I agree with you, Elementary is a very intelligent, descent and a socio-politically responsible show. However, you failed to say a few things about Elementary's Sherlock which are as follow: 1-he 's not good at solving crimes because he's super genius, though that is also true, but he solves crimes because he works hard. He doesn't just rely on his intelligence. He reads, he makes extensive research, he learns to do things to help him understand better, he's an erudite.2-Elementary's Sherlock is a poignant character who is in constant struggle like everyone else, he suffers and he feels maginalised, not only because he is truly different but also because he feels too much and that is a burden to him. Isn't that why some find refuge in drugs, to feel less and seek oblivion? Last but not least quality I attach to this show is that Elementary is primarily a show that always remains faithful to the idea of recovery. In fact, the thrill and the suspense in this show generally revolves around weather the characters, including Sherlock himself, Watson or even Moriarty and all others who come in and go would ever manage to achieve recovery from their failure. An unusually intelligent show for a network TV. The last thing I want to add here is that Jonny Lee Miller renders a Sherlock, reminiscent of a Byronic hero (his brilliant portrayal of Lord Byron, BBC production). He's already acquired the most prestigious British theatre award for Frankenstein, co-acting with the other Sherlock from the BBC, Cumberbatch. What makes Elementary be the brilliant show that it is largely owes a to the superb acting of Jonny Lee Miller. His brilliant diction and delivery is truly tantalizing.
Can I also add that I love how the show makes sure that everybody in the narrative contributes? Joan's always being asked for autopsy advice and does a lot of first aid, there's almost always a scene of Sherlock, Joan, Marcus and Gregson in the station discussing a case together, and Sherlock specifically builds connections with people who are experts so that he can go to them when he needs their guidance. That was what really made me realize how shitty BBC's Sherlock really is--imagine him in the New York precinct shouting at witnesses to frighten them while dismissing everything Marcus tries to contribute all while Joan gets increasingly frustrated with Sherlock's lack of communication. Gregson would've had him out on his ear! Probably!
@Mitra Harding just re-read this comment and fuck yeah, the actor who plays Sherlock is amazing! I didn't know his name was Jonny Lee Miller--but dang, I love how there's these little habits he has that are so distinct but make so much sense for him damn i love this show
5:42 OMG, is that why Elementary Sherlock never wore that hat? I keep waiting for him to do that, it was even teased. But i guess the show creators really wanted to stay true to the book Sherlock. Mad respect. See I fall in love with Elementary more and more.
This video embodies all of what I love about Elementary's Sherlock! I really appreciated the Bell/Sherlock interaction after Bell was shot. And the most memorable thing about Sherlock's empathy is the scene with the kidnapped woman in the basement. It was so in character and just nice to see him care so much, even if he had some trouble expressing it after.
Sherlock's empathy and caring are really well-illustrated in his relationship with Fiona. Every time they interact you can tell how deeply he cares for her and how much he wants her to be happy, and what really stood out to me was how willing he was to go out of his comfort zone for her. Because she's on the autism spectrum she has needs he doesn't get or can relate to, but he learns to see from her perspective and model his behaviour in a way that's helpful and healthy for them both. He's so careful to be kind and respectful of her needs, it's such a brilliant facet of his characterisation (and also just a really beautiful way to portray relationships between people who aren't neurotypical).
This is a great compilation of Sherlock's most empathetic moments, but I think something that might be called an empathy arc that really sticks with me is his relationship with Alfredo and his later relationship with the man Sherlock himself sponsors (whose name has escaped me and the internet is not helping >_> ). Sherlock is repeatedly shown to take things Alfredo has told him very much to heart and often dispenses Alfredo's advice to others, right up to telling Alfredo to "be selfish" when it comes to caring for his own sobriety and firing him as a sponsor specifically so Alfredo can talk to him as a friend. He particularly emulates Alfredo in how he learns to look out for his own sponsee, and one of my favourite moments of that is when the man ignores all of Sherlock's advice, lets his addicted ex-girlfriend stay with him and winds up getting high with her. In the scene where he confesses to this and apologizes, Sherlock offers no judgement or condemnation whatsoever, he just offers to take him to a meeting. These two relationships are some of my favourites in the whole show, outside of Sherlock's relationship with Joan, and they're a bit long for a video like this so I understand why they were left out, I just needed to talk about how much I love them :P Stuff like this, the phenomenal character writing, is what really puts Elementary above and beyond in terms of Holmes adaptations, IMO. Anyway, again, great work on the video!
I was hoping Alfredo would be included in the list of wonderful displays of empathy on Sherlock's part as well. The episode you mention where he fires Alfredo as his sponsor is easily one of my favorite regarding their relationship, not only for his rationale why he fired Alfredo, but also because he goes through an elaborate setup to extricate Alfredo from his problem with his former employer. He basically says "I'm going to help you out of this situation, and if you still don't want to be my friend after I'm done, I accept that." He's willing to take his lumps and suffer the consequences for his actions. He's ready for Alfredo to reject him after helping him and firing him as his sponsor. I like knowing that Sherlock reached that conclusion after some long introspection and trying to figure out why it bothers him to just stay out of Alfredo's dangerous situation.
@@candacen7779 Alfredo has had some horrible employers. First, it was the employer that falsely accused him of stealing cars to humiliate their anti-theft system. Then Sherlock sends Randy to a very far away meeting where he would have had to show up on several cameras as an alibi as Sherlock had some fun stacking cars. Then it was the employer that stiffed paying Alfredo for his work by falsely stating that he did substandard work (which he never does). Alfredo was about to take the law into his own hands and get what was his due, but Sherlock lied to him and tried to pay him out of his own pocket to keep Alfredo from going to jail.
Thanks for this video. This series is special to me, because it is the first time I've ever been able to empathize directly with the titular character. Watching Holmes struggle with addiction (and various other issues) until notably comparing it to 'fixing a leaky faucet, which offers no reward, except not to drip', brought back memories of my own struggles and how incredibly grueling and tedious it can get. Having that acknowledged, in words, out loud, meant everything to me. And Moriarty? That was an INCREDIBLE twist, one that knocked my socks off for the first time in twenty years' worth of watching these adaptations. And Lucy Liu's Watson is incredible--dynamic and sharply intelligent in her own right--and her fashion sense is off the freaking chain.
