Review of Sherlock ‘The Hounds of Baskerville’

SPOILERS: Do not read this if you have not seen Sherlock ‘The Hounds of Baskerville’

Viewers were treated to a modern interpretation of Sherlock Holmes’ most famous adventure.

Compared to the more sedate pace of ‘A Scandal in Belgravia’, this week had far more action, along with a good share of scares. The plot was also far more cogent and well put together, this time there was one strong story without a thousand other strands feeding into it to confuse the viewer. Just like the novel, there were touches of horror and darkness, along with the theme of creating fear to control others. However, there was also a fascinating science fiction element thrown into the mix that grounded the story and gave it a sense of authenticity. It played on the fears that surround genetic modification, mutations and cloning. The ironic thing was that the culprit was very much human rather than any sort of mutant dog. The other idea that was touched upon was that of chemical warfare. The anxiety of a chemical or biological attack is one that exists and the possibility of such an incident is very real which added to the tangibility of the plot. It was interesting to see how Arthur Conan Doyle’s work was used as a way to play with these topics while retaining other things from the original text.

Performance-wise Russell Tovey gave a remarkable turn as the troubled Henry Knight who was descending further and further into a drug-induced madness. He was particularly brilliant in the scene where he met Sherlock for the first time because of all the idiosyncrasies he included in his performance, they simply emphasised Knight’s agitated and disturbed mind frame. On a small note, it seems that Tovey just can’t seem to escape big, furry beasts given that he played George the werewolf in ‘Being Human’.

Benedict Cumberbatch’s portrayal remained consistently strong and in this episode he showed a different facet to the character. Sherlock Holmes is the epitome of rationale but for the first time he appeared truly vulnerable due to a fear-stimulating substance. It was unnerving to watch someone who is so rooted in logic losing his bearings and getting scared. He is an observer and stays detached from his emotions so that they do not intervene in his work. The one thing that seemed to jar in Cumberbatch’s acting was the scene where Sherlock entered his ‘mind palace’. The sequence was risible and slightly embarrassing to behold. Instead of just sifting through the facts, he also seemed to be performing a bizarre ritualistic dance. The only things missing were the strobe lights and the trance track while he threw some shapes. It would have been a lot less cringe-worthy if he had been given his fiddle and left to mull over the details.

Aside from Sherlock’s catatonic gesticulations, the cinematography in ‘The Hounds of Baskerville’ was stunning. In the novel, Watson constantly referred to the prehistoric feel of the place and this was perfectly captured. There were some beautiful shots with saturated colours and where movement was sped up to show the passage of time yet nothing really changed. It even became a touch ‘Wuthering Heights’ when Sherlock stood on top of a rock and surveyed the sweeping landscape. All of it conveyed that the moors was a place of the past.

So far, this has been the stronger of the two episodes, next week is the last adventure in the series. Entitled ‘The Reichenbach Fall’, it is based on ‘The Final Problem’ and will see the return of Moriarty.

For more information about the series, click here.

Image credit: BBC

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