After conquering all international broadcasting throughways with its first masterful season, BBC’s Sherlock now presents a second season that’s even more complex, inventive, and diabolically addictive. It took eighteen months for us to get a second season of three movie-length episodes, but it was worth the wait for these superior tales based on the three most famous encounters in the Sherlock Holmes canon: “The Woman,” “The Hound,” and “The Professor.”
Sherlock: Season Two (Blu-ray)
Directed by Paul McGuigan, Toby Haynes
Studio: BBC
Year: 2012
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 1080i AVC codec
Running Time: 266 minutes
Rating: NR
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 English, French
Subtitles: SDH
Region: no designation
MSRP: $ 39.98
Release Date: May 22, 2012
Review Date: May 8, 2012
The Film
5/5
To inform those who may yet to have experienced this true delight, Sherlock is a modernized update on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s renowned detective Sherlock Holmes and his friend and working partner Dr. John Watson. Set in present day England, Sherlock makes terrific use of the original personalities of the characters, never once betraying the canonical relationships in search of a cheap laugh or egregious thrill. And yet, with the tales and their personalities moving through two centuries, there have been necessary and wittily integrated revisions to the original motifs (Watson now writes a heavily viewed internet blog rather than submitting stories to the Strand magazine, cell phone calls and texting are part and parcel of the world Holmes and Watson inhabit). Still, the Holmes family of recurring characters is still intact: Inspector Lestrade is still the Scotland yard official Holmes deals with most often, but there’s suspicion in the department as to Holmes’ infallible methods, especially from a female police sergeant who despises the Yard’s dependence on him to solve cases (a disdain that figures heavily in the set’s third installment). Sherlock’s frosty brother Mycroft (Mark Gatiss who co-created the series with Steven Moffat and pens some of the scripts) is always around for consultation, and Holmes’ outspoken landlady Mrs. Hudson always makes her presence known in each episode.
Three movie length cases make up the contents of this package, all of them with some kind of obvious kinship to Doyle’s original stories (for the record, the three stories adapted this season are “A Scandal in Bohemia,” The Hound of the Baskervilles, and “The Final Problem”) though they are by no means remakes of the original adventures but rather droll launching pads for the modernized narratives using characters and certain plot points from the originals but always with different mysteries at their core. “A Scandal in Belgravia” completes the cliffhanger from season one which found Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Watson (Martin Freeman) at gunpoint against arch nemesis Jim Moriarty (Andrew Scott) before moving on to Holmes’ encounter with blackmailing bisexual dominatrix Irene Adler (Lara Pulver) who has incriminating photos of a female member of the royal family on her cell phone which contains a code she defies Holmes to crack. Their second case entitled “The Hounds of Baskerville” has Russell Tovey as a young man carrying a childhood trauma of seeing a gigantic, spectral hound on Dartmoor into the present day where the ghastly monster continues to appear. Baskerville is now a super secret defense plant which Holmes suspects holds the key to the mystery’s solution. The package’s final case “The Reichenbach Fall” once again brings Holmes face-to-face with the psychotic but brilliantly lethal Moriarty (Andrew Scott) who cannot rest until the celebrated legend of Sherlock Holmes is completely and utterly destroyed.
The cases are all briskly directed and intricately plotted with the necessary amount of complexity until Holmes makes all things clear. Unlike season one, all three cases in season two are richly satisfying though some may balk a bit at “The Hounds of Baskerville” since it strays so far from the original story, unquestionably Doyle’s most famous tale. The continued use of graphic overlays to represent not only texting and internet use but also the machinations of Holmes’ mind add wonderfully eccentric atmosphere to the visual look of these stories and more than anything make Holmes’ transportation to the twenty-first century a thing of beauty.
Benedict Cumberbatch is genius casting for Sherlock Holmes having both a youthful vigor and the cerebral concentration to utterly convince as a younger version of the iconic character. And Martin Freeman is no less effective as the more sober and dogged Watson. Their devoted friendship has deepened considerably in season two, and yet the writers never shy away from confrontations between the duo and even occasional riffs which keep the pair constantly aware of their feelings for one another. The chemistry of the two actors together, often abrasive but with a clear, affectionate bond between them, makes their every scene together and apart notable. Una Stubbs is an endearing Mrs. Hudson and has more to do in season two while both Rupert Graves and Mark Gatiss fill the shoes of Lestrade and Mycroft quite well. Lara Pulver’s Irene Adler brings a volatile yet sly sexuality to the series. Andrew Scott’s Moriarty, an icily evil character, is quite disturbing in his controlled insanity to trump the famous detective at whatever cost.
Video Quality
3.5/5
The transfers are framed at the widescreen television aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and are presented in 1080i using the AVC codec. There is an irregularity and inconsistency to the visual presentation in these episodes (particularly the first two) that is sometimes off-putting. Though some scenes look very sharp and feature excellent color, at other times the contrast seems off, colors are pale, and sharpness softens. These problems occasionally happen within the same scene making the visual experience a bit erratic. Blacks aren’t at optimum levels at all times either. There are also aliasing, line twitter, and moiré patterns on occasion that distract somewhat. Each installment has been divided into 8 chapters.
Audio Quality
4/5
The disc offers only a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, but the sound quality is well above average. David Arnold and Michael Price’s very individualistic music for the series gets the most obvious spread into the surrounds with a few explosions offering the LFE channel something to do. There are occasional ambient sounds in the fronts and rears, but more could have been done with these. Dialogue has been very well recorded and resides in the center channel.
Special Features
2.5/5
The set offers two audio commentaries. The first episode presents co-creators Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat along with producer Sue Vertue and actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Lara Pulver having a chatty, high-spirited time discussing the making of the episode. The commentary on episode two includes Gatiss, Moffat, and Vertue again with guest star Russell Tovey basically interviewing them as to their interest in the Doyle stories and their creation of the series. Both are well worth a listen.
“Sherlock Uncovered” is a 19 ¼-minute overiew of the reception to season one of the series and brief discussions of the three stories in season two. Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat, Sue Vertue, Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Lara Pulver, and Andrew Scott offer brief sound bites about the season and their characters.
There are promo trailers on both discs trumpeting Wallander, Being Human, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Zen, and Bedlam.
In Conclusion
4.5/5 (not an average)
Even better than season one, Sherlock: Season Two is a must-see for lovers of mystery and the illustrious creations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Full of delicious wit and a series that never talks down to its intended audience, Sherlock offers superb actors, thoughtfully intricate plots, and terrific production design. It’s truly a series to treasure. Highly recommended!
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
