I’ve made clear my admiration for the BBC show Sherlock. It’s well written and acted, its interesting, and all around better than at least 90% of the other TV shows. That said, I thought the latest episode might’ve been their weakest. I recognize that following up the premiere, which I feel to be the best episode to date, was no easy task. It’s like doing stand-up for the first time and going on stage after Eddie Murphy…
Anyhow, that’s not to say it was terrible either. One thing that this episode actually did quite well was attempt to humanize Sherlock some more. In A Scandal in Belgravia it showed Sherlock to be less asexual than previous, as it was clear how he felt for Irene Adler. In The Hounds of Baskerville however, the focus is more on John Watson and their friendship – the only one Sherlock has.
The story revolves around Holmes and Watson traveling to the countryside to investigate a case about giant dog that is terrorizing the area, and the disappearance of a glowing rabbit. Obviously not the normal type of case for the great detective, but he is intrigued at the possibility of genetic testing at the military base in Baskerville. The case actually came to them from a man who has sent 20 years living in terror and paranoia after seeing one of this hound kill his father when he was just a boy. A story that no one believed when he was young, but recent sightings of the hound have people talking. It’s become a local legend, like Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster, this giant hound stalks the hills unconfirmed.
Sherlock is convinced that the Military base has something to do with the reemergence of the deadly dog. Perhaps the most thrilling part of the episode is when Sherlock and John gain entrance to the Baskerville Base using Mycroft’s stolen ID, really pushing the envelope to see what they can get away with, as I assume that lying your way onto a secure Military base is punished pretty severely…
I did like the updates they did to the original story, which was something I was pretty curious about going in. I’m a big fan of the book, and replacing the ‘family curse’ with Government misdeeds seemed to fit the times a little better.
While still quite enjoyable, this was my least favorite episode to date, so I’m giving it a 3.5/5. Though, as Sherlock 3.5 is still better than most shows best stuff…
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It was also a nice bonus to see Game of Thrones‘ Greatjon Umber as Dr. Frankland…
Grizzly Bomb 
bonus? don’t get it. Clive Mantle has been almost a fixture on tv for more than a decade(s).
or do you mean the irony of his GoT character being Greatjon, having previously been Little John in Robin of Sherwood?
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He may be a fixture on TV in the UK, but he is almost entirely unknown in the US. And it’s a bonus for fans of this site since we heavily cover both of those shows.
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I generally found this a super entertaining episode, if not the most clever but I rate it 5th – The Blind Banker was a completely predictable and boring episode for me with the stereotypical Triad-style update, everything else has been pretty entertaining and amazing.
However I thought the ending was incredibly interesting and haven’t seen anybody point this out but it feels obvious; I think the old man shown briefly at the end is the real Moriarty. There was no reason to focus on him as the last person of the episode when we had both “Moriarty” and Mycroft in the room unless he is secretly notable. And while new “Moriarty” is fun and psychotic in that Joker sort of way, I at least wanted to see an older, colder, more bitter Professor Moriarty. This guy had the perfect look for that and the episode itself would explain the switch – the H.O.U.N.D. chemical induced paranoia, psychosis and opened minds to suggestion. New “Moriarty” could have been drugged and used as a pawn, hinted at by his obsession with Sherlock and ease of (possibly) committing suicide.
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