On 25th July 2010, the British Network BBC and the American Station WGBH Boston co-produced the mini-TV series Sherlock based on the famous Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes detective stories. The TV series is created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as Doctor John Watson. The on-screen story is loosely based on Doyle’s story ‘A Study in Scarlett’. Naturally, being a TV series, cuts and editing had to be made. However, as a pilot episode, the plot and the production is a successful introduction into the world of Sherlock and Watson as portrayed by Cumberbatch and Freeman. The two actors are very fitting for their roles both in terms of their acting and their natural talent. It seems to me that Cumberbatch and Freeman have a rather exceptional skill for detective stories, but that is another topic for one of my blogs. Here, I want to talk about the very first episode of this TV series and how it locked its viewers on screen by promising them a worthwhile time to wait for the upcoming episode.
To brief the episode, the plot is about catching a serial killer in London. The case gets interesting for Sherlock once the fourth killing, which is shown to be a suicide like all the previous ones, is a woman dressed entirely in pink leaves a message for the police. Detective Lestrade from the police force asks Sherlock for help, and the story begins. Sherlock and Watson, who meet for the first time in this episode, embark on a journey together where they become ‘consulting detectives’ in catching the villains that terrorise the streets of London.
The plot instruments chosen by the creators is interesting; the colour pink, pills used for the killings, and the concept of arch enemy. The verb “to pink” dates from the 14th century and means “to decorate with a perforated or punched pattern”. In light of this meaning, the colour itself promises the viewers of a pattern of crimes yet to come. Although it is obvious that there will be no direct connection with the crimes, we can expect a splash from the previous crimes- possibly in the form of a sponsor of the crimes. This brings us to the dialogue between the cabbie and Sherlock towards the end; where the cabbie confesses that he ‘was warned by someone’ to which at the end he gives Sherlock a name: Moriarty. This name promises us that the later episodes will be linked to this name. We can assume that while Sherlock is the good detective with the brilliant mind, Moriarty will be the equally skilled and clever villain who will be challenging Sherlock.
Many themes run through the TV series, but one that really caught my attention was curiosity mingled with deduction. The killer lures his victims into places by making them curious, in the same way, the cabbie captures Sherlock attention and convinces Sherlock not to call the cops and get in the car by simply making Sherlock curious with a single line: “I’m not going to kill you Mr.Holmes, I’m only gonna talk to you”. As for the viwers, we become curious through Sherlock’s deductions. The way he studies and deducts the truth about people makes us wonder how he does this. We see very clearly that Sherlock’s mind functions differently than the general public. We become curious if he knows more than he sees, says and even observes. And then comes the line: ‘you see but you do not observe’, which makes us look into our own lives and questions how much we know about what we see. How observant we are, how easily we make assumptions and judge what we see by merely the appearance. A social message lies within this line: it is important to observe, for the sake of the truth. It is a mistake to assume and judge, for the sake of just saying anything. We learn, from Sherlock Holmes that observation comes from curiosity. Deduction s the result of this relationship.
As a viewer, we get excited on what the next story will be and how Sherlock will be using his skill on ‘the Science of Deduction’ to solve these crimes. The role of Watson, we see in this episode is important, because he helps Sherlock in the many difficult situations Sherlock manages to put himself in- helping to pay the rent of an apartment in central London for a start. Watson is another pattern that promises continuity in the series. He will be the friend that Sherlock needs, Sherlock will be the help that Watson seeks. Sherlock is the ‘high functioning sociopath’ who clearly has problems with his family- mainly his big brother Mycroft-, and Watson is the soldier who is having trouble letting go of the past and recovering from recurring nightmares. They both, although seem very unattached and different, actually are bound to each other, and this bond will seemingly get stronger as they solve the crimes together as Sherlock Holmes and Dr.Watson. Sherlock will be the one who solves the crimes, Watson becomes the one who helps, protects and makes sure that people know the truth about Sherlock. They both will become a remedy for each other and the friendship that grows from this remedy will be one that will last.