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| Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes |
Holmes’ abduction and torture of Sebastian Moran has not gone down well with Captain Gregson and he has suspended Holmes. Watson continues to stay with Holmes, even though
her contract was not extended by her employer.
Holmes likes conspiracy theorists and is
particularly close to Len Pontecorvo, a conspiracy theorist of some repute.
When Len does not respond to Holmes’ text messages, Holmes decides to check on
his whereabouts.
Holmes breaks into the house of his fellow
conspiracy theorist and finds his corpse.
The title of the episode refers to Army War Games.
Len has discovered the identity of one of the members of the Red Team of 2009.
This member was killed a few months back in a case of mugging that according to
Len was staged.
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Holmes tries to help the official force in the
case but is thrown out of the building by Captain Gregson.
Sherlock and Watson continue to work on the case
independently. They encounter “Bill”, who later turns out to be one Colonel
Todd Clarke.
Shortly after Sherlock’s visit, Todd gets murdered
and Sherlock finds himself as the suspect. To keep the review spoiler-free, I
encourage the readers to check out the episode for themselves.
Canonical References:
- Holmes and Watson discussing about
Napolean Bonaparte – Reference to Professor Moriarty, the “Napolean” of
crime.
- Holmes forgetting about food when
he is totally absorbed in his work – The Canonical Holmes does this in
many of the cases.
- Miller’s Holmes breaks into Len Pontecorvo’s
house – The Canonical Holmes broke into the house of Charles Augustus
Milverton to retrieve some documents.
- Holmes’ deduction about domoic
acid poisoning – Reference to Watson’s listing of Holmes’ skills and
limits in A Study in Scarlet: “Well
up in belladonna, opium, and poisons generally.”
- Sherlock introduces himself as a temporarily
suspended consultant for the NYPD and Joan as someone who prevents him
from doing heroin to “Bill” – Reference to the dry sense of humor
possessed by the Canonical Holmes.
- Holmes makes some deductions based
on Len Pontecorvo’s finger nails - Holmes
states in A Study in Scarlet: “By
a man's finger nails, by his coat-sleeve, by his boot, by his trouser
knees, by the callosities of his forefinger and thumb, by his expression,
by his shirt cuffs—by each of these things a man's calling is plainly
revealed.”
- Miller’s Holmes smashing the listening
device to smithereens – In The
Adventure of the Six Napoleons, Holmes breaks the bust of Napolean to
retrieve the missing black pearl.
- “…why keep me from my work. My
work is the greater good” – Reference to the French proverb stated by
Holmes in The Adventure of the
Red-Headed League: “‘L’homme c’est rien–l’oeuvre c’est tout,”. The
French proverb translates to: “The man is nothing, the work is all”
- Sherlock informing “Bill” that
the surviving members of the Red Team are under his protection – Holmes makes
a similar statement to Steve Dixie in The
Adventure of the Three Gables: “Well, just bear in mind, Steve that
the lady in that house, and everything under that roof, is under my
protection. Don’t forget it.”
- Detective Bell remarks to Captain
Gregson that it would probably be easier to fire Holmes if they ever
actually paid him – The Canonical Holmes often took cases without
consideration for compensation or recognition of any kind.
- Miller’s Holmes states to another
character: “I judge people by their behavior” – Holmes states in The Sign of the Four: “It is of the
first importance not to allow your judgment to be biased by personal
qualities… I assure you that the most winning woman I ever knew was hanged
for poisoning three little children for their insurance-money, and the
most repellant man of my acquaintance is a philanthropist who has spent
nearly a quarter of a million upon the London poor.”
- Miller’s Holmes blows a whistle
to call a cab – In The Adventure of
the Empty House, Holmes uses a whistle to summon the official force,
after he captures Colonel Sebastian Moran.
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| Lucy Liu as Joan Watson |
This was a good episode. The mystery component was
OK.
Miller’s performance was definitely the highlight.
The Holmes-Watson chemistry is great and results in some nice exchanges. I
especially enjoyed their conversation in the car, while waiting to follow a
character.
Miller does some of his best work as Holmes. He has some great dialogues:
“I am smarter than everyone I meet, Watson”
“So far, none
of the conventional ways of getting oneself killed apply”
“Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds,
Watson”
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| Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes |
