Me + tablet + time²

background: There are at least three Russian live action Sherlock Holmes adaptations. The confusingly nicknamed "new Russian Holmes" is from 2013 and consists of eight episodes, each an hour and a half long. There is now a newer adaptation from 2020, but the 2013 one remains the "new Russian Holmes", I suppose to differentiate it from the Soviet-era adaptation.

Anyway. My friend brought it with her when she visited over Thanksgiving week, and oh no. Oh no I have not been this Unwell over fictional characters in a LONG time.

It's an unusual Holmes adaptation in that it discards a great deal from ACD Holmes - this Sherlock isn't handsome or charming, he's a terrible boxer, he can't play the violin, and he doesn't look anything like the classic illustrations. But he does genuinely care about people, he's a detective, he still feels like Holmes (to me, at least.) And I love this version of Watson, as well - I feel like the show is doing a really good job of weaving in his PTSD and making it feel more real. His PTSD seems to express itself as dissociative episodes, which so far we've seen happen due to noise (thunder, gunshots,) during stressful situations, but also during moments of triumph - Watson knocks a guy out in a boxing ring and then the cheering of the crowd sets him off - which I feel like I don't see very often in media depictions of PTSD. We also get to see his old CO helping him through a PTSD episode by asking Watson questions with concrete answers - what time is it? - thereby giving Watson something to focus on. I dunno, it's interesting and I like it.

This Holmes and Watson have a very entertaining dynamic, too - Holmes the scrungly maniac who can't sit still (seriously he is CONSTANTLY in motion) and Watson who is reserved and controlled to the point of near-inscrutability. I want to see Holmes poke Watson until he cracks.

We have watched the first two episodes, and I'm really looking forward to watching more. They just introduced the conceit of Watson selling detective stories to the paper and I want to see what they do with that.

ETA- the fact that it’s a Russian adaptation also adds a layer of complexity. While watching I keep forgetting that they’re supposed to be English characters in London, and not Russian reinterpretations of the characters. The portrayal of the police force feels very Russian-influenced, and there’s a couple of scenes (mostly related to Watson’s experiences in Afghanistan) that are very interesting given that they’re coming from a Russian writing team. Like Sholto’s racist screed and Watson’s complete repudiation of it - that one hit very hard given the current US situation and the way our government is basically spewing the same shit as Sholto, but I know that’s also a problem current Russia has. And the whole East vs West thing, watching a bunch of Russians discussing that one is fascinating given the historical discussion of whether Russia is part of the West or the East, and how at various points in Russian history they tried to lean one way or the other.