I wonder if I've ever appreciated canon changes as much as I do with Elementary. Most of the major canon changes felt like thoughtful modernizations or a straight up improvements from the original.
Good. You might also want to make another video talking about Elementary Sherlock as an erudite. Someone who's good in his deductive reasoning not only because he's a genius, but above all because he works hard at what he does. In that sense, he's truly inspirational, because he is more demanding with himself than he is with others and he never takes anyone, nor anything for granted. Every little thing counts and deserves the strive and the endevour to learn about. He is relentless in his pursuit of justice as much as he is in solving a crime. But what distinguishes him from any other Sherlock is that he suffers and struggles too and in that, Elementary has really nailed it, because in the end everyone struggle in some way. The interesting thing about Elementary is that we all see a bit of ourselves in Sherlock and that inspires us to overcome our difficulties as he does. Elementary is all about recovery and that's another topic you could devote a page to.
More queer millenial feminist musings, please! I really enjoyed this and it perfectly explains why I like the show so much. One of my favorite things about JLM's Sherlock is how he relates to modern culture. He actively praises text speak and clearly values non-European cultures. He treats poor folks and sex workers with respect. He's not elitist in the slightest and he's critical of corporate and political power. These make him more relatable to me.
Jeremy Brett is my favorite Sherlock actor. The actor literally went insane playing the roll and you can see it in the show. While he does not portray the most empathetic Sherlock, you do see that he cares in some moments. Often with Watson.
I hoped you'd go into the original stories because it's kind of relevant to the point that Elementary didn't invent this out of whole cloth, it's a canon trait of Sherlock - I can remember at least one time where he just covered up the truth he discovered because it would get a scared man who fucked up once in even more trouble and that would help nothing... but I haven't reread them for a while... I hoped you would talk about it. (this opinion might be influenced by the fact I had never watched a single episode of Elementary whoops) (it does sound interesting&good!!!)
You're thinking of "The Blue Carbuncle." :) Ryder foolishly steals the carbuncle out of greed, but the man goes through so much trying not to get caught that Holmes knows he'll be too scared to ever cross the line again. Holmes argues that prison would only train Ryder to be a far worse criminal, when his experiences have already been sufficient to turn him away from crime. And "The Three Garridebs" may not be the strongest of the canonical short stories, but it shows the deep emotional aspect of Holmes when Watson is shot.
I’ve been watching a bunch of your content the last couple days after my sibling sent me your Aggretsuko video! Loving your work and looking forward to more :)
Honestly though, I don't get why all of the modern adaptations make Sherlock Holmes a jerk. I've read every single one of the original stories. The original character could be blunt, had some eccentric habits, and sometimes was arrogant and condescending, but most of the time he was pretty polite, had good social skills and could be quite charming, and cared about people and treated them with respect. He didn't constantly point out how smart he was and he didn't act like everyone else was stupid, especially not Watson. He wasn't a recluse and he didn't hate people. He also wasn't an emotionless robot, and though he could be moody and was often very serious when working on a case, he wasn't always depressed or always irritable. Sometimes he was bursting with enthusiasm, other times he radiated charm, other times he was gentle and full of compassion. He laughed often. He was overall a gentleman and a decent guy. Elementary definitely does better than Sherlock in that regard. But you can see how modern adaptations tend to take this fully fleshed out, three dimensional character and reduce him to some smart jerk trope, and I think that's a shame. You can modernize the character without doing *that.* I like Elementary, but you see what I mean. If anyone is looking for a good TV adaptation that's not set in Modern times, you can't do better than the Granada Television adaptation starring Jeremy Brett. IMO, Jeremy Brett is THE Sherlock Holmes and that adaptation is THE television adaptation. It's absolutely spectacular.
I almost cried with your listing of moments. I love this show so much exactly for this, for all of this. It felt like 5 minutes instead of 14, you should do another one, so many more things to talk about in this marvelous show.
4:13 I will never forget the enthralled confusion that was that story--I legit kept flipping back pages to see if I missed something, but was still like "I mean this is a good story, but... wut?"
Great video! I'm probably going to watch everything else that you have on your channel now ^^. You put into words exactly the reason why I love this show so much. With BBC Sherlock, I was never invested. The cases were interesting, but I didn't care about the characters at all. And I didn't realized this until I watched Elementary, really. The thing that I love about Elementary, and not just in comparison to BBC Sherlock but to many other shows, was that it didn't follow the trope of the genius asshole who was left off the hook just because he's so damn brilliant. At some point I liked that trope, when I was a teenager watching the first seasons of House MD, but now I'm so sick of it. I can't stand those assholes, so I end up dropping any show that has them. However, Sherlock has to truly face the consequences of his actions and he has to learn. The show actually allows him to grow, instead of forcing him back to his place as an asshole every time he seems to learn a lesson. And that's compelling, you know. Who would've thought that watching characters struggle, grow and learn like human beings could be interesting and compelling in a story, amirite? I love that he's awkward and doesn't know how to deal with certain things, but he still cares. Because that's very human. We don't always know how to deal with harsh realities, but we try our best. And yes, he's an asshole in the end too, but he's not heartless. He's not a bad person, even if he can be a toxic one sometimes. And I love that the people around him (specially Watson, but not just her) held him accountable about his hurtful behaviors, that they don't just let him be because "he's a genius and we need him", but actually want him to become a better person. To me, that's also kinder than what we see in most shows.
i really like the structure of your essays and how u lay down your case - great job! i would definitely be convinced and watched the show after this. also would u consider making a podcast? like smth unscripted where its just your trail if thought on a subject? i think it'd b very interesting to watch ^.^ nice vid 👍
When did the world come back to its senses? You say I can come beck to earth now? I am surprised and disappointed that I only saw your video over three years after its upload date. And to be honest, the video gave me not a single new piece of information, BUT the fact that there is actually someone on RUclips making a video essay about Elementary makes me a little more optimistic that the world's end is still far. The amount of BBC Sherlock content on the internet is fucking suffocating, and yes, thank you for acknowledging that THIS IS THE GOOD ONE. At this point, merely thinking about the BBC Sherlock gives me hemorrhage in my brain.
