Sherlock - The Lying Detective

Sherlock can be a frustrating show sometimes. It is a show that is hugely enjoyable, yet at the same time can be infuriating as it gets too caught up in itself or tries to do too much. This was a major issue I had with the Series 3 finale, “His Last Vow”, and it is an issue I have with the second episode of Series 4, “The Lying Detective”.

Written by Steven Moffat (who also wrote “His Last Vow”), “The Lying Detective” is full of absolutely wonderful moments, with great performances (particularly from Toby Jones as Culverton Smith), tense scenes, and some clever plotting. But they work best as set pieces. As a whole, the episode jumps from moment to moment, often through time with flashbacks and flash-forwards, never pausing for a moment to breathe, and never allowing the audience a chance to get to know and empathise with its characters. And while it does have some clever twists and reveals, it relies far too heavily on Sherlock Holmes making deductions that are even more impossible than what he’s generally capable of. In short, there is a lot of wonderful eye candy, but it all doesn’t quite hold together as a coherent whole.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

Sherlock - The Six Thatchers

It’s been three years since Sherlock Series 3 aired, three years that viewers have waited for the resolution of the cliffhanger ending of “His Last Vow”. There was the special, “The Abominable Bride” last year, but that was a little different and certainly didn’t resolve the cliffhanger, so the world continued to wait the full three years. Now, Series 4 has begun with “The Six Thatchers” (based loosely on the Arthur Conan Doyle story, “The Adventure of the Six Napoleons”) and the cliffhanger... Well, I’ll leave discussion of that until the spoilered section.

Written by co-creator Mark Gatiss, “The Six Thatchers” marks a great return for Sherlock. Although I have some issues with it, which I’ll get into in a little bit, it’s a strong episode with some great character moments. Indeed, it’s very much a character-based episode with the mystery playing a rather secondary role. The focus here is on the relationships of the principal characters. There are moments of humour, seriousness, levity, and tragedy, all of which serve the overall purpose of character advancement. In particular, Sherlock himself sees some much-needed advancement as he finally starts to discover there are consequences for his actions.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

November Round-Up, Pathfinder Adventure Path #100, Doctor Who Christmas Special, and Sherlock

The end of the year approaches and December looks to be a big month for science fiction and fantasy fans. The new Star Wars movie comes out, of course, but there's more going on too. But first, a look back over the month that's passed...

November was a good month. While I always seem to be just a little bit behind what I hoped for (I planned to have one more Pathfinder review up by now), I'm still on target to catching up with everything in about a year from now, and I have high hopes I'll get a lot of extra work done during the holidays this coming month. In November, I completed another seven Pathfinder reviews. They included this summer's big hardcover release, Occult Adventures, which introduced psychic magic to the game. Following along with that theme, I also reviewed a couple of the other recent occult-themed releases: Occult Origins and Occult Bestiary. I will have a review of Occult Realms sometime in December. I also continued my way through the Iron Gods adventure path in November with Lords of Rust and The Choking Tower. Along with those, I reviewed the Technology Guide, which is indispensable to people running the adventure path. Finally, I looked at Champions of Corruption, the third of the alignment books, this one looking at the evil alignments. Coming up next will be a review of this year's Free RPG Day release, We Be Goblins Free!

December sees the release of Pathfinder Adventure Path #100! Part of the current Hell's Rebels AP, it's an extra-large volume to commemorate the milestone. It's hard to believe that I currently have 99 volumes of Pathfinder Adventure Path sitting on my shelves. They take up much less space than you might expect, actually. It's still quite a bit though. When Dragon and Dungeon magazines came to an end a few years ago, I still had several issues left on my subscription, so I used the option Paizo provided at the time to convert the remainder into credit towards their new Pathfinder release. I was hooked pretty quickly and just kept on getting them. Unfortunately, given how far behind I am, it will be awhile before I get round to reading and reviewing #100, but I couldn't let this monumental event pass without at least mentioning it.

