My Mum is the Internet

[awanderingbard]

I've gotten Mum into Sherlock, and watching with her is great. She talks to the TV and makes all the same guesses as I did my first time through. She was totally confused by the ending of Scandal ("but why did he save her?") but my favourite reaction so far was during Baskerville.

Mum: Sherlock's driving?!

Comments

[aelfgyfu_mead]

I think everyone was rather shocked that Sherlock was driving! I was worried his attention would wander and so would the vehicle.

My mother watched the first series of Sherlock and didn't like it much; she stuck out the second for the first two stories and then skipped "Reichenbach." Good grief! I thought we would finally have a show in common, but no!

[awanderingbard.livejournal.com]

Well, apparently he only drove because Martin can't, so I think it's realistic to be surprised by it. In the casebook, John describes it as the scariest trip of his life, though Sherlock seems a very calm and capable driver when we see him.

Mum doesn't enjoy it as much as Elementary I don't think, because she doesn't like Sherlock himself. She thinks he's a jerk, which he is, and so she can't get behind him as the hero as much. Whereas Miller!Holmes is really rather a sweetie underneath it all. Cumberbatch!Holmes is merely slightly less of a complete jerk underneath it all. I do wonder if we did it the other way around if she'd like it more, where she'd have had nothing to contrast it to. She's also never read any of the stories, so she misses some of the little references that make watching a lot of fun.

[aelfgyfu_mead]

We watched "A Study in Pink" with Not So Small Anymore Child yesterday. [note to self: come up with better pseudonym] She enjoyed it, but not as much as she likes Elementary, and I think that might be because she saw the latter first.

Or it might be because the writing is actually much better! I love Sherlock, but it has all kinds of fail in it, and it hurts me sometimes. I do think there's misogyny in some of the stories, and really poor handling of race (especially in "The Blind Banker"), and there are just writing errors and a lot of improbabilities and inconsistencies. And yet I love it anyway.

Whereas Miller!Holmes is really rather a sweetie underneath it all. Cumberbatch!Holmes is merely slightly less of a complete jerk underneath it all.
That is perfect! It took me a while to warm up to Jonny Lee Miller. I'm still a Brett girl above all when it comes to Holmeses. BC's Sherlock is not among my most-loved characters on his own show! I love his interactions with John, but if I'm rating characters, John is my fave, with Molly, Mrs. Hudson, and Lestrade all jockeying for position as second by the time we're through the second series.

I think JLM's Holmes is much closer to my own mental picture of Holmes than BC's, although it took me a while to get past some things—his tattoos and sex life being two of my chief obstacles.

[awanderingbard.livejournal.com]

I love Sherlock, but it has all kinds of fail in it, and it hurts me sometimes.

I enjoy the plot of Elementary more, which always wraps up neatly without me going 'wait, what?' about an hour later, but enjoy the character interactions on Sherlock more. Sherlock has the benefit of being 90 minutes, so it has time to breathe and show things like the Christmas party scene or Sherlock freaking out in Hounds. Elementary only has 45 minutes to tell a story, and once the mystery is done, the character stuff doesn't have as much room.

It took me a while to get into Brett!Holmes, because I found the pacing quite slow, but I have been catching up since then and enjoying them. His Holmes is delightfully cheeky, though I must admit to not caring for either Watson particularly, though Hardwicke matches my Watson better than Burke.

Have you seen the Hound of the Baskerville with Richard Roxburgh and Ian Hart? It's one of my favourite adaptations, and on screen Holmes and Watson pairings.

I think JLM's Holmes is much closer to my own mental picture of Holmes than BC's, although it took me a while to get past some things—his tattoos and sex life being two of my chief obstacles.

I can justify the tattoos by canon!Holmes being very fascinated by them, and maybe in modern times when they are no longer only sported by sailors and prisoners, he might be inclined to experiment with them. But the sex life is still just screaming 'we need a romance!' to me. I'd like to see Watson dating a bit more. Book!Watson was always very appreciative of the opposite sex, after all.

[aelfgyfu_mead]

I do love all the character interactions on Sherlock. We get good moments with Sherlock and Joan on Elementary, but not every week, and not a lot besides that. (I did like Gregson's awareness that Holmes had been in rehab, and the fact that he kept quiet about it.)

The Christmas party was wonderful! I suppose in Sherlock, I'm really watching for the characters, and the mystery is less important—which is good, because some of my "wait, what?" moments come before the episode even ends!

Jeremy Brett was my first screen Holmes, and he may always be my favorite; I grew up on him. I preferred Hardwicke to Burke as well.

I have not seen the Hound with Roxburgh and Hart; I just had to look it up.

Yes! Watson had a pretty active love life! ACD's Watson, though, strikes me as a bit more outgoing than Joan Watson. She seems more introspective and, dare I say it, more intelligent than most Watsons? One can hope, though. They've worked in Ms. Hudson and tackled both Adler and Moriarty; I'm not sure we need a Joan Watson with “an experience of [men] which extends over many nations and three separate continents.” A less lonely life would be good, though. I liked when they showed us some of her friends—and her friends deciding to stage an intervention!—and her friends realizing they were wrong.

[awanderingbard.livejournal.com]

I have not seen the Hound with Roxburgh and Hart; I just had to look it up.

It's up on youtube, if you're curious. I'm very fond of Hart's Watson.

A less lonely life would be good, though.

Yes! That's what I meant, more than 'she needs a man/woman in her life to be happy'. Any relationship with Sherlock Holmes, no matter who is playing him, is going to be a bit dysfunctional. I'd like to see her having more support. Friends are fine, too. I was just thinking of Watson's romantic exploits from the books. I also think they would be able to write a nice Mary Morstan version that wouldn't place her in a position of having to tone down her awesome, if you know what I mean. Woman tend to get gooey on TV shows when they fall in love, but I have faith in the Elementary team to find her a partner that would respect her abilities rather than try to subdue her, and I'd like to see that.

[aelfgyfu_mead]

I can't imagine Joan getting sappy! She has an ex, at least. But yes, she needs friends!

[rodlox.livejournal.com]

The Young One?

he seemed to have fewer tattoos before he met Irene.{Elementary-wise, at least}

Holmes' sex life has always thrown me for a loop. then I remember book!Watson's observation/speculation that, while Holmes would be an attentive lover, any relationship (with Holmes and anyone) would be unfair.

[rodlox.livejournal.com]

> She's also never read any of the stories, so she misses some of the little references that make watching a lot of fun.
I think I may have scared my parents a bit when I cheered (when Elementary's Holmes described Irene as "the Woman...who eclipsed...")

only after the s2 finale could I finally get either of my parents to read any of the original Holmes canon - the first paragraph of the first page of Scandal in Bohemia.