Blog Post 2- Sherlock

The popular BBC series, Sherlock, adapts the well know world of Sherlock Holmes from book to screen, and from the past to the present. The original stories are narrated by Doctor Watson, so likewise the show begins with John, despite Sherlock being the namesake of the title. The show uses a very particular style with its art direction by keeping to a specific color palette that is seen again and again. These colors are used to signify characters, mood and story points, and we can see this from the very first seen where Watson wakes up. John Watson lives a lone, and we get the feeling that his apartment is very lonely. John just woke up from a nightmare, and his ominous feeling is carried on through his surroundings and staging. His apartment is yellow and in yellow light – Watsons  theme color – and as John has his meager breakfast he is framed in a far off shot, which emphasizes how empty his apartment is.

Through out the beginning of the episode we get the distinct feeling that John is unhappy, and his life lacks meaning. At the very least, he isn’t enjoying himself. We witness the most awkward therapist visit in history, and he seems uncomfortable even when talking to his old friend. Also of note, the whole of the beginning is very quiet, there is almost no music, right up until Sherlock is introduced. Once John see’s Sherlock (who is set in front of a blue background when we first see him) begin to rush about deducing things the Sherlock theme begins to play in the background and we are swept up into Sherlock’s shenanigans along with John. Sherlock’s behavior is so opposite of what we have seen so far that it is jarring. It’s also obviously quite jarring for John too, being simultaneously disregarded as unimportant while nearly every detail of his life is figured out and presented by a complete stranger. Sherlock is aloof and brash and people are generally annoyed by him, as Sherlock later comments on in the cab, but John isn’t comfortable with normal socializing anymore. This allows him to more easily put up with Sherlock’s own social ineptitudes and fully appreciate the brilliancy of what Sherlock does. This episode is just one day, but already John’s life is suddenly in motion again. He loves the action, needs the action, so much so that he becomes so caught up in it that he forgets his cane – and his limp- to chase down a criminal without a second thought.

On the other hand, it isn’t about the adrenaline for Sherlock. It’s about exercising his easily bored mind, figuring things out, and most importantly: being right. It’s not enough for him to know that he’s figured something out, he needs confirmation for it. He explains it himself when he tells John that “genius needs an audience” when talking about the serial killer. Later, his actions show it with the entire incident with the cabbie. He goes with the cabbie completely willingly because he has to know if he figured it out, and the cabbie knows this. He explains to Sherlock how he convinces people to kill themselves, a confession, but if Sherlock calls the cops down he promises that Sherlock will never know what it is he tells his victims. Finally, after the cabbie is shot he demands to know if he guessed the right pill. He assures John that of course he wasn’t really going to take the pill, but it’s quite possible that Sherlock would really go to that length just to find out if he was right- and to make his victory that much sweeter.