Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Who's skewing who?

In the wake of the latest Sherlock finale, there has been a good amount of post-game analysis, mostly by those who think their favorite team lost. Blame has been cast a few directions -- Mary Watson, the fans, that "James Bond" business . . . but in pondering it this morning, one culprit seems to rise above all others. And he's pretty obvious.

Mycroft Holmes.

The same Mycroft Holmes who is played by an actor who is also helping create the show, down to putting words in the characters' mouths. We thought the show was about Sherlock Holmes and John H. Watson, and maybe even some secret story about their relationship. But, no, the secret story was actually no secret: This was the Mycroft show all along.

From that first episode, when we catch a hint of Moriarty only to find out . . . . WHOOPS! . . . it's Mycroft.

Mycroft has a relationship with Dr. Watson from the start. Mycroft is at the heart of even Moriarty's puzzles at times. And in the end, it was Mycroft's failings that caused so much of what we saw.

Once could blame Mary Morstan Watson's character for stealing the show, but Mary Watson actually stole the show from off-stage in the original Canon, keeping Watson to herself for years at a time. Her intrusion into the partnership of Holmes and Watson has always been there.

But Mycroft?

Mycroft doesn't affect Sherlock and John in the original stories at all. Not at all.

But in BBC Sherlock land? It's all Mycroft. It's so much Mycroft's show that they had to give Mycroft his own Mycroft.

He could very well have his own spin-off series.

Oh, wait . . . he could.

If the two leads weren't so good, and so distracting from Mycroft standing over at the side the whole time, perhaps this would have been obviously his show from the start.

But sometimes we like a good Mycroft tale . . . which this certainly was, looking back.

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