And they’re in a city in England called “London,” which means they’re also in the Bridget Jones universe!
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The references to Savile were so numerous, the critique so sharp it made my hair stand on end - hen I get a chance I hope to list as much as I noted, it certainly includes:
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I would say the similarities were so blatant is barely qualifies as a “reference.” It was an open editorial. I’m Canadian, and it was plainly obvious who they were talking about.
The problem here, as well as other crime dramas, is that as soon as the latest criminal mastermind is finally defeated, after multiple episodes, the writers have to come up with another, more evil and more brilliant criminal mastermind. So after Moriarty died, the show introduces Sherlock’s sister; just as brilliant but evil.
Because of the discussions I’m seeing here about Jimmy Saville, I looked him up on youtube to see what you guys are talking about.
Ooh, yuck. I could only stand to watch and listen to him for about one minute. What a vile, creepy guy.
They could have not been more blatant if they had written “inspired by Saville” on Toby Jones shirt.
I detested him at a time when it was neither profitable nor popular.
However the inexplicable decision of the BBC to make it seem he was suitable viewing, plus the mindless adulation of teenage girls, plus his friendship with some powerful people, such as Margaret Thatcher who loved him so much she kept trying to get him a knighthood — eventually done in her final year of power ( this is not why he was ‘His Excellency’ reserved generally for ambassadors and George Washington, but since like Rupert Murdoch he is famous as a Papal Knight of Saint Gregory the Great ) — meant he was always there whilst he was alive; much like the mad old woman herself, a perpetual irritant.
On the other hand, he never actually killed his victims.
And in all the litany of his probably exaggerated exploits the wonder remains that anyone over the age of seven not severely mentally ill would allow him within a ten foot radius.
Well, they had the guy who Sherlock shot in the head.
A somewhat more clever plan, which I think is possible yet, is simply to prove Moriarty wasn’t really an evil genius at all, but was someone else’s puppet. I’m personally fond of this idea, because, let’s be honest, Moriarty was a shitty villain. He was supposed to be this sooper dooper criminal mastermind but he was like 32 years old and didn’t look sane enough to tie his own shoes.
Yeah, that was a bit much. I’m sure Lestrade could’ve called in another detective to take over and continue the interrogation. Strike while the iron is hot!
Heh. I wondered that, too.
My wife, who is also a white woman and pretty observant, likewise missed (as did I) that Sherlock’s companion for a nighttime ramble with chips, the girl on the bus and the therapist were all one and the same person.
Yes! Best part of the episode, I thought.
I had a similar reaction. I liked it more the longer it went, but I had an unaccustomed feeling of impatience and boredom too often. And I just didn’t buy that Smith’s daughter and boardroom pals would passively agree to be dosed with a memory-destroying drug.
Ooo - nice work!
Here’s a Radio Times article on the Savile connection (I’m not British; I remember reading about the scandal but hadn’t made a connection to the Culverton Smith character): Toby Jones's Sherlock series 4 villain Culverton Smith has clear parallels with Jimmy Savile | Radio Times
And here’s more on Euros:
‘blunt instrument’ is ubiquitous. Focusjng in on Bond is a bit … ambitious.
True enough. Though Mark Gatiss has confirmed that it was intended that way.
That’s certainly how I read it. It’s a pretty famous Bond line (although I can’t find it on YouTube).
A lot of my comments about the previous episode apply here. Too much rapid fire cutting and weirdness in the first part. Got settled in better in the second. Was leading to a satisfactory ending (saw one “twist” coming, of course). But then blammo, they dropped the ball again.
Oh, and having a guy talking with his dead wife? Real original there guys.
How is tracking Sherlock’s cell phone going to give you the spacing between the letters??? Was he putting it into an RF blocking wallet or something?
So, Lestrade is just a token character now. Well, that’s just peachy. … Not.
All in all, maybe 20 minutes of this was enjoyable.
You might be a bit on the generous side there.
Here’s the RT rankings of Sherlock seasons:
Season 1: 100%
Season 2: 100%
Season 3: 97%
Season 4: 59%
Critic inertia suggests the latter number is too generous. (Esp. among “top critics”.)
They’ve eaten the giant rat of Sumatra this time.
So that’s both ends of the spectrum covered …
It’s also not original to have detectives solve murders, or have people point guns at each other, or have (insert fifty things.) There are no new things under the sun. As a mechanism to demonstrate John’s inability to move on, it works really well… or could have if it had been VERY judiciously used. When we first see the dream-Mary, it’s shocking and creepy. It really worked.
If we’d only seen the dream-Mary two or three times it would have been a highly effective trick. But instead she’s in the show more or less from start to finish, doing funny things like saying Sherlock should wear the deerstalker hat. It’s like the shark in Jaws, or the T-rex in Jurassic Park; if you just show the audience a little, it works better than if you show them too much. Introducing John’s iimagining of Mary once and using it maybe once or twice more would have worked. It would have allowed Martin Freeman, a world class actor, the latitude to play scenes where he feels her presence but she’s not visible to us. That would have been far more emotionally powerful than having her mugging in every shot. She was on camera more than Number Six in “Battlestar Galactica,” and she is actually supposed to be an angel of God.
I wonder if she’s contracted to have a certain number of shots or scenes or minutes onscreen per episode, and it was more trouble than it was worth to try and re-negotiate?
The writers know Doctor Watson’s blog has – well, gone downhill a bit, hasn’t it?
I think that a lot of Sherlock’s popularity is due to the two leads - their acting ability, and the fact that their fame has increased so much during the show’s run, through the other projects they’ve worked on.
There are certain parallels with Benedict’s excellent radio show “Cabin Pressure”, which began airing in 2008 when he was (relatively) unknown and ended in 2014 when he was internationally famous - a fact which massively raised the profile of the show.
Like Dr. Watson I have to confess. I have developed an incredible crush for Amanda Abbington, or at least, her playing Mary. Man, do I like they she speaks, her eyes, her expressions.