Sherlock Series 2: The Woman, The Hound, The Fall

[GSR]

Sherlock series 2 premieres at 8:10pm 1st January 2012 on BBC One

Starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as John Watson

with Lara Pulver as Irene Adler, Mark Gatiss as Mycroft Holmes, and Andrew Scott as Jim Moriarty

written by Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss, and Steve Thompson

Sherlock! Hopefully some of you have heard of this wonderful show before, because I'm going to feel right silly making this topic if you haven't. Sherlock is a BBC series that had its first season in 2010, providing a modern take on the Holmes stories we know and love. While that doesn't exactly sound like a recipe for success, the superb production quality has made it a hit in Britain and a modest success in the US. This isn't exactly the Guy Ritchie Holmes; there's a lot more sitting around debating clues than explosions and fistfights, but frankly speaking you won't mind.In case you couldn't tell, I'm crazy excited for the new series of this to start. Like series 1, it'll be comprised of three 90-minute episodes: "A Scandal in Belgravia" (tonight's episode, inspired by A Scandal in Bohemia), "The Hounds of Baskerville" (inspired by, well, guess), and "The Reichenbach Fall" (inspired by The Final Problem). For US viewers and anyone else who can't catch the UK airings, the DVD and Blu-Ray are out on January 23rd, so if you can play region 2 DVDs or have a Blu-Ray player, you can grab one of those. Otherwise, the series airs in May on PBS.Anyways, enough blather. The game is on.

Edited January 1, 2012 by GSR

[a goose]

Ten more minutes... (And I've read all the stories on which these episodes are based, and therefore know the conclusions. Still love the episodes, though!)Looking forward to it!

[Tilius]

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Edited April 26, 2021 by Tilius

[Stryker055]

I watched Series 1 in one sitting a few days ago, so I can't wait until I'll be able to watch this. Cumberbatch makes an excellent Holmes, and Martin Freeman is one of my favorite British actors. Everything about the show just works so well. Really looking forward to the end of the month (or if it shows up earlier on Netflix).

[HAZMAT]

patiently awaiting the US release on PBS

[GSR]

Oh that was brilliant. That was far, far too good. Was grinning like a madman at parts.

Glad they opted to keep Adler alive, though I very much doubt she'll actually show up again in the series. This episode really did her justice.

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

The Geek Interpreter and The Speckled Blonde, the Holmesian puns were really flying, weren't they?

Edited January 2, 2012 by The Power that Is

[Grey Snow]

I marathoned all of Series 1 with two friends today, they left (prior engagements), so I watched the new episode on my own (which was a pain to track down online). The Blind Banker is absolutely terrible, and marathoning in one sitting kind of brought down The Great Game, but this was incredible. Best of the four episodes so far.

I'm glad they didn't exactly turn Irene into a love interest for Sherlock. I hate that cliche. They played it closer to the book, which makes me very happy. I was half expecting him to open her phone at the end and have a picture of her on it, for whatever reason, you know, just for another reference.Irene being alive? As long as she doesn't show up again, I can live with it. I'd rather she died, though. I don't know why, I think it provides an unnecessary aspect by living, that she could pop up, and Holmes can have some attachment to her. I'd rather she be dead and no attachment, just because I don't know how they would play it out. I trust Moffat, but if he steers towards love interest...But making her a dominatrix was actually kind of cool. Sure, we have possibly gay Moriarty, why not? Actually, it fits well, I think. Overall, absolutely brilliant.

[GSR]

Episode two aired today. Somewhat different tonally from episode one, but still extremely enjoyable. Bit deus ex machiney near the end though, what with

"Surprise, it was a government project in America that we'd given no indication of prior to the climax."

Edited January 9, 2012 by GSR

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

That's not really deus ex machina. We had the clues leading to it, so its reveal was just solving a mystery :PWhat I found slightly disappointing was that I saw whodunnit coming a mile off

Edited January 9, 2012 by The Power that Is

[toatali]

Probably prefered episode 1 as the whole "Government plot" thing was a bit weird... Also, I guessed whodunnit too easily...Can't wait for episode 3!Off Topic: Love your sig, "The Power That Is"

[a goose]

Off-Topic: Y'know, American viewers will have real difficulty resisting the temptation to click all these spoilers.

The episode did have a different tone, slightly scarier than normal (no real 'behind-the-sofa scenes though, unfortunately), although I didn't like the explanation of how John saw the hound.

[Stryker055]

Off-Topic: Y'know, American viewers will have real difficulty resisting the temptation to click all these spoilers.

You have no idea. Edited January 9, 2012 by Stryker055

[Grey Snow]

Better than the whole of Series 1, not as good as last week.I continue to love the throwbacks (Devil's Foot, Black Peter, probably others).

