Sherlock Review: Series 1 Episode 1 “A Study in Pink”

By: Steven Moffat

**Spoilers**

If you have not yet watched this episode, please go and do so before proceeding.

            My first reaction to the news that there was going to be a new Sherlock Holmes adaptation was to roll my eyes and scoff “Yeah, they already did that. It’s called a Robert Downey Jr. film.” Second reaction, as the full news sunk in, was horror that anyone would have the audacity to ruin such a classic by making a cheap ‘modernised’ farce, just for the sake of an advertising gimmick.

            Please allow me now to take a moment and silently apologise to the combined and supreme genius that is the Moffat – Gatiss creative collaboration. If I had known then what I know now (Moffat and Gatiss are both HUGE Doyle geeks) my thoughts would have been more charitable. As it was, though, after months of having a decidedly uncharitable attitude towards the show, one of my friends (who has impeccable taste in media) recommended that I watch an episode or two of Sherlock. After I got over the shock, I decided to give the first episode of the first series a chance now that it had my friend’s stamp of approval in its favour.

            Am I ever glad that I did! Swiftly dispelling any of my previous misgivings, A Study In Pink intrigues with a tight plot and sparkling wit. This was the Sherlock Holmes I had been waiting for! It was about as accurate an adaptation of the original Arthur Conan Doyle stories as one could wish for, for all that it’s set in the 21^st Century.

            Within this first episode alone there are a dozen and one clever, subtle references to random and iconic descriptions from the actual text of the Doyle stories. From the riding crop in the morgue to the army-knife-impaled bills on the mantel, every detail is carefully thought through to make it not only good but great. And although the plot and characters have been scrambled a bit by Moffat, the main gist of the story remains the same.

            A Study in Pink opens, appropriately enough, with Dr. John Watson. Since Watson is the eyes and ears of the audience for most Sherlock Holmes stories, it is only fitting that this show should start by introducing him. We see Dr. Watson (or ‘John’, as this updated series calls him) haunted by nightmares of the war in Afghanistan. He lives a dull life, has a gun in his desk drawer, and consults a therapist who encourages him to keep a blog even though her tells her: “Nothing happens to me.”

Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:

- One of the things I love about this episode is the buildup to the introduction of the title character. We go through the three suicides, two press conferences (where there are intriguing and cheeky text messages to all reporters attending), and a conversation between John Watson and Mike Stamford before we finally get our first glimpse of the great detective. And what a first glimpse it is! Sherlock Holmes unzips a body bag and peers inside, inquires how fresh the corpse is, and then proceeds to beat the living daylights out of it with a riding crop. If that’s not a memorable entrance, I just don’t know what is!

- The introduction between Sherlock and John is also done in an ingenious way. A simple question from Sherlock: “Afghanistan or Iraq?” and the interest of the audience is immediately focused on a scene that could feel slow to anyone who hasn’t been waiting for this meeting. I also appreciate that Sherlock doesn’t instantly go into a detailed explanation of his deductions – he draws it out a bit. We don’t get an explanation until the next night when he and John are riding in a cab together.

- Sherlock’s reaction to the latest suicide is priceless (he jumps in the air like a kid at a birthday party) as is the fact that he is all seriousness when trying to get John to come with him. But the real fun starts during the cab ride to the crime scene. It is here that we get the first stunningly brilliant deduction sequence of the series, a sequence that boggles the mind even now. It is amazing that Sherlock not only notices these tiny details but also can analyze them and put them together to form a coherent story. 

- Once we get to the crime scene, we get to see the other side of Sherlock’s deductions. In the cab we saw it from John’s point of view, here we get to see what goes on in the mind of Sherlock Holmes. As he’s examining the body, the camera starts zooming in on different objects (a wedding ring, an umbrella, etc.) and snazzy little cliff notes on the screen show the audience what his mind is processing. Far from taking the magic out of the procedure, this method actually makes the deductions all the more fantastic to watch. It is also amusing to see the moment when he realizes the clue that’s missing and rushes off, leaving Detective Inspector Lestrade to pick up the pieces left by Sherlock’s sharp witted tongue and lack of social skills.

- John is then picked up by a mysterious black car and taken to an abandoned warehouse to have a conversation with a strange, umbrella-obsessed man whose every word seems to have triplicate meanings. The observation is made here that John’s limp, which is psychosomatic, is not because he is haunted by his time in Afghanistan but because he misses the excitement and purpose that being in the army gave him. Please remember this fact, as it will be important later. After a series of texts from Sherlock (ordering John back to Baker Street, whether or not it’s convenient) John heads back to his new flatmate. But not before stopping by his bedsit to pick up his gun. It is hilarious to then find that Sherlock called John the whole way across London just so he could borrow John's phone (then making John send the text, naturally).

- They then head out for dinner to keep an eye out for the murderer (whom Sherlock had just had John text). And here we come to a scene that I prefer the way it was done in the unaired pilot. After watching the two versions, I actually found that the first way flowed better (and had a better actor for Angelo). I feel that they should have just reshot that scene, word for word, rather than rewriting it. 

- The rest of act two goes by at a breakneck pace; culminating in a chase after a cab, a fake drugs bust from Lestrade, and the revelation of the murderer behind all of the faux-suicides. Steven Moffat is a genius when it comes to making everyday things frightening, or when bringing people's personal phobias to life. But while in Doctor Who he writes about gas masks and 'count the shadows', here he expands his work to someone adults trust explicitly: a cabbie. If you get the chance to watch the unaired pilot, there is a brilliant monologue delivered by Sherlock about murdering cabbies. Here is just an excerpt from that monologue.

            "There are cars that pass like ghosts, unseen, unremembered. There are people we trust, always, when we’re alone, when we’re lost, when we’re drunk. We never see their faces, but every day, we disappear into their cars and let the trap close around us. I give you the perfect murder weapon of the modern age: the invisible car―the London cab."

 - If you didn't have a complex about cabs before this episode, never fear. Moffat will fix you up. The scary thing about cabbies is that everything within that monologue is true. We've all done it without even thinking. Just think back over your life (it doesn't even have to be a cab, it could be a bus) and realize just how many times you put yourself in that kind of situation. 

- After that reveal, though the action slows down somewhat Much of the third act is spent with Sherlock and the murderer just talking. If you’re looking for the physical action, then this climax probably isn’t for you. But if you enjoy psychological action then this is your utopia. Sherlock and the murderer are going to play a little game - the same game the cabbie played with the other four victims: two identical bottles with an identical pill in each bottle. One pill is harmless, the other deadly poison. The trick is to choose the correct bottle.

- Just as Sherlock is about to take the pill (which may or may not be poison), it’s John Watson to the rescue as he shoots Jeff Hope, the cabbie, through the heart from a window on the opposite building. Sherlock, desperate to know if his guess was right or not, quizzes the dying murderer about the pill. Getting no answer, he then asks about this new ‘fan’ of his, forcing the murderer to utter one word: “Moriarty!” with his dying breath.    

- The rest of the episode is just tying up loose ends, revealing who John’s umbrella-wielding kidnapper is, having Sherlock deduce who shot the cabbie and protect John from the police, and verbally introduce for the first time the dynamic duo of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson.

            I give this episode an 4/5. The mystery wasn’t perfect (there are some who claim to have figured it out halfway through) but that’s okay because this episode wasn’t about the mystery. It was about the meeting of Sherlock and John. Moffat clearly knew this and focused the episode accordingly. This is brilliant television, the kind I hope there will be more of in the years to come.

    

 What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?