BBC Sherlock Season 3 Episode # 1 "The Empty Hearse" - Review

Dear Readers,

Having seen and enjoyed Season 3 of BBC Sherlock, I have decided to put down my thoughts.

The first episode “The Empty Hearse” has been long awaited by fans eager to unravel the mystery of how Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) survived his fall at the end of “The Reichenbach Fall”.

Readers who have not yet seen the episode are welcome to skip the rest of the post, if they wish to avoid plot details.

The opening scenes offer a quick recap of the closing scenes of “The Reichenbach Fall”. Sherlock is seen taking the help of Molly Hooper (Louise Brealey) and even shares a kiss with her. The body of the dead Jim Moriarty (Andrew Scott) is substituted for Sherlock's with the help of a mask.

This is yet another of the theories proposed by Anderson (Jonathan Aris) to the hapless Detective Inspector Greg Lestrade (Rupert Graves).  Lestrade is as usual dismissive of  this theory. We saw a similar scene being played out in the Christmas 2013 minisode “Many Happy Returns”.

Sherlock Holmes is being held captive and physically tortured. He manages to distract his captor through his deductions. The other person sitting nearby is revealed to be Mycroft Holmes (Mark Gatiss).

Sherlock has been working his way to dismantle Moriarty's criminal empire. Mycroft needs Sherlock's assistance to thwart an impending terrorist threat to London. Sherlock promises Mycroft that he will work on the case.

Sherlock's immediate priority is to reunite with John Watson (Martin Freeman) and the rest of the usual gang. Mycroft informs Sherlock about John's whereabouts for the day and Sherlock plans a reunion.

Sherlock adds a touch of drama by improvising a quick disguise and a French accent to surprise John at the restaurant. John is about to propose to Mary Morstan (Amanda Abbington). Sherlock's arrival not only shocks John, but also disrupts John's plans for the evening.

John is not happy with Sherlock's actions and expresses his displeasure by attacking Sherlock more than once. Mary promises to bring John around.

A disappointed Sherlock recruits Molly to be his assistant. John gets kidnapped and it is up to Sherlock to save both John and London.

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The episode is a mixed bag, with far more misses than hits. The usually reliable Mark Gatiss spends a considerable amount of screentime to fan service. The theories about how Sherlock survived the fall are especially unpalatable. While some fans might be thrilled to see their fantasies come to life on the screen, I was taken aback.

There are also lot of meta references. Martin Freeman's finger gesture, Martin and Amanda being John and Mary, Benedict's real life parents Timothy Carlton and Wanda Ventham and Martin/John's remark about Benedict/Sherlock enjoying being Sherlock again.

This combination results in a weak episode. The climax is also arguably a big letdown. “The Empty Hearse” is in my opinion, the least watchable/entertaining among the ten episodes aired so far (including the Christmas minisode).

However, there are some delights to be had. I personally liked the deduction game between Sherlock and Mycroft involving a prospective client's hat at 221 B Baker Street. The scene refers to the deductions made by Sherlock Holmes about Henry Baker's hat in The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle.

The client scenes at 221 B Baker Street are enjoyable as always. Couple of these cases refer to A Case of Identity and The Adventure of the Creeping Man.

Another of my favorite scenes is the investigation of the “corpse”. I enjoyed Sherlock's comments about the corpse belonging to a shoddy Victorian outfit from a museum and being displayed on a dummy. Mark Gatiss has often commented about the overly serious nature of certain Sherlock Holmes adaptations. This is clearly Mark's handiwork, done is true Sherlock style.

Benedict Cumberbatch continues his superlative turn as Arthur Conan Doyle's iconic detective. It is a tribute to his acting skills that despite the previously mentioned weaknesses in the script, he manages to deliver such an impressive performance.

I especially liked Sherlock's reunion with Greg the best. Perfectly acted by both Benedict and Rupert, this was both humorous and touching in equal measure. The closing scene where Benedict dons the deerstalker nicely captures the essence of how perfectly he has been cast as Sherlock Holmes.

Martin also displays his acting chops in the scene with the old seller of books/DVDs. A double reference to Dr Verner (The Adventure of the Norwood Builder) and The Adventure of the Empty House.

 

Mary reading out aloud John's blog entry was another nice touch. She almost read verbatim few lines from The Sign of the Four. The rest of that blog entry refers to the plot of The Adventure of the Speckled Band.

Speaking of references, Mark Gatiss has included a number of nods to the Canon. Please click here to read all the Canonical references.

Another plus is that the season really picks up with the second episode “The Sign of Three”.

