Sherlock: A Study in Pink - BBC

josh: AAAAANNND begin
matt: How's it going?

josh: good

matt: Ok,
Let's talk Sherlock!

josh: YES!

matt: I watched the first episode again last night to refresh my memory.

josh: cool. I had been curious about it when I saw it pop up on netflix I was more than pleasantly surprised when I watched it a GREAT reboot hard to think where to start

matt: Me too, I had been hearing good things from people, but it really surpassed my expectations.
Well, how familiar are you with the source material?

josh: not very familiar besides the main common Holmes knowledge enough to get some references

matt: I have only read "The Hound of the Baskervilles" when I was a kid, and that's about it. I was switching back and forth between the commentary track and the regular soundtrack last night, and apparently they packed in a lot of references for the true Holmes fans - which I obviously missed a lot of
So let's talk about it on its own merits then

josh: ah, I streamed it so I don't have access to that on its own merits I thought it was great! even if you didn't know any Sherlock lore

matt: Well, firstly you have a script by Steven Moffatt, of Coupling and now Doctor Who. That guy could write the text on the back of a shampoo bottle and make it compelling.

josh: I knew that I knew his name, but couldn't remember not too familiar w/ Who but I love Coupling no wonder it was as funny as it was

matt: The script for this was amazing. Watching it a second time, knowing the ending, you see the pieces of the puzzle laid out, but it's a testament to the writing that it is not at all obvious what's going on if you haven't seen it before

josh: I was wondering how they'd make him the savant that he is. They spread it through a bit in the beginning, but after the scene in the cab where he explains how he analyzed Watson, I let out a "Cool." I did catch some of the foreshadowing the 1st time around. I knew from the beginning a cab had something to do with it

matt: Ah, you're too smart. I thought Benedict Cumberbatch was pretty great as Sherlock. He had a lot of info to deliver, but he has to do it rapid-fire, because of the speed at which Holmes' mind works
He spoke so fast at times, I had to rewind and watch it again to absorb all the info he was throwing at us

josh: yeah, I had to really listen to catch everything he was great!

matt: And I loved his take on Sherlock, that he was so much "in his head" all the time, he really had difficulty relating to the people around him

josh: I'm glad they went with his look too - young & cool-ish, but his long shaped face, his height & hair, very traditionally Holmes-like I LOVED Martin Freeman's dead pan delivery he really sold some of the cheesier moments that way

matt: Freeman was a great choice for Watson. He's got the comedy background, but he has a sort of a hang-dog look that seems to suggest he's dealt with a lot of stress
And the chemistry between them was amazing.

josh: wasn't sure how I felt about him being a soldier at 1st, knowing how he usually is especially him being an army DR but he totally sold it

matt: I liked the constant assumption by everyone around them that they were a couple

josh: that was really funny it didn't take itself too seriously, which in a way made me take it seriously

matt: That was straight from the books, Watson was actually an army Doctor
and apparently he served in Afghanistan in the books too

josh: why would he be in Afghanistan back then? guess I don't know my history

matt: Second Anglo-Afghan War, 1878-1880 - thanks, wikipedia!

josh: LOL that makes it even cooler then how they kept that aspect I liked how most people were annoyed with him how his way could be insulting if applied to normal conversation the girl in the morgue was funny. That's where it really showed how dysfunctional he could be the drawbacks to being SO brilliant

matt: yeah, he was almost like an autistic savant - a great way to modernize it in a TV landscape with Monk and other quirky detective types
The text showing up on the screen was a great device to dispense with a lot of expository dialogue

josh: I liked how Watson started to get excited along with him put off at first, then started to get off on it too yeah, I didn't feel like anything was forced or missed AH! So good

matt: Yes, and the psychomatic limp was a great way to show that - leaving the cane behind in the restaurant and running after the cab

josh: that was great but I was also waiting for that I'm too TV savvy for my own good

matt: Yes, I think we were always supposed to know it WAS all in his mind, it was just a nice character detail

josh: I LOVED the shots when he was talking to Holmes' brother and he mirrored the Watson & cane with his umbrella
matt: Yeah, that was a great mislead, too, with dialogue like "he would say I'm his arch-enemy" -

josh: yeah, I totally fell for that I didn't think they'd mix it up that much glad they did I liked too where they implied a past drug problem with Holmes. I think that's in the books that he used opium

matt: Yeah, me too. The scene at the end when Mycroft and Sherlock meet was really great, and Mycroft actually comes off like the more reasonable one

josh: yeah Is he an original character for the show?

matt: Mycroft? No, he's in the books.

josh: ah

matt: I would venture a guess that most of the stuff in the show is sourced from the books, and just changed to fit the new setting

josh: I like how he was almost if not just as smart & observant except he had social skills

matt: yeah, it was a great turnaround moment, it made you see that Sherlock is like the black sheep, difficult (but brilliant) little brother

josh: the rhythm of the banter between Holmes & Watson - especially when he was explaining what he observed - was almost musical

matt: Yeah, it was amazing to watch, that was definitely one of the highlights of the piece

josh: also, the bits where Watson was flatly hitting on that girl were hysterical
matt: Yes. Loved that.
What did you think of the plot itself?