Series 9 of Doctor Who continued throughout November, and I kept on with my reviews of each episode. These included the two-parter that began with “The Zygon Invasion” and concluded with “The Zygon Inversion”, the experimental “Sleep No More” and the tragic “Face the Raven”. This past weekend saw the airing of another very experimental episode, “Heaven Sent”. I'll have my review of that up soon. After the conclusion of Series 9 this month, I intend to do something I haven't done previously, and that's to do a separate write-up on the entire series. This is because, while I've highly enjoyed many of the individual episodes, I've felt the series hasn't really held together very well. The overall narrative arc has been quite poor, I've felt, and I want to take the time to look at that in more detail.

For some fun news, just yesterday, Peter Jackson (of Lord of the Rings fame) posted a video about the long-standing rumours that he might direct an episode of Doctor Who. The video was recorded recently when Peter Capaldi was in New Zealand for a convention. There's every chance that the video is just Jackson and Capaldi having a bit of fun, but perhaps—just perhaps—it's a tease before an official announcement that Jackson really will be directing an episode. See my post from yesterday to watch the video.

In other Doctor Who news, the title of this year's Christmas special has been announced: “The Husbands of River Song”. While I have my criticisms of River Song, I am looking forward to seeing her and the 12th Doctor together for the first time. I expect Alex Kingston and Peter Capaldi will be amazing on screen together. Although it hasn't actually been announced, one other thing about the special is discernible from the publicity picture (at the top of this post): the Doctor apparently has a sonic screwdriver again! I'll be happy to see the last of the sonic sunglasses (assuming they'll be gone completely—there's nothing really stopping the Doctor from having both).

Also coming over the holiday season is a Sherlock special: The Abominable Bride. This will air on New Year's Day. Set in Victorian times, it's not technically a continuation of the Sherlock series, but it does contain all the same cast. Here's the latest trailer:

If for nothing else, this will be worth watching for Watson's spectacular moustache!

So December looks to be quite the month (okay, so Sherlock is technically in January, whatever). I'm looking forward to it!

February Round-Up, Pathfinder Legends, and Wrath of the Righteous Poster Map Folio

Another month has come and gone. It was a fairly quiet month for me here on the blog, particularly in the world of Doctor Who. However, I did review the excellent and very important book Doctor Who and Race. I highly recommend people read it! I also wrapped up the third series of Sherlock with “His Last Vow” and took a little look back at Babylon 5 in honour of its 20th anniversary. In the world of Pathfinder, I looked at three products: Herald of the Ivory Labyrinth, People of the Sands, and Osirion, Legacy of Pharaohs.

In some exciting Pathfinder news, this month sees the release of the first Pathfinder Legends, a series of audio dramas from Big Finish, who are most well known for their Doctor Who audio dramas. The first release is Rise of the Runelords: Burnt Offerings, based, of course, on the first Pathfinder Adventure Path volume. You can listen to a trailer at the link. To be honest, I’m not all that impressed by the trailer, which surprises me as you would expect the trailer to showcase the very best of the production. Still, Big Finish has a very good record with their Doctor Who audios—enough of a record that I am very confident in their ability to do a very good job with Pathfinder Legends. You can purchase copies from Big Finish or from Paizo. Alas, much like with Big Finish’s Doctor Who material, personal budgetary constraints mean I’m not going to be able to pick any of these up in the near future. Hopefully one day, though. One day...

I’ll wrap things up with a short review. Here’s to a great March!

Wrath of the Righteous Poster Map Folio

As with most map folios for the adventure paths, the Wrath of the Righteous Poster Map Folio comes with three large, full-colour maps. One is a map of the Worldwound, the area where most of the action of Wrath of the Righteous takes place. The second map is of Kenabres, the city where the adventure path begins in The Worldwound Incursion. Both of these maps are high-quality and beautiful to look at, while also being highly useful for playing the adventure path. Admittedly, the map of Kenabres is really only useful for the first adventure, but the map of the Worldwound will be useful right up to the final instalment.

