I’ve read the entire Holmes canon, and I’ve always sought within and between the lines for bits and pieces of Holmes’ human side leaking through his rational, uber-objective persona. I’ve found them, of course, and I’d like to think that Miller’s take on the character would infuse Holmes with a bit more of that (and it’s apparent he has, at least in the subtext of his eyes and body language). Sorry, it’s the romantic in me.
Speaking of which, I wonder as well about how they’ll develop the relationship between Holmes and Watson. I can certainly see the potential for sparks at some point, built up over many episodes, but this is Holmes-Watson—friends, confidantes…not lovers (or love interests). I also see Holmes’ curiosity about Watson, and what drove her out of medicine, and Watson’s parallel curiosity about what triggered Holmes last visit to rock-bottom as spurring mutual interest (eventually). I all for romantic subtext, but I hope it stays— subtextual.
If the series develops as strictly procedural, I’m not sure it will maintain interest; after all, there are already so many versions of the story out there, so I hope there is exploration of back stories character development. That’s a tall order to do it right with such an iconic fictional character, especially on network TV. But if the creators keep the right balance between procedural and character drama with becoming neither too soap-opera-ish nor too formulaic, they might just have something.
Elementary premieres on CBS Thursday, September 27 at 10 p.m. ET.
Article comments
1 - rjw
I think that so far,Elementary has been a pretty good,but not great,show (my personal preference for best overall show is Vegas).However,it certainly has alot of potential,and Jonny Lee Miller's performance has been very entertaining.
2 - Leroy
Pretty good, mostly because of Miller. It's a twist to have a female Watson, but there is probably a better actress for the role, someone like Cathy Bates, maybe (speaking of whom, she had a nice role as the ghost of Charlie Harper on "Two and a half men").
Still, the best overall is Jeremy Brett, with Cumberbatch second, for my money.