Sherlock Special "The Abominable Bride" - Recap and Review

As worldwide fans of the hit show know and love, the BBC show took the most famous fictional detective and his universe to the modern day and remains the best modern update of the classic Victorian stories and novels from the inimitable Arthur Conan Doyle.

The Abominable Bride is a tribute to the Sherlock Holmes Canon as much as it an attempt by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat to finally take their show back to its original setting.

 

The episode begins with a quick recap of the first three seasons. Then we are presented with an alternate version that might have happened in the 19th century.

Similar to the opening scenes in S1E1 “A Study in Pink”, Dr John Watson (Martin Freeman) is injured and discharged from fighting in the Afghan War.

He makes his way to London and runs into one of his acquaintances, Mike Stamford (David Nellist). And then comes the meeting with one Mr Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) that proves to be an life altering event for Dr Watson.
              

 

They share an apartment at 221 B Baker Street with the landlady Mrs Hudson (Una Stubbs) and are solving crimes together. This lifestyle forces both the men to go on long trips - something that Mrs Hudson and especially Mrs Mary Watson (Amanda Abbington) do not like. Mary even has to take the extreme step of pretending to be a client just to meet her erratic husband. 

 

The latest case comes through the trusted and dependable source - Scotland Yard Inspector Lestrade (Rupert Graves). Emilia Ricoletti (Natasha O'Keeffe) commits suicide by shooting herself through her mouth on the day of her marriage anniversary. A few hours later, Emilia's husband Thomas Ricoletti (Gerald Kyd) is shot dead by the ghost of his dead wife.

 

Holmes loses track of the case, but is pulled back in based on the recommendation from Mycroft Holmes (Mark Gatiss). Mycroft has referred Lady Carmichael (Catherine McCormack) to his younger brother.

 

Her husband, Sir Eustace Carmichael (Tim McInnerny), has received orange pips in an envelope. Right away, he shows signs of extreme fear and further is haunted by the ghost of the aforementioned Amelia Ricoletti.

 

The rest of the episode weaves back and forth between 19th century and current day. Gatiss and Moffat have peppered the episode with their usual bag of Canonical References and in addition, provide a running commentary on the Canon.

 

We have Mrs Hudson complaining about her role in the stories (“I am your landlady, not a plot device”) and Sherlock tries his best to rectify that. Mary pulls Watson's feet by noting that all he does is run around taking notes. Not to be outdone, Moriarty (Andrew Scott) asks Holmes if he poses for the illustrator while solving crimes. 

 

                           

 

Watson also takes a shot at the illustrators (Sidney Paget being the most popular of them) by commenting that he is not able to move around without the moustache. This is a reference to the fact that it was Sidney Paget who created the image of Deerstalker and Inverness Cape for Holmes and not Doyle himself.

My personal favorite is the running gag about “features of interest” that Holmes tirelessly refutes to own up to. Speaking of which, the scenes at Diogenes Club are a hoot.

The episode successfully combines the gothic ghost story with women's rights movement which Arthur Conan Doyle strongly supported. Women crossdressing as men and men's anti-feminist attitudes (Watson saying Mary will be cooking, Watson ignoring his maid Jane and taunting Hooper, Sir Eustace Carmichael taunting his wife, Lestrade believing the killer to be a man). Men do get their comeuppances (including Dr Watson).

 

Sherlock Holmes is the most portrayed fictional character, but few actors can claim to have played both Canonical and Modern versions. To the best of my knowledge, only the late Basil Rathbone is the only actor other than Benedict Cumberbatch to accomplish this.

 

And Benedict is magnificent as Victorian Holmes. He clearly loves the character and his portrayal should delight any fan of the original stories and novels. I have seen very few actors who enjoy themselves in the role and yet not make it an extension of their real life personalities. Good examples would be RDJ and Rathbone himself. Both these actors clearly relish the role, but may be they are enjoying just a bit too much. Then there are the actors who appear distracted/miscast either due to production issues or personal issues. Douglas Wilmer and Peter Cushing fall in the former category while Jeremy Brett in the latter.

 

Cumberbatch and Livanov are two actors, whom I personally think have done a great job bringing the detective to life in a way that stays loyal to the Canon and at the same time remains enjoyable. I have written about Livanov here.

