Sherlock Season 3

*********** contains spoilers **********

What happens (In a nutshell)

After faking his own death to prevent the murder of his friends, Sherlock returns to London after two years. He has successfully broken Moriarti’s crime ring, and can rest assured that no one will be harmed. His greatest challenge is calming down Watson, who is understandably upset, and even more when he learns that some people knew Sherlock was alive. Watson has moved on, he is on the verge of proposing to Mary. After getting over some of his anger, Sherlock and Watson set out to save London from a terrorist attack.

Mary is a lovely girl, she understands that Sherlock has insecurities and is very kind to him. As their wedding approaches, Sherlock is faced with the daunting task of giving the best man speech. His speech solves some mysteries that has been stuck in his head, and Sherlock realises that one of the guests are in danger, and he, Mary and Watson set out to save Watson’s old friend, and they receive help from Inspector Lestrade as well.

As Mary and Watson settle into their new life, Sherlock seems to be settling into the life of a drug addict. His friends are worried, but as usual Sherlock has an agenda – he is trying to catch media mogul and blackmailer Magnussen, who has a shocking secret over one of Sherlock’s friends. Sherlock is critically injured, but he devises a plan that will end Magnussen. Can he stop the creepy and dangerous media mastermind? To what lengths will the detective go to save his friends?

Rating: 9/10

Continuing from Season two and Sherlock’s “death”, I really had high hopes for season three. I wasn’t even disappointed! It is as incredibly good as Season 2 and I never wanted it to end. Benedict Cumberbatch stole the show, nothing new there, and Martin Freeman was brilliant, again. I still adore Mark Gatiss endlessly as he is to my mind a great example of the upper British culture. The show developed its characters – Sherlock got involved with someone, Watson got married, and they both had moments where the flaws in their personalities became obvious. Watson has a mean temper, but it only reveals itself when it is truly justified. I think Sherlock is obviously the more flawed of the two, but I’ve always thought brilliant people are always going to be socially awkward and flawed.

About the only thing I didn’t like about the season is the true lack of a super villain. Magnussen just isn’t Moriarti. He was evil, scary, creepy and disgusting and yet he never reached that level where his madness completely consumed and captivated me. The final scenes with him were successful because Benedict Cumberbatch was there, not because of the brilliance of the villain.

I got used to the length and made the revolutionary discovery that you could turn the show off and return later if you needed to (brilliant, I know). I actually did this (quite freakishly) at the correct moment in episode three. Had I continued watching a few seconds later, I would have seen something that would have kept me up LATE.

My favourite episode by far is The Sign of Three, because it has Sherlock’s speech in, but episode one and three is also exceptionally good.

Highlights:

Sherlock is ALIVE!

Although we knew that Sherlock was alive, Watson didn’t, and England didn’t. I really, really friggin loved Watson’s reaction when he realised that Sherlock was alive, that other people knew and that no one bothered to tell him. The first few minutes of the first episode is probably the hottest damn thing I have ever seen (not telling – go watch it)

Watson marrying Mary and Sherlock’s speech

It is so sweet to see Watson being happy and married. I watched Sherlock’s speech about three times because it was so beautiful and completely unexpected.

Mary’s secret

This lady surprised the hell out of me. I went from loving her, to loathing her, to not understanding her and then to pitying her. It was unfair that she had to reveal what she had kept hidden, because at the end of the day she was a pawn in a major game that didn’t really involve her, but as she was the necessary link, she suffered.

Mycroft’s surprising amount of love for his brother

I love Mycroft Holmes way too much. He is so snooty and funny and his facial expressions make me giggle every time. He doesn’t look like a person capable of intense emotions but you can just see how much he cares about his younger brother, especially in the last episode.

Sherlock showing exactly what he is capable of

Hmmm, this guy. He is insanely smart and sarcastic and I adore him. He has been saying since season one that he is a highly functioning sociopath, and man, did he prove it well. The scene where he finally stops Magnussen was so sudden and shocking I was like what the hell just happened?!

Recommendation: Only sad souls will not like this. It is beautiful!

September 3, 2014September 1, 2014 by Natasha Categories: Reviews, Series, UncategorizedTags: Amanda Abbington, Andrew Scott, Benedict Cumberbatch, Doctor John Watson, Inspector Lestrade, Jim Moriarti, Mark Gatiss, Martin Freeman, Mary, Mary Morstan, Mrs Hudson, Mycroft Holmes, Rupert Graves, Sherlock Holmes, Una Stubbs 7 Comments

Sherlock (Season 2)

Sherlock and Watson barely make it out alive after their first meeting with the criminal mastermind Jim Moriarti, who receives a phone call and leaves before having them executed by his snipers.

Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock’s older, disapproving and very powerful brother calls on Sherlock and Watson to help retrieve photos from the infamous dominatrix Irene Adler (Lara Pulver). Sherlock and Irene clash from the start and their chemistry is obvious, but they clash heads because Irene is not willing to give away the information she claims keeps her alive and safe from vengeful rich and powerful clients. Sherlock acquires the phone, but another obstacle waits: unlocking the booby-trapped phone without accidentally destroying the memory card in it. Irene betrays Sherlock in a terrible way, and it foils a counter-terrorism operation the British Government has been planning for ages. Mycroft is furious and is now being blackmailed by Irene, but Sherlock manages to decipher her very surprising password. Irene flees and is later presumed dead, and Watson and Mycroft are worried to tell Sherlock what happened to her, although they do not know that Sherlock knows exactly what happened to Irene.

