downton (yawn) abbey — is the love affair over?

I wasn't one of the fans who was infuriated by the death of Matthew Crawley at the end of last season. Was it a surprise? Yes. An unpleasant one? Undoubtedly. But Downton Abbey has always been, first and foremost, a soap opera, and soap operas are known to pull such punches with their devoted audience. The actor Dan Stevens wanted to move on, and who can blame him? His character didn't really have anywhere that interesting to go, and maybe he wanted out of a show with such an obsessive fan base.

Downton Abbey survived without Matthew, and the fourth season is now in full swing, but ... is it any fun anymore? Maybe it's the fact that another Brit series, Sherlock, has also returned (and with just one episode aired, it's a hoot, off to a great start), but I find myself not all that enthused with what's happening at Downton. So much of the same old, same old is going on. Under Butler Thomas (Rob James-Collier) is scheming something. In the kitchen Daisy is still hopelessly pining after Alfred.

Lord Gillingham makes a bid for Lady Mary (and call me suspicious, but maybe Downton?)

Elzabeth McGovern and Hugh Bonneville as Lord and Lady Grantham are grossly underused. Maggie Smith as Dowager Violet is just trotted on for a quick quip and then trotted off again. And the Bateses are being out through the wringer once again, this time with poor Anna being raped by an the visiting Lord Gillingham’s (Tom Cullen) evil valet, Mr. Green. Not only do we have to watch a beloved character be used and abused, but then she is forced to act stupidly, by keeping it from her husband, and pushing him away. It will probably all be resolved by the end of the season, but I'm not sure whether I want to stick around for it and have to watch them suffer in the interim.

As for new developments, Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael) is having a flirtation with her married suitor, Michael Gregson (Charles Edwards), which is destined to become an affair, and knowing Edith, lead to heartbreak. Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) did have one terrific line about her sister, whose frequent trips to London were befuddling her father.

“Edith is about as mysterious as a bucket. She wants to see Michael Gregson.”

Young cousin Rose (Lily James) is a singularly annoying and uninteresting character, and a deliberate ploy by the producers to inject some youth and scandal into the proceedings  she is set up to fall for Jack Ross (Gary Carr), an African American jazz musician. Just wait for Grannie Violet to be the least scandalized. And Lady Mary — seemingly the focus of this year's season, is wading out of her grief, but already the show and her family is trying to set her up with a bunch of suitors. By the third (U.S. aired, 4th in the U.K.) episode she was already receiving a proposal from Lord Gillingham, so soon after being widowed that it seemed not just unseemly, but downright unbelievable.

Phyllis Logan as Mrs. Hughes — always a delight — but don't cross her!

There was one bright note. Mrs. Hughes squashed a plot by maid Edna who was trying to trap Branson (Allen Leech) in a false pregnancy. Not only is Phyllis Logan awesome as Mrs. Hughes, but she helped kill another stupid plot line that could have dragged on and dragged down the season. Downton Abbey airs right before Sherlock, so for at least a few more weeks I will be watching. But I can't say that at the moment, it is with any enthusiasm.

he's back .... sherlock, season three

Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) may call himself a sociopath, but last night's episode of Sherlock, "The Empty Hearse," pretty much disproved that hypothesis. As the detective returned to London, and in some ways, the land of the living, after an absence of two years spent putting an end to arch-criminal Moriarty's (Andrew Scott) global crime network, he discovered exactly how connected to the world, and to certain people living in it, that he really is. One of the most amusing scenes in the episode featured some fraternal bickering between Sherlock and his "smarter brother" Mycroft (Mark Gatiss, who is also the creator and co-writer of the show, with Dr. Who's Stephen Moffatt), where it became abundantly clear that between the two of them, Sherlock is comparatively downright social. Mycroft expressed disdain, possibly even disgust, that his younger brother deigns to have friends. He could hardly bring himself to utter the "f" word.

