BBC Sherlock Christmas Mini-Episode "Many Happy Returns" - Review

Dear Readers,

The Christmas mini episode of BBC Sherlock has arrived.

The rest of the post might contain spoilers. Please watch the video first, if you wish to avoid spoilers.

The episode opens in a Buddhist monastery, in which a blonde female smuggler is caught by an abbott with extraordinary powers of observation and deduction.

The scene cuts to Anderson (Jonathan Aris) and Detective Inspector Lestrade (Rupert Graves) discussing about the possibility of Sherlock surviving the fall. Anderson has been obsessively looking out for signs of Sherlock's existence, to the extent of losing his job.

Anderson brings up the next sighting in New Delhi, India where the solution to a particular case strongly suggests the presence of a genius. The third sighting is of an mysterious juror in Hamburg, where one Herr Trepoff is proven to be guilty of the murder of his wife, despite all the other jurors believing in his innocence.

Lestrade advises Anderson to try to get his job back and then meets John Watson (Martin Freeman) to hand over an uncut version of the video of Sherlock's message on John's birthday. Interesting thing to note is that John refers to Lestrade by his first name “Greg” (a nice nod to the inn scene in “The Hounds of Baskerville”).

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Canonical References

1. The first sighting of Sherlock by Anderson takes place in the Buddhist monastery - Sherlock Holmes states to Dr John Watson in The Adventure of the Empty House: “I travelled for two years in Tibet, therefore, and amused myself by visiting Lhassa, and spending some days with the head lama.”

2. In the second sighting in New Delhi, India: The local inspector solves the case by working out the depth to which the chocolate flake had sunk into victim's ice-cream cone. This is a reference to The Adventure of the Six Napoleons, in which Sherlock Holmes remarks to Dr John Watson: “You will remember, Watson, how the dreadful business of the Abernetty family was first brought to my notice by the depth which the parsley had sunk into the butter upon a hot day.”

3. Anderson commenting to Lestrade about Sherlock's refusal to take credit for solving the latter's cases - Sherlock Holmes often refuses to take any credit from Scotland Yard in many cases in the Canon

4. Anderson chiding Lestrade for not “seeing” the signs of Sherlock's genius at work - Sherlock Holmes makes a similar statement to Dr John Watson in A Scandal in Bohemia: “You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear.” 

5. The Herr Trepoff case - Dr John Watson writes in A Scandal in Bohemia: “From time to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder,...”

6. Anderson notes that Sherlock is getting closer to London, with the recent sightings in Germany, Netherlands and the latest one in France - Sherlock Holmes informs Dr John Watson in The Adventure of the Empty House: “Returning to France, I spent some months in a research into the coal-tar derivatives, which I conducted in a laboratory at Montpellier, in the south of France.” 

7. In addition to a pink phone (presumably from “A Study in Pink”), a yellow mask can be seen inside Lestrade's box - This is a reference to the main plot of The Adventure of the Yellow Face: Sherlock Holmes is sought out by Grant Munro to solve the mystery behind a yellow-faced person in a nearby cottage (credit to Swanpride)

8. Sherlock's statement about missing John's dinner: “Of course, I am going to miss dinner. There will be people” - 

Sherlock Holmes remarks to Dr John Watson in The Adventure of the Gloria Scott: “I was never a very sociable fellow, Watson, always rather fond of moping in my rooms and working out my own little methods of thought, so that I never mixed much with the men of my year.”

Dr John Watson also writes about Sherlock Holmes in A Scandal in Bohemia: “...Holmes, who loathed every form of society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature.”

9. Sherlock notes in the video that he has written an essay on suppressed hatred in close proximity after observing John's friends - Sherlock Holmes notes in The Adventure of the Dying Detective: “Malingering is a subject upon which I have sometimes thought of writing a monograph.” Holmes has already written monographs on cigar ashes (A Study in Scarlet) and tracing of footsteps (The Sign of the Four).

