Sherlock was on my list of things I anticipated most in 2012. Its run of three episodes have come and gone in the UK, and the show is slated to run in the US on PBS sometime in the Spring. As I am an obsessive nerd that needs her fix now, however, I managed to watch the show using tunnelbear on BBC iPlayer. It was easily the best television I’ve seen in a long time. Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are beyond excellence as Sherlock and Watson.
The story arch this series was also just damn brilliant. In A Scandal in Belgravia we’re introduced to Irene Adler, who is no disappointment as Sherlock’s female counterpart. I also absolutely loved the psychological and emotional intensity of The Hounds of Baskerville. For all my gripping about Steven Moffat’s direction on Doctor Who, the man’s creativity is undeniable. His modernization of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 19th century classic texts are remarkable. Different enough to feel fresh and surprising, but immersed in the best of Sherlockian tradition.
I love the development of Irene Adler’s character, and her relationship with Sherlock is so much more gratifying here than in the original. Insane, but true. It’s the series ending that really got me, however. My God, that ending was just the fucking best. I laughed, I cried and I was rendered speechless and I’m pretty sure I’m kind of in love with Martin Freeman now. Such good stuff. A third series has been commissioned, although how soon we’ll have that, who knows as Martin Freeman is sequestered in New Zealand filming the second part of The Hobbit.
