Sherlock Holmes and a Study in Pills

Sherlock! I don’t know what to say. I should have watched this a long time ago.

Now this is what I call an entertaining TV Series. Despite each episode being a whopping 90 without the adverts, I don’t get bored for a second. You can consider it more entertaining than football games considering there are moments when you actually feel like they’re just passing the ball around. But let us not get into that argument.

Doesn’t waste time, does Sherlock. Not as the character and nor as the actual show.

The first episode takes us to introducing Martin Freeman as John Watson immediately. Having already watched the guy in the Hobbit recently, I felt very familiar with him and it felt good to see a friendly face.

Everybody loves Bilbo’s friendly face. It’s just natural to. He’s a hobbit at the end of the day. What do you expect?

We also get to meet Sherlock and boy is he amazing. I you thought Robert Downey Jnr. was good, you better check out Benedict Cumberbatch. He is just as brilliant, if not better, in his own quirky way.

Their personalities are so different yet they don’t clash. Watson knows how to handle Sherlock, although he drives him crazy at times. Yet the love for danger and mystery brings them both together in this story.

The meeting between the two is remarkable and each time Sherlock makes his claims, you are dying to know how he figured it out. And he never disappoints. Never!

I loved the first episode. The plot was great. A lot of mystery involved… Mystery only great minds like Sherlock can solve.

Plot Summary

The plot involved in a set of murders by a psychopath. The police suspect a string of suicides; being the stupid shits they are. It doesn’t take a genius to realise they’re linked. It is a mystery after all.

Watson is a retired army doctor looking for a place to live as he got injured in duty. He is in search of a roommate but finding it difficult. A friend introduces him to another friend who was also looking for a roommate. Thus Watson and Holmes end up meeting.

After hearing about the mystery; Sherlock then has the task of figuring out who and why these murders are taking place. Watson and Holmes team-up to crack the case. Risking his life to configure the puzzle, Sherlock ends up in a spot of bother. We end up meeting a remarkable villain to the plot who almost stole the show. In the end, Watson shows his brilliance as well as he saves the day. It was brilliantly done! BRILLIANT!

You can read more about it at: Dr. John. H. Watson’s Personal Blog!

Yes he actually has his own blog like me. HOW AWESOME!

THE GOOD

Where do I start? Firstly, the character personalities; they were well crafted and the casting choices are perfect. They complement each other so well. I loved the fact that Sherlock has his own website and it’s an actual site you can visit in real life and Watsons finds it strange.

The best thing about the whole show is the deductions. The way Sherlock looks at something and figures it out. It is mind blowing. I love it when the puzzle is finally solved in how Sherlock managed to make his deductions.

The best thing about this episode was Watson’s transformation. He seems to be a cripple, unable to walk very well and you think to yourself; how is he ever going to really help Sherlock? He can’t even run to help himself. And then you find out, it was a psychological problem and he saves the day by using his brain and marksmanship. He is an army doctor after all. A useful skillset.

The climax was exceptional with the genius having to take on another genius. He offers Sherlock a pill and he knows, just to be right, Sherlock would take it. Although I believe both pills would contain the poison. The villain’s mind-set reminded me of Jigsaw from Saw. The whole outliving other people was a cool concept. Cruel but cool.

Sherlock almost taking the pill…

Let us not forget the mentioning of Moriarty.

At first we are lead to believe his brother Mycroft would be Moriarty but that isn’t the case. Love the hate relationship between the two over “Mommy’s Love”.

The game, my dear readers, is most definitely on…

Sherlock and John meeting Mycroft…

THE BAD

There was nothing really bad about it. The only thing I was disappointed with was Sherlock getting caught out so easily by the cab driver. He should have seen it coming. But then again, if he did… We wouldn’t really have a climax.

& THE FUNNY

There were plenty of funny in this episode; Holmes and Watson’s banter being the primary. I liked it how the Sergeant Sally Donovan called him a freak and a psychopath at her reaction to John Watson accompanying him. That was hilarious.

Donovan: You’re not his friend. He doesn’t have friends. So who are you?

Watson: I’m… I’m nobody. I’ve just met him.

Donovan: Okay, bit of advice then. Stay away from that guy.

Watson: Why?

Donovan: You know why he’s here? He’s not paid or anything. He likes it. He gets off on it. The weirder the crime the more he gets off. And you know what? One day just showing up won’t be enough. One day we’ll be standing around a body and Sherlock Holmes will be the one who put it there.

Watson: Why would he do that?

Donovan: ‘Cause he’s a psychopath. Psychopaths get bored.

That, I admit, kinda gets to me… She’s right about that. People like him, they can get bored and do crazy things like that.

 But Sherlock dropped her in it later when his science of deduction figured out her relationship status with the forensics guy.

Sherlock: Is your wife away for long?

Anderson: Oh don’t pretend you worked that out. Somebody told you that.

Sherlock: Your deodorant told me that.

Anderson: My deodorant.

Sherlock: It’s for men.

Anderson: Well of course it’s for men. I’m wearing it.

Sherlock: So’s Sergeant Donovan. {Anderson turns to look at Sally} Oof. I think it just vaporized.

They all hate him because he makes their job look easy because he’s so smart. He is the consulting detective after all, the only one of his kind.

Oh yeah. The genius and stupid remarks between Sherlock and John were great. Especially the ending where John calls him an idiot.

Some other brilliant conversations:

Therapist: How’s your blog going?

Dr. John H. Watson: Yeah good. Very good.

Therapist: You haven’t written a word, have you?

Watson: You just wrote “Still has trust issues”.

Therapist: And you read my writing upside down. You see what I mean? John, you’re a soldier. It’s gonna take you a while to adjust to civilian life. And writing a blog about everything that happens to you will honestly help you.

Watson: Nothing happens to me.

 * * *

Mike Stamford: I heard you were abroad somewhere getting shot at. What happened?

Watson: Got shot.

* * *

Watson about Sherlock’s deductions: That. Was amazing.

Sherlock: You think so?

Watson: Of course it was. Extraordinary. It was quite extraordinary.

Sherlock: That’s not what people normally say.

Watson: What do people normally say?

Sherlock: “Piss off”.

 THE VERDICT

One of the greatest first episodes of one of the greatest shows I’ve ever seen. I give it a 9.5/10… I am very critical when it comes to giving 10. A 10 is reserved for something that blows my mind away.

It didn’t blow my mind away. It was probably a 10 for a first episode. The last time I enjoyed such an awesome first episode was from the Supernatural Series. This is by far the greatest British series I have come across.