I keep flitting between liking it , and not liking it .
I'm hard to please as i loved watching Sherlock as a kid , so i'm always going to be hyper critical. I know they are trying to bring it up to date , i am also ploughing through the American one Elementary Series 1 box set at the same time) , at the same time , and do quite like it , once i get my head round the fact its set in America, and that Watson is a woman.
I think if you're an adult watching it you are extremely critical (because thats what adults are) my kids love it , and i enjoy watching it with them , probably more than if i was watching it on my own picking it to pieces.
I don't think the plot is great , and agree i would have preferred more mysteries to solve, as thats what got me hooked as a kid, but its a tv programme , a bit of light entertainment on a Sunday evening , and a darn sight better than watching Strictly!
I think the Beeb have got one eye on selling this to the Yanks , as they are now a global brand , so it doesn't really matter what a British audience think.
I like it. I like the way the characters have developed and I do like a 'twist' in the story.
What I don't like, however, and Moffat does is even more in Doctor Who is the way in which cliff hangers turn out to be a cheat by changing what we all saw and pretending that it didn't happen at all. In Doctor Who it is bad enough that the Daleks, the Cybermen and the Master are killed off only to return - they never seem to escape at the end, they are always totally destroyed, but manage to survive. It makes all the stories re-writable, which for a time traveler is possible but frustrating. To have Sherlock die (but not really) and to have Moriarty doe (but not really) just insults our intelligence.
Having almost the whole episode one of this series about bringing Sherlock back was a waste of time, in my view. It was clear he was back as soon as they announced it was coming back on. We all knew that they would write something in that was very complicated but totally rubbish, it just took away from having a proper mystery to solve that episode.
Incidentally I've never been very quick at working out what was happening before it was explained, but I, pretty much, guessed the target and the murderer in episode two long before they told us. The clues they left were way too easy compared to previous seasons.
I do agree that the filming is fantastic but that it does look like, maybe, Moffat and/or Gatiss have gone, a little, up their own backsides. The Doctor Who Christmas Special was a terrible example of using a poorly put together script to tick a number of boxes, including ensuring that Matt Smith was the longest, oldest, lots of other things-est Doctor ever!
Maybe it's time for Moffat to pass the reigns of Doctor Who and Sherlock on to someone else? He's had a go for a couple of years and done ok, but maybe it's time for a change.
Well it made a change from watching boxed set of "The Killing". The guy who acted the baddy last night is v.good in that. It has gone from being a sexed up retelling of Sherlock Holmes to The Matrix . "Its fiction so anything can happen" is only a short step from "and I woke up and it was all a dream. The end."
Well I enjoyed it very much last night as a piece of modern tv drama, superior in that genre imo to much of what is put out. But as said above, whilst it is based on and references the original Holmes, it has a completely different mindset and agenda. For me that is both a good and a bad thing. It is a fast moving stylish self knowing and occasionally indulgent tv programme. It entertains. It is twaddle as well, in a way that I think the original Holmes was not. But I will miss it being on next Sunday :-)
So can anyone succinctly remind me of how he faked his death. I was bit poorly during first episode and cannot recall !!!
It was never officially described I don't think, there were just theories and suggestions and such. I was a bit dissatisfied that they didn't resolve it last night.
Last episode was definitely better but still not on the same level as previous series'. I was interested at the start, cringed at the twist in the middle, then got a little more interested again with where the Mary/John thing was going but the ending wasn't very satisfying. The final shots with the tv screens and all that were very, VERY Dr Who and it was a little cheap I thought, I would've preferred to have him be revealed in some darkened room somewhere plotting to control London in Sherlock's absence than to be all obvious about it. It just felt like an excuse to have Sherlock get off free.
Slight storyline problem I had - Mycroft gets all emotional for a while, saying how he couldn't send Sherlock to wherever it was because it would break his heart when he dies. Then he goes and sends him off there anyway! Make that two problems - Sherlock can't possibly go into prison because there will be riots. But we can send him on a undercover mission which is effectively a death sentence? Even though, as I just said, it would "break Mycroft's heart" to do so?
There was a full and long winded explanation of how he faked his death in episode one. If you missed it I would recommend BBC iPlayer to watch it again.
So can anyone succinctly remind me of how he faked his death. I was bit poorly during first episode and cannot recall !!!
It was never officially described I don't think, there were just theories and suggestions and such. I was a bit dissatisfied that they didn't resolve it last night.
