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But WHY is there not more Mycroft? I know Gatiss was also show-running (while also taking time out to write stories where Doctor Who rescues the spoddy ginger boy and makes his daddy love him and life worth living again), but if you’re going to dye people’s perfectly good ginger hair into unconvincing teak-ish shades, why not at least FEATURE them in every episode.
Although the 1895 is a canon reference, Holmes aficionados will perhaps know it best from Vincent Starret’s, er, affecting poem. (Readers of a Victorian disposition may need a lace-edged hanky for this.)
221B
Here dwell together still two men of note
Who never lived and so can never die:
How very near they seem, yet how remote
That age before the world went all awry.
But still the game’s afoot for those with ears
Attuned to catch the distant view-halloo:
England is England yet, for all our fears–
Only those things the heart believes are true.
A yellow fog swirls past the window-pane
As night descends upon this fabled street:
A lonely hansom splashes through the rain,
The ghostly gas lamps fail at twenty feet.
Here, though the world explode, these two survive,
And it is always eighteen ninety-five.
Especially since sitting in his big baronial Chateau Despair gothchair makes Mycroft Holmes SO HAPPY. I love Mycroft. I love the totally unnecessary bit where he smokes (actorish smoking 4eva) outside Speedy’s. And, actually, while we’re loving on Mycroft, I worship & adore his discomfort at the idea of having Christmas phonecalls with Sherlock
you know he wants Christmas phonecalls with Sherlock.…re: that poem, I would like it known that I don’t find it at all affecting. No.
Sophie – awesome and hilarious review. I laughed out loud a couple of times. Great stuff and thank you for posting :)
Thank you so much! I’m delighted you enjoyed it. Now to get to work on 2×02, featuring sci-fi’s Main Gay, Russell Tovey. Happy times!
I am not a particular fan of Sherlock (show or character), though I watch it masochistically writhing between genuinely enjoying some of the writing and tomfoolery and hating everything else, but I had to read this, because your writing is hilarious. If I picked out my favourite bits I would be picking out EVERYTHING. Your style just cracks me up.
K, thank you so much for commenting! Particularly glad you enjoyed the recap even if not a massive fan of the show. That’s great to hear. YAY for liking EVERYTHING – I hope you’ll stick around for more. :D
Sophie, you’re in grave danger of becoming my favorite recap writer! Stoney will not like that! I love your recap, almost as much as I love the show. You have a wonderfully witty, snarky, hilarious writing style and insights. Thank you.
I loved this episode. Not because it was better than last season’s but because the wait has lowered my standards…maybe. ;-) I thought it was more humourous than most of last season’s eps. It’s very interesting to see the slow devolpment and disclosure of the Holmes brothers’ relationship and childhood pathos. I would NEVER contribute to the Holmes Family Counseling Fund; it would ruin the “fun in disfunctional” dynamic between those two. SH is my favorite sociopath of all time!!
I really enjoyed “Study in Pink” last season. It was such a (good) shock to the system to see a thoroughly modern (technologically and topically) series! Maybe we shouldn’t expect anything less from Moffat (I rewatch his Dr. Who as often as I can, especially if He Of The Cheekbones/ Impossible Hair/ Skinny Tallness a.k.a. David Tennant is The Doctor!! What??!! HDJM!!) The immediate depths of the characters, the seamless incorporation of modern sentiment/mores/technology/ history were brilliant IMHO.
I’m so happy Rupert Graves and Mark Gatiss are back. I’ve loved Gatiss’s work too, in everything I’ve seen – Dr. Who, Sherlock, Being Human, etc.
Again, thank you for a great recap. I am envious that you get to see all of these so much sooner than we do in the U.S. and, maybe, don’t have to wait as long!!
Hey again! Now, come on, how often do we in Britain have to stay up late for your American goodies? I grew up on Frasier, after all, and have simmering addictions to Criminal Minds and House. Gatiss is great – do you like The League of Gentlemen, by any chance?
The second recap is now up, if you’re ready – come and check it out over here, and I really hope you enjoy that too (I’m not yet over my nerves every time I post one of these…).
Ahaha, Stoney will only rise to NEW HEIGHTS in order to keep first place in your affections! This was such a great comment to read. I’m having such a wonderful time doing on HDJM what I’d only be doing anyway: snarking and loving and flailing about glorious telly!
Now, I’m being careful here because of course I’ve seen all of series 2 (Brit), but I definitely agree with you about the humour. I’m also glad you like the dynamics between the brothers Holmes. I am a huge fan of all Mark Gatiss’s work, and think Mycroft’s an absolute joy. Which was your favourite episode in Series 1?
Thank you so much. I hope to recap 1×02 and 1×03 in time as well!
You have such an enjoyable writing style, Sophie – it reads effortlessly funny. Made me want to dig out my DVDs again, I love this show sfm (even though I want to kick Moffat for the treatment of some of his female characters). Many LOLs were had ♥♥♥
Maria! Thank you so so much, this is incredibly kind of you. And yes, Moffat & gender upsets me endlessly (though not, from a historical/adaptation/plot POV, his specific treatment of Irene). Looking at this specifically from a feminist POV, I thought (just as a fleeting aside) that in the case montage at the beginning of the ep, it was unnecessary to cast the two spouses who each thought their partner was having an affair with an average-build man and a heavily overweight woman, so that when Sherlock instantly confirmed her husband was having an affair, it looked like a fat joke (although doubtless he’d deduced more complex things – but it LOOKED like a visual gag about obesity).
