Sherlock Holmes

The television series titled Sherlock is a British television series based off of Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional character Sherlock Holmes, who is the central character of the show and works alongside his cautious, subdued partner, John Watson, bringing the audience into a 21st century version portrayed in the first episode titled A Study in Pink, based off of the first Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet. The episode takes place in London where the two protagonists investigate the deaths of four individuals, which the rest of society believes to be the result of suicide, although it is later revealed to be the work of a murderous taxi driver.

Signifiers are shown in the episode to depict the nature of the characters in the episode. For example, the dreams that show soldiers in the middle of the desert while fighting against an enemy force in Afghanistan indicates that John Watson is a soldier who has returned to London while suffering from post dramatic stress disorder, which is why he talks to a therapist at the start of the episode. His handgun can also be a sign of his involvement in the military as well. The episode then shows Sherlock Holmes taking his nicotine patches on his arm, which signifies a tribute to the Sherlock pipe used in the novel. His profession as a detective can be signified by his overcoat and his scarf signifying the usual fashion trend in London, especially since it is situated in a cool environment within Britain. The syntagmatic analysis of the episode indicates that the hero happens to be Sherlock, who obtained the suitcase once owned by a victim of the murderer as his object for investigation but when he returns to his room at 221 Baker Street, he finds it under a drug bust by the police led by Lestrade, who makes unfounded claims and accusations on Sherlock. He later comes to a struggle with the cabbie, who is the villain of the episode with a sinister, manipulative nature and had murdered his wife after being told about three years ago that he was dying. John Watson serves as the helper of the hero in the situation and as proof fired his gun at the cabbie from a distance to save Sherlock from the temptation of taking the pill. The cabbie also gives out unfounded claims when he states that he simply talked to his victims and that they killed themselves.

The paradigmatic relationship between the two protagonists is that Sherlock is eccentric, logical, talented, and is a show off by nature while Watson tends to be cautious, polite, and willing to do what he needs to do. There is also a paradigmatic relationship between Sherlock and the cabbie, with one being a man of truth, evidence, and logic and the other being a man of murder and deception. The episode has a few metaphors within it including the room being a metaphor of Sherlock's mind, London as a city of mystery and elusiveness, and the fact that Watson slowly finds Sherlock being more interesting than what others claim. The cane in which Watson held at the beginning is a synecdoche that represents an outside expression of his emotional weakness. The audience can see cell phones that resemble each other, making them icons in the episode. The pills also serve as icons, as they are seen during the deaths of the four victims and Sherlock's confrontation with the cabbie. When needed, the music and camera techniques change to increase tension, allude to future events, or conceal certain aspects from the audience so as to gain their attention, one example being the scene of the victims being shown in close-up angles that focus on emotion in order to stress the intimacy of the event, as well as its detrimental value to the audience. As for the index, the word "Rache" (German for "revenge") that was written by one of the victims in her dying moments was actually an attempt to write the word "Rachel", which is soon revealed to be a password. Another icon is the number 71126, which is a driver's number given to the cabbie.

Symbolism is one of the most noticeable elements of the episode with the most important of the symbols being the pills, which represent death, and the cabbie's game, which represents the struggle between life and death. The show and its ability to create excitement, suspense, and tension makes it much similar to other popular mystery genres including Bones and Dexter, a show about a man who kills murderers and investigates their crimes while having an eccentric lifestyle himself. Codes in the episode include the name "Rachel", the cues of the music that produce emotional tension, and the sense of duplicity within the investigation.

In conclusion, the show brilliantly uses metaphors, symbolism, and other elements that capture the audience and introduce them into a world of crime, investigation, and excitement while introducing them to the changing relationship between Sherlock and Watson.