Sherlock – Season 1

sherlock-season-1

It’s kind of funny that I mentioned that I have a hard time watching procedural shows on Amy’s Elementary – Season 1 review, yet I just recently managed to check out Sherlock‘s first season. Despite Julyssa and Mirella insisting for months that it’s fantastic to watch, I held off on watching the show until I just caught the first season on TV. Only three episodes to watch (albeit 90 minutes each), and it’s a lot easier to watch than Elementary for those with commitment issues regarding dedication to watching a show if you want a dose of a made-for-television Sherlock Holmes series.

Season 1 begins when John Watson (Freeman), a recently invalided doctor, meets detective Sherlock Holmes (Cumberbatch) just when Holmes is assisting the police in solving a weird case involving lots of suicides. From the moment Watson and Holmes get to know each other, their personalities clash, yet they work together in solving crimes across London.

While Sherlock comes across as a procedural show because there’s different cases per episode, the fun of watching Sherlock lay mostly in the interactions between Watson and Holmes, both greatly performed by Freeman and Cumberbatch, respectively. The chemistry between them is great and they work well thanks to Steven Moffat’s screenwriting, which keeps the show watchable and has succeeded in adapting the Sherlock Holmes series into a modernized version, involving current technology while retaining the traits that made Holmes and Watson interesting to begin with.

As far as the crime cases fared on the first season, I would say they worked well in favor of the characterisations for Holmes and Watson. However, Sherlock suffers a bit in the middle portion of solving the cases because the pacing felt slow, but you can except that on most crime shows. While the first episode served as a great introduction to the show’s format and characters, the second episode drags a lot and almost hurt the show’s momentum. The season finale, however, is the best Sherlock offers while building the tension for both the characters and the case, leading to the revealing of next season’s main antagonist and ending with a strong cliffhanger.

All in all, Season 1 was interesting to watch. I’ll admit that I would have graded this higher if it wasn’t because of the weak second episode.

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

Rodrigo

YAM Magazine contributor, has a B. Sc. degree in Science/Pharmacy and is a very lazy person.

7 Responses

  1. mirella says:

    Dammit, The Blind Banker! Also, it is curious that the dude who wrote that episode also wrote the finale of Series 2, a fan (and critic) favourite xD
    You gotta watch Series 2 ASAP!

    • Rodrigo says:

      @mirella, Interesting. I knew Moffat didn’t wrote that episode, but it was still unsettling to watch. I’ll watch Season 2 when I can. Also, a few lines from Cumberbatch’s Holmes made me laugh and almost reminded me of Coupling. :)

  2. The cinematography in this is also stellar, and I like how the show captures the stories’ sense of adventure.

    • amy says:

      @Diandra Rodriguez, I agree with this one. Compared to the American counterpart, this one exudes mood and style.

    • Rodrigo says:

      @Diandra Rodriguez, I agree with this. I forgot to talk about the cinematography ’cause I kept this review shorter than I would usually write since I typed most of this review from my PS3 (my laptop got a virus and I gotta fix it soon). Saying “succeeded in adapting the Sherlock Holmes series into a modernized version” could be a way of vaguely acknowledge the cinematography, but I meant for the show as a a whole.

    • Mirella says:

      @Diandra Rodriguez, Oh god, the cinematography. The first thing I noticed about these show (besides what a weirdly atractive alien face Benedict Cumberbatch has) was the beautiful cinematography. The lighting, the style, the edition, the camera use, everything was so pretty!

  1. October 1, 2015

    […] underwent a modern reimagining a few years back when Arthur Conan Doyle’s literary creation Sherlock Holmes headed back to the BBC under the watchful eyes of Doctor Who showrunner Stephan Moffat and The League of Gentlemen‘s […]

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