Young Sherlock Arrested My Attention

     Yesterday I finished watching Young Sherlock on Amazon Prime. I highly recommend this series for fans of the original stories and for fans of the Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes movies with Robert Downey Jr. This series fills in some backstory, while it does depart somewhat from the canon. 

    While I sometimes do not enjoy reinterpretations of Holmes this one could weave into the original stories up to a point. What makes this work for me is that unlike some Homes-based media, such as the novel and movie The Seven Percent Solution, and the TV show Elementary, the character of Sherlock and his work are unchanged.

    I do not share the modern fascination with the life of the criminal, or the current trend of showing all the moral flaws of heroes while downplaying their strengths. This is just Hollywood's way of making us comfortable in our own flaws and crimes. So watching a series where Sherlock holds on to his standards in the face of strong pressures is a rare treat.

    Beyond the strong moral themes this show does a great job illustrating Holmes' development as:

     1) A reasoner. The clues come to us as well as to him, but often we don't recognize them when we see them. When their meaning is revealed it all becomes obvious. Which is just what Watson would say later.

     2)  A man of action. And there is plenty of action. The fight scenes and the gunfight scenes move quickly but clearly. Except that in this point in his career, Holmes has not learned to fight. But he is handy with a pistol and does quite a bit of traveling and making intrepid entrances and escapes. Sometimes with the help of disguises.

    The show also avoids the prevalent woke themes that no one wants forced into a period piece set in Victorian England. It was made to entertain, and it works.  Case closed.