Right from his introduction in S1E1, Cumberbatch has maintained a consistent and professional approach to the role and it shows. This is one of the best casting choices not only in Sherlock Holmes universe, but in TV shows overall. Some of the other actors who have left such an impression include the late Peter Falk (as Columbo), Billy Bob Thornton (as Lorne Malvo in Fargo), Steve Carell (as Michael Scott in The Office), Michael C Hall (as Dexter), Viggo Mortensen  (as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings), Arnold Schwarzenegger (as The Terminator), the late Christopher Reeve (as Superman) and Christian Bale (as Batman).

 

All of these actors appear to be born to play their respective roles. While Livanov is my favorite Canonical Holmes, Cumberbatch remains the definitive modern version. This time, he gets to don the Inverness Cape and Deerstalker to play the detective as he was envisioned by Sidney Paget. And he looks right at home playing the Victorian version.

As readers of the Canon are aware, Sherlock Holmes possesses a dry sense of humor. And Cumberbatch gets to display this facet many times: “unsavory companion of dubious morals”, “how breathtakingly prescient of her!”, “enthusiasm for stating the obvious which borders on mania”, “Pass me your revolver. I have a sudden need to use it ”.

 

Back in 2010, when the first episode debuted, many eyebrows were raised over the fact that a classic and beloved Victorian character is being modernized. As much as the show has been amazing (for the most part), this episode should lay any such doubts to rest.

 

The cast and crew have given us one of the best episodes in the show in terms of performances, Canonical Nods and for showcasing Benedict's take on Victorian Holmes.

 

There are a few more aspects about this episode that I will be going over in another post.

Click here to read all my posts about BBC Sherlock

Image Sources: Hartswood Films,  BBC One, Masterpiece Theatre

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Sherlock Special "The Abominable Bride" - Canonical References and Nods

The Sherlock Special episode “The Abominable Bride” has aired and as can be expected, there are a bunch of nods to Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories and novels. There might be spoilers and the readers who are yet to watch the episode are recommended to skip this post.

1. The episode title “The Abominable Bride” involving the bride: Emilia Ricoletti (Natasha O'Keeffe) and her husband Thomas Ricoletti (Gerald Kyd) - Sherlock Holmes mentions to Dr John Watson about this case in The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual: “But there are some pretty little problems among them. Here's the record of the Tarleton murders, and the case of Vamberry, the wine merchant, and the adventure of the old Russian woman, and the singular affair of the aluminium crutch, as well as a full account of Ricoletti of the club-foot, and his abominable wife.”

2. The following lines spoken by Dr John Watson (Martin Freeman): “The second Afghan war brought honours and promotion to many. But for me it meant nothing but misfortune and disaster... Under such circumstances, I naturally gravitated to London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are drained.” - They are taken almost verbatim from A Study in Scarlet. They are also among the very first lines written by Arthur Conan Doyle, that would eventually culminate in the legendary Canon comprising 56 short stories and 4 novels.

3. The newspaper salesman asking Dr John Watson if his next story will feature an actual murder, unlike his current story “The Blue Carbuncle” - Reference to the plot of The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, in which Sherlock Holmes solves the mystery behind the theft of a rare stone. This story was set during Christmas time and did not involve any murder.

Also to be noted: the man is seen holding a copy of The Strand Magazine. The Sherlock Holmes stories were published in this magazine, including The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle.

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4. Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) deducing the identity of his client as being Mary Morstan (Amanda Abbington) based on her perfume - Reference to this line spoken by Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles: “There are seventy-five perfumes, which it is very necessary that a criminal expert should be able to distinguish from each other, and cases have more than once within my own experience depended upon their prompt recognition.”

5. Sherlock is impressed by John's growing deductive capabilities and comments: “My Boswell is learning. They grow up so fast.” - In A Scandal in Bohemia, Dr Watson offers to leave when Sherlock Holmes is about to receive a very wealthy client. Holmes responds: “Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my Boswell.”

6. Dr John Watson receives a message from Sherlock: “Come at once if convenient. If inconvenient, come all the same. Holmes” - Sherlock Holmes sends this note to Dr John Watson in The Adventure of the Creeping Man: “Come at once if convenient–if inconvenient come all the same. S. H.”.

7. Sherlock comforts the fearful Inspector Lestrade (Rupert Graves): “Fear is wisdom in the face of danger. It is nothing to be ashamed of.” - In The Final Problem, Sherlock Holmes explains his fear of airguns to Dr Watson: “I think that you know me well enough, Watson, to understand that I am by no means a nervous man. At the same time, it is stupidity rather than courage to refuse to recognize danger when it is close upon you.”

