I won’t call it a guilty pleasure, even if that’s what it is.
I’m not a big fan of television; since the advent of Netflix in the beginning, I’ve lost interest in standard television. I don’t like the commercials. So, obviously as streaming services take the front and center, I gravitate toward them. I meander through titles about the way I do through books, and similarly, several titles stick out in my head. Sherlock is definitely in my top five, and it’s always worth a re-watch. The wife and I do it at least once a year, probably twice. Now, on her part, I’m not sure if it’s more the show, or Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman.
The show is fun, but it’s also intellectual. I am by no means patting myself on the back, but I have a tendency to enjoy shows that address both entertainment and a little mental massaging. Frasier was my first foray into that field, Friends, X-Files; I mean the list goes on and on. Smart writing. Sherlock really just captures that aspect that a lot of people really look for in their own lives. Sherlock embodies our inner savant. He also touches on our culture’s current path of seclusion… he doesn’t like people. He doesn’t like to deal with them. When was the last time that you didn’t know someone who was, not necessarily reclusive, but leaning toward the cliche “loner” mentality. Beyond that, he’s doing what he enjoys for a living, he’s a consulting detective. And then, on top of all that, he has an incredible best friend in Dr. James Watson, who does a bit of blogging himself.
Another important aspect to this wonderful show is that it is a modernization of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s series of books entitled just the same. Everyone’s heard of the Sherlock Holmes books. Everyone. If you haven’t, you’ve probably heard of the show, and found out there’s books too… however, you may have found shortly after that they happened in a timeline a century ago, and found yourself rather disappointed. Shame, too, because the books are incredible, as well.
I think my first take on Sherlock Holmes was Wishbone, an old children’s show on PBS. It was about a Jack Russel Terrier who became the persona he read about in books. The episode was about the Hounds of Baskerville, and they even did an adaptation for the BBC show.
I’m actually watching it now.
Photo by João Silas on Unsplash
T.G. Neal 