STUD, ch. 3-4

[mightymads]

Chapter 3

- The case hasn’t started yet but Watson already suspects that Holmes shows off to impress him. Of course, as Watson will find out later, Holmes would never stoop so low as to set up his deductions. Still, Holmes does want to impress Watson and does show off;

- A very important detail: Holmes apologises for his rudeness to Watson. Yes, he has a moment of short temper but he apologises immediately;

- Watson discovers Holmes’s partiality to admiration from him. Holmes asks Watson to read aloud Gregson’s message he had just read himself. What for? To enjoy Watson’s voice, apparently;

- Gregson has a great deal of respect for Holmes, judging by the letter. He values Holmes as a talented detective whereas Lestrade remains skeptical for many years to come, until that heartfelt praise in SIXN. It’s funny that Holmes compares Gregson and Lestrade to a pair of professional beauties when Watson says something very similar about him, that he’s like a girl sensitive to compliments;

- Holmes is reluctant to take the case despite being bored! But he does so at Watson’s request. Note how excited Watson is, even though he stated earlier that he had enough of excitement and noise until the end of his natural existence. Watson is in the habit of contradicting himself from the very start XD;

- Holmes takes Watson along with him to entertain his new friend who is clearly interested in the case. Also, Holmes’s apathy is quickly dispelled whereas Watson feels down. Holmes clearly wants to distract him from brooding which is very kind;

- Holmes's artistic side shows itself: he prattles about violins, music, and uses artistic jargon to name the case. Meanwhile, Watson's grows more convinced that Holmes is a poser seeing Holmes’s theatricality. Jeremy Brett channeled it brilliantly.

- The class difference between Holmes and the police detectives: Holmes, despite being broke, virtually unknown, and younger than Gregson, is a gentleman, middle or upper-middle class whereas Gregson is working class, so Gregson addresses Holmes accordingly;

- The state of Watson’s nerves: he is shaken by the sight of death (“I have seen death in many forms, but never has it appeared to me in a more fearsome aspect”, “room, the atmosphere of which felt clearer since the removal of its ghastly inmate.”)

- Holmes’s description while on the scent: a crackpot, isn't he? With all those mutterings to himself, crawling all over the place, etc. But Watson compares him to a foxhound;

- “With which Parthian shot he walked away, leaving the two rivals open-mouthed behind him.” - This is basically a Victorian equivalent of mic dropping.

The Parthian shot is a light horse military tactic made famous in the West by the Parthians, an ancient Iranian people. While in real or feigned retreat their horse archers would turn their bodies back in full gallop to shoot at the pursuing enemy. (Wikipedia)

Chapter 2

- Watson has a good grasp of the facts: he mentions all main points of the case and difficulties arising from the findings. This proves that Watson is a smart participant, not just tagalong, and Holmes praises him; 

- That epic moment when Holmes is reluctant to reveal much, fearing to lose Watson’s interest, but Watson professes his full devotion, and Holmes is all melted;

- When they visit Constable Rance, we are shown the typical living conditions of working-class people; 

- Despite Holmes’s sternness with Constable Rance, Holmes doesn’t call him “a blundering fool” in his face. Holmes is not that arrogant or bad-mannered!

Comments

[mightymads]

I hope life will get less stressful for you ❤️ I'm all right, thanks!

Watson did mention Lestrade before Lauriston Gardens, when Lestrade was one of the mysterious visitors who came to Holmes to have their conundrums solved. Mb 'as ever' refers to this?

Yes, I wonder too how many times Watson cheered Holmes up by praise. Perhaps just as many as Holmes did when he distracted Watson from brooding by some deductions :)

Great point that Holmes is harder on Lestrade and Gregson, although he never insults them either. Is this total rudeness thing a BBC Sherlock feature? Brett Holmes was occasionally rude too, but not to such a monstrous extent.

Looking forward to your recs of STUD adaptations!

Hope you feel better!

[rachelindeed]

I think the swing toward extreme rudeness probably owes a lot to the U.S. TV show House, M.D., which was a very popular mainstream show in the first decade of the 2000s and was loosely based on Sherlock Holmes. The title character, played by Hugh Laurie, was named in reference to Holmes (House is another word for Home) and his best friend Wilson was similarly inspired by Watson. The showrunners also took inspiration from the historical fact that Holmes's character was based on one of Doyle's med school teachers, Joseph Bell. House is a Holmes figure who's a doctor and runs a diagnostic department devoted entirely to solving medical mysteries no one else could figure out.

One of the main characteristics of the show was House's constant offensiveness and rudeness, which were used both for comedy and also as a sign of his unconventional genius and refusal to lie in order to be nice -- he was supposed to be a bastard, but one who would save innocent lives.

Mark Gatiss mentioned in his commentary on the first episode of BBC Sherlock that House, being the most recent and popular modern Holmes adaptation at that time, was an influence on how they pitched and wrote Sherlock.

[mightymads]

Yes, House was sort of an AU and inspired so many imitations that it basically became an archetype, a genius jerk. When House was first released the idea was rather fresh and unusual, and from the show itself it was clear that being a jerk was a double edged sword for the main character as he was deeply miserable and unable to maintain close connections without hurting people he cared about. Strangely enough, Professor Challenger is closer to that description than the canon Holmes.

But with numerous inspirations and new smart jerks on TV, the trope became disturbing, imo, because it supports the idea that it's okay to be nasty as long as you do your job well/good at something. I met such people. Interacting with them is very stressful. For some reason they think that they're better than others simply because they're experienced/older/worked here longer than you, etc.

As you said, House was a Holmes figure, but it doesn't seem that he was directly associated with Holmes and thus influenced the public perception of him. It's interesting, though, that his image influenced BBC Sherlock, who, in turn is a modern Holmes, and for a large number of people is the Holmes.

Perhaps a similar distortion of public perception happened to Watson's image due to Nigel Bruce's performance, since Rathbone films were hugely popular.

[luthienberen]

Thanks for your comment rachelindeed, really enlightening. I didn't know that BBC Sherlock took so much inspiration from House or how rude the main character is in House (never watched the show).

A pity the theme continued and has become so entrenched.

[luthienberen]

Thank you! Glad you're well too❤

Ooo good point re Lestrade! I misread that as Watson already being formally introduced to Lestrade rather than merely observing his comings and goings.

Re the rudeness, I do think BBC Sherlock is to blame (one reason of a few why I can't like BBC Sherlock!), because while Brett Holmes could be rude it was nowhere on the same scale let alone frequency .

I'll post my recs with my next post! Onto reading the next chapters this week 😀

Thanks, I took a break from the computer & phone yesterday and it was a major help in resting my eyes & head etc.