That said, the comedy in the show makes it, and overall I think it’s one of the best things on TV. I’m really really glad to have made you laugh!
Am I not allowed to in these comments? We’ll do the next best thing.
Everyone: IT IS TIME TO BE STUNNED BY RANDOM HELICOPTER!EXTRA.
[blinded by the light]
Not allowed to post pictures, is it? I’m not sure!
Sarah Falk, thank you for bringing the urgent issue of Helicopter!Extra’s BEAUTY under closer inspection. Look at him. I’m quite chuffed since 2×02′s recap will also contain Random Beautiful Bit-Actor.
As they say in France, and in McDonald’s, parfait.
I hope you’ll stick around for the rest of the recaps! And indeed for any other shows you follow. :D
I know naught of Sherlock but I think you have convinced me to watch it, BRAVO.
HURRAH. Thank you so much for commenting! I’m glad you enjoyed the recap.
Excellent recap! You do a good job mixing humor & a genuine appreciation of the show, along with some very thoughtful criticism.
It’s interesting – my wife and I both interpreted the ending as being a wishful reverie on Sherlock’s part, rather than a flashback, which is how everyone else seems to have seen it. But you’re right that the line from Mycroft seems to have been a big hint that it was real. Too bad – I think I prefer the more tragic interpretation.
Sir, you have a good name. Thank you so much for the feedback; I’m glad you liked it.
Ooooh, I wonder if that IS what happened? I almost want it to have been, because it’s sadder on both their parts – that he dreamed of saving her. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen the question put to writers or actors; maybe somebody will.
I just finished a recap of 2×02, over here – hope you enjoy it as much!
I have to say, I just adored the very beginning with the phone call – the ring tone of “Stayin’ Alive”, and the facial expressions of “So sorry, have to take this, can’t believe their timing” as if the call was just interrupting a business meeting instead of BOMB STANDOFF 2012.
I really enjoyed your recap, by the way – the various names you came up with for Benedict Cumberbatch were hilarious, and I blame you for the fact that I will never be able to see his face without seeing it superimposed on a Persian kitten’s head. :)
I love the use of popular music in this show – I wish they’d use more of it, tbh, but suspect I wouldn’t find it as effective if there weren’t such a strong orchestral presence for most of it.
Thank you so much! Honestly, the feedback is such a great thing for me, and I’m so glad you enjoyed my work. Do check out the recap of 2.2! <3
More brilliance! Do please continue…
Thank you! I hope to get to recapping 1×02 and 1×03 at some point. :D So glad you enjoyed this.
This made me laugh SO MUCH, you have COMPLETELY got a handle on bb Cumberbatch + the whole darn show! Off to check out the others now…
Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed + of course, that you took the time to comment. Much appreciated.
Hilarious and true. Thank you so much for the vision of Otterbatch in the Labyrinth – a thing of beauty!
Thank you so much! Otterbatch is the best. I was sad for him at the BAFTAs (all right, not desperately sad, but quite…).
This is surely the best recap of the gender-issues-sensitive Cumberbatch-fancying (Otterbatch-fancying?) and indeed Kate Middleton-fantasising genre. I’m relieved to see someone writing from this angle and pointing out the positive things in the portrayal of Irene Adler. As for Molly, how she is portrayed in the third series will be most intriguing given the implications of her role in the denouement of part three.
Thank you so much! I am delighted to be placed in a genre of such specificity AND DISTINCTION, I feel. And, yes, I surprised myself with the positive attitude to Adler, but on second watching (which I just mistyped as “sexond watching”), I found there was much to commend.
And aha, re: Molly, I so agree. I want her to do well. I wonder if she might become Watson’s wife (really hope not), but as long as she doesn’t DIE, I’ll be.. relieved. I hope her role in the denouement shows her at her most fiendishly brilliant. And stresses that she’s as good a friend to Sherlock as John – if not better.
lol’ed at the scarily accurate description of Andrew Scott’s eyes…
heheh. “He of a thousand tumblrs.” yup pretty much.
Sherlock solving a mystery involving otters reminded me of something from Cabin Pressure. (In case you haven’t heard of it, it’s a BBC radio drama (comedy) featuring Benedict as one of the main characters. And it is HI-larious.) In the episode “Ottery St. Mary” there’s a whole wacky conversation about how many otters you could fit into a 16-seat airplane.
On YouTube someone synched the audio to clips from Sherlock -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R8JfCQALmI
Thanks so much for commenting! I am a massive fan of Cabin Pressure (for Roger Allam in particular), and look forward to checking out those clips! Have you heard the Sherlock-parody episode (it’s on YouTube)?
Totally! All your Sherlock recaps are awesome/super-entertaining. :D
And, yeah, I think so. Heh, I pretty much tore through all the Cabin Pressure ep.’s when I discovered the series. (It’s the one where Arthur compares Martin to…MISS MARPLE – amIright?)
Sophie, ADORE your recap! Found it by accident whilst searching for Otterbatch pics. Am now a dedicated fan and sharing you with my fellow Sherlockians. Please do keep up the good work. Comment-wise, I don’t feel the female characters of “Sherlock” are written misogynistically (my spell check really did NOT like that word). I think Molly gets treated so badly by Sherlock because he has none of the social filters employed by normally-functioning humans, and Molly serves the ongoing story as embodiment of the pain his sociopathy inflicts. Ultimately Sherlock is misanthropic, not misogynistic – an equal-opportunity disdainer.