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Insanely trivial quibble- shouldn't Holmes be able to tell whether it is 'Afghanistan or Iraq?' This is a non-important point, but shouldn't there be some clue in Watson's skin tone, mannerisms, something that should clarify where he served.

What about the more relevant things you say...?

The first episode was very good, though I did have some problems with it. To describe it poorly, I would say that it was too 'shiny'. Part of the appeal of Holmes (the applies to both the stories and to many of the screen adaptations I've seen) is the roughness and grittiness of the world being explored. In this rendering, however, the world, though often spooky, seemed a bit sterile and upmarket. The scene where the final confrontation took place, for example, seemed lifeless- dull, bland and unexciting- that was the point to a degree, but I still didn't like it very much. Another issue I had, that is similar to my initial quibble, though slightly more valid is the slowness of Holmes. The cab chase scene made it pretty obvious who the killer was (or, to be more accurate, what the killer was), but Holmes took awhile to get there (the killer came to him after all). Also, the conclusion, was expected x1000 (I wasn't even surprised that Watson killed someone, as he had mentioned before that he had a 'death sentence' anyway).

Anyway, there was a ton to like as well. As many people have mentioned, the Holmes-Watson chemistry is superb. There are a lot of better actors than Cumberbatch and Freeman who have played Holmes and Watson in the past, but many them simply haven't hit off on each other. The villain is a classic creepy soft-spoken killer (though the inclusion of Moriarty's funding was unneeded) and the scene with him and Holmes is a classic battle of wills. I also loved the character of Inspector Lestrade- though his portrayal wasn't entirely faithful, there was something about him that I found deeply endearing.

My feelings about the second one were similar, except that they did a much better job of getting to the 'underbelly' of the city- that being said I found the villain to be almost unimaginably cliched- there's nothing wrong with using a stock type as a villain (it's often necessary), but it's good to deviate from convention in at least a few ways.

dilbertschalter wrote: General Thoughts (in the tags because a few things are spoiler-ish)

Insanely trivial quibble- shouldn't Holmes be able to tell whether it is 'Afghanistan or Iraq?' This is a non-important point, but shouldn't there be some clue in Watson's skin tone, mannerisms, something that should clarify where he served.

Yes, it would have been much more impressive if he had been able to tell that. However, in the late 19th century, Afghanistan was Britain's only major war (if you don't count the Zulu war that is). Iraq and Afghanistan are also roughly in the same region and climate zone, so the tone of Watson's skin wouldn't give the game away. It's hard to think of a reason why Holmes would be able to tell right away that it was Afghanistan instead of Iraq.

The cab chase scene made it pretty obvious who the killer was (or, to be more accurate, what the killer was), but Holmes took awhile to get there (the killer came to him after all). Also, the conclusion, was expected x1000 (I wasn't even surprised that Watson killed someone, as he had mentioned before that he had a 'death sentence' anyway).

Someone as clever as Holmes should have been able to tell after the chase. To be fair, I wasn't able to put the pieces together (completely forgot how the original ended). But when you've actually located the phone in your flat and there's a cabbie at your doorstep, he should be the obvious suspect. That seemed completely ooc.

My feelings about the second one were similar, except that they did a much better job of getting to the 'underbelly' of the city- that being said I found the villain to be almost unimaginably cliched- there's nothing wrong with using a stock type as a villain (it's often necessary), but it's good to deviate from convention in at least a few ways.

Stereotyping of foreigners is far too common in classic mysteries. I agree, she was a rather bland character, the cabbie was much better. I do like the recurrent theme of Moriarty being behind all these crimes. Makes them feel less like their just loosely connected episodes.

I agree with almost everything that Dus said. There is no way to tell. Mannerisms? Unlikely because he is with his troop, troop is British, so mannerisms would be that of a British soldier. Which he pegged along with a medical man. Skin tone is unlikely. Since people of that region have very similar tone. So unless he had JUST come from war, or if he had something on him from either place... There is really no way to tell.