06-06-2014, 04:18 PM
Are you implying that I get expansively verbose on certain subjects, Gripe?
But, yes. I am a hardcore ACD fan, who also looked askance at a modern reboot. Jeremy Brett possibly just edges out Rathbone as my favourite. (I also may have a sneaking guilty fondness for Laurie King's books, which are the worst Mary-Sue Self-Insert fanfic ever, but.) I like the bonkers RDJ films, but they are basically what LXG should have been - though if a Norton turned up in Tony Stark's family tree, I would not be surprised. (And for the hardcore sci-fi fans, wanna bet that a future descendent might be a Naismith?) It's essentially RDJ being deliciously charming and insane and chewing all the scenery, though, not Holmes.
BC does a fair amount of scenery chewing, too. He's far less socially adept than the canon Holmes, but half of that is a choice, because he's an overprivileged white boy. But yes, Freeman is a fabulous Watson. As someone put it in an interview, if this was any other show, the brilliant but damaged war hero doctor would be the central protagonist. He only looks normal because of who he is standing next to. Or chasing over the rooftops after. Or following down a sewer. Or into a drug den... But this Watson is very much the canon Watson, dependable, adaptable, his own intelligence only overshadowed because Holmes, and dangerously capable, all under the veneer of normality.
Then, there's Mary. Now, that was a stroke of genius. (I am going to assume that anyone reading this has seen all three seasons to date, incidentally.) Because John is telling himself that he's looking for normality, to forget all the danger and lunacy. So, of course, the nurse he meets turns out to be an ex-alphabet agency assassin. The best bit about her was the sheer screen chemistry, because whatever the real life situation, they felt like a couple on screen. And it was great that she obviously understood that being with John meant being with John-and-Sherlock, and she wasn't resentful or intimidated - the reveal of why was a kicker, of course. And putting a baby in the mix? I dunno how that will work, but somehow, it intrigues me that Sherlock is probably the least dangerous of the trio. And that he will be inappropriately gleeful the first time said child throws up on Mycroft. I really, really hope they do not fridge Mary next season, I will be fucking furious if they do. The Irene Adler clusterfuck was bad enough.
That plot line, I hated. Lara Pulver was excellent, but the writing and characterisation? Bullshit. In the original canon, Irene Adler is a talented singer. She gets involved with a minor European Royal, who decides she's good enough to be a mistress but *insert upperclass elitist asshole moment here* - and then panics when he decides to get married. Essentially, a young woman of no birth or fortune is burgled, threatened and harassed by a man of wealth and power who wants the inconvenience of his past to go away and let him have his comfortable, rich existence untroubled. And in fact, it turns out that the lady in question would like to go away and not be bothered by this elitist asshole any more, except he's decided that she's a threat. She uses the one weapon she has to make him back the fuck off, really, and I don't blame her. She was shown to be clever, resourceful and not in any need of any man to rescue her. So, the whole 'gay-turned-straight-for-Holmes' blackmailing dominatrix fuckery annoyed me unspeakably. It made her a sexualised object, again, rather than a character.
But, going forward, season 4.
Using canon, Watson was a widower at least once. I am worried about this. I'd much rather they were a bad ass trio arguing about who got to wear the baby sling on this outing. Much as I admire the willingness of the writers, ascended fanboys to a man, to pander to the fandom and make Middle England scream at the slashy overtones, I like the found family/bromance/battle couple thing going on. (And am highly amused that the weird Black Widow/Watson fic xovers aren't so bonkers, after all.) Putting a Watson Jnr in the mix is going to be utterly new ground.
Re Moriarty. Canon had it that Moriarty was one of three brothers. So I'm going out on a limb and wondering if he's actually twins. And the bonkers one topped himself, but the slightly saner planner of the two is still out there. (A friend pointed out that Magnussen's secretary had a similar accent, and maybe she was a sister, which would be an epic twist, but probably one too far... though, this is a Moff/Gatt production, and their track record is patchy when it comes to twisting plots past the point of amusing incredibility.)
Moriarty was the Joker - and why I wonder if there was another directing intelligence, because he was too erratic to be anything other than a ticking bomb - but CAM was a truly horrifying and modern opponent. And so correct, you don't need proof, all you have to do is publish. There was no legal way to stop him. I'd rather this didn't devolve into a US style shadow conspiracy masquerade kudzu plot, though. I'm already pissed off enough with Joss fucking Whedon and his ilk. I want Holmes to stay coolly and weirdly British. The US have already fucked up Dr Who, they can't have this icon, too.
Also, very intrigued by Mycroft's mention of a possible third Holmes brother. I love the depiction of the Holmes family, startlingly normal(ish) parents, and the ridiculous sibling dynamic. In some ways, it makes Sherlock less of an enigma, and I don't really want to be wading around in kiddy flashbacks and puppy-related trauma, but it does make them feel like real people.
