The Game is On!

            Since Arthur Conan Doyle’s first publication of “A Study in Scarlet” in 1887, Sherlock Holmes has become the most portrayed literary human character in film—a 2012 Guinness World Record. With exactly 254 film portrayals of renowned detective, starring renowned actors such as Basil Rathbone, Jeremy Brett, and Robert Downey Jr., it would seem difficult to create a fresh adaptation without rehashing old material. Yet, co-creators Steven Moffat, producer and screenwriter of the popular television series Doctor Who, and Mark Gatiss, a living dictionary on all things Sherlock Holmes, have done just that. In 2010, they aired the first season of Sherlock, a television series that brought that legendary sleuth to life in 21^st century London—a technological city teeming with skyscrapers, cell phones, and black taxicabs.

The first episode, “A Study in Pink,” begins with John Watson, played by Martin Freeman, who has recently been invalided out of the War in Afghanistan and unhappy with life. He finds a source of adventure and daring in the astounding Sherlock Holmes, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, who he meets through a mutual friend at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. After an astonishing demonstration of Sherlock’s deduction abilities, John decides to take up lodgings with Sherlock at 221B Baker Street, where he quickly learns about Sherlock’s work as “the world’s only consulting detective.”

I really enjoyed the colorfulness of some minor characters in Sherlock. New Scotland Yard, in the form of Detective Inspector Lestrade and occasionally Sergeant Donovan (who stubbornly refers to Sherlock as “Freak”), grudgingly applies to Sherlock for help in its most puzzling cases. Played by Gatiss himself, the cynical and rather dramatic Mycroft likes to keep a watchful eye on his younger brother Sherlock. He even attempts bribing John into spying on him! Jim Moriarty is Sherlock’s theatrical archenemy, brilliantly portrayed by Andrew Scott. The ultimate villain, Moriarty enjoys “playing” with Sherlock and calling him out, much like in a western shootout.

This younger, more contemporary Sherlock still plays the violin when cases get rough and mopes on the sofa when there’s none to solve, but does have his differences.

As smoking in public has become practically illegal in London, Sherlock is forced to wear nicotine patches, instead of smoking cigarettes or a pipe. He’s addicted to texting and intensely dislikes the increasing public adulation caused by the publication of his cases on John’s Internet blog. Oh, and by the way, the whole deerstalker hat was all a mistake. Sherlock hates how he looks in one.

Unlike previous adaptations, Sherlock gives viewers a vivid insight in the workings of Sherlock’s mind by using fast-paced dialogue and special camera movement. When Sherlock assesses a person or an object, the camera acting as his eyes zoom in on specific details, such as a spot on someone’s lapel or the ring on a lady’s hand. Then, Sherlock’s mental deductions will appear in faint words on the screen, explaining the reasoning behind his seemingly outrageous conclusions.

I thought the best aspect of Sherlock is how Moffat and Gatiss humorized Sherlock and John’s close relationship by playing off today’s issue of homosexuality. Various people throughout the series mistake John for Sherlock’s boyfriend. For instance, when John first decides to move in with Sherlock at 221B Baker St., the landlady—not housekeeper—Mrs. Hudson asks if they’ll be needing two beds because the landlady across the street’s “got married ones.” The mixup often frustrates John as this, coupled Sherlock’s eccentric behavior, often hinders or completely obliterates John’s chances of keeping a steady girlfriend.

With creative twists to the original stories and multi-colored characters, Sherlock gives viewers a whole new perspective into the adventurous world of British crime and deduction. Whether a die-hard Holmsian or not, Sherlock is sure to offer an interesting plot, fantastic deductions, and plenty of humor. Other film adaptations have done well, but this is definitely the perfect Sherlock for the modern generation. The only consolation fans have while they wait (most impatiently!) for the airing of Season 3 is to immerse themselves in previous episodes—and that just intensifies the anticipation.