver his eulogy - I knew that would be the final image because it's just so obvious a cliffhanger, but I really hoped given the rest of the episode's quality we'd get another way to alert us that Sherlock is indeed alive. Ah well, you can't have everything.
In conclusion: last season I didn't know whether or not I would continue with the show. After this season, I know I will!
This entry was originally posted at http://selenak.dreamwidth.org/745386.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.
Ponygirl commented re: Scandal in Belgravia that it owes far more to and is a response to Billy Wilder's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes than to ADC's Scandal in Bohemia. The Reichenbach Fall owes and is a response to two post Doyle Holmes tales as well: the very successful theatre play The Secret of Sherlock Holmes (in which I had the pleasure of seeing Jeremy Brett in, boast, boast), and Michael Dibdin's The Final Solution. There may be others offering the twist that Holmes = Moriarty or rather that he invented him because he needed an arch nemesis to be truly challenged, but these are the two best known ones, I'd say. Which makes The Reichenbach Fall's twist - that this is how Moriarty brings down Holmes, by convincing (nearly) everyone Holmes did just this, and that it is plausible because of Sherlock's personality - so great. I wasn't that convinced of Moriarty in The Great Game last season, but here he truly worked as a villain, with a master plan that was genuinenly devasting.
This was possible because this season made you, or rather, me, i.e. someone who disliked Sherlock himself in the first season, care for the git by allowing him to actually work on himself and care for people. So when Moriarty delivers his final ace - either Sherlock dies, or John Watson, Mrs. Hudson and Lestrade die - it's ever so much better than last season's finale, not just because the stakes are upped but because you do believe Sherlock cares for Mrs. Hudson as well as Lestrade, not "just" for John.
Of course, the person Moriarty didn't mention was Molly, and that was a pleasant surprise both of the finale in particular and the season in general: the pay-off we got from Molly's unrequited crush from last season. The essay I linked to yesterday pointed out Molly becomes the first person Sherlock apologizes to not so in order he can go on being a jerk but as part of him learning to be less of one. Which might have been a matter of interpretation if solely confined to Scandal in Belgravia but gets confirmed here, as her insightfulness, bravery and support are both pointed out by the narrative and properly appreciated (at last!) by Sherlock. Incidentally, this also makes Irene's faked deaths (one of which Molly is the post-mortem pathologist for) foreshadowing to Sherlock's own temporary exit here.
Doyle never intended to let Holmes survive when he wrote The Final Problem; he retconned it into Holmes having faked his death only under massive readership pressure, and that left canon with the awkwardness of Holmes letting Watson believe he's dead for three years. So I was curious whether or not Moffat & Co. would bother to set this up better (given that they knew they wouldn't kill off Sherlock for good), and I'd say they did. Moriarty's supporting cast of assassins is set up well in advance so John (and Lestrade, and Mrs. Hudson) being under a death sentence unless they see Sherlock die is something that feels coming naturally from the story instead of being a retcon, and the added twist of Moriarty having successfully ruined Sherlock's reputation and having set him up as a criminal also adds reasons for an yet unclear time undercover. Mind you, there is absolutely NO reason why Sherlock should lurk near his fake grave just in time to listen to John deliver his eulogy - I knew that would be the final image because it's just so obvious a cliffhanger, but I really hoped given the rest of the episode's quality we'd get another way to alert us that Sherlock is indeed alive. Ah well, you can't have everything.
In conclusion: last season I didn't know whether or not I would continue with the show. After this season, I know I will!
This entry was originally posted at http://selenak.dreamwidth.org/745386.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.