Am I the only person in the universe who likes the recent movies, the british mini series and the american tv show...they're all entertaining and well made in my opinion with their own unique strengths and weaknesses, plus all the different actors are compelling, charming and charismatic while bringing their own unique interpretation to the character. "Adaption"...
Perhaps you just really like the arrogant but brilliant puzzle solving that these all portray. I definitely do, and its probably why poirot has never really caught my attention, just seems too unreal.
I haven't seen the movies lately, but I can definately say that while I prefer Elementary as a narrative, the BBC show does have a lot of truly outstanding stuff. I mean shit, some of the deduction scenes with Sherlock are pretty fuckin' brilliant! It's just a shame I can't enjoy the show anymore because now I notice every time Sherlock and John get mistaken for gay and it's supposed to be funny. Which doesn't make it _bad,_ per sey, just that it so rubs me the wrong way as to make it impossible to watch. ...Wait, I did see "Everything Wrong With "Everything Wrong With Sherlock Holmes"" (ruclips.net/video/qnTZbZw1JPQ/видео.html), and that made the movie look pretty good--I distinctly remember that bread thing from that movie, too. So clearly a lot to enjoy
Also, it didn't seem like the video was talking shit about the recent movies.. I mean, it mentioned the Great Mouse Detective in the same breath, who could dislike that movie??
Ah, oh, Oh my god I love Elementry so much it was so refreshing after watching the BBC series! It's one of the few shows my mom and I both love to watch together, too
Even though I do consume a lot of tv shows I don't tend to watch crime shows WITH the exception of Elementary. I tried the pilot when it started airing and somehow I kept coming back and by the end of the 1st season I realised how much I actually care about the show and the characters and how excited I am for new episode each week. It became one of my favourite shows on tv honestly and it is precisely because of the reasons you mentioned and many more. I love the fact that the show cares. It cares about its characters and their developments. It knows representation matters and tries to bring representation when it can (like with the autistic girl or mrs. hudson). It has its problems but it's a damn good show.
This actually made me miss watching the show. I dropped out early in season 4 because i got tired of Joan being sidelined. This has me want to go back tbh.
Personally I enjoy both shows though in my opinion Sherlock is more accurate to the original stories, but Elementary is more original. However I don’t like the part about Moriarty and Irene Adler are the same person in Elementary
I loved your analysis. :) One small disagreement. I don't think he has empathy despite his antisocial tendencies. I think he is antisocial because he has an abundance of empathy, AND the wisdom to fully understand the ramifications of insensitivity.
I agree, I can't follow 20 plus episode shows every year without getting bored but this is the only one I've stuck with. S3e16 is my favourite, the "exercise in self-pity" dialogue is brilliant!
I've been saying this since season 1! Since BBC Sherlock's most character crystallizing line is "High functioning sociopath", having Elementary deliberately look at that, and throw it in the trash and show us how it is so much better to have a hero, not a spacetoaster.
If you love intelligent shows like the Expanse and Elementary, you should try finding Intelligence on CBC (Canadian) and Borgen (Danish). I watched both on as an American on Netflix a few years ago. Not sure if they still have them.
3:51 i'm kind of crying because this is literally what I was ranting at my mom as we were watching the show sheesh at the rate I'm going i'll be half the freaking comments
I agree with pretty much everything you said! One of my favorite things abt Elementary Sherlock is how he tries to be a good person and tries to help, even when he doesn't have any idea how to do it. While his relationship with Watson is soooo good (two people of different sexes who are not forced into a relationship? Good shit) and I love the mutual respect and care (which, not to put bbc down, is something the completely fuck up), one of my favorite relationships in the show is Sherlock and Marcus. Sherlock can be an ass, but in the end he cares so much? I can't remember when the "I'm a magnet and it's my fault ur lonely" speech is, but it really shows how much he cares even tho he doesn't know how to express it really? And him hitting the dude who beat up Chantal and then stealing his car so Bell wouldn't do something he'd later regret? Good shit, Sherlock cares even tho he isn't good at showing it. Idk im rambling I just love Elementary sosososoos much
AWESOME video!! You put everything really well, and I can see you've got a lot of great potential. However I have some constructive ciritque for how you can improve your videos! Your audio recordings are actually of pretty decent quality, but something you can do to really improve the professionalism of the video is to take a bit to edit your audio and take out the pauses in between you clicking through pages of your script. The pause and click was somewhat distracting and takes the viewer out of your argument a bit, because they're reminded your sitting in front of a microphone reading off of a pre-written script. The quality of your argument was good enough to bring me back in each time, though, so taking that little bit to edit that out I think will do a whole lot will really do you some good!
Ok, this does make me want to try out elementary, even though i've never been into the original stories or any of the adaptations (not even the great mouse detective, which is really unusual for me, lol).
Nice video! I haven't seen the show, but I'll definitely have to give it a watch because it addresses the main issue I had with bbc Sherlock! Good review/analysis!!!!
I watched Elementary because of this. Before this, I thought this series was really awful, none of my friends had seen it (which is usually a sign that something isn't good) but I must say, now that I've seen it, I'm sooo grateful for your video ! I LOVE this version of the character, and the female version of Watson just warms my feminist heart
Im not going to over intellectualize this show with a deep analysis, but will simply say that, ELEMENTARY is currently the best show on television right now! Kudos to everyone involved with it! 👍👌👏🏻🧐
You put into words so perfectly exactly what made me fall in love with this show in the first place when it first premiered, and what I could never quite put into words against the so many people who questioned if this show could even be good given how far it was from its source material (differences which I personally found negligible because I only wanted a good story regardless of the name of Sherlock Holmes). And even though I've since fallen behind on the show, since the loss of my access to satellite television, and my fear to even attempt to try catching up on four seasons worth of any show at all, you have reinforced why I used to love this show so much once upon a time and make me want to try watching again. Also, I want to say, that I am digging your videos and from one queer, millennial(ish) feminist to another, am really happy that I've found a non-white dude video essay channel (not that said white dudes don't write fantastic video essays, but like, ya gotta love the nuanced queer feminist lens when you find it!)
