This review contains spoilers.
Truer words have never been spoken more than when James Moriarty said to Sherlock Holmes, “You should be a detective.”
In the new series created by Matthew Parkhill, directed and produced by a team that includes Guy Ritchie, Hero Fiennes Tiffin takes on the role of Holmes. In this version, however, the classic character is reimagined as a 19-year-old delinquent instead of the calm, eagle-eyed detective we know and love.
While the premise of seeing how Holmes became the iconic detective is interesting and the show features a talented cast, it fails to balance action and plot.
The most striking aspect of the show is the added friendship between Holmes and his canonical archenemy Moriarty (Dónal Finn). The characters first meet at the University of Oxford and immediately strike up a rapport.
Fiennes Tiffin and Finn have great scene chemistry and shine during moments of quick-witted dialogue and banter. The dramatic irony as they march towards their impending rivalry is what kept me watching.
Echoes of Ritchie’s filmmaking style also move the show forward. Action-packed fight scenes, mostly involving Fiennes Tiffin, Finn and Zine Tseng, who plays a woman posing as Chinese princess Shou’an, keep the show exciting.
However, the action doesn’t distract the audience from the fantastical plot that attempts to do too much in eight episodes.
While I thoroughly enjoyed Tseng’s character and her lack of broken Mandarin (I can’t say the same for Fiennes Tiffin), the story about her seeking vengeance on the professors responsible for the death of her village in the Gansu Corridor needed more unpacking.
Tseng’s storyline also happens alongside Holmes’ family drama, which includes his dead sister, who wasn’t so dead, his insane mother, who isn’t so insane, and Holmes’ father, who commits his own wife to an asylum and fakes his daughter’s death. These storylines leave no time for the cast’s performance and constantly overshadow their characters’ development.
Fiennes Tiffin and Finn, both great actors I’ve followed since Harry Potter and Hadestown, respectively, lack emotional depth throughout their performances. Ritchie said to The New York Times that he wanted Fiennes Tiffin to play Holmes in a cooler way but it came at the expense of much-needed character development.
At times, I found myself wondering how Fiennes Tiffin’s character would someday become the Holmes we all know. Fiennes Tiffin wonderfully portrays Holmes’ curiosity and eccentricity in a charismatic way. But the effects of his father’s treachery and the changes in Moriarty and Holmes’ friendship needed to be explored and played with far more complexity.
While the show has great potential, it needs to rethink its balance between plot, fast-paced action and character development. If it doesn’t, we’ll never see Fiennes Tiffin put on the famous deerstalker hat.
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