Henry Knight (Russell Tovey) contacts Sherlock for help in his father’s death. Henry saw his father die as a child and is sure that the man was murdered by an escaped genetically modified hound that was “grown” at a Ministry of Defence testing site in Baskerville. Sherlock and Watson agree to investigate and find themselves in Dartmoor, a town which is flourishing under the tourist trade the “hound” created. As time progress, both Sherlock and Watson start to believe the rumours of the Hound, and Sherlock is particularly upset that he can’t explain this away with his logic. Detective Lestrade also shows up and together the three gentlemen start investigating if what they are seeing is in actual fact, true.

Moriarti is finally back after disappearing for a while, and he enters the public eye in a most fascinating way. Immediately arrested, he begins taunting Sherlock once more and soon Sherlock must not only work to offset the chaos Moriarti creates and protect the people he loves, he must also work to save his name, because Moriarti is the only man as sharp as Sherlock and therefore one of the only possible people to ever outsmart him, and Moriarti is using every case Sherlock did to turn Sherlock to shame. Will Sherlock be able to finally outsmart his most dangerous enemy?

Rating: 8.5/10

I have to admit that while I enjoyed season one, I really did not really understand why everyone was raging about the series. I had some form of emotional detachment (or maybe it was just sheer exhaustion) going on, and didn’t really connect, especially with the first episode.

Season 2 was amazing. Freeman and Cumberbatch once again lead the show with brilliant finesse and impeccable performances. I can’t decide who is better in here – they are both so perfect for their respective roles. The best about their relationship is that Watson is a doctor – a profession that can be argued as the most intelligent of our professions – and yet Sherlock still sees him as average minded. The funniest is that people suspect them of being “together”, and how they just learned to live with it.

Moriarti – is this perhaps the villain of the century? A villain who is cruel is repulsive; a villain who is smart is fascinating. Andrew Scott fascinated me with his performance – his facial expressions, the voice that kept changing, and the sheer madness that radiated from his entire being. The last episode was a killer! I think I may have been as stressed with the final capturing of Red John as I was with this.

Things I loved about Season 2

So, I complained about the length of the episodes of Season One in my first review, but surprisingly enough it didn’t bother me in the second season in the slightest. Each episode had an enormous amount of things going for it, the story, the characters, and the drama.

Benedict Cumberbatch is as gorgeous and talented as usual. I really wish that he never takes on a mediocre role; such talent should not be wasted on trivial matters. His portrayal as Sherlock Holmes is so perfect, he really looks like a highly functioning sociopath and I can listen to his voice until the end of time.

Mark Gatiss: Mycroft Holmes is SO British. I love his character ridiculously much, the way his face sets in lines of disapproval automatically with Sherlock is hysterical to see. Mycroft is obviously incredibly important and he certainly knows it, and yet he still has that sweet spot for his brother he allows no one to see.

Andrew Scott: aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh I loved Jim Moriarti so much. He is still as mad as a hatter and completely off his rocker; he is the brilliant masterminded criminal we have been waiting for on the small screen for decades.

Martin Freeman: I feel if I don’t say anything about him it would be so unfair. He is still probably my favourite character in the show. He has endless patience, but when it snaps he is epically funny. I love his military stance and his incredible heart and understanding for the things Sherlock can’t begin to comprehend, human emotions and the soul behind everything.

Episode three gave all the feels: My nails and my heart will NEVER be the same again. Without giving too much away I was incredibly worried that they would do something and make the next season about previous events and I was like HELLLLLLLLLLL no this would be the equivalent of killing Tyrion Lannister. That episode had be laughing, stressing, tearing up and gaping in horrified silence at the screen and feeling feelings for Sherlock and what he was going through.

Molly is like fungi: Yep, I compared a perfectly nice person to green goo, but hear me out: this character started out as a silly little girl with an enormous crush on a man that really wasn’t noticing her (I am sure most of us has felt like that some time or another) but she evolved and showed her true colours, which were honest and loyal.

Things I didn’t like:

Pffft, don’t even play. I loved it all and am already planning to rewatch!

August 25, 2014 by Natasha Categories: Movies, ReviewsTags: Andrew Scott, Benedict Cumberbatch, John Watson, Mark Gatiss, Martin Freeman, Moriarti, Reviews, Series, Sherlock Holmes 4 Comments

Sherlock Season 1 (2010)

Premise: Sherlock depicts London “consulting detective” Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) in solving various mysteries. Holmes is assisted by his flatmate and friend, Dr John Watson (Martin Freeman), who has returned from military service in Afghanistan with the Royal Army Medical Corps. Although Metropolitan Police Service Detective Inspector Greg Lestrade (Rupert Graves) and others are at first sceptical of Holmes, over time his remarkable intellect and powers of observation persuade them of his value. In part through Watson’s blog documenting their adventures Holmes becomes a reluctant celebrity, with the press reporting on his cases and eccentric personal life, and both ordinary people and the British government ask for his help. (Via Wikipedia)

The latest adaption of the iconic novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is something I have thought of frequently to watch. Everybody is loving and raging about it, it has established a cult following. I thought it would be safe to start Sherlock because 1) people aren’t ALWAYS right if everyone loves it, but it is usually a good indicator, and 2) there are currently three seasons on the market and I wouldn’t feel bereft soon.

