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It’s Elementary my dear CBS viewers that will have you on the edge of your procedural seats this fall. The new detective series inspired by Arthur Conan Doyle unforgettable Sherlock Holmes stories has caused quite a commotion online as the network caught a lot of flak for updating the series in a similar manner to the BBC series Sherlock but is there really any similarities shared between the two series outside of the original work upon which both are created?
The Concept:
As previously stated Elementary is a modern day adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series of books. Actor Johnny Lee Miller walks into the starring role as the great detective Sherlock Holmes, only instead of living in London; he instead lives like every great American television show detective in New York City. This version of Sherlock has a bit of a drug issue, and thus he moved to NYC to get the help he needed in a rehabilitation facility. After completion of his stay, Sherlock decided to stay in town, and that is when his father hired Dr. Joan Watson to be his sober companion. From this point on the series goes into typical procedural territory as Sherlock is brought in on a case, finds the evidence and eventually saves the day.
My Take:
First off anyone who says this is a rip off of BBC’s Sherlock is greatly mistaken. The two series share absolutely no similarities beyond their original creation. Yes they are both modern day evolutions of the same story we have heard a million times, but the way in which they both evolved and told their stories are completely different. Johnny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu have amazing chemistry together, and the way in which they play off each other in scenes was remarkable to watch, especially when Liu’s Watson was able to start breaking away at the wall that Miller’s Sherlock had put in place and we saw her begin to smile.
With that said I am really interested in seeing if the show will continue to keep Sherlock/Watson in a ‘friendship’ as the show runners are intending (http://collider.com/robert-doherty-carl-beverly-elementary-interview/181309/) or if as time progresses the two will find their way together and we will divulge into another “will they won’t they,” which is just what the television landscape TOTALLY NEEDS ANOTHER OF…
The music for the show was very fitting, and never once distracted me away from the scene but rather paid complement to it, which is what a good score is supposed to do.
I will say that I was hooked from the word “go” the story, while maintaining the tried and true clichés of procedural storytelling, is definitely gripping, and the final scene shared between Sherlock and Watson definitely hooked me and has me dying to see where the story will go once the series really kicks off later this fall.
Sherlock premieres September 27th on CBS at 10 pm EST / 9 pm CST.
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