Sherlock on Showcase – my new fave show?

*Warning – Spoilers! If you read on and I blow a surprise, don’t come email-crying to me, you’ve been warned!*

Since my 18-month-old’s napping schedule is unpredictable at best, I always like to have a line up of great wind-down shows on my PVR that I can dial up when I need a mental (and physical!) break from it all. I just happened to see it as I was browsing through the digital guide last week – a 2 hour show called “Sherlock” on Showcase. Assuming it was another documentary on the character or Arthur Conan Doyle, I eagerly recorded it.  I have a secret addiction to my comfy pants accompanied by documentaries about Sherlock Holmes and his creator as well as Agatha Christie, Jack the Ripper, UFOs, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Mysteries, Newton… well, you get the point.

I was surprised and delighted when I dialled up “Sherlock” last night as a “quick” wind-down after an incredibly busy and physically exhausting week. I soon realized this was no documentary.

All I knew going in was that the man playing Sherlock, Benedict Cumberbatch, was offered the role of The Doctor post-David Tennant, and turned it down. Yes, David Tennant is a very, VERY hard act to follow, but clearly Steven Moffat saw something in him. After crapping all over both David Tennant and Matt Smith and then realizing I was *gulp* incredibly WRONG on both accounts, this intrigued me.

The “mini-series” (three 2-hour episodes… but more on the way!) began by following Watson as he met Holmes through a mutual friend. As I watched this modern version of Dr. Watson, I knew him from somewhere and it was nagging me like a popcorn shell caught between my teeth. “Where do I know him from? TV show? Movie? Drunken One-nighter?” All the pieces fell into place when I realized he was from the UK version of the Office (which I watch ad nauseum in Scotland but can’t get here in Canada) in a very, VERY different role.

My first impression of Benedict Cumberbatch was that he was a bit weird looking, not at all possessing the wise characteristics of the Sherlock in my head.

But then he SPOKE. Wow. Holmes through and through (see video below).

The Watson-and-Holmes scene in the cab when Holmes explained how, within seconds, he called Watson ALMOST perfectly showed me why Moffat would have been attracted to him for the role of The Doctor. I think Cumberbatch made the right decision – he shines as Sherlock.

His “arch-nemesis” also made an appearance, and with the resourceful stalking of Holmes, an anonymous abduction and warehouse-proposition, a Holmes fan naturally deduced this umbrella-wielding man was Moriarty. Even the pain-induced death-”bed” confession of the antagonist supported that assumption, but they surprised us in the end revealing the distinguished cloak-and-daggar mystery man was not, in fact, Moriarty, but Sherlock’s brother, Mycroft. I love it when a show surprises me.

Television writers, especially those for American crime drama, love to wrap everything up in a neat, tidy package. Within an hour all is explained and the viewer can leave without any questions. Gil Grissom exits with an “I’m-smarter-than-you” pithy comment, Jack McCoy uses a predictable quip about society as a whole… even Jessica Fletcher had her lame joke and happily-ever-after-freeze-frame-laughter ending. All questions are answered and we learn of the fate of all the players in the piece. Sherlock left me wondering, even this morning, whether the “murder’s” suicide targets went the way of Vizzini in The Princess Bride.

I was also left wondering if Sherlock would have taken the pill had Watson not snipered the cabbie and whether “Moriarty” is a man or a corporation. Not everything was wrapped up, and I doubt most of these questions will ever be answered which, in all honesty is just fine with me. Wrapped up in a neat, tidy package it definitely was not. Bril.

Sherlock Holmes texting? Using internet weather and GPS? The “bad-guy” taking over London’s security cameras? Could have been a disaster. But it wasn’t. It was delicious, and I can’t wait to watch the second episode tonight – 18-month-old willing.