HAH. As I am watching I know I will watch the last episode of season three tonight, and I will definitely feel bereft afterwards. I know this, I am sad already.

Sherlock is addictive in every sense of the word. I have to admit that I wasn’t as taken with the first season as I had hoped to be, but I think I watched it after working 12 days straight and that the exhaustion made me more irritable than usual (which is usually a lot) and hence I wasn’t as easily pleased as normal (I’m still lying, I’m never easily pleased).

The first episode of season one felt very slow. It dragged a bit, and felt worse than the other two, which is also 90 minutes per episode. I still thought it was good, and progressed to the second one, to be amazed, and have the addiction take place.

What I loved

The casting. Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes is just everything. His face, his incredible voice, his acting, everything is superb about the man. I am gobsmacked by his ability to portray his emotions, and to bring such a complex character to life and to do it realistically must have been a draining experience.

Martin Freeman as Doctor John Watson: Bilbo Baggins is on a new adventure and it is working really well. I’ve never read the books so I wouldn’t know if Watson is an ex-army man or not, but I think that particular arc suited the series. I enjoy how he is serious minded and has issues and still manages kindness and compassion, and that he is also no-nonsense enough to deal with Sherlock’s maddening nature. Martin Freeman is such a good actor and I am really enjoying seeing him in this.

Andrew Scott as Jim Moriarti: I am going to try and keep it really simple and say that I absolutely friggin love this man as Jim Moriarti. Moriarti is mad and brilliant and the only person who is on Sherlock’s intellectual level. He is pure bad whereas Sherlock has bad pockets in him but chooses to be the good (my favourite quote ever in this series comes from Season 2, so keep an eye out for the review!). The last episode of season one was such a nail biter, and the events leading to Moriarti and Sherlock finally meeting was so intense all on its’ own. I loved the voice altering of Moriarti, his sheer madness, how he didn’t have a control button on his own emotions. He was wild and free and mad and it worked SO well.

Mark Gatiss as Mycroft Holmes: I thought for a second that Mycroft, when I just started and didn’t really know who he was, may be this massive, yet unknown villain. The whole deception that went on there was really good and I was shocked when I realised it was Sherlock’s brother. Their relationship is highly competitive, fascinating and argumentative. They obviously have beef with each other, and I think it stems from both of them having intelligence levels above average. Mark Gatiss is SO British. I find his mannerisms so hilarious and the way he speaks through his nose incredibly funny.

The bridge between the past of the books and our present time.

A modernisation of iconic literature just doesn’t seem like the world’s freshest idea or the most original. Once again, HAH, myself. The story is that much more believable when you associate everything you know and understand in there. It has Twitter, blogs (YAY), cell phones, terror attacks. These are things we deal with, and seeing the iconic sleuthster solving problems RIGHT NOW is entertaining on an unprecedented level.

The lack of lame relationships

I’m not going to lie, I love a good romance between characters. I think it makes some stories, but it can also destroy some stories. If this had been some big boy meets sexy girl adventure it would have failed miserably. Sure, the sweet Molly obviously crushes badly on Sherlock, but she has purpose and a real goal in the story and he isn’t stringing her along, he is just completely oblivious towards romance in general. Watson’s love life develops, you know he is seeing a lot of someones but once again the story is much more than who banged who.

It is so British

Sherlock is very British and it has a definite charm. The English are so much more elegant than the rest of the world and I actually just love listening to their pronunciation of everything. The show has darkness to it that works really well – these crimes are masterful and would likely have gone unnoticed had someone like Sherlock not existed. Can I go out on a limb here and say that the British should often make drama because they make it so well, and comedy not as often because that is not their strong point?

What I didn’t like

My only major dislikes are the length of the episodes and the female police officer. The female police officer is not annoying because of her performance, which is really good, but her attitude towards Sherlock. I get that there has to be someone who truly openly despises him and questions his morality, and that not everyone can be exasperated yet charmed by him. Also, realistically, if anyone working with Sherlock Holmes completely loves him I will be worried, because he can be such a little brat at the best of times!

Rating: 7.5/10

Definitely recommended, it becomes better and better! Something great to get involved in if you want entertainment but don’t want to wait centuries to reach a conclusion through too many episodes.

August 13, 2014August 12, 2014 by Natasha Categories: SeriesTags: Andrew Scott, Benedict Cumberbatch, John Watson, Mark Gatiss, Martin Freeman, Moriarti, Mycroft Holmes, mystery, Reviews, Series, Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes, sleuth, suspense 7 Comments