Hounds of Baskerville

Dashing

I suppose one of the main problems is that I loved Hound of the Baskervilles.

When I was trying to decide what the best book I read in 2011 was, the choice was pretty easy. The fact that I finished it a few days into January did make me a little depressed and gave me a feeling that I might have rather wasted 12 months of reading time. When I read Hound, I found myself stopping at the end of every chapter and putting the book down. This wasn’t because I didn’t want to keep reading, it was because I didn’t want it to end. I made that book last as long as I possibly could. I haven’t done that before or since.

It was always going to be hard for Sherlock (as wonderful as it is) to live up to that.
Did it?
Ok, not really.
Was it a frankly wonderful piece of television never the less?
Yes. Yes it was.

I’ve seen Belgravia four times now and every time I watch it I notice more canon jokes. There were some pretty clever ones in Hounds. The apparent light signing in Morse code and the pair in the inn with their giant dog. Quite a few times I thought “Aha! I see what they did there! They must be taking it in X direction from the book!” And then the story moved in a totally different direction and I was surprised. That was pretty great.
Most importantly, it had the essence of the original. Hound is a tale laced with superstition. It’s the case that makes Holmes question all the things he believes in. I think Benedict played that remarkably well.

Then there was all the homoerotic undertones (I can’t help thinking Gatiss ships that a bit more than Moffat does). And Benedict wearing THAT purple shirt while loping moodily through a graveyard. And Lestrade looking tanned and being called Greg.
I was not disappointed with the quantity of shots of Sherlock looking dashing atop large boulders. There was a reasonable number of those. Also moorland. These things are important.

So, the ending wasn’t totally satisfying but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t GOOD. I should probably go and watch it three more times. It was good enough to watch three more times (or fifty-three more times, which I inevitably will).

SPECULATION CORNER
By the time you read this, there’s a fair chance you’ll have already seen The Reichenbach Fall. Currently I’m waiting for beccamarsh to come over so we can watch it. I’ve been working myself into a state of moderate hysteria all week. It is looking increasingly likely that it will finish and go immediately to the dentist to talk about getting my wisdom teeth out.
And I will be a total emotional wreck.
I’m looking forward to that.
So basically its going to be TOTALLY FUCKING AWFUL. The problem is that is has the potential to be fucking awful in a number of different ways. Steve Thompson is writing this one. He’s best known for being the guy who wrote “the other one” in the last series. Also that episode of Doctor Who with the pirates and Kenny that contained about as many plot holes as a colander. I really want to think the best of him as a writer. I really, really do. But that pirate episode was a massive let down. So apart from being generally soul crushing it could also be…not as good. And I don’t know if I can bear that.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go and stare at a download bar.