Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Furtive Festivity: a review

[mightymads]

Just watched this short film and would like to discuss it. I won’t give any spoilers, though :) First, it was amazing to actually see John and Sherlock depicted as a couple straightforwardly, not only visualising it after reading the Canon or watching particularly charged moments of Granada or Lenfilm. Mrs. Hudson was hilarious, but the way Mary was treated was somewhat disappointing for me, to be honest. I understand that they did it for laughs, but I thought she was going to be a beard or something if they decided to introduce her into this version at all. Anyway, the microscope cake was funny and the Sussex references very endearing because retirementlock is my special jam. Also, A. J. Raffles' balloons XD 

If you’ve already watched it, share your impressions?

"Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Furtive Festivity - Short Film" (Watch on YouTube)

Comments

[senmut]

+tucks away to watch later+

[mightymads]

Share your impressions later! 😄

Re: SPOILERS

[mightymads]

Lestrade was strangely young, wasn’t he? He was more like Hopkins by age. Yeah, I’d like to see more of that, Mary living her own life and doing a favour to Holmes and Watson by being their beard. Instead they did “the abandoned wife” for laughs, which frankly doesn’t give any credit to Watson and makes him an unfaithful husband... but mb I’m taking it too seriously :) I also loved that Holmes and Watson called each other Sherlock and John—it’s so natural. For me it’s a bit strange to read fics where they are lovers but still call each other by surnames. (But that’s just a personal preference of course and by no means criticism).

Re: SPOILERS

[mightymads]

Re: Lestrade - same, I liked him but hadn't realised he was Lestrade!

I guess Mary had more reasons to poison Holmes than the dead Moriarty 😁

[sanguinity]

I was disconcerted by the bit with Mary, too -- I could tell I was supposed to think it funny, but I couldn't figure out what the joke was supposed to be. Nor was I quite sure exactly what the situation was between her and John: that they actually were married, but John had permanently abandoned her for Sherlock? And her feelings about that were...? Basically, nothing about her on-screen presences worked for me.

And yes, Lestrade was weirdly young -- I kept expecting that to be Hopkins.

[mightymads]

Then you and I are of a similar opinion :) Perhaps they decided to go for that running gag of the abandoned wife which can often be encountered in the Holmesian meta, but that doesn't give any credit to the Doctor's character, as I've mentioned above.

It was a fun bit that Lestrade actually knew about Holmes and Watson's romantic relationship and was okay about it, given the Victorian views on that. Well, maybe Lestrade himself is queer in this short film.

[sanguinity]

It doesn't speak well of Watson, and it makes Mary's discontent a matter of comedy, and neither are things I like at all.

Yes, the possible queerness of the inspector was one of the reason I thought it was Hopkins! Holmes/Hopkins is a fairly popular pairing (well, if anything can be considered popular in the shadow of Holmes/Watson!), and thus I'm much more likely to read Hopkins as queer than Lestrade. (Although of course there's nothing that I recall that textually prevents Lestrade being queer: it's just a matter of competing fannish readings.)

[mightymads]

When it was mentioned in the trailer that Mary was going to make an appearance I was hoping she'd be a beard, happily having her own life and not waiting for John at home in vain. Oh well :)

[sanguinity]

I mostly want to see her treated with consideration and respect, both by the author and the characters.

[mightymads]

Same here.

Re: Mary

[iwantthatcoat]

At one of the discussions at 221B they mentioned that Mary was originally meant to be a beard or there was supposed to be someone Mary ran off with at the end (perhaps it was Irene?) but they had to edit out quite a bit. As it stands in the final cut, nothing about Mary works for me. It even makes the rest of it a difficult watch.

Re: Mary

[mightymads]

I wonder why they had to edit. Mary as a beard would have been logical and respectful to both her and John.

Re: Mary

[iwantthatcoat]

Time constraints

Re: Mary

[mightymads]

Even with limited screen time it was possible to do better than that. Just a casual mention that she was a beard would do.