The episode has everything that fans have liked about the show so far: the trademark visual text, the humor (the newspaper headline proclaiming “The game is back on!”) and references to Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories.

Benedict Cumberbatch is back in the game as Sherlock. I liked his explanation for refusing to elaborate on his excuse to skip John's birthday: “Only lies have details”.

This is a veritable Christmas treat for fans. Sherlock Season 3 debuts with the first episode “The Empty Hearse” on Jan 01 2014 in the UK and on Jan 19 2014 in the US.

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Image Sources: BBC Wales, Hartswood Films, Masterpiece Theatre

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Canonical Nods in "The Empty Hearse"

Canonical Nods in "The Sign of Three"

BBC Sherlock Season 1 Episode # 2 "The Blind Banker" - Review

Check out my initial review for an outline of the plot.

This episode is loosely based on The Adventure of the Dancing Men and The Valley of Fear.

“The Blind Banker” continues the show's exploration of the iconic characters and the Canon created by Arthur Conan Doyle.

One of the best aspects of this episode is the way the contrasts between Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) and John Watson (Martin Freeman) are highlighted.

Steve Thompson's script neatly ties in one of the often overlooked aspects of the Canon. In The Sign of the Four, Dr John Watson states: “What was I, an army surgeon with a weak leg and a weaker banking-account,..”. John admits to taking the new job purely for money, when Sarah (Zoe Telford) mentions that he might be overqualified.

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John also tries to loan some money from Sherlock. He later takes the check from Sebastian, after Sherlock refuses to take up the case of the break in purely for financial incentives.

In the climax too, Sherlock declines the credit from the Scotland Yard for solving the case of the murders. As readers of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories are aware, Sherlock Holmes is known for solving cases purely for the intellectual challenge.

Benedict's Sherlock forgoes both food and sleep as he continues his efforts to solve the puzzle. John, on the other hand, tries his best to catch some much needed sleep. When Sherlock wakes him up to continue the investigation outdoors, John sadly notes that he needs to sleep just a bit more.

Both men have different outlook towards women as well.

Dr John Watson has always been a ladies' man, as evident in his remark in The Sign of the Four: “In an experience of women which extends over many nations and three separate continents, …”. John shows an interest in Sarah, right from their first meeting. Sherlock tries to hijack their date as part of his investigation.

Sherlock resists Sarah's continued presence at 221 B Baker Street and openly voices his frustration. The Canonical Holmes has often expressed his apathy towards women.

Sarah proves to be a tough cookie and helps save Sherlock's life from his attacker in the Chinese circus. She also helps him in breaking the code later. The character of Sarah could be a nod to the strong female characters in the Canon, like Maud Bellamy, Violet Hunter and Annie Harrison.

I also like the exchange between Sherlock and John, just as Sherlock arrives to rescue John and Sarah.

Sherlock: “How would you describe me, John? Resourceful, Dynamic, Enigmatic?”
John: “Late.”

Sherlock's fighting skills come into play at the beginning and the climax of the episode. I prefer this realistic portrayal to the hyper stylized Guy Ritchie version, where Robert Downey Jr's Sherlock predicts his opponent's moves.

Euros Lyn's direction is spot on. This is one of the few episodes that does not feature both Mark Gatiss' Mycroft Holmes and Rupert Graves' Detective Inspector Lestrade.

The one distracting point in the episode is the stereotyped portrayal of Asians. The argument can be made that, this is an indirect reference to the prevailing times of the Victorian England.

Still, the aforementioned bright spots more than make up for these drawbacks.

Sherlock Season 3 debuts with the first episode “The Empty Hearse” on Jan 01 2014 in the UK and on Jan 19 2014 in the US.

Click here to read the Canonical references in this episode. Click here to read all my posts about BBC Sherlock.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by clicking here.

Image Sources: BBC Wales, Hartswood Films, Masterpiece Theatre

You might also like:

Canonical Nods in "The Empty Hearse"

Canonical Nods in "The Sign of Three"