Willow (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
willow_41z) wrote2010-11-07 10:57 pm
willow_41z) wrote2010-11-07 10:57 pm
Sherlock, "A Study In Pink": Thoughts
I was going to call this a review, but that would be a little grandiose. So: here are things I noticed, things I liked, and things that struck me as out of place, in "A Study In Pink." I'll be doing "The Blind Banker" next, but I haven't seen "The Great Game" yet, so please don't spoil anything. I've seen the American version, but I've also got the full version's subtitles and some of the screencaps.
Starting at the beginning: that sequence when John wakes up gives his character great depth. Before he said a word, I liked him, and felt that he was very sympathetic. (This is a much more dignified version of the IM conversation I was having while watching that scene. The IM conversation involves lots of caps lock. Possibly some hearts. I'll never tell.) The expression on his face when he lies back down is heartrending. In the context of the rest of the episode, I do wonder, though-- are we supposed to feel only that that was a nightmare, or that he also is crushed at waking up and not being there any more?
The words I would use to describe John at the beginning of the episode are "compressed" and "grey." He doesn't really smile, he looks somber... it's testament to Martin Freeman's acting abilities how he has John slowly come alive over the course of the episode; by the beginning of the next episode, we see a very different Dr. Watson.
At the beginning, when John, Sherlock and Mike Stamford are in the lab together, Sherlock asks John "Afghanistan or Iraq?"; right after he says that the strings start up very faintly to begin a very soft, muted version of the theme music. It swells through the scene, and is quite distinct by the time Sherlock leaves. Also, "Got to dash, I think I left my riding crop at the mortuary," is a great line.
After he says "Potential flatmates should know the worst about each other," Sherlock does this smile thing which is noticeable because it's a fake smile. He smiles for real at the end of the episode, after "Because you're an idiot," and briefly in the cab after John asks, "How can you possibly know about the drinking?" and "'Piss off.'"
I've been trying to figure out what Sherlock does. At first, I thought he had a day job at the hospital, both because he acts like he's in a position of authority over Molly, and because he's working in a lab when Mike and John find him. Additionally, there's the dialogue-- "Told Mike this morning that I must be a difficult man to find a flatmate for"-- which implies that they see each other on a semi-regular basis, and that Sherlock was there in the morning, since Mike works there. Additionally, they know each other well enough that Sherlock, who is not given to small talk, has told Mike that he is having trouble finding a flatmate. Additionally, Mike knows where to find Sherlock, and rather quickly, since Mike has not even told John Sherlock's name between the scene in the park and the scene in the lab. His comment "Yeah. He's always like that" implies an ongoing relationship. All this points to them being colleagues of a sort-- and, if Sherlock doesn't have a day job, where does he get money to pay rent and buy food? In book canon, Holmes is from a wealthy family; someone suggested he might have a trust fund. I'm not really sure. (Also, Mike seems cool; it's implied that he's around Sherlock on a semi-regular basis; he seems to be able to tolerate him, and is not threatened by his powers of deduction. Their slight relationship in the canon is detailed here in "Study in Scarlet.")
Sherlock's deduction: "Your limp is really bad when you walk, but you don't ask for a chair when you stand, like you've forgotten about it. So at least partly psychosomatic." Turns out to be true, but what if John is just too proud to ask for a chair, especially from someone he doesn't even know? However, there are seats in the lab-- Mike takes one. So presumably John could have seated himself if he wanted, and felt comfortable doing so. And the phone-- my computer has scuff marks around the power port, and I'm not an alcoholic. I like how John's reaction to all these deductions surprises Sherlock, and how, even though John is listening to this train of reason with his mouth slightly opened, he doesn't feel threatened enough by what Sherlock knows to correct him about Harry until Sherlock actually asks-- and he manipulates the pronouns to keep the reveal dramatic.
The American version cuts most of the dialogue between John and Anthea, including the part where he introduces himself (though she already knows his name). So the way she says his name, and the way she looks at him, like they're continuing a conversation that started a long time ago and he's familiar to her, made me think she was Harry at first. Also, I'm bit bewildered and amused that John tries to ask out the "bad guy"'s henchwoman. Mostly amused.
The scene with Mycroft is excellent; it's a sign of how solid both leads are that I enjoy the scenes with either of them alone as much as with them together. John's not scared at all, just kind of pissed, until Mycroft starts quoting from John's therapy sessions. They both have their respective things-to-lean-on, which symmetry makes the scene visually interesting; Mycroft is trying to be sinister, and John is just being snarky. (Mycroft talks about being discrete, but does he really think Sherlock isn't going to find out and know instantly who he is?) I like the lines "You could just phone me... on my phone," "You don't seem very frightening" and "I could be wrong, but I think that's none of your business... it really couldn't." Oh, and of course, "Well thank God you're above all that" with that little not-smile. When Mycroft says, "I worry about him. Constantly." it's very creepy, in the context of that moment, but in the context of the end of the episode, it's touching-- it's the only time he drops his mask of vague sinisterness, and we see that he cares about his brother.
