Sherlock & The Bletchley Circle
Jan. 7th, 2014 09:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessSherlock 3.2 The Sign of Three
Yeah, this series isn’t as good as previous ones, or certainly series 2. Deborah Orr put her finger on the issue for me with the opening episode, which was that the show was playing the same game as the audience, when the audience wanted it to tell us how Sherlock had done it. I didn’t mind dabbling in Anderson’s theories, but I wanted resolution. I haven't read much meta - it doesn't feel like there's been enough time, because there wasn't the week's gap between episodes, and while I understand why they went for the pattern that they did, I do begrudge that breathing space.
But apparently people are confused by the series so far? I get being confused if you've never seen it before, but I don't think there's anything confusing. The only big thing I'm not sure about is how Sherlock faked his own death and that's because the show won't say for definite.
ANYWAY, I had mixed feelings about this episode too, especially towards the beginning (saw the twist coming with the desperate text to Lestrade). That isn’t to say that I didn’t shout with laughter at bits of this episode (Oh, SHERLOCK) and tense up when it became clear someone was in danger at the wedding. I then started worrying that the wine was poisoned/Molly’s Tom aka Sherlock replacement was the wannabe killer/the waiter was the Mayfly. It isn’t to say that I don’t love Mary and how she was managing both John and Sherlock at one point or that she decided not to stay at the table when Sherlock and John were dashing off to save the major. It isn’t to say that I don’t want an icon of one of the many shots of Molly sitting next to ‘Grant’ Lestrade, because I so do. I don’t know what to make of Molly’s choice of dress at the wedding, because yellow’s such a tough colour and the thing on her head was unfortunate and yet I was reminded of sunflowers. And yeah, I saw the Molly/Sherlock teasing at the end.
Sentimentality crept in, and because of the structure, repetitiously so (although who am I to talk? I was hoping for Mycroft to turn up at the end for Sherlock. Oh well, at least he has his coat.) It was inevitable, given that the setting was John and Mary's wedding and it was mostly done with Sherlock being Sherlock - the best man who screens the guests and by 'screens' I mean 'interogates'. There were some very fine moments from Cumberbatch of Sherlock not getting it. And I enjoyed the drunk investigation.
I liked how all the cases tied in, and I was apoplectic with the killer for killing the hot guardsman. (I checked and it WAS the actor who played Dean in the Harry Potter films.) I liked the chief bridesmaid taking advantage of Sherlock's deductions. But the structure and tone didn't always work for me.
The Bletchley Circle 2.01 Blood on their Hands part 1
Pretty good and some bits were great. It’s not lost its touch and although it’s a new mystery, the effects of the events of the previous series were very much felt. Also, I love the look of it.
That was a new title sequence, wasn't it? I don’t remember the blood on the machinery from the first series, but I thought it was effective.
I loved that we focused on Jean in the beginning: that was an unexpected delight, and that her mother hen tendencies had been whipped up by seeing someone she regarded as one of ‘her’ girls in trouble. I was glad that she pinpointed that it was the lack of confession from Alice that was bothering her. My instinct as a viewer was that of course there was a mystery there – Alice clearly loved Richards in a restrained wartime English way – and that the Circle should get back together forthwith and solve it. But it was good to have in-canon reasoning.
I loved that Lucy just took Jean’s suggestion on board, and I am so glad that she has got on with her life, even if she is equally frustrated at her apparently swish job. Look at her picking up Bob’s tricks like a sponge, indeed. I hope he never hits her.
Millie was also perfect – Rachael Stirling is so pretty.
And then Susan. I loved where her character was at, not that it's a good place, but it's a fascinating one. Any character whose entrance includes correcting teachers’ mistakes (and no, a school that teaches mathematics only to O level wouldn’t do at all) will warm the cockles of my pedantic heart. The effect of the end of the first series on her and the fear she’s carrying were totally believable, and I loved how that lurking terror came back, realistically, when she realised that they were coming up against The Army (I thought it was spies. I suspect it’s quite a small group, really.) But she’s curious about the mystery/the puzzle. She can’t quite bury herself, much as she pretends she can. And I loved how things had developed with Timothy, because he’s not thick, as per Millie, but he’s no Susan, and he’s asking her to subsume herself for him again, but it’s from a place of ignorance, although he knows something is wrong and he means well. Very nicely complicated.
I like that while it’s clear the sexist system is not making the most of these wonderful women in peacetime, while they're stifled having known what it is to soar, men like Timothy (and less sympathetic men) are shown as being unthinking about it. This is what society tells them is right: their promotion, their influence and women fit themselves along with that, with no thought of their abilities and potential.
What was also interesting was that the women’s inadequacies were shown. As investigators, they’re great, using Lucy’s memory and more, Susan finding the anomaly, Millie able to talk to people – but in the field? They never spotted the man following them; they never thought that with Elizabeth’s life in danger what kind of precautions they should take.
I did half-think that Elizabeth’s age was important, although I discounted that she might be Alice and Richards’s child, because I thought they were wartime lovers, and not that they’d known each other before. Alas, Alice, telling Jean to just drop it was pointless, and now they’re in too deep, and the show has upped the stakes in terms of the enemies that the women face. (I am now edging towards wanting a crossover with The Hour, whereas the first series made me wish for them to cross paths with Agent Peggy Carter.)
It wasn’t totally flawless, a few things were not quite clever enough, and I didn’t love the quick intercutting between certain scenes towards the end, but I didn’t realise how rare it is (for me) to watch mainly women working together to solve mysteries – apparently I need a top secret background and period trappings to attract me to watch the kind of show that is sponsored by Viking river cruises of my own volition – until there was that scene in the library when all four of them were questioning Elizabeth.
