With Season 3 of Sherlock ready to hit PBS on January 19th, fans’ excitement is building to a fever pitch. It’s easy to focus on the twisty mysteries and the diabolical villains, but the devil is in the details and so is this series’ genius.
5. John Watson’s Blog
Sherlock is filled with high-tech touches: important clues arrive via text message, and hacked computers are just as important as picked locks. Most important is John Watson’s blog, one that he starts at his therapist’s behest. An ex-military officer coming to grips with his tour of Afghanistan, he’s not adjusting well to civilian life. Writing about his days might help with the readjustment, but… Nothing ever happens to him. Fortunately, that changes as soon as he meets Sherlock Holmes. He begins writing about their crime-solving adventures and his blog turns into an overnight sensation.
4. Mrs. Hudson’s Backstory
In Conan Doyle’s original series, Mrs. Hudson was an older widow who existed to clean tidy Sherlock’s perpetual messes. Now, she’s a sweet and sassy widow in colorful clothing. She rents out flats and lets Sherlock have 221B at a steal to repay him for getting her husband the death penalty in Florida. Despite this charitable act, she flatly refuses playing his housekeeper; she’s his landlady and not a maid! From the very first episode, Mrs. Hudson is a mystery and a delight. Sherlock declared that “England would fall” if Mrs. Hudson left Baker Street. Of course it would.
3. Civilized Sibling Rivalry
Mycroft feigns boredom and exasperation at his younger brother’s sleuthing, but when it comes right down to it he can’t stay away from Sherlock. He keeps constant tabs on both Sherlock and John, stepping in to offer important clues, warnings, and priggish needling in equal measure. It’s hard to know whether Mycroft genuinely loves Sherlock or just needs him to help keep the country running. Whatever it is, their game of wits shines whenever they’re together. Nimble witticisms fly at such a rate that it takes a DVR’s pause button to catch every detail. It’s worth it.
2. The Coat
It might be a man’s coat, but that doesn’t stop me from craving one of my own. Doubtless, some ambitious seller on Etsy can provide a look-alike, but it wouldn’t be the same. Sherlock’s coat is part of his identity, and the rest of us would just be playing dress-up. Cumberbatch says that he’s lobbied for a new coat to update Sherlock’s look, but so far he’s been denied. Thank Goodness!
1. The Dynamic Duo
Right from the start, it’s obvious that the show is about more than a brilliant detective: it’s about two friends, even equals. Sherlock’s gruesome mysteries and awkward attempts at interaction save John from wasting away in boredom and despair. John, in turn, helps Sherlock on the slow road to becoming a good man rather than just another great one. Martin Freeman and Bennedict Cumberbatch capture this complex interaction beautifully, with their easy camaraderie and great onscreen friendship-chemistry. Freeman’s Watson is a likeable everyman, the perfect complement to Cumberbatch’s brainy sociopath. Sherlock may be the cleverer of the two, but John shows a will of iron as he works to re-enter civilian life, rejoins the medical profession, and bravely keeps searching for love.
Catherine Eaton is a contributor to The Stake. Catherine is a writer living in a western suburb of Chicago. She blogs over at sparrowpost.com and enjoys foraging around the neighborhood in her spare time.