In retrospect, the bit about John's left hand is telling: two tall, melodramatic individuals who know an uncanny amount about a complete stranger and can deduce more from said stranger's body language? What are the chances that they're not related? The line "You walk with Sherlock Holmes, you see the battlefield" implies that the tall, melodramatic individual has done so.
Several people imply that Sherlock and John are in a relationship, often right in front of Sherlock-- Mrs. Hudson and Angelo, and Mycroft says something along those lines, too. Sherlock knows, and he's not interested in John as evidenced by that delightfully awkward conversation in that restaurant, but he just doesn't care. There's a lot Sherlock doesn't care about people's perceptions, and a lot he doesn't see fit to mention or correct-- we'll see more of that next episode. (I wasn't sure exactly what John was trying to accomplish with that conversation-- I doubt he started out with the intention of telling Sherlock "It's all fine." I think he was trying to make conversation and the conversation got away from him. Also, Sherlock lets John down a whole lot more easily than he lets Molly down.)
The bit with John trying to convince Lestrade that Sherlock's not a junkie is good. Sherlock's getting pissed off at John's reaction-- "You?" "Shut up!"-- is (I think) the first time, and one of the only times, we seem his display much emotion or reaction that's not related to the case.
Lestrade tells Sherlock, "Sherlock, this is our case. I'm letting you in, but you do not go off on your own." Five minutes later, Sherlock is going off on his own, without telling where he's going, what he's doing, that he's going with the killer, or who the killer is. In one ear, out the other.
All of the victims have pill bottles with more than one pill. When the taxi driver takes out the bottles to offer to Sherlock, there is only one pill in them. Why? Also, if Moriarty is sponsoring him to kill people (as was in the full version but very inexplicably cut out of the American version), why does he not give him a proper gun? It seems risky to count on no one recognizing the lighter or trying to escape. While Moriarty is probably not that invested in Jeff's actual body count, just the panic he's sowing, it's still silly. And if Moriarty did sic Jeff on Sherlock, in a way, then giving Jeff an actual gun would up the odds of his winning, unless Moriarty expected Jeff to die and wanted to play with Sherlock more first.
I mentioned that they cut out the bit about Moriarty sponsoring Jeff through payment to his children: this is an important plot point! Also, cutting it out makes Sherlock look like a sadist at the end. Which he might be anyway, but in the full version, he's torturing Jeff to find out who put him up to it.
At the end, Lestrade says, "But we've got nothing to go on." But Sherlock says they just dug the bullet out of the wall. They could run a ballistics report on the bullet and find out a lot about the gun that fired it, and since this is London, theoretically the number of handguns per capita is pretty low. Oh, and if John was the one to call Lestrade, how does Lestrade not at least suspect John was the shooter? Does he know of his military background? Maybe Lestrade suspects or knows John did it, anyway-- after Sherlock turns away to "talk about the rent," you can just see Lestrade grinning. Apparently, in the pilot, it's made clear that Lestrade knew what happened in the school.
I love the conversation about the "rent." I'm pretty sure Sherlock is taken aback by the fact that John followed him there and, possibly, saved his life; it seems his world view has shifted, just a little. Sherlock could have walked out of there, easily, and Jeff would have survived-- but since Sherlock decided to risk his life, John felt compelled to kill Jeff to save him. As John says, he wasn't a nice man (I like the pause when John says that, before Sherlock responds, as if this is occurring to him for the first time-- I don't think Sherlock is usually concerned with peoples' niceness) but Sherlock was in no way compelled to take that pill; John was saving him from himself, not the killer.
The conversation with Sherlock's archnemesis is properly threatening up until the point where he says "... upset Mummy," and then the payoff for that and the earlier scene is wonderful. "You really are concerned for him." And, of course, John trying to chat up Anthea again.
OK, this loosely connected collection of thoughts has gone on long enough. See you for "The Blind Banker!"
Starting at the beginning: that sequence when John wakes up gives his character great depth. Before he said a word, I liked him, and felt that he was very sympathetic. (This is a much more dignified version of the IM conversation I was having while watching that scene. The IM conversation involves lots of caps lock. Possibly some hearts. I'll never tell.) The expression on his face when he lies back down is heartrending. In the context of the rest of the episode, I do wonder, though-- are we supposed to feel only that that was a nightmare, or that he also is crushed at waking up and not being there any more?