However, the stand-out map of this set is the third one: a map of the Abyss (which the PCs travel to in the fourth and fifth instalments of Wrath of the Righteous). Mapping out the Abyss is a daunting task—no, more an impossible task really, considering the Abyss is essentially an infinite plane made up of countless other planes. What this map does instead is provide an artistic rendition of the various Abyssal realms and “where” (metaphorically speaking) they are in relation to each other. Admittedly, the map doesn’t have a lot of utility in actual game-play. However, I don’t really care. The map is utterly beautiful to behold and can easily serve as an in-game representation of the Abyss—something the players’ characters might actually see. Ultimately, this map provides a visual element to enhance game-play. It gives both players and GMs just a little hint on what their characters are seeing, allowing the imagination to fill in the rest. It also makes a great poster to hang on the wall.

Sherlock - His Last Vow

I rarely come away from watching something without a decent idea of what I think of it. I’m often unwilling to voice my opinion immediately, as I’m often thinking about a number of small details in my mind, but nonetheless I have a clear overall opinion. Subsequent viewings may modify that opinion a little (as I notice things I may have missed the first time), but that doesn’t mean I was confused about my original opinion. On rare occasions, however, when the end credits of a programme roll, I have little to no idea what to think of what I’ve watched. The finale of Series 3 of Sherlock, “His Last Vow” by Steven Moffat, is one such time.

In my review of the previous episode, “The Sign of Three”, I commented on the fact that the middle episodes of each series tend to be the weakest. I pondered whether this would be true of “The Sign of Three” as well. I considered it weaker than the series opener, even though overall I liked the episode. If the drawn-out jokes were cut down (making the episode somewhat shorter), it could have been a brilliant episode, so there was still the possibility that it might buck the trend and not be the weakest episode of the series. Having now seen “His Last Vow”, I suppose I can say that this series has indeed bucked the trend—if only because “His Last Vow” has completely muddled things.

After a couple viewings of “His Last Vow”, I can say that I do enjoy it—more or less. In fact, there’s a lot that’s brilliant about it. There’s so much in this episode trying to burst out and be seen and heard, so many interesting plot turns and story ideas. But that is the major problem with the episode as well: so many. Too many in fact. Like a lot of Steven Moffat’s writing, “His Last Vow” tries to do too much. The story jumps around all over the place, with plot twists, flash-forwards, and flashbacks. By the end, you no longer seem to be watching the same show you started watching at the beginning. Major revelations are dropped in virtually out of nowhere—including a totally out-of-the-blue cliff-hanger.

So I now realize the source of my confliction after my first viewing. I do enjoy the episode. It’s fun and exciting. But it’s not satisfying. All those fun and exciting things fail to develop sufficiently because each one has to be quickly shoved aside to make way for the next exciting twist. The story lacks the heart that both “The Empty Hearse” and “The Sign of Three” have in spades. “His Last Vow” just sort of is. It comes along, you have some fun, and then it’s gone. And afterwards you’re left wondering, what exactly was the point?

SPOILERS FOLLOW

January Round-Up

I’m a little late with the round-up this month. I’ve actually decided to move them from the last day of the month to the first day of the next month (yes, I know that still makes me late!). That keeps them visible in the site’s archive links to the right (the default of which only has the current month open).

The big thing in January was, of course, the return of Sherlock after a two-year hiatus. I have reviewed both “The Empty Hearse” and “The Sign of Three” so far. I have now watched (twice) “His Last Vow” and will have a review for it in the next day or two. I will make no comment on it until that time.

In the world of Doctor Who, filming has started on Series 8, the first with Peter Capaldi as the Doctor. We have also been treated to the first official picture of Capaldi in costume—a costume I like a great deal. The first pictures from the filming have started to show up as well. I tend to avoid most of those as I don’t want to get too spoiled. However, the picture at the top of this post is a pretty non-spoilery one.

In the world of roleplaying, I reviewed several Pathfinder products in January, including Magical Marketplace, the Inner Sea NPC Codex, Wardens of the Reborn Forge, and The Midnight Isles. I also reflected a little on the 40th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons.

I usually include a little something extra with these monthly round-ups, but I must admit I don’t have anything this month. All things considered, it was a pretty quiet month and I wasn’t sure what to include. So, have a great February, everyone!