Class act – I’m looking forward to the next episode.
Yeah, this series isn’t as good as previous ones, or certainly series 2. Deborah Orr put her finger on the issue for me with the opening episode, which was that the show was playing the same game as the audience, when the audience wanted it to tell us how Sherlock had done it. I didn’t mind dabbling in Anderson’s theories, but I wanted resolution. I haven't read much meta - it doesn't feel like there's been enough time, because there wasn't the week's gap between episodes, and while I understand why they went for the pattern that they did, I do begrudge that breathing space.
But apparently people are confused by the series so far? I get being confused if you've never seen it before, but I don't think there's anything confusing. The only big thing I'm not sure about is how Sherlock faked his own death and that's because the show won't say for definite.
ANYWAY, I had mixed feelings about this episode too, especially towards the beginning (saw the twist coming with the desperate text to Lestrade). That isn’t to say that I didn’t shout with laughter at bits of this episode (Oh, SHERLOCK) and tense up when it became clear someone was in danger at the wedding. I then started worrying that the wine was poisoned/Molly’s Tom aka Sherlock replacement was the wannabe killer/the waiter was the Mayfly. It isn’t to say that I don’t love Mary and how she was managing both John and Sherlock at one point or that she decided not to stay at the table when Sherlock and John were dashing off to save the major. It isn’t to say that I don’t want an icon of one of the many shots of Molly sitting next to ‘Grant’ Lestrade, because I so do. I don’t know what to make of Molly’s choice of dress at the wedding, because yellow’s such a tough colour and the thing on her head was unfortunate and yet I was reminded of sunflowers. And yeah, I saw the Molly/Sherlock teasing at the end.
Sentimentality crept in, and because of the structure, repetitiously so (although who am I to talk? I was hoping for Mycroft to turn up at the end for Sherlock. Oh well, at least he has his coat.) It was inevitable, given that the setting was John and Mary's wedding and it was mostly done with Sherlock being Sherlock - the best man who screens the guests and by 'screens' I mean 'interogates'. There were some very fine moments from Cumberbatch of Sherlock not getting it. And I enjoyed the drunk investigation.
I liked how all the cases tied in, and I was apoplectic with the killer for killing the hot guardsman. (I checked and it WAS the actor who played Dean in the Harry Potter films.) I liked the chief bridesmaid taking advantage of Sherlock's deductions. But the structure and tone didn't always work for me.
The Bletchley Circle 2.01 Blood on their Hands part 1
Pretty good and some bits were great. It’s not lost its touch and although it’s a new mystery, the effects of the events of the previous series were very much felt. Also, I love the look of it.
That was a new title sequence, wasn't it? I don’t remember the blood on the machinery from the first series, but I thought it was effective.
I loved that we focused on Jean in the beginning: that was an unexpected delight, and that her mother hen tendencies had been whipped up by seeing someone she regarded as one of ‘her’ girls in trouble. I was glad that she pinpointed that it was the lack of confession from Alice that was bothering her. My instinct as a viewer was that of course there was a mystery there – Alice clearly loved Richards in a restrained wartime English way – and that the Circle should get back together forthwith and solve it. But it was good to have in-canon reasoning.
I loved that Lucy just took Jean’s suggestion on board, and I am so glad that she has got on with her life, even if she is equally frustrated at her apparently swish job. Look at her picking up Bob’s tricks like a sponge, indeed. I hope he never hits her.
Millie was also perfect – Rachael Stirling is so pretty.
And then Susan. I loved where her character was at, not that it's a good place, but it's a fascinating one. Any character whose entrance includes correcting teachers’ mistakes (and no, a school that teaches mathematics only to O level wouldn’t do at all) will warm the cockles of my pedantic heart. The effect of the end of the first series on her and the fear she’s carrying were totally believable, and I loved how that lurking terror came back, realistically, when she realised that they were coming up against The Army (I thought it was spies. I suspect it’s quite a small group, really.) But she’s curious about the mystery/the puzzle. She can’t quite bury herself, much as she pretends she can. And I loved how things had developed with Timothy, because he’s not thick, as per Millie, but he’s no Susan, and he’s asking her to subsume herself for him again, but it’s from a place of ignorance, although he knows something is wrong and he means well. Very nicely complicated.
I like that while it’s clear the sexist system is not making the most of these wonderful women in peacetime, while they're stifled having known what it is to soar, men like Timothy (and less sympathetic men) are shown as being unthinking about it. This is what society tells them is right: their promotion, their influence and women fit themselves along with that, with no thought of their abilities and potential.
What was also interesting was that the women’s inadequacies were shown. As investigators, they’re great, using Lucy’s memory and more, Susan finding the anomaly, Millie able to talk to people – but in the field? They never spotted the man following them; they never thought that with Elizabeth’s life in danger what kind of precautions they should take.
I did half-think that Elizabeth’s age was important, although I discounted that she might be Alice and Richards’s child, because I thought they were wartime lovers, and not that they’d known each other before. Alas, Alice, telling Jean to just drop it was pointless, and now they’re in too deep, and the show has upped the stakes in terms of the enemies that the women face. (I am now edging towards wanting a crossover with The Hour, whereas the first series made me wish for them to cross paths with Agent Peggy Carter.)
It wasn’t totally flawless, a few things were not quite clever enough, and I didn’t love the quick intercutting between certain scenes towards the end, but I didn’t realise how rare it is (for me) to watch mainly women working together to solve mysteries – apparently I need a top secret background and period trappings to attract me to watch the kind of show that is sponsored by Viking river cruises of my own volition – until there was that scene in the library when all four of them were questioning Elizabeth.
Class act – I’m looking forward to the next episode.