Last episode was definitely better but still not on the same level as previous series'. I was interested at the start, cringed at the twist in the middle, then got a little more interested again with where the Mary/John thing was going but the ending wasn't very satisfying. The final shots with the tv screens and all that were very, VERY Dr Who and it was a little cheap I thought, I would've preferred to have him be revealed in some darkened room somewhere plotting to control London in Sherlock's absence than to be all obvious about it. It just felt like an excuse to have Sherlock get off free.
Slight storyline problem I had - Mycroft gets all emotional for a while, saying how he couldn't send Sherlock to wherever it was because it would break his heart when he dies. Then he goes and sends him off there anyway! Make that two problems - Sherlock can't possibly go into prison because there will be riots. But we can send him on a undercover mission which is effectively a death sentence? Even though, as I just said, it would "break Mycroft's heart" to do so?
I assumed he was sent away after he killed the not-Murdoch chap as a slightly better alternative to life in prison.
There was a full and long winded explanation of how he faked his death in episode one. If you missed it I would recommend BBC iPlayer to watch it again.
Which was not so subtly implied to be false in fact, about three seconds later. We've still not got a definite 'this IS how it happened' yet - presumably because it will tie in with the other fake-death they've sprung on us.
There was a full and long winded explanation of how he faked his death in episode one. If you missed it I would recommend BBC iPlayer to watch it again.
Are you referring to the one at the start with a face mask and Derren Brown?
There was a full and long winded explanation of how he faked his death in episode one. If you missed it I would recommend BBC iPlayer to watch it again.
Which was not so subtly implied to be false in fact, about three seconds later. We've still not got a definite 'this IS how it happened' yet - presumably because it will tie in with the other fake-death they've sprung on us.
Enjoyed this series but only after accepting I needed to let go of my preconceptions of what a sherlock holmes series should be. I think they realized they couldn't beat the jeremy brett version and decided to go in a completely different direction.
As for the 3rd episode. Some truly inspiring moments in particular Sherlock being shot. Couple of twists were clearly sign posted. Mary being an imposter. The vault being in the bad guys head (and as a consequence the ending was obvious). I think they just tacked on the moriarty ending to generate social media debate whilst we wait for season 4.
So can anyone succinctly remind me of how he faked his death. I was bit poorly during first episode and cannot recall !!!
It was never officially described I don't think, there were just theories and suggestions and such. I was a bit dissatisfied that they didn't resolve it last night.
Last episode was definitely better but still not on the same level as previous series'. I was interested at the start, cringed at the twist in the middle, then got a little more interested again with where the Mary/John thing was going but the ending wasn't very satisfying. The final shots with the tv screens and all that were very, VERY Dr Who and it was a little cheap I thought, I would've preferred to have him be revealed in some darkened room somewhere plotting to control London in Sherlock's absence than to be all obvious about it. It just felt like an excuse to have Sherlock get off free.
Slight storyline problem I had - Mycroft gets all emotional for a while, saying how he couldn't send Sherlock to wherever it was because it would break his heart when he dies. Then he goes and sends him off there anyway! Make that two problems - Sherlock can't possibly go into prison because there will be riots. But we can send him on a undercover mission which is effectively a death sentence? Even though, as I just said, it would "break Mycroft's heart" to do so?
I assumed he was sent away after he killed the not-Murdoch chap as a slightly better alternative to life in prison.
He was being sent away on the plane to do this mission which Mycroft had said would kill him though? Wasn't he? That's the impression I got anyway. And just because its a better alternative than being shanked with a sharpened toothbrush in prison doesn't mean that they would send him to certain death, especially seeing as Mycroft had effectively already said he couldn't do such a thing as effectively send Sherlock onto a suicide mission.
There was a full and long winded explanation of how he faked his death in episode one. If you missed it I would recommend BBC iPlayer to watch it again.
Which was not so subtly implied to be false in fact, about three seconds later. We've still not got a definite 'this IS how it happened' yet - presumably because it will tie in with the other fake-death they've sprung on us.
My first thought about the Moriarty return was that it may be part of Sherlock's plan following the murder at Appledore? Knowing that he'd likely be exiled, he initiated a plan for his return?
There was a full and long winded explanation of how he faked his death in episode one. If you missed it I would recommend BBC iPlayer to watch it again.
Which was not so subtly implied to be false in fact, about three seconds later. We've still not got a definite 'this IS how it happened' yet - presumably because it will tie in with the other fake-death they've sprung on us.
