The Great Game (Sherlock TV 2010)

~ Bookstooge

This was a fantastic episode. This is where Moriarty is officially introduced and my goodness, does he make an entrance. He finally confronts Sherlock by forcing Sherlock to solve one mystery after another without a letup and the hook is that if Sherlock fails, an innocent will be blown to smithereens by a bomb vest. It is tense, fast and non-stop.

Unfortunately, the gay innuendo is non-stop as well. From Moriarty’s little “love” letters to Sherlock, to Moriarty pretending to BE gay to the continued two guys can’t be friends schtick. I had not remembered it being so blatant or so non-stop. It just felt unrelenting.

Dave asked me some questions, so without further ado:

  • What do you think of Moriarty’s portrayal during this episode? Does he come of as clever as he thinks he is? Do you consider him a threat with all that pomp and show and tell tactics?

He’s definitely a show-off but his little game makes me feel that he IS as clever as he thinks he is. He’s just a crazy psycho too.

That being said, Moriarty was the absolutely PERFECT villain. When that light hearted charming facade switches off and you see the evil monstrous man, oh boy, watch out. His little tantrum while talking to Sherlock while Watson is wearing a bomb vest was like a light turning off and darkness just spreading through the whole room. The cliffhanger ending would have been annoying back in the day but with the series finished, anyone now can simply pop in the next disc (or stream it if they’re extravagantly and filthy rich) and voila, the journey continues.

  • What did you feel about the overall episode.

While I enjoyed watching this, as a nice little break from the Muppet related stuff, overall it was not worth the energy to review. Movies are a whole different beast from books and it takes a different mentality to review them. I haven’t had a lot of practice and so the strain on my moral fibre is incredible. If I watch any more of the series I won’t be blogging about it.

  • Do you think the cat and mouse game between good and bad was well done? If so what stood out, if not, what did you find annoying?

The rivalry between Moriarty and Sherlock was definitely changed for a tv show. Like I mentioned above, it was almost too frenetic for me. And Sherlock thriving on it and losing sight of the goal of bringing a criminal to justice wasn’t very likeable or heroic in my opinion.

  • Do you also keep severed heads in your kitchen fridge?😆

Hahahahahaa! That was just so ridiculous that I actually laughed at it.

Dave has his own review up HERE.

27 thoughts on “The Great Game (Sherlock TV 2010)”

  1. Pingback: Sundays with Sherlock – The Great Game | Wordaholicanonymous

    1. Thanks Dave. After how I’ve been sailing through the Muppet stuff I figured this should be easy. Maaaaan, it was NOT. Thanks for sticking through it with me. I REALLY appreciated your questions. Without them I would have been flapping like a flag in the wind.

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  3. Didn’t really care for the cliffhanger, which is resolved at the start of the next season in the most perfunctory way imaginable. I liked the way Moriarty is presented, but had trouble with his motivation. Is he just the evil-mirror Sherlock, doing evil for kicks because otherwise he’d be bored all the time? Doesn’t seem like he needs more money or power.

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    1. Evil is insatiable is the lesson I got from Moriarty. It also fits perfectly with my world view.

      Doing this was a real lesson for me. Movies aren’t just books on the tv. Makes me glad to scuttle back to my book reviewing world 😀

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        1. and I think that is why I enjoyed it as much as I did, I accepted it as an adaptation instead of a one for one transition to the screen. Very few movies can do that successfully (Dune being one of them 😉 )

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    1. At 90min an episode, it really comes across more as a move to me than an “episode”.

      I think I might have been ok if Dave and I had reviewed the whole season (like I do for the muppet stuff) but I wanted to draw things out. That’ll teach me! 🙂

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    1. Andrew Scott. I don’t know what else he’s been in, but I really enjoyed his performance here.

      And I’m sorry but I’m going to have to take back that Queen of the Comments crown now. Can’t have useful comments cluttering up this part of the blog you know…

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    1. You’ve really never read Sherlock Holmes? If you ever get a spare hour or two, I’d highly recommend him 😀

      I’m not sure if this show would work so well if you didn’t have at least a summary knowledge of Holmes and Watson…

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    1. The guy who played Moriarty in the Iron Man Sherlock movie didn’t impress me at all.

      I am thinking about seeing what else Andrew Scott has been in to see if he’s as good an actor elsewhere.

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  9. Pingback: May ’22 Roundup & Ramblings – Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road

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