I love elementary. Loved it since the beginning. It has covered everything. From pain and abuse to more political issues with a careful hand. Nobody was offended by it and it's so culturally diverse. I mean there's a British guy running around with a Chinese_American woman, an African-American man and an American guy with actual depth in their stories. What else could be needed?
I particularly liked the diversity because it is not diversity for diversity's sake. It showed a very honest portrayal of NYC, where the show is set. Lucy Liu grew up in Queens and represents the substantial Chinese American population in the NYC area. There are so many ethnic Caucasian Americans that are represented to show NYC as well. Gregson is played by an Irish American whose former partner in the episode about the broken mug was Italian American. There are also occasional characters who are Afro-Hispanic American.
I don't think ill ever commit to watching this show or any sherlok adaption (the dog one seems cute though) but i loved your video and Lucy Liu is sooo beautiful and amazing in it(the show and the video)
I highly recommend the 1980's Granada series, with Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes. He superbly captures the machine-like rationality, manic-depressive fits, and gentlemanly dignity of the canonical Holmes, and the show itself attempts to faithfully adapt most of the canonical stories (with a couple unpleasant exceptions).
If they started selling Lucy Lu's outfits, they could make a killing and i'd just be over here, like "but what about those terrible t-shirts under jackets that sherlock wore at the start of the series when he was all scruffy after rehab and he slowly starts dressing nicer" fuck I LIKE A LIVE ACTION SERIES PLEASE SEND HELP
I liked her outfits as well. The costume designer on the show was Rebecca Hofherr. I thought her phone would be ringing nonstop after this show, but her IMDB is criminally tepid in listings. I see she has a website online but not sure if it is legit. You might reach out to her to see whether that's her store.
As much as I want to love Elementary, I can't stand police procedural anymore. I'd watched the first season and the writing or challenges(crime) felt dumbed down, artificially make Holmes look smarter (than common police character or other police procedural). Don't get me wrong, I love the characters in Elementary; but.......police procedural. The network must fill +20 episodes and I can't expect every episode to be a Grade A puzzle. Police procedural. Base on your vid, I may give season 2 a try. I'm serious, I WANTED TO LOVE Elementary; but, I didn't care about this Sherlock because lots of his observations were predictable...police procedural...and neat. I feel LET DOWN when I feel smarter (which I'm not) than the myth/fiction I'm watching. What gets me going? THE BLACK LIST...that style of compounding complex conundrum. THAT should had been the writing style of Elementary! The chara Red is always one step a head of the audience. They way they present Red, at times, he's ON TOP. Other times, he's in serious jeopardy. His challenges always felt dangerous. If you take requests, how about an analysis of The Blacklist? If that's not interesting enough, how about WHAT IF Red was swapped out for Mariorty?
0:52 the text-message thing represents most of what that BBC does well--the presentation of that show is slick as fuuuuck! I mean damn, did you _see_ those bullet-time wedding photos!? In all seriousness though when the deduction scenes are good, they're REALLY fucking good
Often love this show but bon't relate as much this vershion of Homes i simple can not relate to hes empathy. As i can only see things form a porblem to solve not emotional point of view.
I am so sad that when comparing Doyle's adaptations,nobody outside of USSR knows of USSR version.It's probably one of the most faithful adaptations of the books,with excellent acting,directing,music...everything!And unlike modern adaptations it doesn't "flanderize" any of the stories or characters,or "pander to minorities".If anything,Soviet version emphasizes friendship between Holmes and Watson,but not in a way that enables jokes about gays. That said,I watched only 3 episodes of Elementary and like it so far,specifically because Holmes is NOT a narcissistic asshole with a gimmick and Watson is more than a sidekick.I just hope that this Watson being a woman won't be used for cheap relationship drama later
Also for the love of god stop calling your self a qaer millional femanest in every video . your an individual person not a buzz word check box. In a video assay if it's not relevant or pervideing personality the how gaves a F.
No, Mrs Hudson is not cool. Pointless distractions are not cool. There is no need for the show to have a transgender character, nor does having a transgender character on the show add anything of value to it. The character sticks out like a sore thumb. It's just pointless pandering.
+reluctantlydancing The only thing you'll achieve by making unfounded accusations of bigotry like that is to make yourself look like an asshole. A type of person existing is not the same as that type of person being a character in a TV show. Elementary certainly is not the worst case I've seen when it comes to the handling of transgender characters, that would be an episode of Veronica Mars. It's still not good, but it's not horrible at least.
I agree with you, Elementary is a very intelligent, descent and a socio-politically responsible show. However, you failed to say a few things about Elementary's Sherlock which are as follow: 1-he 's not good at solving crimes because he's super genius, though that is also true, but he solves crimes because he works hard. He doesn't just rely on his intelligence. He reads, he makes extensive research, he learns to do things to help him understand better, he's an erudite.2-Elementary's Sherlock is a poignant character who is in constant struggle like everyone else, he suffers and he feels maginalised, not only because he is truly different but also because he feels too much and that is a burden to him. Isn't that why some find refuge in drugs, to feel less and seek oblivion? Last but not least quality I attach to this show is that Elementary is primarily a show that always remains faithful to the idea of recovery. In fact, the thrill and the suspense in this show generally revolves around weather the characters, including Sherlock himself, Watson or even Moriarty and all others who come in and go would ever manage to achieve recovery from their failure. An unusually intelligent show for a network TV. The last thing I want to add here is that Jonny Lee Miller renders a Sherlock, reminiscent of a Byronic hero (his brilliant portrayal of Lord Byron, BBC production). He's already acquired the most prestigious British theatre award for Frankenstein, co-acting with the other Sherlock from the BBC, Cumberbatch. What makes Elementary be the brilliant show that it is largely owes a to the superb acting of Jonny Lee Miller. His brilliant diction and delivery is truly tantalizing.
