Masterpiece Mystery Monday

Saturday night I indulged and let myself watch an episode of the the new PBS Masterpiece Mystery version of Sherlock Holmes. I ended up alternately laughing at some funny lines, hiding my eyes (while still peeking through my fingers at times), and expressing my frustration to my laptop screen. I was really drawn into the story, if you couldn't tell!

I've only read a very little bit of the original Sherlock Homes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and I've only seen a few episodes of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (I think it was the 1980s version), so I'm certainly no expert on all things Sherlock. However, this new series seems to have only taken the same two main character-types (with the same names), Sherlock Holmes and Watson, while creating entirely different plots in modern times. And I found it a rather enjoyable twist on the famous characters!

Now, I'm the kind of person who can be really bothered by movies. I have a hard time watching anything "disturbing," so I was really glad this episode was pretty "clean" (it certainly could have been a lot worse!). It was kind of intense, so I would caution everyone to be aware of that before watching any of the episodes.

The episode I watched was called The Blind Banker, which is available to watch online (as I did) through December 7, 2010. (As a side note, I love that PBS Masterpiece does that with a lot of their new episodes, so that you don't necessarily have to watch the show at a set time!)

The story started in such a unique way, and it was easy to get drawn into the plot. I found that while Sherlock was rather young (along with Watson), I liked the change. The relationship between Sherlock and Watson is pretty entertaining, and who could blame poor Watson for being upset at always being told what to do by Sherlock? Sherlock's "self-confidence" (putting it nicely) is pretty consistent with the original Sherlock, in my opinion, and I did feel sorry for Watson, especially when he was trying to go on a date with a girl he really liked, and Sherlock tagged along! But I ended up being drawn to Sherlock's character in spite of his pride (he is pretty smart, I have to say!), because he is such a persevering, occasionally clueless, and ultimately intriguing character! He did let his care for others show at times, revealing that he did indeed have a heart, which was nice to see. ;)

As I said before, I ended up covering my eyes off and on, and there was certainly a lot of action to keep me on the edge of my seat! There was one point where something happened to a secondary character that made me really mad (I told them what to do, but they just wouldn't listen to me!). And I didn't know if I completely liked the end, which was a little freaky. (Part of that might have been due to the fact that I didn't realize that my screen had gone blank--for a while I just thought the screen was supposed to be black. My roommate was a little concerned that I was staring intently at a blank screen!) Overall, though, I found it to be a really thrilling and interesting episode with some great music to add to the mystery, and it was certainly a fun way to spend part of my Saturday night. I recommend it for all you mystery-lovers (and yes, there's even a little bit of romance)!

I'll have to see if I have time to watch the next episode. I'm curious about what mystery Sherlock and Watson are going to solve next!