Sherlock Updated

In my defunct mystery blog, I stated that I disliked the latest BBC Sherlock Holmes series, but last night I watched the first episode and liked it. (Previously, I had only seen the second one.) Perhaps I liked it because there wasn't anything else to watch or because I was eating French vanilla ice cream at the time, but I did like it. It seemed clever and funny whereas before it had seemed contrived and annoying. What I particularly liked was the way they wove the cell phone text messages into the scenes. That was very nice, visually. It reminded me of a collage with text mixed into the pictures. It also reminded me of news programs where they flash subtitles at you that have nothing to do with what you see on screen or the station identification logos that pop up in the corner of the program you're watching and completely spoil your concentration. But that's the negative side of the text/graphic thing. In the Sherlock program, the texts were integrated into the story and worked beautifully.

There was some other nice camera work -- for instance, an original treatment of the split screen technique, but I can't describe it because it went by so fast that I'm not sure what I saw. The dialog was fast, too. Sherlock talked like he was on speed so it was difficult to understand what he was saying. That's an old trick borrowed from radio serials. Talk fast and the audience has to pay close attention in order to follow what's going on. It makes everything seem more exciting. Besides, it's a good way to cover up gaping holes in the plot. It also glosses over the fact that Sherlock's explanations are really rather tedious.

In this series, Sherlock is an obnoxious young brat, but he's humorous, too. Like some drunks I've known, he's entertaining when you're in the mood to put up with him. Sherlock is played by Benedict Cumberbatch. I love it that his real name is as strange as his character's.