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sherlock602012-09-29 11:08 pm
spacemutineer.livejournal.com) wrote in sherlock602012-09-29 11:08 pm
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Granada Discussion Post: The Second Stain
Let's talk telly in the discussion post for Granada's adaptation of The Second Stain. If you haven't seen this episode yet, you can find it at YouTube (in 6 parts), Netflix, Amazon Video, and DVD. Follow me behind the jump for some of my random thoughts and impressions. Please add your own in the comments!
Note: Canon discussion is available in the canon discussion post. Thanks!
- I was pleasantly surprised by the actor playing Trelawney Hope, one Stuart Wilson. He does marvelous work with the original dialogue. His distraught desperation is very real and palpable. In fact, the entire episode does a good job conveying the tension involved. There is so much at stake, and so little to go on.
- Hardwicke!Watson nearly gives the game away here, telling Lady Hilda that "you presume correctly" when she asks if they know the true facts. Thanks a ton, Watson. You do realize you're working with state secrets, right? Notice that later on, Holmes shushes Watson with his finger to his lips when they're on their way to the murder scene with Lestrade. The doctor needs to keep his trap shut this time!
- The scene where Watson finds the story of Eduardo Lucas' murder in the newspaper is great. How can you not love as Watson reads from the article:
"'Valet out for the evening.'"
"They always are."
"'Housekeeper heard nothing.'"
"They never do."
- Granada makes the return of the letter to the dispatch box into a clever challenge with the Prime Minister and Hope both there at the time. We don't get to see Holmes use slight of hand to get the letter back into the box while Hope is looking through it, but we do get to see Jeremy Brett cautiously sneaking up behind them, silently readying the letter in his hand and then we see him lighting a celebratory cigarette as they discover it. Delicious.
- Any feeling about the last shot, with Brett jumping in the air excitedly? It's a bit silly, but Holmes has every reason to be thrilled -- he spared his country a war, many soldiers their lives, and performed a terrific magic trick in the process to do so.
Note: Canon discussion is available in the canon discussion post. Thanks!
- I was pleasantly surprised by the actor playing Trelawney Hope, one Stuart Wilson. He does marvelous work with the original dialogue. His distraught desperation is very real and palpable. In fact, the entire episode does a good job conveying the tension involved. There is so much at stake, and so little to go on.
- Hardwicke!Watson nearly gives the game away here, telling Lady Hilda that "you presume correctly" when she asks if they know the true facts. Thanks a ton, Watson. You do realize you're working with state secrets, right? Notice that later on, Holmes shushes Watson with his finger to his lips when they're on their way to the murder scene with Lestrade. The doctor needs to keep his trap shut this time!
- The scene where Watson finds the story of Eduardo Lucas' murder in the newspaper is great. How can you not love as Watson reads from the article:
"'Valet out for the evening.'"
"They always are."
"'Housekeeper heard nothing.'"
"They never do."
- Granada makes the return of the letter to the dispatch box into a clever challenge with the Prime Minister and Hope both there at the time. We don't get to see Holmes use slight of hand to get the letter back into the box while Hope is looking through it, but we do get to see Jeremy Brett cautiously sneaking up behind them, silently readying the letter in his hand and then we see him lighting a celebratory cigarette as they discover it. Delicious.
- Any feeling about the last shot, with Brett jumping in the air excitedly? It's a bit silly, but Holmes has every reason to be thrilled -- he spared his country a war, many soldiers their lives, and performed a terrific magic trick in the process to do so.