Can I also add that I love how the show makes sure that everybody in the narrative contributes? Joan's always being asked for autopsy advice and does a lot of first aid, there's almost always a scene of Sherlock, Joan, Marcus and Gregson in the station discussing a case together, and Sherlock specifically builds connections with people who are experts so that he can go to them when he needs their guidance.
That was what really made me realize how shitty BBC's Sherlock really is--imagine him in the New York precinct shouting at witnesses to frighten them while dismissing everything Marcus tries to contribute all while Joan gets increasingly frustrated with Sherlock's lack of communication. Gregson would've had him out on his ear! Probably!
@Mitra Harding just re-read this comment and fuck yeah, the actor who plays Sherlock is amazing! I didn't know his name was Jonny Lee Miller--but dang, I love how there's these little habits he has that are so distinct but make so much sense for him
damn i love this show
@@Flowtail I LOVE how he surround himself with smart people because it make complete sense.
5:42 OMG, is that why Elementary Sherlock never wore that hat? I keep waiting for him to do that, it was even teased. But i guess the show creators really wanted to stay true to the book Sherlock. Mad respect. See I fall in love with Elementary more and more.
This video embodies all of what I love about Elementary's Sherlock! I really appreciated the Bell/Sherlock interaction after Bell was shot. And the most memorable thing about Sherlock's empathy is the scene with the kidnapped woman in the basement. It was so in character and just nice to see him care so much, even if he had some trouble expressing it after.
Sherlock's empathy and caring are really well-illustrated in his relationship with Fiona. Every time they interact you can tell how deeply he cares for her and how much he wants her to be happy, and what really stood out to me was how willing he was to go out of his comfort zone for her. Because she's on the autism spectrum she has needs he doesn't get or can relate to, but he learns to see from her perspective and model his behaviour in a way that's helpful and healthy for them both. He's so careful to be kind and respectful of her needs, it's such a brilliant facet of his characterisation (and also just a really beautiful way to portray relationships between people who aren't neurotypical).
This is a great compilation of Sherlock's most empathetic moments, but I think something that might be called an empathy arc that really sticks with me is his relationship with Alfredo and his later relationship with the man Sherlock himself sponsors (whose name has escaped me and the internet is not helping >_> ). Sherlock is repeatedly shown to take things Alfredo has told him very much to heart and often dispenses Alfredo's advice to others, right up to telling Alfredo to "be selfish" when it comes to caring for his own sobriety and firing him as a sponsor specifically so Alfredo can talk to him as a friend. He particularly emulates Alfredo in how he learns to look out for his own sponsee, and one of my favourite moments of that is when the man ignores all of Sherlock's advice, lets his addicted ex-girlfriend stay with him and winds up getting high with her. In the scene where he confesses to this and apologizes, Sherlock offers no judgement or condemnation whatsoever, he just offers to take him to a meeting. These two relationships are some of my favourites in the whole show, outside of Sherlock's relationship with Joan, and they're a bit long for a video like this so I understand why they were left out, I just needed to talk about how much I love them :P Stuff like this, the phenomenal character writing, is what really puts Elementary above and beyond in terms of Holmes adaptations, IMO. Anyway, again, great work on the video!
Thank you! Yes, his whole relationship with Alfredo is wonderful.
I was hoping Alfredo would be included in the list of wonderful displays of empathy on Sherlock's part as well. The episode you mention where he fires Alfredo as his sponsor is easily one of my favorite regarding their relationship, not only for his rationale why he fired Alfredo, but also because he goes through an elaborate setup to extricate Alfredo from his problem with his former employer. He basically says "I'm going to help you out of this situation, and if you still don't want to be my friend after I'm done, I accept that." He's willing to take his lumps and suffer the consequences for his actions. He's ready for Alfredo to reject him after helping him and firing him as his sponsor. I like knowing that Sherlock reached that conclusion after some long introspection and trying to figure out why it bothers him to just stay out of Alfredo's dangerous situation.
Sherlock is Randy's sponsor.
@@candacen7779 Alfredo has had some horrible employers. First, it was the employer that falsely accused him of stealing cars to humiliate their anti-theft system. Then Sherlock sends Randy to a very far away meeting where he would have had to show up on several cameras as an alibi as Sherlock had some fun stacking cars. Then it was the employer that stiffed paying Alfredo for his work by falsely stating that he did substandard work (which he never does). Alfredo was about to take the law into his own hands and get what was his due, but Sherlock lied to him and tried to pay him out of his own pocket to keep Alfredo from going to jail.
Thanks for this video. This series is special to me, because it is the first time I've ever been able to empathize directly with the titular character. Watching Holmes struggle with addiction (and various other issues) until notably comparing it to 'fixing a leaky faucet, which offers no reward, except not to drip', brought back memories of my own struggles and how incredibly grueling and tedious it can get. Having that acknowledged, in words, out loud, meant everything to me. And Moriarty? That was an INCREDIBLE twist, one that knocked my socks off for the first time in twenty years' worth of watching these adaptations.
And Lucy Liu's Watson is incredible--dynamic and sharply intelligent in her own right--and her fashion sense is off the freaking chain.
I wonder if I've ever appreciated canon changes as much as I do with Elementary. Most of the major canon changes felt like thoughtful modernizations or a straight up improvements from the original.
This video is why I finally got around to watching Elementary -- I'm caught up now. Thanks for getting me to watch my new favorite show!
Good. You might also want to make another video talking about Elementary Sherlock as an erudite. Someone who's good in his deductive reasoning not only because he's a genius, but above all because he works hard at what he does. In that sense, he's truly inspirational, because he is more demanding with himself than he is with others and he never takes anyone, nor anything for granted. Every little thing counts and deserves the strive and the endevour to learn about. He is relentless in his pursuit of justice as much as he is in solving a crime. But what distinguishes him from any other Sherlock is that he suffers and struggles too and in that, Elementary has really nailed it, because in the end everyone struggle in some way. The interesting thing about Elementary is that we all see a bit of ourselves in Sherlock and that inspires us to overcome our difficulties as he does. Elementary is all about recovery and that's another topic you could devote a page to.
