Another rainy day in Texas. Last night we had some of the most impressive thunder I’ve ever heard. One crack was loud and fierce enough to shake the house and make me say a bad word. Several of the rolls of thunder just went on and on and on, lasting for at least thirty seconds, if not longer.
Last night’s The Closer was okay. The drug addled prime suspect was funny. The grandparents were a bit strident. Sanchez’s behavior seemed very much out of character. I have a suspicion that when Brenda put on the earphones she heard something that would have confirmed a conspiracy that she chose to ignore for the benefit of the little girl. The early scene when Brenda and Fritz were fighting while she simultaneously juggled a phone call from Sgt. Gabriel was pretty funny. Next week looks like another hilarious Provenza/Flynn episode. I remember the last one where they found a dead body while they were on the way to a baseball game and decided to hide the body until afterward so they wouldn’t miss the game, only to have the body go missing.
I wish I could take credit for the pun that is the title of today’s post, but it was a retweet by Ian Rankin from someone else who summed up the new BBC miniseries Sherlock in the best, pithiest way possible. The comparison is, of course, appropriate, since it’s written by Steven Moffat. The series pulls Holmes, Watson, Mrs. Hudson, (Detective Inspector) Lestrade, Mycroft and Moriarity into the 21st century. Holmes is addicted to his smart phone (as well as the usual addictions—except he’s given up smoking because of the strict bans in London). Watson is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, and suffering from PTSD…or is it withdrawal? Holmes is as androgynous as ever. He’s totally oblivious to women who flirt with him and he entertains the possibility that Watson might have designs on him while simultaneously deflecting them. Even Mrs. Hudson is “gay friendly.” Watson googles Holmes to find out more about him, and stumbles across his web site (The Science of Deduction).
Holmes has a love/hate relationship with the police. They love him when he solves their crimes, but otherwise they despise him. A couple of officers think he’s a psychopath who is capable of murder. One even has the gumption to say as much to his face, whereupon Holmes replies, “I’m not a psychopath; I’m a high-functioning sociopath. Do your research.” They have an interesting way of conveying his deductions to the audience—pop-up messages on the screen, which is a bit distracting at first, but you get used to it. It works especially well as a way of showing text messages on phones, rather than trying to focus in on the digital screens.
London is a major player in the show, or at least in this first episode. There’s a great caper chase through the streets, with Holmes imagining the street map in his head, along with all the traffic diversions. After the chase ends, Watson exclaims, “That was the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever done.” Holmes’s response,” And you invaded Afghanistan.” Which would have been funny enough, except Watson shoots back, “That wasn’t just me.”
As far as the case of the serial suicides, it was intriguing enough to keep things going while we learn the rules of this new universe. There was one overblown bit that threatened to wreck the episode (it happened when a cabbie arrived at 221B while the cops were searching the apartment for drugs) but it didn’t last long, fortunately. Watson isn’t quite as daft as he is often portrayed. Him trying to chat up the beautiful woman in the back of the limo was pretty funny and very Arthur Dent, perhaps because the actor played Arthur Dent in the movie. I had a suspicion that the guy in the warehouse wasn’t who we were meant to think it was, so I gave myself a pat on the back. The interplay between the two actors is very well done. Just wish there were going to be more than the three episodes.
Apparently PBS is supposed to pick these up for Masterpiece at some point. Check them out if you get the chance. If you were amused or entertained by the Robert Downey, Jr. re-imagination of Holmes, this should be right up your alley.
