BBC - Sherlock

That typical intro song. It is one of those things you can never forget. The random scenes of a modern London and a quick paced adventure leads the spectator in many different directions. I will admit that when I've learned a modern Sherlock Holmes had been filmed I was quite skeptical about the outcome. I had many reasons to feel that way. I have read most of the books as a teenager and Sherlock Holmes as a character was very dear to me. I always loved a good mystery and Sherlock mixed mystery and adventure. It wasn't like the typical Agatha Christie novel - books that I adore! - the stories were more about the how than the who did it. Besides, Conan Doyle (Sherlock's creator if you don't know) has introduced forensic science to the world. Believe it or not, at Doyle's time and age the forensic science was still crawling. The police knew nothing about preserving evidences and following clues that can set someone free or send them to jail. Before forensic science killers and thieves were convicted following testimonies, something that today is not accepted in a court of law.

Sherlock Holmes is a very important book, filled with some humor and, of course, impossible deductions made by the main character, the one and only Mr. Sherlock Holmes. I believe the brilliant idea Doyle had was to tell the story with the point of view of Dr. Watson, Shelock's sidekick in the stories. That gives us an idea of Sherlock - because the narrative is in first person we get a glimpse of Sherlock the way Dr. Watson sees him. As a way of telling a story I consider that brilliant.

That was one of the reasons I didn't think a modern Sherlock just couldn't work. The man couldn't fit into our age and era! How could someone believe Sherlock Holmes could be adept of using an Android phone and be internet savy enough to run Google searches and joining in online chats and the like? Oh boy, was I wrong! It is always a great thing to be happy to be mistaken! Not only the BBC Sherlock, starring the rather unknown (to me) British actor Benedict Cumberbatch, had a great feel to it as it completely nailed the complexity of the character while keeping faithful to the books. Even the way Dr. Watson gets to meet Sherlock Holmes is accurate. I fell in love with the series and it was like riding a roller coaster, with each episode bringing details from the stories and Cumberbatch's Sherlock was spot on and so was Martin Freeman's Dr. Watson. They worked together so well, it was always exciting when a new season came around. I believe the last time I felt this excited for a new season was when the Lord of the Rings Franchise was released back in the early 2000's. 

But the ride was... Rather short, I am afraid. I didn't want to accept it, but apparently the show won't go on past season 4. I don't know why they don't give us a definite 'yes' or 'no', they keep slow cooking us while they give ambiguous answers about the possibility of a season 5. Maybe I should accept the fact that Sherlock is no more.

However short the ride might have been, it was full of excitement and expectation and they have given us a brilliant show with brilliant performances by everyone involved. Bravo! Sherlock remains, in my opinion, the best modern version they could ever give to Conan Doyle's iconic character.