More queer millenial feminist musings, please! I really enjoyed this and it perfectly explains why I like the show so much. One of my favorite things about JLM's Sherlock is how he relates to modern culture. He actively praises text speak and clearly values non-European cultures. He treats poor folks and sex workers with respect. He's not elitist in the slightest and he's critical of corporate and political power. These make him more relatable to me.
Jeremy Brett is my favorite Sherlock actor. The actor literally went insane playing the roll and you can see it in the show. While he does not portray the most empathetic Sherlock, you do see that he cares in some moments. Often with Watson.
I hoped you'd go into the original stories because it's kind of relevant to the point that Elementary didn't invent this out of whole cloth, it's a canon trait of Sherlock - I can remember at least one time where he just covered up the truth he discovered because it would get a scared man who fucked up once in even more trouble and that would help nothing... but I haven't reread them for a while... I hoped you would talk about it.
(this opinion might be influenced by the fact I had never watched a single episode of Elementary whoops)
(it does sound interesting&good!!!)
You're thinking of "The Blue Carbuncle." :) Ryder foolishly steals the carbuncle out of greed, but the man goes through so much trying not to get caught that Holmes knows he'll be too scared to ever cross the line again. Holmes argues that prison would only train Ryder to be a far worse criminal, when his experiences have already been sufficient to turn him away from crime.
And "The Three Garridebs" may not be the strongest of the canonical short stories, but it shows the deep emotional aspect of Holmes when Watson is shot.
I totally adore this. You did a great job explaining what I love about this show.
Thank you!
I’ve been watching a bunch of your content the last couple days after my sibling sent me your Aggretsuko video! Loving your work and looking forward to more :)
Honestly though, I don't get why all of the modern adaptations make Sherlock Holmes a jerk. I've read every single one of the original stories. The original character could be blunt, had some eccentric habits, and sometimes was arrogant and condescending, but most of the time he was pretty polite, had good social skills and could be quite charming, and cared about people and treated them with respect. He didn't constantly point out how smart he was and he didn't act like everyone else was stupid, especially not Watson. He wasn't a recluse and he didn't hate people. He also wasn't an emotionless robot, and though he could be moody and was often very serious when working on a case, he wasn't always depressed or always irritable. Sometimes he was bursting with enthusiasm, other times he radiated charm, other times he was gentle and full of compassion. He laughed often. He was overall a gentleman and a decent guy. Elementary definitely does better than Sherlock in that regard. But you can see how modern adaptations tend to take this fully fleshed out, three dimensional character and reduce him to some smart jerk trope, and I think that's a shame. You can modernize the character without doing *that.* I like Elementary, but you see what I mean.
If anyone is looking for a good TV adaptation that's not set in Modern times, you can't do better than the Granada Television adaptation starring Jeremy Brett. IMO, Jeremy Brett is THE Sherlock Holmes and that adaptation is THE television adaptation. It's absolutely spectacular.
I almost cried with your listing of moments. I love this show so much exactly for this, for all of this. It felt like 5 minutes instead of 14, you should do another one, so many more things to talk about in this marvelous show.
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Really, Sherlock is such a lovely character. You could spend forever digging into his character
4:13 I will never forget the enthralled confusion that was that story--I legit kept flipping back pages to see if I missed something, but was still like "I mean this is a good story, but... wut?"
I am SO happy you mentioned Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century. I loved that as a kid.
So you're did a video on one of my FAVORITE TV shows AND I just saw you did a couple on Rick Riordan's books. That's it I'm subscribing.
Great video! I'm probably going to watch everything else that you have on your channel now ^^.
You put into words exactly the reason why I love this show so much. With BBC Sherlock, I was never invested. The cases were interesting, but I didn't care about the characters at all. And I didn't realized this until I watched Elementary, really. The thing that I love about Elementary, and not just in comparison to BBC Sherlock but to many other shows, was that it didn't follow the trope of the genius asshole who was left off the hook just because he's so damn brilliant. At some point I liked that trope, when I was a teenager watching the first seasons of House MD, but now I'm so sick of it. I can't stand those assholes, so I end up dropping any show that has them. However, Sherlock has to truly face the consequences of his actions and he has to learn. The show actually allows him to grow, instead of forcing him back to his place as an asshole every time he seems to learn a lesson. And that's compelling, you know. Who would've thought that watching characters struggle, grow and learn like human beings could be interesting and compelling in a story, amirite?
I love that he's awkward and doesn't know how to deal with certain things, but he still cares. Because that's very human. We don't always know how to deal with harsh realities, but we try our best. And yes, he's an asshole in the end too, but he's not heartless. He's not a bad person, even if he can be a toxic one sometimes. And I love that the people around him (specially Watson, but not just her) held him accountable about his hurtful behaviors, that they don't just let him be because "he's a genius and we need him", but actually want him to become a better person. To me, that's also kinder than what we see in most shows.
i really like the structure of your essays and how u lay down your case - great job! i would definitely be convinced and watched the show after this. also would u consider making a podcast? like smth unscripted where its just your trail if thought on a subject? i think it'd b very interesting to watch ^.^ nice vid 👍
Lol! Thank you. I might do a podcast eventually. Maybe in the summer when I have more free time.
When did the world come back to its senses? You say I can come beck to earth now? I am surprised and disappointed that I only saw your video over three years after its upload date. And to be honest, the video gave me not a single new piece of information, BUT the fact that there is actually someone on RUclips making a video essay about Elementary makes me a little more optimistic that the world's end is still far.
The amount of BBC Sherlock content on the internet is fucking suffocating, and yes, thank you for acknowledging that THIS IS THE GOOD ONE.
At this point, merely thinking about the BBC Sherlock gives me hemorrhage in my brain.
But like the mouse version slaps
Yes, this is the GOOD ONE. Thank you!
Thank you!
Am I the only person in the universe who likes the recent movies, the british mini series and the american tv show...they're all entertaining and well made in my opinion with their own unique strengths and weaknesses, plus all the different actors are compelling, charming and charismatic while bringing their own unique interpretation to the character.
