Sherlock v Elementary

In the past, I have posted reviews of the BBC show Sherlock and the CBS american Sherlock Holmes adaptation, Elementary, all based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original works. Recently we have been re-watching (mainlining one episode a night of) Sherlock with our daughter (who I think is a Benedict Cumberbatch fan) and the differences between the two versions of the Sherlock Holmes/Watson stories have been interesting to note. Therefore, I give you this set of ramblings about what makes the two shows so intriguingly different.

For those who don't know, Sherlock, starts with Dr. John Watson dealing with his experiences as a doctor in military service when he decides to share a flat with Sherlock Holmes. Watson is then pulled into Sherlock's job as the world's only consulting detective. The show is presented in three ~90 minute episodes per season. Elementary, on the other hand, begins with Dr. Joan Watson becoming the live-in sobriety companion for Sherlock Holmes, a brilliant recovering addict, who consults with the NYC police department. Elementary is presented in the standard american police procedural/crime drama format of 22 episodes a season each ~44 minutes in length.

To get the easy comparisons out of the way, Dr. Watson, is obviously different in each adaptation due to the gender chosen, but their differences go much deeper. In Sherlock, John is a man with a military past and is solid, dependable and able to deal with the physical aspects of being Sherlock Holmes' partner in crime-solving. John is also more of a chronicler of Sherlock's cases through his blog whereas Joan is more of a cerebral partner to Sherlock in the American version. Joan, over the course of the series begins to train almost as Sherlock's protege, becoming a bit of a detective in her own right. That isn't to say that John doesn't also show insight and deductive skills, but his relationship with Sherlock is more as a suffering friend, conscience and chronicler than companion and trainee.

Sherlock himself is also different in many ways. The BBC Sherlock Holmes seems to be a younger Holmes. He is still making his name and beginning to deal with the notoriety that comes from his skill and capabilities. The CBS Sherlock seems older, weathered, he has a past and demons that he is dealing with. We are told but very rarely shown that the CBS Sherlock we find is after his days supporting Scotland Yard and Detective Inspector Lestrade. Both Sherlocks have keen deductive minds and we see both training their minds and bodies on numerous topics. Both have minds that store in numerous facts that they can access as needed. Another interesting difference is how that capability is shown in the two shows. For the BBC Sherlock, we get to see how his mind operates through the use of on-screen text and cutting edits in the video helping us "see" what he is picking up from his observations. The CBS version does similar things but less overtly. Given the longer format of the BBC episodes you are also given more explanation in some instances on how Sherlock comes to his conclusions.

Both shows also have different takes on the other classic characters of the show such as Holmes' brother Mycroft, Irene Adler and, of course, Moriarty. My wife and I both think that the CBS version's take on Adler and Moriarty is more novel and possibly more interesting, however, Andrew Scott's portrayal of the uber-villian is outstanding. Even Detective Inspector Lestrade is quite different between the shows and interesting in both cases. Finally, there is the format of the show itself. By having longer run episodes, Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss and team are able to craft more dense and intricate stories for the BBC show than you see with the American one. However, you may get slightly less on-screen evolution of the characters. The CBS show seems to be more linear in its timeline with less gaps than are seen on BBC.

If you like crime dramas or layered mysteries or a good police procedural, you can't go wrong with either show. The BBC show is available on-demand through Netflix and is fantastic story-telling. The CBS show is about to return for its third season and we have already purchased our season pass off iTunes to ensure it is available to us (without commercials) the day after it airs. Same characters, same pairing of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, very different takes and characterization. Watch both and enjoy.