The words I would use to describe John at the beginning of the episode are "compressed" and "grey." He doesn't really smile, he looks somber... it's testament to Martin Freeman's acting abilities how he has John slowly come alive over the course of the episode; by the beginning of the next episode, we see a very different Dr. Watson.
At the beginning, when John, Sherlock and Mike Stamford are in the lab together, Sherlock asks John "Afghanistan or Iraq?"; right after he says that the strings start up very faintly to begin a very soft, muted version of the theme music. It swells through the scene, and is quite distinct by the time Sherlock leaves. Also, "Got to dash, I think I left my riding crop at the mortuary," is a great line.
After he says "Potential flatmates should know the worst about each other," Sherlock does this smile thing which is noticeable because it's a fake smile. He smiles for real at the end of the episode, after "Because you're an idiot," and briefly in the cab after John asks, "How can you possibly know about the drinking?" and "'Piss off.'"
I've been trying to figure out what Sherlock does. At first, I thought he had a day job at the hospital, both because he acts like he's in a position of authority over Molly, and because he's working in a lab when Mike and John find him. Additionally, there's the dialogue-- "Told Mike this morning that I must be a difficult man to find a flatmate for"-- which implies that they see each other on a semi-regular basis, and that Sherlock was there in the morning, since Mike works there. Additionally, they know each other well enough that Sherlock, who is not given to small talk, has told Mike that he is having trouble finding a flatmate. Additionally, Mike knows where to find Sherlock, and rather quickly, since Mike has not even told John Sherlock's name between the scene in the park and the scene in the lab. His comment "Yeah. He's always like that" implies an ongoing relationship. All this points to them being colleagues of a sort-- and, if Sherlock doesn't have a day job, where does he get money to pay rent and buy food? In book canon, Holmes is from a wealthy family; someone suggested he might have a trust fund. I'm not really sure. (Also, Mike seems cool; it's implied that he's around Sherlock on a semi-regular basis; he seems to be able to tolerate him, and is not threatened by his powers of deduction. Their slight relationship in the canon is detailed here in "Study in Scarlet.")
Sherlock's deduction: "Your limp is really bad when you walk, but you don't ask for a chair when you stand, like you've forgotten about it. So at least partly psychosomatic." Turns out to be true, but what if John is just too proud to ask for a chair, especially from someone he doesn't even know? However, there are seats in the lab-- Mike takes one. So presumably John could have seated himself if he wanted, and felt comfortable doing so. And the phone-- my computer has scuff marks around the power port, and I'm not an alcoholic. I like how John's reaction to all these deductions surprises Sherlock, and how, even though John is listening to this train of reason with his mouth slightly opened, he doesn't feel threatened enough by what Sherlock knows to correct him about Harry until Sherlock actually asks-- and he manipulates the pronouns to keep the reveal dramatic.
The American version cuts most of the dialogue between John and Anthea, including the part where he introduces himself (though she already knows his name). So the way she says his name, and the way she looks at him, like they're continuing a conversation that started a long time ago and he's familiar to her, made me think she was Harry at first. Also, I'm bit bewildered and amused that John tries to ask out the "bad guy"'s henchwoman. Mostly amused.
The scene with Mycroft is excellent; it's a sign of how solid both leads are that I enjoy the scenes with either of them alone as much as with them together. John's not scared at all, just kind of pissed, until Mycroft starts quoting from John's therapy sessions. They both have their respective things-to-lean-on, which symmetry makes the scene visually interesting; Mycroft is trying to be sinister, and John is just being snarky. (Mycroft talks about being discrete, but does he really think Sherlock isn't going to find out and know instantly who he is?) I like the lines "You could just phone me... on my phone," "You don't seem very frightening" and "I could be wrong, but I think that's none of your business... it really couldn't." Oh, and of course, "Well thank God you're above all that" with that little not-smile. When Mycroft says, "I worry about him. Constantly." it's very creepy, in the context of that moment, but in the context of the end of the episode, it's touching-- it's the only time he drops his mask of vague sinisterness, and we see that he cares about his brother.
In retrospect, the bit about John's left hand is telling: two tall, melodramatic individuals who know an uncanny amount about a complete stranger and can deduce more from said stranger's body language? What are the chances that they're not related? The line "You walk with Sherlock Holmes, you see the battlefield" implies that the tall, melodramatic individual has done so.
Several people imply that Sherlock and John are in a relationship, often right in front of Sherlock-- Mrs. Hudson and Angelo, and Mycroft says something along those lines, too. Sherlock knows, and he's not interested in John as evidenced by that delightfully awkward conversation in that restaurant, but he just doesn't care. There's a lot Sherlock doesn't care about people's perceptions, and a lot he doesn't see fit to mention or correct-- we'll see more of that next episode. (I wasn't sure exactly what John was trying to accomplish with that conversation-- I doubt he started out with the intention of telling Sherlock "It's all fine." I think he was trying to make conversation and the conversation got away from him. Also, Sherlock lets John down a whole lot more easily than he lets Molly down.)
