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"Want to see some more?" "Oh, god, yes."
Aug. 10th, 2010 07:17 pmSince it turns out that a watched torrent doesn't download, I decided to join the rest of fandom and post about my love for Sherlock.
I love it. An awful lot. And it's not because it's clever or Moffat-y or because Benedict Cumberbatch has a voice like a leopard impregnated a double bass and then the offspring rolled around in honey (though all of those things are true). It's because they get Watson right, and my opinion of Sherlock Holmes mythos works lives and dies on their Watsons.
In inferior spin-offs, Watson is just there to get Holmes to talk out loud, much like the skull on the mantelpiece. He's dumb, easily awed, and likes his comforts. Often, this Watson is fat and old, and is easily irritated by Holmes's physical activity because he can't keep up.
In the Granada Holmes (which at least Cumberbatch watched, because there were many, many moments when I flashed back to Jeremy Brett), they had two Watsons. One was an inferior Watson. One was a proper Watson.
To me, a proper Watson is the one we meet in Doyle's "A Study in Scarlet" - an injured war veteran who's bright enough to recognize that Holmes has him and everyone else on the planet beat in that department and smart enough to want to hang on for the ride. He has his own skill set, distinct from Holmes'. He's definitely awed by Holmes, but not really by much else, and Holmes, in turn, seems more awesome to us. His irritation at Holmes's bizarre energy comes not from an inability to keep up but from that military mindset where you don't hate doing active things, but you do hate doing them unnecessarily, because you might need that energy later.
In short, he's Martin Freeman's John, and I ADORE him. Fic is happening, people.
ETA: torrent loaded. Will be back later.
( LATER. THERE ARE SPOILERS. OBVS. )
I love it. An awful lot. And it's not because it's clever or Moffat-y or because Benedict Cumberbatch has a voice like a leopard impregnated a double bass and then the offspring rolled around in honey (though all of those things are true). It's because they get Watson right, and my opinion of Sherlock Holmes mythos works lives and dies on their Watsons.
In inferior spin-offs, Watson is just there to get Holmes to talk out loud, much like the skull on the mantelpiece. He's dumb, easily awed, and likes his comforts. Often, this Watson is fat and old, and is easily irritated by Holmes's physical activity because he can't keep up.
In the Granada Holmes (which at least Cumberbatch watched, because there were many, many moments when I flashed back to Jeremy Brett), they had two Watsons. One was an inferior Watson. One was a proper Watson.
To me, a proper Watson is the one we meet in Doyle's "A Study in Scarlet" - an injured war veteran who's bright enough to recognize that Holmes has him and everyone else on the planet beat in that department and smart enough to want to hang on for the ride. He has his own skill set, distinct from Holmes'. He's definitely awed by Holmes, but not really by much else, and Holmes, in turn, seems more awesome to us. His irritation at Holmes's bizarre energy comes not from an inability to keep up but from that military mindset where you don't hate doing active things, but you do hate doing them unnecessarily, because you might need that energy later.
In short, he's Martin Freeman's John, and I ADORE him. Fic is happening, people.
ETA: torrent loaded. Will be back later.
( LATER. THERE ARE SPOILERS. OBVS. )
