THUD: BEST OF 2012 - Page 2

Quote:

Originally Posted by Schwartz 

I'm always a little confused when I see people refer to "A Study In Pink" as the clear best of Sherlock's opening season.  It's fantastic, don't get me wrong.  But "The Great Game" is like 5 great mysteries packed into one, and would kick the ass of almost any movie released in 2010.

The Great Game is quite good.  A Study in Pink is better.

(Sort of how The Reichenbach Fall is excellent, but A Scandal in Belgravia is amazing.)

I got bored yesterday arvo and rewatched all of season 1 of Sherlock in a block.  You know, although The Blind Banker is easily the weakest of the lot, alot of people dismiss it as being something remotely resembling bad, and that's just plain stupid.  Yes, it's sandwiched between two utterly compelling episodes that make it look poor in comparison.  But that's the key word here - comparison.  It's still bloody good TV.

The Blind Banker isn't bad, it's just far closer to typical procedural television dramas than any of the others.  But it still has the same excellent continuing cast playing the same likable characters, so it gets a pass (or should) from fans.

No, it's bad. For one thing, you can't just write off the Yellow Peril stuff--it's integral to the story, and in a show that wittily updates so many aspects of Sherlock Holmes, there's no excuse for these appalling Victorian-era stereotypes. (It's not even directly taken from any particular story, is it?) There's also a random Arabian Nights Muslim Assassin, which makes it seem like they were going for Racist Stereotype Bingo in that particular episode. And I'm a guy who's defended "A Scandal in Belgravia" against similar issues.

The relationship stuff with Watson and Random Girl is pretty badly done, cheesy sitcom shenanigans, and made all the worse by the fact that that girl seems like she's being set up for something further down the line (possibly to become Mrs. Watson), yet vanishes in S2. A major plot point hinges on the idea that someone is standing minutes away from a wall covered in secret code with fast-drying paint. And so on.

Just as "A Study in Pink" is impressive precisely because it's such a fresh take on the mythos, "Banker" is a dud because it's much more like what you'd expect a hackneyed modern version of Sherlock to be like.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evi 

 

I understand that you're not making this a criticism of the show as a whole but in all honesty, I still don't know what you're talking about. Just because she's not one thing at all times doesn't mean they're betraying the character. I've actually found her evolution to be remarkably consistent.

Yeah, this. Skylar's character arc has been extremely well done. Like most of the Breaking Bad characters, she's been fundamentally the same person at all times, but she's buffeted by changing circumstances. The way she's forced into a new position each season is one of the things the show's done masterfully, but she's clearly been the same person since S1, far more so than, say, Jesse, who has a tendency to shift around on short notice (which isn't a criticism, he's a character who's young and adrift).

The whole story of the White marriage, past and future, is visible in a few scenes in the pilot. It's amazingly assured.

Doesn't she pop back up for a scene in one of the British-version episodes of season two? I think I remember reading that. (In case someone's unaware, the American versions are cut down by five to 10 minutes, and I haven't picked up season two on Blu-ray for a rewatch yet.)