Young Sherlock: An Elementary Success (Okay, He's a Little Older than That)
By John Kirk
Rating: A
Sherlock Holmes was arguably the first superhero in pulp literature. His instant recall, his powers of observation and deduction plus all the incredible skills he demonstrated. Holmes had powers!
The Prime Video series Young Sherlock gives fans an exciting and relevant origin story for this historical, fan-favourite super-powered champion.
Director Guy Ritchie’s vision of Sherlock Holmes’ emergent youth (Hero Tiffin) employs the usual features of his story-telling: fast dialogue and carefully crafted combat sequences that mesmerize the audience into wanting more. Truth be told: I wound up watching the entire season in one shameless binge.
Then best friends Moriarty (Dónal Finn) and Holmes (Hero Tiffin).
The canonical origins of the character are given great succor in this story while also making room for plausible and new material. For instance, it is no secret that one of the characters in the show is none other than Oxford scholar, James Moriarty (Dónal Finn). Not a professor yet, Finn’s Moriarty is charming, insightful and the perfect companion for Holmes. The clever and masterful portrayal of the friendship is a heartbreak waiting to happen.
Of course, any Baker Street Irregular worth their salt would know that name as the arch-nemesis of Sherlock Holmes. But in this story, we see Moriarty and Holmes to be friends – colleagues as they both complement each other in what we see to be the development of Holmes’ deductive methodology.
Holmes is at Oxford, though not in the way that fans would expect. It’s a clever introduction to the character as he is more optimistic than the traditionally dour presentation fans are used to in the novels and other cinematic representations. Holmes is studying, but he studies people. He observes, he questions and we see the embryonic development of his super-power of deductive reasoning.
What adds more depth to this origin story is the introduction of his family. Every fan of the Great Detective knows about his brother, Mycroft (played by Max Irons), who usually took a background position to Holmes’ spotlight. But in this series, Mycroft is his younger brother’s benefactor, providing both refuge and support.
We also meet his mother, Cordelia (Natascha McElhone) and eventually his father, Silas (Joseph Fiennes) who have their own unique proclivities. The disappearance of his younger sister at a young age was a pivotal moment for the family, shattering their unity and warping their relationships. We learn more about this as the series develops which is also a great source of curiousity for the audience.
Supporting cast members like the Princess Gulun, a Chinese scholar and martial artist (Zine Tseng) and Sir Bucephalus Hodge (Colin Firth) bring a mix of both traditional and Exotic English Society elements that not only provide flavour but intrigue. Both of these characters are immediately persons of suspicious interest by the young Holmes for a variety of connective reasons that keeps the audience engaged.
Holmes develops his deductive reasoning through the practice of inviting others into his memory. He displays a near photographic recall of the events, and is able to involve partners into what he sees. It’s a figurative display, of course, but it is a wonderful metaphoric way of highlight his superhuman nature.
But he applies a studious approach to other disciplines in this series. He practices hand-to-hand combat (with limited success), skills of disguise and persuasion and even see a hint of his encyclopedic knowledge of the sciences.
I love how there’s even a little bit of science-fiction mixed into the expected colonial theme that will inevitably be present, set in the peak period of the British Empire. It gives the story a “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” flavour.
In fact, it has everything that long-time Holmes fans will recognize and that newcomers to the character will appreciate.
It’s fun to see where heroes get their start but it’s even more fun so when you consider that this property has been around for more than a century. To weave both innovation and respect into this story is ingenious.
The first season has wowed me with its approach and I can’t wait for the second season when we see more of the development behind the relationship of Moriarty and Sherlock, Mycroft and Sherlock and in fact, just more Sherlock as he matures and grows into one of literature’s first true superheroes.
Young Sherlock. Directed by Guy Ritchie. Starring Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Donal Finn, Zine Tseng, Joesph Fiennes, Max Irons, Natascha McElhone, and Colin Firth. Streaming on Prime Video March 4.