review: Sherlock (tv)

I have the theme song stuck in my head as I write this. Just FYI. That's how much I love this series. It's rather addicting despite the fact that there are not a lot of episodes out.

Sherlock is an awesome show on BBC (or more illegal places if you refuse to pay for cable -- like me). It is a crime drama show based on a more contemporary version of Sir. Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. It stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as Dr. John Watson. Now, Martin Freeman has been in all sorts of awesome movies and TV shows (The Office, Love Actually, and numerous cameos including Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) and definitely has some chops and although Cumberbatch has only been around for the last 10ish years and had his big break in 2004 by portraying Stephen Hawking in a TV movie and ever since then he's taken off - acting in huge movies and even rumored to have a part in the next J. J. Abrams Star Trek movie and Peter Jackson's new Hobbit trilogy.

Sherlock, if you've never read any of the books or seen any of the movies, is... well, a dick. He's arrogant, brusque to the point of rudeness, doesn't listen to anyone's opinion, is highly controlling and performs experiments on people without their consent or regardless of time of day or anyone's opinion. And this Sherlock is no exception to this rule. And like the other renditions of him out there, somehow his amazing powers of deduction seem to win over most people around him. Well, at least they respect his skills even if they can't stand him on a more personal level.

The series ends up taking very traditional and popular Sherlock Holmes tales, for example: A Study in Pink (well scarlet for the books), The Hound of Baskerville, and A Scandal in Belgravia (based on Scandal in Bohemia), and giving them an excellent modern update.

I have two problems with this series. One, like in the books, you can't solve the mystery before Sherlock explains it to you - there are no clues for you to follow, no facial expressions to catalog, no a-ha! moments. You just have to watch him solve it. And two, there are only three episodes out per season. And only two seasons!!!!! I must have more so step on it, BBC!

I give Sherlock 4.5 out of 5 stars for snarkiness, mystery and humor. You can watch a trailer for it here!