"Adaption"...
Perhaps you just really like the arrogant but brilliant puzzle solving that these all portray. I definitely do, and its probably why poirot has never really caught my attention, just seems too unreal.
I haven't seen the movies lately, but I can definately say that while I prefer Elementary as a narrative, the BBC show does have a lot of truly outstanding stuff. I mean shit, some of the deduction scenes with Sherlock are pretty fuckin' brilliant!
It's just a shame I can't enjoy the show anymore because now I notice every time Sherlock and John get mistaken for gay and it's supposed to be funny. Which doesn't make it _bad,_ per sey, just that it so rubs me the wrong way as to make it impossible to watch.
...Wait, I did see "Everything Wrong With "Everything Wrong With Sherlock Holmes"" (ruclips.net/video/qnTZbZw1JPQ/видео.html), and that made the movie look pretty good--I distinctly remember that bread thing from that movie, too. So clearly a lot to enjoy
Also, it didn't seem like the video was talking shit about the recent movies.. I mean, it mentioned the Great Mouse Detective in the same breath, who could dislike that movie??
Ah, oh, Oh my god I love Elementry so much it was so refreshing after watching the BBC series! It's one of the few shows my mom and I both love to watch together, too
Even though I do consume a lot of tv shows I don't tend to watch crime shows WITH the exception of Elementary. I tried the pilot when it started airing and somehow I kept coming back and by the end of the 1st season I realised how much I actually care about the show and the characters and how excited I am for new episode each week. It became one of my favourite shows on tv honestly and it is precisely because of the reasons you mentioned and many more. I love the fact that the show cares. It cares about its characters and their developments. It knows representation matters and tries to bring representation when it can (like with the autistic girl or mrs. hudson). It has its problems but it's a damn good show.
This actually made me miss watching the show. I dropped out early in season 4 because i got tired of Joan being sidelined. This has me want to go back tbh.
Thank you! I always want Joan to have more story lines. she's been pretty involved with the Shinwell arc though, so thats been nice
Season 5 has lots of Joan and Shinwell. Season 6 ends in a way that is all about Joan.
Personally I enjoy both shows though in my opinion Sherlock is more accurate to the original stories, but Elementary is more original. However I don’t like the part about Moriarty and Irene Adler are the same person in Elementary
I loved your analysis. :)
One small disagreement. I don't think he has empathy despite his antisocial tendencies. I think he is antisocial because he has an abundance of empathy, AND the wisdom to fully understand the ramifications of insensitivity.
I agree, I can't follow 20 plus episode shows every year without getting bored but this is the only one I've stuck with.
S3e16 is my favourite, the "exercise in self-pity" dialogue is brilliant!
I've been saying this since season 1! Since BBC Sherlock's most character crystallizing line is "High functioning sociopath", having Elementary deliberately look at that, and throw it in the trash and show us how it is so much better to have a hero, not a spacetoaster.
Amazing review. I agree! I find it very hard to commit to watching American shows, but this one (and The Expanse) have me coming back every season :)
If you love intelligent shows like the Expanse and Elementary, you should try finding Intelligence on CBC (Canadian) and Borgen (Danish). I watched both on as an American on Netflix a few years ago. Not sure if they still have them.
Joan made him human, and watching that process is the best part of the show
3:51 i'm kind of crying because this is literally what I was ranting at my mom as we were watching the show sheesh at the rate I'm going i'll be half the freaking comments
2:48 L-Lestrange? lol
Loved the video
I agree with pretty much everything you said! One of my favorite things abt Elementary Sherlock is how he tries to be a good person and tries to help, even when he doesn't have any idea how to do it. While his relationship with Watson is soooo good (two people of different sexes who are not forced into a relationship? Good shit) and I love the mutual respect and care (which, not to put bbc down, is something the completely fuck up), one of my favorite relationships in the show is Sherlock and Marcus.
Sherlock can be an ass, but in the end he cares so much? I can't remember when the "I'm a magnet and it's my fault ur lonely" speech is, but it really shows how much he cares even tho he doesn't know how to express it really? And him hitting the dude who beat up Chantal and then stealing his car so Bell wouldn't do something he'd later regret? Good shit, Sherlock cares even tho he isn't good at showing it.
Idk im rambling I just love Elementary sosososoos much
just nice to see/hear a fellow smart person rambling intelligently about a rare gem of a show like elementary :) thank you :)
AWESOME video!! You put everything really well, and I can see you've got a lot of great potential. However I have some constructive ciritque for how you can improve your videos!
Your audio recordings are actually of pretty decent quality, but something you can do to really improve the professionalism of the video is to take a bit to edit your audio and take out the pauses in between you clicking through pages of your script. The pause and click was somewhat distracting and takes the viewer out of your argument a bit, because they're reminded your sitting in front of a microphone reading off of a pre-written script. The quality of your argument was good enough to bring me back in each time, though, so taking that little bit to edit that out I think will do a whole lot will really do you some good!
8:55 which, okay, not the BEST example bec- **spoiler barricade descends**
Ok, this does make me want to try out elementary, even though i've never been into the original stories or any of the adaptations (not even the great mouse detective, which is really unusual for me, lol).
Well, ok actually, i liked the star trek sherlock holmes episodes... so there's that.
Nice video! I haven't seen the show, but I'll definitely have to give it a watch because it addresses the main issue I had with bbc Sherlock! Good review/analysis!!!!
Thank you!
He cares about Watson the captain Marcus but he doesn't seem to understand how to do in what we would consider a "normal" way.
Great video! :)
I watched Elementary because of this. Before this, I thought this series was really awful, none of my friends had seen it (which is usually a sign that something isn't good) but I must say, now that I've seen it, I'm sooo grateful for your video ! I LOVE this version of the character, and the female version of Watson just warms my feminist heart
Im not going to over intellectualize this show with a deep analysis, but will simply say that, ELEMENTARY is currently the best show on television right now! Kudos to everyone involved with it! 👍👌👏🏻🧐
You put into words so perfectly exactly what made me fall in love with this show in the first place when it first premiered, and what I could never quite put into words against the so many people who questioned if this show could even be good given how far it was from its source material (differences which I personally found negligible because I only wanted a good story regardless of the name of Sherlock Holmes). And even though I've since fallen behind on the show, since the loss of my access to satellite television, and my fear to even attempt to try catching up on four seasons worth of any show at all, you have reinforced why I used to love this show so much once upon a time and make me want to try watching again.
