First of all, a very
happy new year to everyone; hope for 2016 to be different. Now this is my first
review of the year and there couldn’t be a better way to make a start than kicking
it off with the most awaited special of the year- ‘Sherlock: The Abominable
Bride’. Foremost, for those who don’t know this was just a standalone special
episode, a sort of present for the Sherlock fans worldwide and it isn’t a part
of any previous or forthcoming season. As for the fourth season of Sherlock, we’ll
have to wait probably another year or so. It can be argued that the story is
pivotal to the whole overall plot of the show but the showrunners made it clear
as it is only a bonus and won’t affect the established plotlines in any way but
it will be gigantically stupid to miss this.
So it was expected that
this is going to be a Victorian Era story of Sherlock Holmes, set exactly in the
times as originally imagined by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Sometimes I wonder if
dear Arthur was alive today how would’ve he felt. ‘Proud’ would be an understatement.
Though proud am I to
say that this character has successfully transcended all boundaries containing it
in any media. Originally made just as a next gen sleuth for a couple of
stories, Sherlock Holmes nearly 128 years after its first appearance is a
worldwide phenomenon today. A character so genuine it engulfed the whole genre.
Can Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman with minds of Steven Moffat and
Mark Gatiss do justice to its legacy? Yes, and quite splendidly so.
The episode is about a
bride who returns from the dead to commit murder. It does sound ‘impossible’
but then the possible never did interest our Mr. Holmes. Despite its setting,
the episode never feels sombre or plain as the times back then. It is exciting,
visually riveting, humourous and packs a punch in the mystery itself, just like
all other great Sherlock episodes. Soon,
we realize the focus is not the mystery but why did Sherlock invoke its memory
in the first place. (Yeah, I guessed that way before they mentioned it. In your
face Sherlock!). We meet versions of everyone in that time which are all the
same except quite noticeably Mycroft which was an enormous hint to put it
mildly. But as we know Mycroft to be always many steps ahead of his little
brother dear, he’d already solved the mystery (I always liked him more) but
only in his head. He needed Sherlock for the ‘legwork’.
This was an episode in
love with its source material. There were just too many references and homages
paid to some classic works of Sir Doyle. Everything from beginning to end was
to remind us of something or the other. From great landscapes to disclosing
minute details to the every normal persons’ take on everything seemingly
important (ofcourse except Sherlock and me). I always found Sir Doyle’s actual
talent to lie in describing the scenarios or the setting of the background
location. He aptly describes everything from the rusty door to the twilight moonshine
to the dinghy walls of ancestral mansions. Same goes for our today’s episode,
it was as if the original storyteller has come to life. This is the closest
anything could ever come to a Sherlock novel. This episode was probably the
most heavily influenced by the original works than any other. That is not to
say you won’t enjoy that. If you’ve ever read anything Sherlock related, you’ll
be jumping in your bed.
Now the real interesting
thing to see was whether Cumberbatch could fit into his most famous role in the
conventional settings. And yes he did so amazingly, though I always pictured the
regular Holmes to be aged and a more wrinkly- faced man but saying
Benedict is young is not an argument to work against him here. What always
delighted me and did so again was Martin Freeman’s Dr. John Hamish Watson in
the 1800’s. I have said it before that
the real star of the show isn’t Cumberbatch but Martin Freeman and this time
the showrunners also accepted it giving Watson a more engaging story than ever.
(Anything Watson does, looks so adorable like a little cat)
What bothered me though
was how no one ever asks the right questions ever in a Sherlock story. Maybe it’s
a British thing to play ignorant until the more responsible one clears
everything. Sherlock always seems to belittle the audience and we’re always
presumed to be simpleminded as compared to him. (Though with my little
exception. PS- I did uncover the culprit before Holmes cleared everything towards
the end. Take that Mr. Cheekbones!).
This was more of an
emotional episode than all others as Sherlock (and I) prefer to be emotionally
detached from the mortal world as feelings serve no other purpose than to
distract us, a ‘crack in the lens’ so to say. Sherlock’s drug addiction is seen
as a serious problem now. We also witness Moriarty and Sherlock’s epic fall. As
I mentioned, this episode didn’t conceal its endless affection for original Sherlock
even a bit.
Final Deductions
Surprisingly, this
episode was about Moriarty. It explored his destructive relationship with our
sleuth more closely than ever before and reminded us why our hero is always so
taken aback at the thought of confronting him. Moriarty is no fun, he is no
plot device, he is not a mere villain. He is a despicable, a truly contemptible
beast with monstrous intellect. He is the embodiment of carnage, an evil spider
constantly weaving a web of atrocities beyond anyone’s comprehension. The
credit here all goes to the writers and the masterful portrayal by Andrew Scott
who can remind us that Joffery Baratheon is merely a child. Our bonus episode
captures the detective’s latest/ oldest exploits in a suspenseful and magically
charged horror tale ultimately discovering a moral root in a sad but once true
chauvinism and connecting it to the issues prevalent even today. So if you’re a
Sherlock fan, fan of the original works or just got nothing to do right now,
this is the perfect getaway. Immerse yourself completely in the London of your
dreams and fall in love with Watson's stories, the Reichenbach way. (also wake up your inner feminist)
The author admires Mycroft as his equal but Sherlock in no way stands a chance against him.
The author also arrogantly poses the question- "How might it feel in those tiny little brains of yours?"