Sibling rivalry, from Rebloggy

As Sherlock returned to 221B Baker Street and renewed contact with his friends and associates — Inspector Lestrade (Rupert Graves), Mrs Hudson (Una Stubbs), Molly Hooper (Louise Brealey) —they were all delighted to see him — all except his closest friend, John Watson (Martin Freeman). After some retributional scuffling and head-butting from Watson a bewildered Sherlock began to understand just how much his friend had missed him. The ice sculpture began to thaw. He graciously accepted Watson's new fiancée Mary (Amanda Abbington), and the pair lost no time teaming up to rescue a kidnapped Watson from an as-yet undisclosed new enemy.

There are only three episodes in this new series of Sherlock, so fans must savor them. "The Empty Hearse" seemed designed for multiple viewings, with its alternate depictions of how Sherlock survived the fall off the high rise at the end of the second season and its nod to an obsessed fan base that thrives on the internet. The series has always had humor, but this season started off with some laugh-out-loud moments — Sherlock's use of disguise to reintroduce himself to Watson, and a super-hero-like imagining of how he survived the fall, to name a few.

Is that a deerstalker on your head, or are we just happy to see you?

In the hiatus between the last series and this one Benedict Cumberbatch, much like his alter ego Sherlock, has been quite busy, with multiple movie roles (Star Trek Into Darkness, The Hobbit, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, War Horse, 12 Years a Slave), as well as acquiring a dedicated fan base that have dubbed themselves Cumberbitches. He has requested they refer to themselves instead as Cumberbabes, to no avail. Cumberbatch has always been an excellent Sherlock, but he really owned the part in this episode. Both actor and character seemed glad, even giddy, to be back, and the camera loved him for it — showering him with tons of close-ups and clever dialogue. Sherlock is back, the eponymous detective and his faithful sidekick Watson once again a team, and woe to any villain who stands in their way. I can't help wondering if the mysterious Big Bad might end up being Mycroft, the only other character who seemed less than thrilled at Sherlock's return.

of all the sherlocks i've loved before

Sherlock Holmes, the master detective, was created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887. Conan Doyle featured this most famous of London's consulting detectives in four novels (A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of the Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Valley of Fear) and 56 short stories. Holmes was a decidedly quirky but engaging character. His incredible powers of observation, his enormous ego, his attention to the most minute details, his love of disguise, his pipe smoking and cocaine habit — all add to this most well-rounded of fictional characters.

Holmes is so well-known that even his address, 221B, Baker Street, London, seems familiar to most. But what really makes the reader connect with the detective is how they get to know him through his friend and colleague, Dr. John H. Watson, who assists him on his cases and keeps a record of them and a subsequent biography of Holmes and his methods.

Basil Rathbone made the deerstalker and pipe look good

The first filmed version of Sherlock Holmes was in 1900, but most people have probably first encountered the detective as played by Basil Rathbone, with Nigel Bruce as his sidekick Dr. Watson. The duo appeared in in fourteen Hollywood productions, from 1939-46:

The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror, Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon, Sherlock Holmes in Washington, Sherlock Holmes Faces Death, The Spider Woman, The Scarlet Claw, The Pearl of Death, The House of Fear, The Woman in Green, Pursuit to Algiers, Terror by Night, Dressed to Kill

Jeremy Brett practices violin to hone his mental powers

Rathbone, with his eloquent delivery, made for a dashing, impressive Holmes. But his interpretation was supplanted by what many consider to be the definitive version as played by Jeremy Brett, for Granada Television (from 1984-94). Two actors, David Burke and Edward Hardwicke, played Watson opposite Brett in the series. Brett's Holmes is supercilious, brilliant, but also human. The stories were all kept in their original Victorian London setting, although Holmes and Watson go farther afield when the case calls for it. I've seen other actors try their hand at Holmes — Peter Cushing (The Hound of the Baskervilles), Christopher Lee (Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady), Christopher Plummer (Murder By Decree), Nicol Williamson (The Seven-Per-Cent Solution), but Brett, more than any of them, seems to have captured the essence of the character.