Also, I want to say, that I am digging your videos and from one queer, millennial(ish) feminist to another, am really happy that I've found a non-white dude video essay channel (not that said white dudes don't write fantastic video essays, but like, ya gotta love the nuanced queer feminist lens when you find it!)
I love elementary. Loved it since the beginning. It has covered everything. From pain and abuse to more political issues with a careful hand. Nobody was offended by it and it's so culturally diverse. I mean there's a British guy running around with a Chinese_American woman, an African-American man and an American guy with actual depth in their stories. What else could be needed?
I particularly liked the diversity because it is not diversity for diversity's sake. It showed a very honest portrayal of NYC, where the show is set. Lucy Liu grew up in Queens and represents the substantial Chinese American population in the NYC area. There are so many ethnic Caucasian Americans that are represented to show NYC as well. Gregson is played by an Irish American whose former partner in the episode about the broken mug was Italian American. There are also occasional characters who are Afro-Hispanic American.
I don't think ill ever commit to watching this show or any sherlok adaption (the dog one seems cute though) but i loved your video and Lucy Liu is sooo beautiful and amazing in it(the show and the video)
Thank you! Lucy Liu is incredible.
I highly recommend the 1980's Granada series, with Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes. He superbly captures the machine-like rationality, manic-depressive fits, and gentlemanly dignity of the canonical Holmes, and the show itself attempts to faithfully adapt most of the canonical stories (with a couple unpleasant exceptions).
Man i gotta go back to watch the show. I'd been keeping up but dropped off at season 4 cuz of life n stuff.
Awesome video!
'And he does a lot of cocaine'lmao
This show is addictive.
Your brain is entirely beautiful and I love it!
These are all excellent points!
This is so well put!!!! Yes!!!!
If they started selling Lucy Lu's outfits, they could make a killing
and i'd just be over here, like "but what about those terrible t-shirts under jackets that sherlock wore at the start of the series when he was all scruffy after rehab and he slowly starts dressing nicer"
fuck
I LIKE A LIVE ACTION SERIES PLEASE SEND HELP
I liked her outfits as well. The costume designer on the show was Rebecca Hofherr. I thought her phone would be ringing nonstop after this show, but her IMDB is criminally tepid in listings. I see she has a website online but not sure if it is legit. You might reach out to her to see whether that's her store.
I was very fond of Frank Langella's Holmes.
As much as I want to love Elementary, I can't stand police procedural anymore. I'd watched the first season and the writing or challenges(crime) felt dumbed down, artificially make Holmes look smarter (than common police character or other police procedural).
Don't get me wrong, I love the characters in Elementary; but.......police procedural. The network must fill +20 episodes and I can't expect every episode to be a Grade A puzzle. Police procedural.
Base on your vid, I may give season 2 a try. I'm serious, I WANTED TO LOVE Elementary; but, I didn't care about this Sherlock because lots of his observations were predictable...police procedural...and neat. I feel LET DOWN when I feel smarter (which I'm not) than the myth/fiction I'm watching.
What gets me going? THE BLACK LIST...that style of compounding complex conundrum. THAT should had been the writing style of Elementary! The chara Red is always one step a head of the audience. They way they present Red, at times, he's ON TOP. Other times, he's in serious jeopardy. His challenges always felt dangerous.
If you take requests, how about an analysis of The Blacklist? If that's not interesting enough, how about WHAT IF Red was swapped out for Mariorty?
0:52 the text-message thing represents most of what that BBC does well--the presentation of that show is slick as fuuuuck! I mean damn, did you _see_ those bullet-time wedding photos!?
In all seriousness though when the deduction scenes are good, they're REALLY fucking good
Alright. You got me. Im gonna watch it.
The best Sherlock is the one starring Jeremy Brett.
always preferred this one, as well.
Well done!
Perfect... Absolutely perfect
Often love this show but bon't relate as much this vershion of Homes i simple can not relate to hes empathy. As i can only see things form a porblem to solve not emotional point of view.
Textbook version of a sociopath
But an empathic one
'No not that one, the good one' *gasp* how dare you
Loved this series. Plenty of humour, twists and turns but started to feel stale. Shame, love the actors
Yaaas! Exactly!
👏👏👏
I am so sad that when comparing Doyle's adaptations,nobody outside of USSR knows of USSR version.It's probably one of the most faithful adaptations of the books,with excellent acting,directing,music...everything!And unlike modern adaptations it doesn't "flanderize" any of the stories or characters,or "pander to minorities".If anything,Soviet version emphasizes friendship between Holmes and Watson,but not in a way that enables jokes about gays.
That said,I watched only 3 episodes of Elementary and like it so far,specifically because Holmes is NOT a narcissistic asshole with a gimmick and Watson is more than a sidekick.I just hope that this Watson being a woman won't be used for cheap relationship drama later
Oh my god elementary. Silly. Watch Sherlock. The proper one. The bbc one. The good one.
Also for the love of god stop calling your self a qaer millional femanest in every video . your an individual person not a buzz word check box. In a video assay if it's not relevant or pervideing personality the how gaves a F.
No, Mrs Hudson is not cool. Pointless distractions are not cool.
There is no need for the show to have a transgender character, nor does having a transgender character on the show add anything of value to it. The character sticks out like a sore thumb.
It's just pointless pandering.
Slightly Mad you get distracted by trans people existing? Thats weird. Are you confused by women and black people too?
+reluctantlydancing
The only thing you'll achieve by making unfounded accusations of bigotry like that is to make yourself look like an asshole.
A type of person existing is not the same as that type of person being a character in a TV show.
Elementary certainly is not the worst case I've seen when it comes to the handling of transgender characters, that would be an episode of Veronica Mars. It's still not good, but it's not horrible at least.