The bit with John trying to convince Lestrade that Sherlock's not a junkie is good. Sherlock's getting pissed off at John's reaction-- "You?" "Shut up!"-- is (I think) the first time, and one of the only times, we seem his display much emotion or reaction that's not related to the case.
Lestrade tells Sherlock, "Sherlock, this is our case. I'm letting you in, but you do not go off on your own." Five minutes later, Sherlock is going off on his own, without telling where he's going, what he's doing, that he's going with the killer, or who the killer is. In one ear, out the other.
All of the victims have pill bottles with more than one pill. When the taxi driver takes out the bottles to offer to Sherlock, there is only one pill in them. Why? Also, if Moriarty is sponsoring him to kill people (as was in the full version but very inexplicably cut out of the American version), why does he not give him a proper gun? It seems risky to count on no one recognizing the lighter or trying to escape. While Moriarty is probably not that invested in Jeff's actual body count, just the panic he's sowing, it's still silly. And if Moriarty did sic Jeff on Sherlock, in a way, then giving Jeff an actual gun would up the odds of his winning, unless Moriarty expected Jeff to die and wanted to play with Sherlock more first.
I mentioned that they cut out the bit about Moriarty sponsoring Jeff through payment to his children: this is an important plot point! Also, cutting it out makes Sherlock look like a sadist at the end. Which he might be anyway, but in the full version, he's torturing Jeff to find out who put him up to it.
At the end, Lestrade says, "But we've got nothing to go on." But Sherlock says they just dug the bullet out of the wall. They could run a ballistics report on the bullet and find out a lot about the gun that fired it, and since this is London, theoretically the number of handguns per capita is pretty low. Oh, and if John was the one to call Lestrade, how does Lestrade not at least suspect John was the shooter? Does he know of his military background? Maybe Lestrade suspects or knows John did it, anyway-- after Sherlock turns away to "talk about the rent," you can just see Lestrade grinning. Apparently, in the pilot, it's made clear that Lestrade knew what happened in the school.
I love the conversation about the "rent." I'm pretty sure Sherlock is taken aback by the fact that John followed him there and, possibly, saved his life; it seems his world view has shifted, just a little. Sherlock could have walked out of there, easily, and Jeff would have survived-- but since Sherlock decided to risk his life, John felt compelled to kill Jeff to save him. As John says, he wasn't a nice man (I like the pause when John says that, before Sherlock responds, as if this is occurring to him for the first time-- I don't think Sherlock is usually concerned with peoples' niceness) but Sherlock was in no way compelled to take that pill; John was saving him from himself, not the killer.
The conversation with Sherlock's archnemesis is properly threatening up until the point where he says "... upset Mummy," and then the payoff for that and the earlier scene is wonderful. "You really are concerned for him." And, of course, John trying to chat up Anthea again.
OK, this loosely connected collection of thoughts has gone on long enough. See you for "The Blind Banker!"
no subject
(Anonymous) 2011-01-04 07:03 am (UTC)(link)I just have two quick comments about the intro scene with John, Sherlock, and Mike. One is that I heard the line about John's limp ever so slightly differently. I may be wrong, but I thought Sherlock said "You don't ask for a chair, and you stand like you've forgotten about it." In other words, when John moves, his mind creates an impression of pain, but when he stands still his mind forgets about it and Sherlock can read the lack of pain in his stance when he's standing still - he might even see John unconsciously shifting some of his weight back onto the "bad" leg. That seems like more plausible evidence for his deduction than does John's disinclination to ask for or take a chair.
As for what Sherlock does at the hospital, in canon he was a part-time student when he met Watson, or so Stamford said. I think he had established enough of a consulting practice that he could basically support himself, but the work was very irregular which led to long gaps where money was scarce and boredom was dangerous. So he looked for a flatmate to cut costs and tried to stave off boredom by studying up on things that might make him more proficient at his profession. Part of that involved doing chemical and forensic experiments at St. Bart's, and in "The Musgrave Ritual" Holmes also tells Watson he used to spend large swaths of time in the reading room at the British Museum. If they stick with this backstory, then I would imagine that Sherlock does independent study with Mike as a graduate student of his - I bet Mike might be the only professor willing to work with such a bizarre student, especially since he must skip out all the time and he clearly has no intention of actually taking a degree.
Anyway, those are just my two cents worth of thoughts :)
~ Rachel