BBC Sherlock Review

It just occurred to  me that I haven't reviewed Sherlock yet. It's not technically fantasy or sci-fi, but with the modern update the BBC has put on these famous detective stories there's a lot of world-building involved. It's also generally awesome, so I've decided to review it!

World-Building: Awesome
Characterization: Great-Awesome
Plot: Great

As I may or may not have mentioned in previous reviews, I'm always very impressed with BBC television series. The quality, the acting, the attention to detail when it comes to period drama and so on, it's all excellent! Sherlock is no exception. I can't compare this to Arthur Conan Doyle's original books/short stories, because I've never read them, but what I can say is that this series has proven that the character and tales of Sherlock fit perfectly into modern society. The six episodes that have so far been released have been very enjoyable and I would highly recommend this series to anyone who has yet to see it.

The acting and portrayal of the characters is one of the strengths of this show. Benedict Cumberbatch does a great job portraying Sherlock's genius as well as his awkwardness around other people and their emotions. Martin Freeman is also excellent in his role as Watson, the ex-military Doctor who joins Sherlock because he can't help being drawn by the excitement of the life of solving mysteries...

That's not to say it was perfect. There are some things I disliked about this show, including the portrayal of Irene Adler, who is highly unconvincing as an "intellectual equal" to Sherlock since she never actually beats him intellectually on the show, but overall the small quibbles I have with the show are not big enough to detract from the general awesomeness of the experience.

My least favorite episode was A Scandal in Belgravia(S2E1), because of both the lack of plot and, as I mentioned above, the unconvincing portrayal of "the woman", and, of course, the ridiculous ending. There are also several problems with the portrayal of the Asian characters in The Blind Banker(S1E2), including the fact that there wasn't a single good Asian character (even the ice girl that works at the museum used to be part of a gang - and she didn't last long) and the fact that the brother was willing to kill his own sister, and the fact that their biggest baddie turned out to be a pawn in Moriarty's hands and not clever enough to be a match for Sherlock on her own, and so on. The rest of the episodes - where the authors stay away from trying to portray minorities that they don't understand - are excellent.

Again, highly recommended viewing. I haven't seen the original un-aired pilot episode, but I think I will soon, so you may see a review of that here eventually.