*Before continuing, be sure you have read Part 1 of this blog series. The article can be found here: http://julyburnsred.blogspot.kr/2012/10/sherlock-vs-elementary-why-cbs-isnt.html
Welcome to Part 2 of the blog series "Sherlock vs. Elementary: Why CBS Isn't Getting It Right." In this part of the series, I will be looking at the pros and cons of the television shows, Elementary and Sherlock. Well, there really aren't any cons for Sherlock. But in the interest of fairness, we will look at both shows equally. Allons-y!
In part one of this blog series, I remarked that when Elementary was first aired, Sherlock fans everywhere groaned. It was with good reason. Elementary gives a bad first impression to any true fans of Sherlock Holmes. Just looking at the name, Elementary refers to the non-canonical phrase "Elementary, my dear Watson, elementary"; non-canonical meaning that it doesn't come from the original stories. No one knows where exactly Holmes' famous line came from, but many people speculate that it originated from the films of the 1920's. The point is, if you are going to jump on the Sherlock Holmes bandwagon, you'd better make sure you are keeping it true to the original stories. This brings us to CBS's next mistake.
With Warner Brothers making Sherlock Holmes films, and BBC making a Sherlock Holmes television series, there wasn't much room left for CBS to try and make their own mark on the screen. But that didn't stop them from trying. The problem is, however, that they came along and had to make theirs so fundamentally different than the other current adaptations. They made Watson a girl, Sherlock now lives in New York, Captain Gregson instead of Detective Inspector Lestrade. It was mistake after mistake. Although, admittedly, Aidan Quinn as Captain Toby Gregson was the one character in the show that made me laugh. He nailed his role perfectly as the student attempting to learn from the great Sherlock Holmes, just like in the original stories. But overall, CBS changed so much that Elementary is barely recognizable as a Sherlock Holmes story at all.
The list continues on and on. Dr. Joan Watson was sent by Sherlock Holmes' father to watch over him in his rehabilitation. Really?! His father?! The Sherlock Holmes I know doesn't have Daddy watching over his shoulder, breathing down his neck. There shouldn't have been any mention of his dad at all. Miller's Sherlock is also not opposed to having casual relationships with women for no other purpose than as a distraction. The real Sherlock Holmes would never be so shallow to do such a thing, nor so immoral, for that matter.
The final problem with Elementary is the mysteries themselves. They don't seem very Holmesian. They're too common; too regular. Sherlock always solves mysteries that no one else can. The mysteries he solves in Elementary are a little too normal for me. Take the pilot episode as an example. Its your standard murder by a man manipulated by the victim's husband. There was no great challenge for Holmes.
But for all its mistakes, Elementary succeeds in some places.The format of the show is in CBS's favor. The weekly, 45-minute episodes work well for it. Sherlock Holmes' personality was just the same as ever with the insults and arrogance and temper-tantrums. Watson wasn't bad. She didn't really feel like a female inverse of Dr. John Watson; she was more like her own character, a whole new person. Just the same, though, she made a good companion. As I've already said, Aidan Quinn was great as Captain Toby Gregson. The one part where I smiled and actually felt for just a moment like I was watching Sherlock Holmes was when he was on the roof writing the "Practical Handbook of Bee Culture, with Some Observations upon the Segregation of the Queen" in his head. I enjoyed that part because it was the Sherlock that I knew and loved.
That's what it all comes down to. That's why I like BBC's Sherlock so much. It departs from the known just enough to keep us excited, but overall, it stays true to the original works. Elementary doesn't do that. It strays too far away from the true Sherlock Holmes. As a crime-drama, Elementary is actually pretty good. But as a Sherlock Holmes story, it falls much too short. It just isn't Sherlock Holmes. It's Elementary. I, for one, won't be wasting time watching it. I'll be waiting impatiently until Sherlock Series 3 comes around in 2013.
Until then,
Ryan McLellan, Jr.
Thanks for sharing.
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