Sherlock - The Sign of Three

There seems to be a bit of a trend in Sherlock for the middle episode of each series to be the weakest of the three. “The Blind Banker” from Series One was weaker than the episodes before and after it. In Series Two, “The Hounds of Baskerville” was not as good as the two stories that surrounded it. I haven’t watched the final episode of Series Three yet, but so far, “The Sign of Three” seems to be following that trend. It’s not a bad episode, but it’s certainly not as good as “The Empty Hearse”.

Of course, with such short series (only three episodes each) and only three series to date, it’s a little too soon to call this a pattern. Still there’s a hint of one, and it’s easy to see why one would occur. The first episode has the task of setting up the entire series to come and, in the case of Series Two and Three, resolving the cliffhanger of the previous series. The third episode has the task of resolving everything for that year (and quite possibly setting up a cliffhanger for the next series). Both episodes have to accomplish big things, while the middle episode is situated...well, in the middle. It can feel a bit like filler. Of course, “The Sign of Three” is certainly not filler. It deals with a major even in the lives of Sherlock, John, and Mary, and serves as an important character episode for all three. However, it does suffer from problems that nonetheless make it feel like filler, and that’s a bit of a shame, as there are otherwise some really good things in the episode.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

Sherlock - The Empty Hearse

Two years ago, in “The Reichenbach Fall”, Sherlock Holmes fell from the top of a hospital in London, in front of numerous witnesses including his friend John Watson. The world thought him dead—well, the fictional world did. Viewers in the real world knew that it was some sort of trick. We got to see Sherlock still standing, quite alive, at the end of the episode, watching Watson at his grave. But for two years, we’ve all been trying to figure out how he did it.

In “The Final Problem” by Arthur Conan Doyle, the original Sherlock Holmes faced off against his greatest enemy, Moriarty (who never actually appeared in any other Doyle story), and the two of them fell to their deaths from the top of Reichenbach Falls. It was Doyle’s full intention that this was the final end for the great detective. Doyle wanted to concentrate on other things; however, public pressure brought him round to resurrecting Holmes several years later in “The Adventure of the Empty House”. At that point, it was necessary for Doyle to find a way for Holmes not to have died at the Reichenbach Falls after all. A lack of eyewitnesses at Holmes’s death made this relatively easy for Doyle.

The TV series Sherlock, however, one-ups its source material by having Holmes fall to his death in front of witnesses while also knowing, in advance, that Holmes will somehow survive. Of course, that method can’t be revealed to the audience immediately. Throw in two years of waiting for the next episode, and you have the two years of fans trying to figure out the mystery for themselves. It was certainly something I contemplated more than a few times. It was always clear that Molly was involved somehow and I figured there was a good chance that Mycroft would be (especially since Mycroft is one of the few who know of Sherlock’s survival in Doyle’s stories), but I must admit, I could never come up with an explanation I was satisfied with. I could always finds holes in anything I came up with, although, to be honest, I always figured there was a good chance the explanation the writers came up with would have holes in it as well.

But the long wait has finally come to a close as Sherlock has made a triumphant return to television screens. Like the viewers, it has been two years for the characters and most of them have moved on with their lives—until Sherlock Holmes suddenly returns. I have to say, this episode was worth the long wait. “The Empty Hearse” by Mark Gatiss (the title being a play on Doyle’s “The Adventure of the Empty House”) does an excellent job of re-establishing the major characters and where they are now in their lives, while introducing (and resolving) a brand new mystery, and hinting at the story arc for the season. Indeed, it’s rather impressive how much happens in this episode without it all becoming a jumbled mess, making for ninety minutes of highly enjoyable television.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

December Round-Up Plus Doctor Who Deleted Scene, Wholock, RPG Superstar, and Funny Searches

So, 2013 has come and gone. December was not my most productive month ever, but certainly not my least. My big regret for the month is that I was not able to watch the remaining episodes of the second series of Wizards Vs Aliens, and likewise review them. The season has ended now and I am placing watching and reviewing them as a top priority for January. I will get to them!