josh: well, the very beginning was a bit "TV-ish" but when the 2nd scene came on with the press conference and everyone kept getting texts from Holmes and the text graphics came up, I thought it had a fresh & cool way of story telling and even the first scene montage wasn't overkill so it went by and got the info out there and it was edited and looked great. So it was very compelling ….the mystery plot you mean, right?

matt: Yeah... I felt like the whole "forced suicide" thing wasn't necessarily new... I actually guessed it was suicide at gunpoint from the opening sequence.

josh: yeah, but the fact that they had to choose vials was really cool. It was a really cool take on a serial killer and I didn't figure out what the exact deal was until seconds before the killer described it. Very innovative. When he said "why don't people just think" it made me think after the fact about which vial the good one was, and why they would choose what they chose. I would have chosen the one Sherlock chose. I actually wasn't sure about the suicide at gunpoint thing because the way it was shot in the beginning made it seem like they were alone
I thought maybe a cabbie said something that hypnotized them. Manchurian candidate-like

matt: Yes, I think the pay-off was really great, I just didn't think the concept was that unique. Not that it hampered my enjoyment by any means

josh: did you catch my opium comment earlier? I also thought the nicotine patch was a reference to that too

matt: Yeah, I think that was definitely their version of the opium

josh: yeah, whatever we've seen before was made up for by the way we saw it
matt: yes, exactly - the execution elevated it

josh: The look of the show was great. Lots of reflective surfaces, but not too glitzy. A lot of films make London look pretty gritty. I liked how it felt slick Do you know if the plot was new or adapted?

matt: Well, I know there is a Doyle story called "A Study in Scarlet", and this was "A Study in Pink", but I don't know if it was just a cute title or a new version

josh: Hm, I bet it was an adaptation. Being the pilot, they should go with what works I hope they do more than the 3 episodes
matt: Ok, I just checked Wikipedia again - "A Study in Scarlet" was the first published Holmes story. The beginning of the story is referenced a lot in this episode, apparently. Also, the word "RACHE" scrawled near a body is a primary plot device in the story - except in the original, it actually is meant as the German for "revenge".
Also, the villain in the story is a cabbie, and he does kill his victims by giving them the choice of two pills, one poison and one harmless! So it seems to be a pretty clever modernization

josh: Ah! Well they way they modernized it was great! I liked how the forensic guy was all cocky knowing that
matt: Yeah, well Moffatt and Mark Gatiss, the co-creator (who also played Mycroft) are huge Holmes fans, apparently

josh: All the side characters were great and the actor who played LeStrade was really great. Really believable and realistic performance for a purely expositional role

matt: Oh, and don't worry, a second season (three more episodes) has already been greenlit by the BBC

josh: cool I guess masterpiece mystery is a series that has different characters throughout its season I can't wait to watch the others and am glad there's more If I was ten year old I'd totally be playing Sherlock Holmes after school or on the playground. I don't know who I'd want to be. As a kid I'd probably be enamored with Holmes, but as an adult I really like Watson.

matt: I have to admit, when I first heard about "Sherlock Holmes but in modern day" I thought it would be terrible, but it was done so well and so cleverly, I was sad when I got to the end of the third one

josh: yeah, same here. That's why it took me a while to watch it I kept seeing it pop up in my Netflix suggestions

Even if I figured something out, I wanted to see how he would come about it. Because he always had another element going on. Such as exposing Watson's limp, but also trying to catch the cabbie

matt: Yeah, the joy of watching the show for me was really in watching the Holmes/Watson dynamic. The plot was not inconsequential, though... the second episode has a much weaker mystery, and I didn't enjoy it as much.

josh: oh, really? hmm well, I'd rather something be short-lived and good than beat into the ground
matt: Yeah, I won't say any more. The third one is just as good as the first though

josh: oh, cool My only MONDAY MORNING DIRECTOR MOMENT for Sherlock - A Study in Pink would be: when the cabbie comes up the stairs when the cops are in Holmes' home. I felt it was REALLY exaggerated, probably for the lowest common denominator of viewer, to make absolutely sure they get what's going on.

matt: Yeah, I see what you mean. For me, I thought the chase sequence was a little overcooked... it went on a bit long, and the editing, with the street signs double exposed over the other images, was used a little too much.

josh: yeah, it got a wee bit "hey isn't this cool!?" as if we didn't know how it would end up OH! And I liked the music a lot! It was a rip off of the Guy Ritchie film, but I didn't care I liked this show more than that movie good movie, but this felt more true to the source material

matt: I agree. I'd watch this over the Guy Ritchie film, given a choice

josh: I did really like how he had the streets in his head and the timing of the lights

matt: Yeah, it just seemed like they were trying to really over-sell that point to us

josh: TV sometimes is TV Well, I think that's all elementary my dear Matthew.

matt: Cheerio 'til next week!

josh: here's a good link for info for the show. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/sherlock/index.html

matt: very good

josh: Pip Pip! Cheers!