“The case is clear
enough against you, and all I ask are a few details for my private curiosity.
However, if there’s any difficulty in your telling me, I’ll do the talking, and
then you will see how far you have a chance of holding back your secrets.”
--Sherlock Holmes, “The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist”
Austin:
Now that we've reviewed “A Study
in Pink”, I want to bring up the BBC series again as a point of comparison.
Don't worry internet, this isn't about Elementary.
It's about the Jeremy Brett led series, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
We are now watching the earliest episode for us, with "The Solitary
Cyclist" being the fourth. When we last reviewed him in "The Resident
Patient" and that showed a more prickly Holmes than we were used to with
Basil Rathbone, it's nothing compared to this.
In this episode, Sherlock Holmes is an asshole.
And the episode is better for that.
 |
| "Hush. Still my turn to speak." |
This episode has plenty of the plot problems we had in the story
earlier this week--oh man the wedding scene in particular is just crazy to
watch. Yet it was always fun because of Brett. Many people looking for a warm
hero would probably be put off by him, but since not every Sherlock Holmes is
like this, I'm all for a break into a very grumpy area.
It's the cruelty towards Watson, the aggressive attitude he has towards
the case and the plenty of jabbing sarcasm. That's where the writers seem to
focus because the one-liners are really great. Nowadays, this is the strength
of plenty of episodic TV shows. People will join in week after week, not
necessarily because of the mystery set-up but because they like the characters
walking around this world. (Bones, NCIS, every single USA show, etc).
It's clear that this version of Sherlock is an inspiration towards the type of
characters Benedict Cumberbatch could play. How far he could go with being
unlikable, but still a charismatic hero.
Did Brett save
this for you or was it all sorts of crazy? Is it unfair to compare him to
Cumberbatch? Or after that fist-fight scene should we go back to comparing him
to RDJ?
Leigh: I was
pretty vocal in my not liking Brett (or at least I was in my head) when we
reviewed him but I have to say that I somewhat enjoyed this one. It definitely
still had that air of a knock off of a knock off that a teacher would show in
school one day and would only show this version because they happened to have
it in the library but if I would've had to watch it in class, probably when
there was a substitute teacher, I would've paid attention instead of trying to
sleep or drawing. Brett definitely saved this for me though. Before his
assholishness seemed out of place and rough, but in this episode it felt
appropriate. (At this point, I would just like to say that Chrome recognizes
"assholishness" as a word.) The writers tried (although I think,
failed) to show that Holmes was busy so therefore a bit more stressed than normal
which would make anyone prickly. I have to say that I definitely enjoyed the
parts with Brett more than the parts without...Except for that bar fight.
Speaking of that bar fight: Worst bar fight ever. Just. Ugh.
 |
| "Through clever deduction, I've analyzed the best course. I'm going to punch you in the nose." |
But the poor filming and choreography and fighting skills of the
actors isn't what we're talking about here. Maybe they decided to spend their
budget on craft services instead of a fight instructor. You ask if this scene
would be more appropriate for Robert Downey Jr. and I have to say that I think
any of the Sherlock Holmeses we've seen to this point would've had fun with
that scene. Sure, RDJ paired with Guy Ritchie would've made that a main plot
point that was a significantly larger portion of the episode (and better
choreographed) but I think that Cumberbatch would've done a great job with it
too. I definitely would like to see Rathbone take a jab at it and see if he
can't add some spice to that scene.
Both "fight" scenes in this episode seemed lackluster to
me. They took one of the most exciting parts of the whole story and made it
bland and boring. Someone was shot? Really? Are you sure? Sorry, I was yawning
at the time. And the added bar fight wasn't all that exciting either. Sure
there were a couple of punches but I felt the scene afterward with Watson and
Holmes was much more entertaining.
What do you
think? Did the cheese factor ruin it for you too? And how about how they
portrayed the mystery? Did the direct adaptation work?
Austin: It's
amazing how much cheese I'd tolerate. The fight scenes didn't bother me because
I was amused by their placement in the story than the execution. Maybe it's
watching all of the 60s Doctor Who,
but I'm really tolerant towards cheaper British productions. I think there's
also something to say about British actors. Since so many are formally trained,
they give it their all in scenes like this. Brett puts up his dukes like he's
in a Shakespeare play. There is no winking at the audience.
Yet that all depends on the focus. I brought up BBC's Sherlock because
I respected the hell out of Martin Freeman's performance as Watson even more
after seeing this episode. Since Sherlock in this is such a dick, it's
important to see how people react to him. So why did this Watson stick around
him? Yes, he's brilliant but you could read about his exploits in the paper.
Why tolerate this?
In "A Study in Pink" we see Watson get annoyed. He finds
it ridiculous that he had to be called over just to pick up a phone from the
table. It's a waste of his time and his patience and we see that. This Watson
just took every punch like he has been doing this for years and years and
ending the friendship would take too much work. So in yet another edition of
Losing Respect For This Adaptation's Watson, I found myself recognizing that
this was a very flat character especially when standing next to such a
charismatic one. Part of that is definitely the writing, but a lot of that was
the performance in this episode.
 |
| "Watson, move more to the left. You're covering part of my tie." |
With a role
like this, how important is it for you that people recognize the absurd acts?
Or does that get to be a bit to self-congratulatory of characters keep
responding how CRAZY and QUIRKY he is?
Leigh: Wikipedia
says that Jeremy Brett did a lot of Shakespeare so It is impressive that he
took that fight so seriously. I wouldn't have been able to do it without that
wink to the audience. I guess we can agree at this point that Jeremy Brett is a
better actor than I am. (My only acting roles are as extras in student films.
But I was good at being an extra, dammit!)
 |
| If you can play this scene seriously, you can do anything. |
You bring up a very good point. I am always saying that Watson has
to have a reason to stay with Sherlock Holmes and yet I don't think this Watson
has a reason. We've only seen two episodes for the blog but even the
introductory episode is Scandal in Bohemia. The show jumps right in to the
canon and doesn't allow the audience to see this Watson and this Holmes meet. I
think if they did though, Watson would've run away and they wouldn't have
become the characters as we know them. Brett's Holmes is constantly rude and
mean towards Watson and gives him the smallest bit of nuggets of "good
job" when he does something correctly as Watson sits there making a very
British, "Well, I never..." look. I don't feel like this Holmes
appreciates Watson and the characters are just there to fill the roles and not
create a deeper relationship between the characters. I think this show as a
whole is more about telling the stories of Sherlock Holmes and not necessarily
about Holmes and Watson.
Martin Freeman adds a bit of depth to the character that is lacking
in a lot of Sherlock Holmes adaptations because he does get upset and
frustrated with Holmes and is still enamored by him. David Burke's Watson acts
like a puppy who just got yelled at for stealing a cookie when he didn't. He
takes it and apologizes for it and still sticks around. This is a type of
loyalty that we appreciate from the Watson characters but we don't see why he's
loyal. (I am reminded of this
video.) This relationship reminds me less of Holmes and Watson and more of
Bella and Edward. I think we can both agree that we don't want that.
Next time we go back to school! Damn, we really should've timed this
better so it would be when normal school people are going back to school...
And now Austin
with the final word…
Austin: What else can I say but “assholishness”?
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