...er, so you might have a point. But, anyway.
But, yes. I am a hardcore ACD fan, who also looked askance at a modern reboot. Jeremy Brett possibly just edges out Rathbone as my favourite. (I also may have a sneaking guilty fondness for Laurie King's books, which are the worst Mary-Sue Self-Insert fanfic ever, but.) I like the bonkers RDJ films, but they are basically what LXG should have been - though if a Norton turned up in Tony Stark's family tree, I would not be surprised. (And for the hardcore sci-fi fans, wanna bet that a future descendent might be a Naismith?) It's essentially RDJ being deliciously charming and insane and chewing all the scenery, though, not Holmes.
BC does a fair amount of scenery chewing, too. He's far less socially adept than the canon Holmes, but half of that is a choice, because he's an overprivileged white boy. But yes, Freeman is a fabulous Watson. As someone put it in an interview, if this was any other show, the brilliant but damaged war hero doctor would be the central protagonist. He only looks normal because of who he is standing next to. Or chasing over the rooftops after. Or following down a sewer. Or into a drug den... But this Watson is very much the canon Watson, dependable, adaptable, his own intelligence only overshadowed because Holmes, and dangerously capable, all under the veneer of normality.
Then, there's Mary. Now, that was a stroke of genius. (I am going to assume that anyone reading this has seen all three seasons to date, incidentally.) Because John is telling himself that he's looking for normality, to forget all the danger and lunacy. So, of course, the nurse he meets turns out to be an ex-alphabet agency assassin. The best bit about her was the sheer screen chemistry, because whatever the real life situation, they felt like a couple on screen. And it was great that she obviously understood that being with John meant being with John-and-Sherlock, and she wasn't resentful or intimidated - the reveal of why was a kicker, of course. And putting a baby in the mix? I dunno how that will work, but somehow, it intrigues me that Sherlock is probably the least dangerous of the trio. And that he will be inappropriately gleeful the first time said child throws up on Mycroft. I really, really hope they do not fridge Mary next season, I will be fucking furious if they do. The Irene Adler clusterfuck was bad enough.
That plot line, I hated. Lara Pulver was excellent, but the writing and characterisation? Bullshit. In the original canon, Irene Adler is a talented singer. She gets involved with a minor European Royal, who decides she's good enough to be a mistress but *insert upperclass elitist asshole moment here* - and then panics when he decides to get married. Essentially, a young woman of no birth or fortune is burgled, threatened and harassed by a man of wealth and power who wants the inconvenience of his past to go away and let him have his comfortable, rich existence untroubled. And in fact, it turns out that the lady in question would like to go away and not be bothered by this elitist asshole any more, except he's decided that she's a threat. She uses the one weapon she has to make him back the fuck off, really, and I don't blame her. She was shown to be clever, resourceful and not in any need of any man to rescue her. So, the whole 'gay-turned-straight-for-Holmes' blackmailing dominatrix fuckery annoyed me unspeakably. It made her a sexualised object, again, rather than a character.
But, going forward, season 4.
Using canon, Watson was a widower at least once. I am worried about this. I'd much rather they were a bad ass trio arguing about who got to wear the baby sling on this outing. Much as I admire the willingness of the writers, ascended fanboys to a man, to pander to the fandom and make Middle England scream at the slashy overtones, I like the found family/bromance/battle couple thing going on. (And am highly amused that the weird Black Widow/Watson fic xovers aren't so bonkers, after all.) Putting a Watson Jnr in the mix is going to be utterly new ground.
Re Moriarty. Canon had it that Moriarty was one of three brothers. So I'm going out on a limb and wondering if he's actually twins. And the bonkers one topped himself, but the slightly saner planner of the two is still out there. (A friend pointed out that Magnussen's secretary had a similar accent, and maybe she was a sister, which would be an epic twist, but probably one too far... though, this is a Moff/Gatt production, and their track record is patchy when it comes to twisting plots past the point of amusing incredibility.)
Moriarty was the Joker - and why I wonder if there was another directing intelligence, because he was too erratic to be anything other than a ticking bomb - but CAM was a truly horrifying and modern opponent. And so correct, you don't need proof, all you have to do is publish. There was no legal way to stop him. I'd rather this didn't devolve into a US style shadow conspiracy masquerade kudzu plot, though. I'm already pissed off enough with Joss fucking Whedon and his ilk. I want Holmes to stay coolly and weirdly British. The US have already fucked up Dr Who, they can't have this icon, too.
Also, very intrigued by Mycroft's mention of a possible third Holmes brother. I love the depiction of the Holmes family, startlingly normal(ish) parents, and the ridiculous sibling dynamic. In some ways, it makes Sherlock less of an enigma, and I don't really want to be wading around in kiddy flashbacks and puppy-related trauma, but it does make them feel like real people.
...er, so you might have a point. But, anyway.