Michael Starr makes the case for ‘Elementary’:
I was initially skeptical (so what else is new?) prior to watching “Elementary” on CBS. A show in which Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic British detective, Sherlock Holmes — the one we all know and love — never existed?
Please.
Oh, and we’re supposed to believe the Sherlock Holmes who exists in “Elementary” (Jonny Lee Miller) is, like Conan Doyle’s creation, a British-born recovering drug addict — only here he’s been transplanted to New York, where his brilliant deductive reasoning (and OCD) makes him an invaluable asset as a consultant to the NYPD?
Well . . . yes. I quickly bought into the premise lock, stock and barrel — and the series is terrific.
What makes “Elementary” so good — at least in the context of its suspending-belief TV universe — are the performances of its stars, both Miller and Lucy Liu, who plays Holmes’ sidekick, Dr. Joan Watson. She’s an ex-surgeon who abandoned medicine after an unfortunate incident and has morphed from Sherlock’s “sober companion” to his salaried crime-solving partner.
Their on-screen chemistry (no romantic overtones — yet) is palpable. Miller somehow imbues Holmes — arrogant and condescending — with just the slightest bit of vulnerability, making us like and admire him in spite of ourselves while Miller fires off his elaborate, florid dialogue effortlessly (or seemingly so).
Watson herself is no shrinking violet, softening Sherlock’s verbal blows with an “are you kidding me?” stance while, in her own sly way, getting all up into her partner’s grill — while respecting his ethereal brilliance.
The show is fun and fast-paced, in spite of its over-the-top plots, and features a winning supporting cast (Aidan Quinn as world weary NYPD Capt. Tommy Gregson and Jon Michael Hill as top-notch, slightly cynical Det. Marcus Bell).
Kudos to series creator Robert Doherty for adding a new wrinkle to a familiar pop-culture mainstay.
Sara Stewart makes the case for ‘Sherlock’:
I cringe at the term “Cumberbitch,” but I’m not going to lie — the impending arrival of the third season of “Sherlock” on Sunday does make me a bit teenage-girl-shrieky inside. As the BBC’s version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s quirky detective, Benedict Cumberbatch is so right for the part it’s almost painful to watch anyone else try (apologies to RDJ and Johnny Lee Miller).
It’s not (just) his aristocratic, weirdly reptilian good looks or the Alan Rickman-lite voice — Cumberbatch just exudes effortless, amused intelligence. He’s the embodiment of the high I.Q. of the show, whose banter is so quick a non-Brit would be well advised to watch with closed captioning on (I’m still not sure I got every word from the last two seasons).
In a world oversaturated with reboots, sequels and updates, Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss’ creation is the rare worthwhile revisit: a contemporary rendition of the world’s greatest detective, meshing the utility of modern technology (texting often figures prominently) with a deliciously Victorian sense of leisure (Sherlock spends off hours at 221B Baker St. not on the Internet but playing the violin, doing questionable science experiments or just staring off into space).
And the rest of the cast is equally impeccable. Has there ever been a part more well-suited to the twitchy, double-takey Martin Freeman? (Well, other than “The Office”?) Marvel as his John Watson discovers Sherlock’s back from the dead; the scene is a thing of comic beauty. Then there’s his brother Mycroft, played to simpering perfection by Gatiss himself, who very nearly walks off with Sunday’s episode.
Plus, you have to respect a show that so clearly adores its obsessive audience right back: Sherlock’s return features not one but two fan-fictiony kisses between characters — which I’m not going to spoil for you, don’t worry. The episode’s title, “The Empty Hearse,” is the name of a group of Sherlock admirers (in the show) piecing together their hypotheses about how he pulled off his fake suicide, just like we’ve all been doing here in the real world.
This show is for full-on nerds, my friends. And as Sherlock siren Irene Adler put it last season, “Brainy is the new sexy.”