December was another big month for Doctor Who, of course, as Matt Smith’s time as the Doctor came to a close. In the lead-up to his departure, a couple of trailers for his final story arrived, as well as three separate clips. Just before the Christmas special aired, I wrote a piece expressing my concerns over the Doctor’s loss of regenerations. Then, on Christmas day, Matt Smith took a bow in “The Time of the Doctor”. You can read my review of that here. In the days following the airing, BBC America released a deleted scene from the episode, which you can watch here:

Although Doctor Who Christmas specials have become a standard since the series returned in 2005, there weren’t any during the original series’ run. However, in 1965, Doctor Who’s regular schedule fell on Christmas Day. The episode that aired, “The Feast of Steven” was the seventh episode of the epic twelve-part story, “The Daleks’ Masterplan”. Yet this episode stood apart from the remainder of the story. It didn’t even have any Daleks appear in it! Instead, the Doctor and his companions get caught up in a couple of light-hearted mini-adventures on modern day Earth—on Christmas day. The episode is infamous for its closing moments when the Doctor breaks the fourth wall and wishes all the viewers a merry Christmas. The episode is sadly lost from the archives, but like other missing episodes, the audio survives. Here’s a fan animation of the closing moments using the existing audio:

Today, January 1, 2014 marks the long awaited return of Sherlock. I haven’t actually seen the first episode yet, but will be watching it soon. I hope it’s good! But to help build anticipation for it, a prequel, “Many Happy Returns” came out last week. For people interested in the idea of a Doctor Who/Sherlock crossover, here’s a phenomenal fan video called “Wholock”:

In the world of roleplaying games, the Advanced Class Guide Playtest came to an end this month. We now need to wait until August to see the results! Paizo’s annual RPG Superstar contest also started this month. Although the deadline for entries was today, it’s now possible for the public to vote in the contest. Each round of the contest will narrow the number of competitors down until the final one wins a commission to write a Pathfinder adventure module.

I reviewed three Pathfinder products this month: Bestiary 4, Demon’s Heresy, and Towns of the Inner Sea. There are several more waiting in the wings. Expect the first, Magical Marketplace, to appear tomorrow.

Finally, I thought I’d round things off this month with a selection of the latest bizarre search terms that have brought people to this blog. As always, any spelling errors are repeated exactly.

best pens for doctors – Well, with pen in the blog’s name and lots of Doctor Who stuff, I can understand it, I guess.

google steven moffit sexist - I just found this humorous because whoever did the search felt the need to include the word google in it.

doctor who sex games – Yeah, I still don’t know why people looking for sex keep ending up here.

matt smith’s boner lets kill hitler – Um, does he have one in “Let’s Kill Hitler”? I’m afraid to go back and check.

dices that communicate with demons – No comment.

ford transmissions - I have absolutely no idea.

Happy New Year everyone!

Sherlock - Many Happy Returns

Sherlock returns for its third series on New Year's Day, when we'll get to learn how yet another of Steven Moffat's characters escapes death! To be fair, though, in this case, he's basically repeating what happened with Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, so he gets a pass this time. To help prepare us for the show's return after its long hiatus, today saw the release of this mini-episode, "Many Happy Returns". Have a look.



I really like Lestrade's exasperation at Anderson's conspiracy theories regarding Holmes's survival. Banging his head on the table is a nice touch. Yet amid his insistence that Holmes is dead and gone, one gets just a hint that Lestrade is still secretly hopeful. It's a great performance from Rupert Graves. Indeed, for a brief moment after he says that he's off to meet a friend, I actually expected that friend to turn out to be Holmes and we would learn that Lestrade has known all along.

Of course, that friend turns out to be Watson, who is suitably saddened and morose at his friend's death. That sadness is increased by the recording of Sherlock, which is certainly not nearly as funny as Lestrade claims it is.

I have my criticisms of Sherlock (mostly the same criticisms I have of Steven Moffat's Doctor Who), but nonetheless I enjoy the show a great deal. "Many Happy Returns" has certainly helped whet my appetite for its return.