Recommended to fans of the series. Watching the episode with lowered expectations will definitely help increase the enjoyment factor. 

Click here to read all my posts about BBC Sherlock. 

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Image Sources: BBC Wales, Hartswood Films, Masterpiece Theatre

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Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey Episode # 2 "Some of the Things That Molecules Do" - Review

The second episode of Cosmos takes a look at the evolution of life on our planet.

The host and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson first explains the differences between artificial selection and natural selection. An example of artificial selection is the domestication of wolves by our human ancestors. The wolves that were more submissive were accepted and the more aggressive ones hunted.

The genes of the domesticated wolves were passed down, leading to the species we call today “Man's Best Friend”: Dogs. This technique is referred to as “Selective breeding”.

This practice is still continued today and can be seen in shows like Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Dogs are subject to unnatural grooming and sometimes eugenics to promote their chances at winning the title. The show is very similar to the beauty pageants that objectify women. 

Contrast this with the theory of natural selection proposed by Charles Darwin in 1859. Neil gives the example of how the population of bears evolve over generations.

In the Arctic regions, Polar bears enjoyed a distinct advantage over other bears with non-white colored bodies. This coloring helped polar bears camouflage themselves better and enjoy higher levels of success in hunting their prey. This led to the slow dying out of non-white bears over the passage of time.

Neil then focuses on the fact that that we human beings share a common ancestor with not only apes like chimpanzees and gorillas, but also trees, mushroom, sharks and owls. The only difference is in the DNA. Each and every living being has an unique DNA.

This is very significant in today's world where the exploitation and abuse of other living beings by humans has become the norm. Man is killing animals indiscriminately for superficial reasons like non-existent health benefits or trophy hunting or for making decorative items.

Take for example, the practice of killing rhinos for their horns or bear bile farming or the dog meat industry. In certain parts of the world, these objects are believed to hold medicinal value. For this reason, dogs are brutally tortured and killed (usually right in front of other dogs). Bears are kept in small cages for their entire life and subject to inhumane farming for their biles.

There is no scientific basis or proof for any health benefits from consuming these products. Rhino horns are made of Keratin, the same substance that constitutes human fingernails.

People need to see this show to realize that all living organisms share the same DNA. We humans need to understand this fact and respect the right of other living beings to live their life to the fullest on our planet.

We are then introduced to the “Tree of Life”, which represents the beauty of evolution. The trunk represents the common ancestor and each branch represents close relatives. The tree is 3.5 billion years old. The beauty and power of the natural theory of selection evolution is that it can disguise a bird as an animal and vice versa.

Another proof of the natural theory of evolution is the human eye. It is far more complex than any man made device.The show explains how a microbe would have developed the power of sight. Each living being that exists today has a different set of eyes, that provide them distinct advantages for survival.

The episode then takes a look at the natural calamities that have resulted in widespread destruction of life. There are five “Halls of Extinction”: Ordovician, Devonian, Triassic, Cretaceous and Permian. Each of these has led to mass extinction of life on earth, a process Neil refers to as “The Great Dying”.

Neil then introduces us to the Tardigrade or the Waterbear. This amazing organism is about the size of a pin head and can live in boiling water and solid ice. It can survive for ten years without a drop of water. It can travel naked in the cold vacuum or intense radiation. The Waterbear has survived all five mass extinctions.

The final part of the episode explores the possibility of life on Titan, Saturn's giant moon. Titan has a nitrogen rich atmosphere, similar to earth but is four times denser. But the atmosphere has no oxygen and is much more cooler than any parts of earth.

Using the “Ship of the Imagination”, Neil is able to visit Titan. Titan is so cold that rivers are frozen solid and are made of ethane and methane. These two elements form natural gas on our planet.

Life on earth depends on liquid water. We earthlings inhale oxygen and give out carbon dioxide. Neil theorizes that living beings on Titan would inhale hydrogen and exhale methane.

The episode concludes with a beautiful montage of how life evolved from an one celled organism to the most dominant species on our planet: Humans.

Dogs are my favorite animals and I enjoyed understanding the process of domestication. I also found the section on Titan very enlightening. I often read reports of UFOs and the possibility of extra-terrestrial life has always intrigued me.

But the most revealing part of the episode was the information about Tardigrade, the organism that has survived so many natural catastrophes and still continues to thrive.

As I mentioned earlier, the ending montage has been executed very well.

A very informative episode and a must watch for everyone.

Click here to read all my posts about Nature. 

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Image Sources: Cosmos Studios, Fuzzy Door Productions, National Geographic Channel, Six Point Harness, Fox Network

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