Sherlock Made an Old Detective Feel Completely Modern Without Losing What Made Him Great
Nerdy Up North
The setup
Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson investigate a series of increasingly strange crimes in modern day London, while Sherlock's brilliance, awful social skills and growing obsession with criminal mastermind Jim Moriarty keep dragging them into bigger problems.
Sherlock gets the modernisation right because it does not simply take an old detective story and give everyone a mobile phone. The technology changes how Sherlock works, but the thing that makes the show interesting is still the relationship between Sherlock and Watson.
Benedict Cumberbatch is brilliant as Sherlock because he can make him look like the cleverest person in any room and also like somebody who would be absolutely unbearable to actually know. Martin Freeman is the perfect balance as Watson. He is not just standing there waiting for Sherlock to explain the plot. He gives the whole show a bit of humanity and is usually the person reminding Sherlock that other people have feelings.
I also love the way the series puts texts and information on screen rather than constantly cutting to close ups of phones. It felt genuinely fresh when the show started and meant the visual side of a detective thinking through clues could actually be interesting.
Andrew Scott's Moriarty is fantastic. He is funny, weird and completely unpredictable, and every time he appears you get the feeling the show could go off the rails at any second. The chemistry between him and Cumberbatch makes their scenes some of the best in the series.
The problem is that Sherlock eventually starts becoming a little too impressed with Sherlock. The early episodes are mysteries with a brilliant detective inside them. Later on, some stories feel more interested in mythology, twists and proving how clever everyone involved is. There are episodes where the solution is less satisfying because the show has spent so much time trying to surprise you.
But when Sherlock is good, it is ridiculously good. Cumberbatch and Freeman are one of those pairings that immediately feel right, and the feature length format gives the mysteries room to breathe without turning every case into a full season.
Positives
Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are perfectly matched, Andrew Scott is a brilliant Moriarty, the modern London setting works and the visual presentation of Sherlock's deductions still feels clever.
Negatives
Later episodes can become too pleased with their own cleverness, and some mysteries get buried under increasingly complicated character mythology.
Verdict
Sherlock did far more than stick Holmes in the modern day. At its best it made a character who had already been adapted hundreds of times feel exciting again.