My first thought about the Moriarty return was that it may be part of Sherlock's plan following the murder at Appledore? Knowing that he'd likely be exiled, he initiated a plan for his return?
Who knows - that's half the fun I suppose!
Probably more likely to be Mycroft's plan than Sherlock's, but the timing is surely no coincidence. I don't think Moriarty is actually back really, I'd lose all sorts of faith in the writers if he is, but he is definitely involved - just post mortem... IMO.
I thoroughly enjoyed the first two episodes of this third season but thought the third was complete claptrap. No great explanations as to why, I just enjoyed the first two but could not get gripped by the third.
I thoroughly enjoyed the first two episodes of this third season but thought the third was complete claptrap. No great explanations as to why, I just enjoyed the first two but could not get gripped by the third.
After watching the first two episodes i was contemplating whether to bother with the third but having just watched it i'm pleased i stuck with it. The first two were awful in my opinion but the finale was back to the standard i would expect from this series.
Comments
I'm hard to please as i loved watching Sherlock as a kid , so i'm always going to be hyper critical.
I know they are trying to bring it up to date , i am also ploughing through the American one Elementary Series 1 box set at the same time) , at the same time , and do quite like it , once i get my head round the fact its set in America, and that Watson is a woman.
I think if you're an adult watching it you are extremely critical (because thats what adults are) my kids love it , and i enjoy watching it with them , probably more than if i was watching it on my own picking it to pieces.
I don't think the plot is great , and agree i would have preferred more mysteries to solve, as thats what got me hooked as a kid, but its a tv programme , a bit of light entertainment on a Sunday evening , and a darn sight better than watching Strictly!
I think the Beeb have got one eye on selling this to the Yanks , as they are now a global brand , so it doesn't really matter what a British audience think.
What I don't like, however, and Moffat does is even more in Doctor Who is the way in which cliff hangers turn out to be a cheat by changing what we all saw and pretending that it didn't happen at all. In Doctor Who it is bad enough that the Daleks, the Cybermen and the Master are killed off only to return - they never seem to escape at the end, they are always totally destroyed, but manage to survive. It makes all the stories re-writable, which for a time traveler is possible but frustrating. To have Sherlock die (but not really) and to have Moriarty doe (but not really) just insults our intelligence.
Having almost the whole episode one of this series about bringing Sherlock back was a waste of time, in my view. It was clear he was back as soon as they announced it was coming back on. We all knew that they would write something in that was very complicated but totally rubbish, it just took away from having a proper mystery to solve that episode.
Incidentally I've never been very quick at working out what was happening before it was explained, but I, pretty much, guessed the target and the murderer in episode two long before they told us. The clues they left were way too easy compared to previous seasons.
I do agree that the filming is fantastic but that it does look like, maybe, Moffat and/or Gatiss have gone, a little, up their own backsides. The Doctor Who Christmas Special was a terrible example of using a poorly put together script to tick a number of boxes, including ensuring that Matt Smith was the longest, oldest, lots of other things-est Doctor ever!
Maybe it's time for Moffat to pass the reigns of Doctor Who and Sherlock on to someone else? He's had a go for a couple of years and done ok, but maybe it's time for a change.
It was dark and worrying,making demands of its audience rather than spoon-feeding it.
I miss it already.
But I will miss it being on next Sunday :-)
I was bit poorly during first episode and cannot recall !!!
:-)
Last episode was definitely better but still not on the same level as previous series'. I was interested at the start, cringed at the twist in the middle, then got a little more interested again with where the Mary/John thing was going but the ending wasn't very satisfying. The final shots with the tv screens and all that were very, VERY Dr Who and it was a little cheap I thought, I would've preferred to have him be revealed in some darkened room somewhere plotting to control London in Sherlock's absence than to be all obvious about it. It just felt like an excuse to have Sherlock get off free.
Slight storyline problem I had - Mycroft gets all emotional for a while, saying how he couldn't send Sherlock to wherever it was because it would break his heart when he dies. Then he goes and sends him off there anyway!
Make that two problems - Sherlock can't possibly go into prison because there will be riots. But we can send him on a undercover mission which is effectively a death sentence? Even though, as I just said, it would "break Mycroft's heart" to do so?
As for the 3rd episode. Some truly inspiring moments in particular Sherlock being shot. Couple of twists were clearly sign posted. Mary being an imposter. The vault being in the bad guys head (and as a consequence the ending was obvious). I think they just tacked on the moriarty ending to generate social media debate whilst we wait for season 4.
Who knows - that's half the fun I suppose!