04. A Study in Sherlock

[randomkiwibirds]

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle returns, as Murdoch chases down a gang of robbers, one of them claiming to be Sherlock Holmes

[shangas]

Ooooh yay!! One of my favourite fictional characters and historical figures!

[lilian1977]

Some images from the episode from my Andrew Gower website (he's playing Sherlock):

andrewgoweractor.wordpress.com/2013/01/03/first-images-of-andrew-as-sherlock-holmes/

Can't wait to see it!

[hannikan]

Okay, here's some crappy caps I made!

[lilian1977]

Thanks so much hannikan! Would you be happy to email the ones of Sherlock to me? If so I'm at [e-mail]

Thanks!

[hannikan]

I'll try to get ones that are bigger for you.

[CosmicCavalcade]

Oh so now I know who you are on tumblr too hannikan! Congrats on the 'God' rating btw. What will you do with your new found powers? xD

So I suppose I'm supposed to say something about this episode. Well, let's just say I didn't like it very much. I know I'm in the minority here but what can I say. This episode was very 'off' to me and I couldn't get into it. But I was tired so maybe that's all it was? I'm going to rewatch it and see if my impression changes.

Should we start a bet as to how many eps Julia will wear that same blue outfit this season? xD It's getting ridiculous, right? What happened to all her clothes?

[shangas]

Watched the episode last night.

Was very disappointed that the same actor from the previous two episodes did not play Conan Doyle in this one. Spoiled the continuity for me.

Other than that, I guess it was okay. Somehow I feel it was just a weaker episode. I think it relied too heavily on its 'guest appearances', than in other episodes.

I love the fact that MM has 'guest appearances' of famous historical characters. It's very unique. But I think in this instance, the episode was weakened by it, somewhat.

[CosmicCavalcade]

Was very disappointed that the same actor from the previous two episodes did not play Conan Doyle in this one. Spoiled the continuity for me.

Actually, it was the same guy. I didn't recognize him at first because of the long hair but it was him. His name isn't listed on IMDB for this ep but Geraint Wyn Davies was listed at the beginning as a special appearance.

Other than that, I guess it was okay. Somehow I feel it was just a weaker episode. I think it relied too heavily on its 'guest appearances', than in other episodes.

I love the fact that MM has 'guest appearances' of famous historical characters. It's very unique. But I think in this instance, the episode was weakened by it, somewhat.

Yeah I wasn't overly fond of it myself. But I think I'll like it better on a second viewing. Then again, there are just some eps I don't like (the vast amount of them were from S5, unfortunately).

[barbarama]

I actually quite liked this episode. A little darker than last week but still with some humor here and there (the skeleton being funny as well as Murdoch being chocked and "sherlock" who rumbles instead of helping him). What I love is that the actor playing Sherlock was absolutely fantastic, I love seeing great acting and this guy is super talented so I didn't mind that the "guest" was here most of the episode, a bit like with Winston Churchill.

What I do like the most this season is that each one of the main character has a specific role to play in helping solve the case and it does make sense; it doesn't appear to be forced of fake; it's like all of them, with their own knowledge and from their own field are helping William putting together the puzzle to solve the mystery, I really enjoy that.

I guess Conan Doyle with long hair had a lot of people confused but it was the same actor as in season 1 and I love how he was taken by "sherlock" and thought he had brilliant ideas.

I really like season 6 so far, it is stronger in plots and funnier than last season for which let's face it I cringe watching some episodes (and Murdoch is my favorite show!!!)

[CosmicCavalcade]

So I watched it again and it did improve on second viewing but it's still my least fav ep of the season so far. I think it had a lot to do with really disliking the 'Sherlock' character. I hated how he was yelling so much. The real Sherlock wouldn't have been like that. And yes, I realize that there is no 'real' Sherlock and that this guy was only pretending to be him but that character is not one to lose his temper so easily.

And I've never seen Gower in Being Human or anything else so I have nothing to compare his performance here with. But if he's always so expressionless and/or dopey faced I don't get why he's so popular. I'll give him this though, he's got a very good singing voice.

But yes, there were some good funny moments as mentioned by Barb. And the case was fairly well put together. And I liked how Murdoch pulled the logic card on David but overall I just can't seem to enjoy this episode very much. :/

[shangas]

I shall have to watch the episode again. I guess I was thrown off by the actor's appearance and his accent/voice. I was used to a cleaner-cut look and a more...'refined'...voice? I dunno. This one just looked a bit gritter and such, that I just didn't recognise him from the first two Doyle episodes.

[hannikan]

His hair was longer, but it was definitely still same guy. He also didn't have a mustache this time. I'm not sure if that is accurate for Doyle at any point in his life or not. I think a bit longer hair was popular for men at this time. I was a little thrown by it, too, but I could tell it was the same actor. I've seen the actor in other stuff though, too. Julia's actually always reworn clothing quite a bit, which women did a lot in this era, even if they were wealthy. The difference I think is that when she worked in the morgue, she took her jacket and hat off inside. So it looked like a greater variety. She's worn the orange outfit even more than the blue this season actually. I like it, but it is very dressy, esp. with the hat into the bargain. I thought the "Sherlock" actor was very good. I think his dopeyness was due to the fact that he was not in his right mind. And he'd taken cocaine quite a bit in the past when he was under observation. That had probably taken a toll. And his yelling would also have come from the agitation of being unwell psychologically. I thought the writing of this one was very good, too. I agree with Barbara about the guest characters being well integrated this season. I like seeing them help solve the crimes in unexpected ways.

[hannikan]

I thought I had already commented on the episode here but I guess not. I thought it was really good!! I thought the guy who played "Sherlock" was really good. I thought the stuff that happened in his childhood and how it was affecting him as an adult was such a sad situation. It is the most emotional case, I think. It reminded me a little of the puppeteer in Belly Speaker. It was fun to see Arthur again and that he got new ideas from his "creation!" Ha! And seeing William get annoyed by "Sherlock" stealing his thunder and being one step ahead of him all the time was a fun twist on how the plots usually go. I thought there were lots of twists and turns to make it interesting. I always suspected the uncle, but they made me doubt, too.

Next week's should be very different! At a nudist colony! :-o

[barbarama]

Hannikan, you're too funny. You didn't see your own comment above or was it just a technical mishap and you couldn't see your post? In any case it made me chuckled.

Actually I think I didn't write correctly what I wanted to say, even if I agree with you that the guest character helping William with the case is fun. I actually meant the main cast (Julia, George, Brackenreid, Emily), in my opinion I think this season more than others their role to help the investigation is put more upfront and I love that; It feels as if it is not just "Murdoch Mysteries" but more "Murdoch & Co. Mysteries". Don't know if I make sense, probably not too much it is late here and I had wine