Blog Post #2

In the first episode of Sherlock, viewers find John Watson, a retired war veteran, sitting in his therapist's office. He's unhappy and angry about his situation in life, and the opening scene closes with Watson stating, "Nothing ever happens to me." It was clearly foreshadowing the fact that it was not actually going to be the case; personally, I found it to be a bit humorous and ironic.

The episode then goes on to introduce its titular character, Sherlock Holmes, and it's easy to see from the get-go that he's quite the interesting man. He's clearly not well-versed in social norms and comes across as rude and unapologetic (such as when he unknowingly snubs Molly when she asks him if he'd be interested in getting coffee, or when he presumes that John would agree to be his roommate). Despite this, it's established that Sherlock is extraordinary in that he has a knack for making deductions. The audience almost comes to expect them; one could argue that a signifier in the series is the "scheming" music that comes on whenever Sherlock is about to make a deduction or gets an idea.

Paradigmatic analysis also comes into play in this series; the first episode of Sherlock establishes Sherlock and the cab driver (the main antagonist in this particular episode) as opposing forces. Similarities can be drawn between the two characters, as both of them are quite bright. The cab driver explicitly makes this comparison himself, saying that he and Sherlock are not that different. Both of them are geniuses living in a world full of "ordinary" people, implying that those two are on the same level while everyone else is not. In the scene where Sherlock confronts the cab driver and the two are about to "play" a game, the camera is angled in such a way that the table is in the center of the shot, and Sherlock and the cab driver are on opposite sides, almost mirror images of each other.

Another interesting thing I noticed was Watson's cane; he uses it as both a literal and figurative crutch. I saw it as a symbol of his unhappiness over his current circumstances. He is not ready to face life after being injured in the war, and at first, viewers may be led to assume that he is simply struggling to move on from the trauma of war. However, his real internal struggle becomes clear when Sherlock's brother Mycroft tells him, "You're not haunted by the war, Dr. Watson, you miss it".

Watson strikes me as someone who can't stand sitting around watching his life pass him by, and he sees his cane as something to resent. It symbolizes his inability to live his life the way he wants, as well as his dependence. It's also worth noting that when Sherlock and Watson chase after the cab, Watson ends up leaving his cane behind, implying that his main struggle is internal.