Release the Hound!
The first series of BBC’s modern take on
Sherlock Holmes was a runaway hit. My friends and I couldn’t stop talking
about how well Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman filled the roles of
Sherlock and Dr. Watson. With the second episode of the new series premiering
on Masterpiece Mystery on PBS in the USA this past Sunday, I can say that the
magic still continues.
The Sherlock
series has been known to take the most famous books and transfer them
into modern settings with high tech elements. The translation of Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the
Baskervilles does just the same, but also changes the stakes and the nature
of the attacks.
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| Russell Tovey as Henry Knight |
In this version Henry Knight (Russell Tovey) is a young man
who watched his father get torn to shreds by a gigantic hound out on the moors as a child. This image has haunted him
his entire childhood and adult life, so he’s turned to the one man who might be
able to find the creature and give him piece – Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock
doesn’t believe in monsters, but when he sees something out on the moors that
he can’t explain, his whole life and method is thrown into question.
The great thing about this episode is
that we get to see Sherlock truly doubt himself and get frightened by an enemy
that he can’t understand. The elements of the book are all there, though the
Baskerville element is a genetic research facility instead of the estate that
the villain is gunning for. In fact the reason for the murder and the way that
it takes place is very different from the book, but still holds the horror
elements that make the original story wonderful.
I’m well aware of the success that the new Sherlock Holmes movies bring in at
the box office. But this series has much more depth to the characters and
allows us more time to get into the heads of Sherlock and Dr. Watson. Instead
of being a series of jokes or one-liners, they’re able to breathe and grow with
us on the small screen.
This series is shaping up to be just as
good as the last. With Moriarty hot on Sherlock’s heels, it’ll only be a
matter of time before we really see the world’s greatest detective feel the
doubt in himself and his method.
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