8. When asked to describe the bride's face, Lestrade responds: “White as death, mouth like a crimson wound.” Sherlock asks: “Poetry or truth?” When Lestrade replies that many people would consider both the same thing, Sherlock retorts: “Yes, Idiots” - In The Adventure of the Retired Colorman, Sherlock Holmes sends Dr John Watson to collect information about Josiah Amberley. Dr Watson returns and explains about Josiah's house: “You know that particular quarter, the monotonous brick streets, the weary suburban highways. Right in the middle of them, a little island of ancient culture and comfort, lies this old home, surrounded by a high sun-baked wall mottled with lichens and topped with moss, the sort of wall...”. Holmes' angry response: “Cut out the poetry, Watson...I note that it was a high brick wall.”

9. Mary receives a letter from a certain “M” (Mycroft). When Mrs Hudson (Una Stubbs) asks who it is from, Mary responds: “England” - In The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans, Sherlock Holmes explains about his brother to Dr John Watson: “You are right in thinking that he is under the British government. You would also be right in a sense if you said that occasionally he is the British government.”

10. The writing (in blood) on the wall: “You” - Possible reference to the plot of A Study in Scarlet. In the original novel, the murderer writes the word “RACHE” (using his own blood) on the wall at the crime scene.

11. Dr Watson reprimands his maid, Jane (Stephanie Hyam) for being late, being incapable of boiling an egg and almost destroying his boots while scraping the mud off them. He also warns Jane that he will ask Mary to have a word with her -

In A Scandal in Bohemia, Sherlock Holmes deduces that Dr Watson has a clumsy and careless servant girl based on the careless scrapes round the edges of the soles of Watson's shoes. Dr Watson confirms Holmes' deductions:  “As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has given her notice....”

In The Problem of Thor Bridge, Sherlock Holmes complains about his new cook to Dr Watson: “There is little to share, but we may discuss it when you have consumed the two hard-boiled eggs with which our new cook has favored us. Their condition may not be unconnected with the copy of the Family Herald which I observed yesterday upon the hall-table. Even so trivial a matter as cooking an egg demands an attention which is conscious of the passage of time and incompatible with the love romance in that excellent periodical.”

12. Sherlock is seen reading up on “The obliquity of the ecliptic - The inclination of the earth's equator to the path of the sun on the celestial plane.”. John teases that he has been preparing himself to impress someone (Mycroft) who is more clever than him - In A Study in Scarlet, Dr Watson mentions that Sherlock Holmes' knowledge of Astronomy is NIL.

13. Mycroft Holmes (Mark Gatiss) states: “To anyone who wishes to study mankind, this is the spot.” - This exact line is spoken by Mycroft Holmes at the Diogenes Club in The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter. 

14. Mycroft scolds Sherlock: “As ever you see, but you do not observe.” - In A Scandal in Bohemia, Sherlock Holmes says the same line to Dr Watson: “You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear.”

15. The following exchange between Mycroft and Sherlock is taken verbatim from The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter:

Mycroft: “I expected to see you a few days ago about the Manor House case.  I thought you might be a little out of your depth there.” 
Sherlock: “No, I solved it.” 
Mycroft: “It was Adams, of course.”
Sherlock: “Yes, it was Adams.”

16. Sherlock asks Mycroft if he has solved the case. Mycroft responds that he has solved it, but needs his brother to do the “legwork” (something he clearly hates) - In The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans, Sherlock asks Mycroft as to why he does not solve the case. Mycroft replies: “Possibly, Sherlock.  But it is a question of getting details. Give me your details, and from an armchair I will return you an excellent expert opinion.  But to run here and run there, to cross-question railway guards, and lie on my face with a lens to my eye - it is not my metier.”

17. Wilder (Tim Barlow) informs Mycroft: “Also a Mr. Melas to see you, Mr. Holmes” - Reference to the character of Mr. Melas, the titular character of the story: The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter.

18. Sir Eustace Carmichael (Tim McInnerny) receives five orange pips as a warning of his impending death - In the original story, The Five Orange Pips, the secret society known as the Ku Klux Klan sends five orange pips as a warning to individuals who have been marked for death.

