Streaming on Hulu
Metadata: 2012 | TV-14 | 6 seasons (5 on Hulu), 45m
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Why I watched: I'll watch anything with Lucy Liu in it, and I love watching new adaptations of Sherlock Holmes. Elementary was a no-brainer for me!
You might also like: If you haven't experienced the ongoing miniseries from BBC starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, go ahead and watch it on Netflix already! If you have seen it before, maybe it's time for another screening. It's just as good the second time around, I promise. (And the third... )
I often find that I have to watch a few episodes of a new TV show before I can tell if I'm into it. Not so with Elementary, the 2012 TV adaptation of Sir Conan Doyle's famous detective fiction featuring Sherlock Holmes. I was hooked within the first five minutes. It's a masterful pilot episode, imho, and includes everything I could possibly want in a show: smart, witty banter; great chemistry between the actors; an original take on a classic story and characters; and an exciting setting.
Elementary's Sherlock Holmes is played by John Lee Miller and Watson—Dr. Joan Watson—is brought to life by the fierce, effervescent Lucy Liu. They work so well together. Sardonic, imperious, egotistical, and impatient, Miller's Holmes is nonetheless warm and nuanced. He's the most human of all the Sherlocks I've seen, and that makes him the most compelling, in my book. (Don't get me wrong, I love Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock, too—but that character is so much larger than life that I don't feel any warmth toward him. And Robert Downey Jr.'s Sherlock has endearing charm—but precious little depth. Miller's Sherlock has both.) Liu's Watson is serious and professional and sincere and responsible, but then she surprises you with little moments of humor and lightness, almost flirtation. She's irresistible, and she and Holmes are almost immediately drawn to one another.
In this modern-day TV adaptation, Holmes is, as usual, a recovering addict. His work at Scotland Yard is backstory here, and his current residence in New York City comes after he was sent to rehab for some shadowy incident and resulting breakdown in London, which we don't learn about until later in the series. His brownstone—an allowance from his wealthy father—is a delightfully quirky imagining of 221B Baker Street, and Watson is a permanent fixture there, since she, as Holmes's designated "sober companion," lives with him in order to keep his sobriety on track. Of course, their relationship quickly evolves, and they soon become the dynamic crime-solving duo that we all know and love.
This one is just plain fun, friends, and I hope you enjoy!
Grace