I didn't mind the ending, and I like how they subverted the hound itself. The use of the Morse Code thing was an interesting deconstruction of the actual story. I guess they blew their budget on locations, since the hound looked so terrible, but that's beside the point. Overall, it was very enjoyable. Though the ending, with Moriarty and Mycroft was...odd.[/spoiler[

[Tilius]

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Edited April 26, 2021 by Tilius

[Ghostie]

Only seen Scandal so far. It was awful. That ending had plot holes you could drive a semi through.I am cautiously optimistic about Hounds, though.

[GSR]

Could someone get a forklift? I can't seem to get my jaw off the floor.

I saw Moriarty's suicide coming about halfway through the scene, though at the end I started to think they really had killed off Sherlock, since Moriarty's actor mentioned future series could be set before the end of series two. But yeah. Wow.Looking back also there's a truck around where Sherlock would have landed, but it's gone after John gets back up. My guess is he landed in there and had Molly plant a cadaver made up like him.Oh, and Moffat, you son of a-

Edited January 16, 2012 by GSR

[Tilius]

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Edited April 26, 2021 by Tilius

[GSR]

Also, random bit of disappointment: the soundtrack releasing on the 30th is only for series 1. Considering series 2 didn't have that many new cues (at least not that I noticed) I get the feeling we won't see a Series 2 soundtrack, but rather a combined Series 2 and 3 way way way down the line. I'd love to be wrong, though.

[Grey Snow]

Amazing, considering this was the guy who wrote The Blind Banker, which was the worst episode there was.Moriarty's suicide just annoys me. He didn't really lose; sure, his death means Sherlock suffers, but he can do just as much alive, really. That nags at me.Sherlock being alive at the end? Of course. But that he makes an appearance? No. Same problem I had with the movie. Just let us know he's alive without showing it. Confirmation of Series 3 is all we need (unless, you know, it's a prequel, or set on cases not touched upon, or something) to know he survives. But anyway, great episode. The entire code thing was odd. Like Sherlock's, "With this computer code, I can erase Brooks and bring back Moriarty". That made no sense to me. At all.Well, hopefully we don't have as long to wait as we did this last time. I want to see them tackle John's married life, away from Sherlock, Sherlock rebuilding his name, etc.Also...did the police just stop searching? I mean, John walks right back into Baker Street. You'd think someone might be there, just in case. Or you know, trace their phones? Really, that was just a glaring problem I saw.

[Bundalings]

I really liked the first series. I don't know if I can wait for it to come to the US... does anyone know where I can find it online? BBC's website is disagreeable.

[Ravrahn]

I absolutely love this show - furthermore, I've never met a single person who has seen it and didn't love it. It's television at it's best.Bundalings - there's several places to get it. I managed to find someone who puts them up in 720p HD minutes after the episodes finished airing. I won't link it, but the name is "Ouzicat". He has series 1 in HD, too. None of them has caused me any trouble, but I am running Linux...[EDIT: He also has standard TV quality versions, but, like Doctor Who, I really think it's worth watching in HD, because it does make it better.]

If Sherlock survived, why couldn't Moriarty survive too? He's a mad genius, he must be able to fake his own death.

Did anyone else think Hounds felt very Doctor Who?

Edited January 17, 2012 by +ravrahn

[Grey Snow]

Ravrahn:

Because if Moriarty lived, that would be in direct conflict with the real canon. Sherlock only ever survives the Reichenbach Falls and this drop because canon dictates he survives. Unless the series ends, in which case he remains dead. But Doyle never brought Moriarty back. Moffat loves Holmes, I believe, so he keeps things rather canon in these regards.

[Ravrahn]

That makes sense... I'm not very educated when it comes to the original canon, I'm afraid. I just thought, there's only really two stories he's in (well, he did kind of orchestrate the other four, but he wasn't in them), and he's such a good character. But I suppose having another Moriarty finale would be getting a bit repetitive.

[-Toa Lhikevikk-]

So... Sebastian Moran as main villain of next series, then?

[Grey Snow]

I can only hope.

[GSR]

A bump to say that, much to my surprise and joy, the series 2 soundtrack is being released on the 27th. Music nerds rejoice!

[Grey Snow]

I must say that, for about three weeks, I've owned the Sherlock coat. $180 on Ebay, $40 shipping. And it is amazing.

[Tilius]

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Edited April 26, 2021 by Tilius

[Grey Snow]

Not an original. Couldn't even find an original just to see it online. It's a copy, but still a good coat, very well made.

[Neelh]

LordKoji, that's a ripoff. My Sherlocked friend has ordered it for £50.I haven't watched it, but my aforementioned friend is going to convert me. Yeah. Convert.

[Grey Snow]

Custom made to my exact specifications.And I couldn't find anywhere else to make it, so it was the only option.