19. Sherlock tells John: “The game is afoot” - Sherlock Holmes awakens Dr John Watson in The Adventure of the Abbey Grange and implores him: “Come, Watson, come! ... The game is afoot. Not a word! Into your clothes and come!”

20. Sherlock's response to Dr Watson's comments about Lady Carmichael (Catherine McCormack): “The fair sex is your department, Watson. I will take your word for it.” - In The Adventure of the Second Stain, Holmes asks Watson for his opinion about Lady Hilda Trelawney Hope: “Now, Watson, the fair sex is your department ... What was the fair lady's game? What did she really want?”

21.  Sherlock states: “All emotion is abhorrent to me. It is the grit in a sensitive instrument. The crack in the lens.” - 

Dr John Watson writes about Sherlock Holmes' attitude towards love in A Scandal in Bohemia: “All emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind... He never spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer... But for the trained reasoner to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a nature such as his.”

22. Sherlock and Watson are constantly at odds about the possibility of ghosts. Finally, Sherlock has had enough and shouts: “There are no ghosts!” - This reminded me of the story: The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire. Sherlock Holmes expresses clear skepticism about the existence of supernatural entities like vampires and ghosts. He comments to Dr Watson: “But are we to give serious attention to such things? This agency stands flat-footed upon the ground, and there it must remain. The world is big enough for us. No ghosts need apply.”

23. Sherlock frowns due to the fact that the murderer has escaped due to Watson's mistake: “Our bird is flown” - In The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter, Holmes makes a prediction that the kidnappers of Mr Melas would have escaped by making the statement: “Our birds are flown and the nest empty.”

24. Sherlock scolds Watson: “Use your brain, such as it is, to eliminate the impossible, which in this case is the ghost, and observe what remains, which in this case is a solution so blindingly obvious,...” -

In The Sign of the Four, Sherlock Holmes makes one of his most famous statements: “How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?”

25. Moriarty (Andrew Scott) taunts Sherlock: “It is a dangerous habit to finger loaded firearms in the pocket of one's dressing-gown.” - This line is taken verbatim from The Final Problem. 

26. Moriarty states: “There is nothing new under the sun” -

In A Study in Scarlet, Holmes states: “There is nothing new under the sun. It has all been done before” 

Sherlock Holmes mentions in The Valley of Fear: “The old wheel turns, and the same spoke comes up. It's all been done before, and will be again.”

27. Dr Watson asks Sherlock: “Morphine or Cocaine?.” Sherlock replies:  “Cocaine... a 7% solution. Care to try it?” - This exchange takes place between Holmes and Watson in The Sign of the Four.

28. Mycroft asks Sherlock as he is about to search for the corpse of Emilia Ricoletti: “Cherchez la femme?” -

Sherlock Holmes explains about his ancestry in The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter: “But, none the less, my turn that way is in my veins, and may have come with my grandmother, who was the sister of Vernet, the French artist.”

Sherlock Holmes also uses the word “recherché” in The Musgrave Ritual - “But there are some pretty little problems among them. Here's the record of the Tarleton murders, and the case of Vamberry, the wine merchant, and the adventure of the old Russian woman, and the singular affair of the aluminium crutch, as well as a full account of Ricoletti of the club-foot, and his abominable wife. And here—ah, now, this really is something a little recherché.”

29. We can see the name “Vernet” in Mycroft's notebook -  Sherlock Holmes explains about his ancestry in The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter: “But, none the less, my turn that way is in my veins, and may have come with my grandmother, who was the sister of Vernet, the French artist.”

30. In the closing scene, Sherlock states: “From a drop of water, a logician should be able to infer the possibility of Atlantic or Niagara”.. Watson adds: “... or a Reichenbach?” - Sherlock Holmes says this line in A Study in Scarlet: “From a drop of water a logician could infer the possibility of an Atlantic or a Niagara without having seen or heard of one or the other”

31. The character of Sir Eustace Carmichael shares the first name with the character of  Sir Eustace Brackenstall from the original story: The Adventure Of The Abbey Grange.

32. The dress worn by the women seeking revenge is similar to the dress worn by the Ku Klux Khan. This counts as another reference to the original story: The Five Orange Pips, that featured the members of this cult society.

The last 2 are credited to Meghashyam Chirravoori.

Readers are welcome to point out any other nods I might have missed out.

Click here to read all my posts about BBC Sherlock

Image Sources: Hartswood Films,  BBC One, Wikipedia,  Masterpiece Theatre

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