Blog Post #2 - Ted Bangs

The plot of Sherlock is interesting in the way in which it furthers it's plot not by contextual and cliche "detective off to solve crime" motif, but rather by a complex internal paradigmatic struggle within the protagonist. Sherlock is said to "get a kick" out of solving murders, it even seems to bring him joy, but that joy which is often misconstrued as sick pleasure by his peers, is actually a yearning to understand the villain behind the crime. Though Sherlock does often have second thoughts about whether or not to pursue a villain out of his own curiosity or to turn him in for the sake of justice. This is seen when Sherlock is given the opportunity to turn in the cabbie to the nearby police at their first introduction, or to ride along with the cabbie to understand the underworkings of his sinister plot. In a way, this makes Sherlock his own nemesis, which only further pushes the idea of this internal good versus evil struggle that Sherlock experiences. However Sherlock's struggle is not the only good versus evil conundrum within the plot. Watson experiences seperate yet equally polarizing questions about the good or evil within Sherlock and whether or not he believes his actions to be that of a man intent on catching villains, or something much darker that he has yet to understand. This is seen through the presence of Sherlocks' "Arch-nemesis", his brother. Watson who at first scoffs the man off as a petty threat trying to scare him from working with Holmes begins to wonder if this man truly does care for Sherlock, and if so, for what reason.