In the comments to this somewhat snarky article people seem to be gushing over how great his Sherlock Holmes is in a recent BBC series. Better than Robert Downey and Jeremy Brett.
Are they correct is he the best ever? Is this series worth tracking down?
Gay Sherlock? I wonder how that plays out.
I like him better than Downey, not as much as Brett. He’s really good, though.
And while they keep dropping hints that his Holmes might be gay, if you haven’t seen “A Study in Pink” yet, they drop a much bigger hint that he isn’t: It doesn’t occur to him that a person in question might be a lesbian.
Ultimately, he just seems less interested in sex than mysteries, just like his literary inspiration.
To answer your first question, yes, I think he’s a very good Sherlock and the BBC shows are well-crafted and engaging. At least the first trio is; I haven’t seen the second trio yet.
Gay? There’s a slightly cute scene in the first episode where both Sherlock and Watson think the other is gay and try to address the situation in typical British fashion. Does Sherlock come out of the closet in the new episodes?
Cumberbatch sounds like a whiny bitch in that article.
Downey is too charming. I like Cumberbatch. He has the kind of cold charisma that suits Holmes, at least in my mind.
Jeremy Brett beats Basil Rathbone by a whisker. The rest nowhere.
It doesn’t.
It’s pretty clear in the series that Sherlock isn’t boning anyone and doesn’t “get” relationships on that level. If anything, he’s asexual. There are a number of briefs bits where other people assume Sherlock and Watson are a couple, but that’s not the case.
I’ll note that the issue of gayness came up even in Doyle’s time, which allegedly had something to do with marrying off Watson at one point. Of course, back then it was something dreadful and to be denied at all costs. These days, we laugh at when people make the assumption about the two main characters.
Not gay, but yes, he’s the best Holmes, IMHO.
And he’s playing a man-eating, town burning dragon in an upcoming film, so apparently he’s not that typecast.
In the BBC version, John Watson is a ladies’ man & Sherlock Holmes pours his passion into his work–but they have a great friendship & complement each other well. Just as the characters did in Doyle’s stories. However, in Victorian London nobody gave a second thought to bachelors sharing lodging. Then Freud happened & people began suspecting things. In the modern London of the show, people are glad to congratulate these good-looking fellows on setting up housekeeping, just to demonstrate their open-mindedness; it’s an ongoing joke.
Appreciating Cumberbatch in the role in no way diminishes my admiration for Jeremy Brett, my first favorite Holmes. Steven Spielberg, who used him in War Horse, called Cumberbatch “the best Sherlock Holmes on screen.” In a better interview, an upcoming role is discussed…
The 3-episode first series of Sherlock is streaming on Netflix & worth a look. The second series starts New Year’s Day on the BBC…
I’d be impressed if you had! The first episode of the second series is tomorrow (New Year’s Day).
Definitely looking forward to the next trio of episodes, since I thought the first was brilliant. And no, as others have explained, they’re not gay – they merely address the assumption more directly than in period versions.
He’s played like someone who has aspergers. Not someone who is gay.
According to what the character himself claims, he’s a “high-functioning sociopath”.
Ah, ok. There was a thread in Cafe Society where the title gave me the impression they’d aired in the UK already.
Yea, a Holmes with Aspergers doesn’t make sense. His whole schtick is to empathize and put himself in the shoes of his quarry.
He isn’t a jerk because he has trouble understanding social conventions, he’s a jerk because he’s a jerk.
They split the difference by first having Holmes simply fail to react at all when the lab tech breathlessly makes eyes at him – is it that he genuinely doesn’t realize it, or that he just doesn’t care? – before he then needs her help in the second episode, at which point he focuses his attention and flirts the poor girl into a puddle of acquiescence.
New series - first ep is brilliant!
Dizzyingly brilliant! And directly addresses the title of the OP.
My vote goes to Jeremy Brett, although BC’s take on the character is interesting.
You could try for a thousand years and never come close to approaching the fidelity and excellence of Jeremy Brett. He nailed it, and the new BBC series wisely does not attempt to repeat his perfect game. They do something new and interesting instead, and as a result, have made something quite wonderful. Counterpoint: the disaster that is Guy Ritchie’s vision of Sherlock Holmes. RDJ is awesome, but those movies stink.
No. Brett is the quintessential Sherlock. Hands down.