Robert Downey, Jr. considers his next move

But Sherlock Holmes need not stay rooted in the past. Recently there has been a sudden renewal of interest in portraying a character that most are either overly familiar with — a Victorian-era armchair detective. In director Guy Ritchie's version, Holmes is a kick-ass, take-charge master of deduction, with the wry humor of Robert Downey, Jr. Downey, Jr. is paired with a fractious but devoted friend in Jude Law's Watson. They have so far appeared in two very high-powered entertaining films together, Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, and in all likelihood, considering the films' success at the box office, will team up again, if Downey, Jr.'s other alter-ego, Iron Man, doesn't get in the way. Ritchie keeps Holmes in the Victorian era, although with a modern sensibility.

Benedict Cumberbatch considers his latest clue

There have been two other recent interpretations of Holmes, both updating the detective and his cases to the 20th century, while always keeping a nod to the original source material. The most critically acclaimed has been Sherlock, from BBC One, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the famous detective, with Martin Freeman as John Watson. Created by Dr. Who veterans Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, the focus is on an extremely anti-social Holmes, who utilizes the internet and other modern technology to physically separate himself from the world, while enabling him to cerebrally engage from the safety of his rooms and solve difficult cases. Cumberbatch manages to make his Holmes a little creepy and off-putting, and yet a little sexy, too. It's a fine balance, but he really pulls it off. Brilliantly.

Jonny Lee Miller utilizes varying techniques to aid his powers of deduction

On American television, on CBS, there is also now Elementary, featuring Jonny Lee Miller as Holmes. Watson, played by Lucy Liu, has been assigned to Holmes to help him overcome his drug addiction. They are invariably called in to solve some of modern day New York's most puzzling cases. Miller and Liu have a nice chemistry, and while it is not as over-the-top as Sherlock, it is also an entertaining interpretation.

Whatever your poison, Cumberbatch or Downey, Jr. or Brett or Miller or Rathbone, what all of these interpretations of Conan Doyle's master detective prove is that maybe there is always room for a new Sherlock Holmes.

the game's afoot ... and on

Sherlock debuted on Masterpiece Mystery last night and it was up to all the hype (it debuted in Britain earlier this summer). The updating of the famous sleuth worked quite seamlessly. The gadgetry that is an essential part of our modern lives seemed like old hat for Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock, who just needs to close his eyes and he can visualize a Google-map of London streets in order to chase down a perpetrator. Cumberbatch is pale and kinetic—a wax sculpture come to life—in a good way. Martin Freeman's Dr. Watson, a vet from the Afghanistan War was doubtful, for just a moment, before being swept into the adventure and Sherlock's strange world.



Like Watson, I am already signed on for the ride. I also liked Rupert Graves's Inspector Lestrade, who was less of a pain in the ass here, than in the Conan Doyle tradition (they left that role to his underlings), and more of a resigned collaborator. The first episode, A Study in Pink, was a nice combination of the Brit-procedural we have come to recognize and love, a la Prime Suspect—a tad grittier and more depressing than American detective shows, which only seem able to try, ad nauseum,  to get the camera inside a wound—and the long line of Sherlock Holmes mysteries, from the wonderful Basil Rathbone to the inimitable Jeremy Brett, and especially, Robert Downey Jr.'s recent portrayal.



In fact, the camera-work and pace seemed to echo a tad the Downey Jr. film, as we and the cameras raced to keep up with Sherlock's brilliant deductions. The film was a little more playful with Sherlock, introducing Irene Adler and giving her a kick-ass attitude as she flirts and subverts the hero at every turn. This television Sherlock is "married to his work" in the tradition of the books, but the pilot couldn't help but flirt itself a bit with the Holmes/Watson relationship. A scene in a diner played with the characters—two grown men that have chosen to be flatmates—a situation that might mean something quite different to a modern 2010 audience than one at the turn of the century—and then moved on. It was a skillful sidelining of something that could have been distractingly commented on in an updated version. Their partnership is sealed not with a kiss, but a gunshot, and to paraphrase from Casablanca, "Watson, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Related articles

• Sherlock Holmes Finds New Life With Young British Actor (huffingtonpost.com)
• "New Sherlock Holmes Benedict Cumberbatch on Playing a ‘Sociopath’" and related posts (blogs.wsj.com)