Sherlock Holmes is a Tragedy
Let the brilliant man feel joy
The other night I watched Mr. Holmes for the first time ever. Which is crazy because I had the movie poster on the wall of my teenage bedroom for years. A friend worked at a movie theater and knew I loved Sherlock Holmes and gave it to me. Nevertheless, I got around to watching it.
For those unfamiliar with the plot of Mr. Holmes, it tells the story of Holmes post WW2 in his 90s slowly succumbing to dementia as he tries to recall his final case. With the help of his housekeeper and her young son, Rodger, who becomes something of a protegee.
The old man has tried everything to maintain his faculties including traveling to Hiroshima to find a substance called “prickly ash” that has been rumored to aid brain function. All of this to no avail.
It’s obviously sad to watch one of the greatest fictional minds become powerless to age and decay. The thing that really struck a chord with me is that the community Holmes had throughout his life had now gone.
Spoilers if you haven’t watched.
Towards the end of the film Holmes explains that how Watson portrayed his final case was kind, it covered up his failure to help a woman in need. Watson had come to him after he’d failed the case, having since moved out after getting married, and stayed for a few weeks.
“Mrs. Hudson wrote to Watson. He came at once. He stayed with me, in our old rooms, for a month more. I told him everything about the case in great detail. He brought me back from the brink. And then Watson wrote the story. He made me the hero. It was his way of bestowing a kindness. He knew no other manner in which to write the character he had created. After all those years John didn’t know me at all. …After that John and I were estranged. Three years later he too, was gone.”
This broke my heart more than the story itself. The fact that two of the most famous friends met the end of their lives apart. It’s made clear that Holmes in this iteration does not know how to express care and love. And in doing that he misrepresented himself to his closest friend.
After this is it is also revealed that Mrs. Hudson had passed as well. The main characters in these beloved stories were no longer.
In more recent versions of the Holmes story, adaptors seem to prefer to keep Holmes and Watson apart or estranged.
In The Irregulars on Netflix, Watson enlists help from an outside party aka The Irregulars to save his Holmes from ruin, as he seems to have gone mad on a case. He’s also revealed to be in love with his Holmes, albeit unrequited.
In Enola Holmes, the film versions anyway, Holmes doesn’t meet his Watson until the end of the second film after exhibiting self-destructive behavior at the beginning. He’s been living alone for the majority of his screentime.
In the Laurie R. King novels starring Mary Russell, Holmes is retired but still keeps Mrs. Hudson employed as his house in Sussex Downs, but he and Watson remain separated for the majority of the first few books. Watson is barely even mentioned.
In the Guy Ritchie films the first movie begins with Watson getting married and having left Baker Street.
In the upcoming CBS series, Watson, Holmes has already died.
In the other upcoming series Young Sherlock for Amazon, he has yet to meet Watson.
Why?
One of the most famous Sherlock Holmes stories is The Reichenbach Fall, in which Holmes fakes his death to take down Professor Moriarty. Separating himself from Watson until The Empty Hearse was published after great outcry. Previous to this story readers has years with these two men, and their relationship. That’s what makes the separation so heartbreaking. If we start all adaptations with them separated what are we saying?
In Mr. Holmes, he and Ann Kelmot, who was the subject of his final case, have a conversation about loneliness.
Sherlock Holmes: I have been alone. All my life. But with the compensations of the intellect.
Ann Kelmot: And is that enough?
Sherlock Holmes: It can be. If one is so fortunate as to find a place in the world. And another soul with whom one's loneliness can reside.
Later on Holmes recounts this conversation to his land lady to explain his blind spots, and his struggle with relationships.
Sherlock Holmes: There was a woman, once. I knew her less than a day. A quarter of an hour's conversation. She needed my help. She needed so desperately to be understood by someone... Me. So, I laid out the particulars of her case as I saw them... To her satisfaction, I thought. I watched her walk away. And within hours she'd ended her life. By identifying the cause of her despair with such clarity, I'd given her carte blanche to do just as she intended. I should've done whatever it took to save her. Lie to her, make up a story. Take her by the hand and hold her as she wept, and said, "Come live with me. "Let us be alone together." But I was fearful. Selfish. She's the reason I came here to my bees, so that I couldn't harm anyone ever again.
In mulitple adaptions Holmes always talks about how he prefers logic over emotion. In this version, he seems to finally learn the benefits of a good story, a white lie.
He forgives Watson for his fabrication of events. Knowing it was out of love for him.
It was a beautfully bittersweet film. I ended up giving it 4 stars on Letterboxd. Taking away one star for the Holmes/Watson separation.
Sherlock Holmes came into the public domain a little over a year ago. A few projects have been in the works since then. The podcast Sherlock & Co has released. It’s a modern retelling of the stories and has been a delight to listen to. Another series for the CW has been greenlit, Sherlock & Daughter, which is exactly what it sounds like. It’s scheduled for mid-season 2025. Another Enola Holmes film is scheduled as well.
Sherlock Holmes is one of the most adapted characters of all time. there is plenty of time to watch this story evolve. In the meantime though…
My Favorite Iterations of Holmes/Watson
The Charlotte Holmes series by Brittany Cavallaro - Charlotte Holmes, the descendant of Sherlock Holmes and Jamie Watson, the descendant of John Watson, solve crimes at a Connecticut boarding school and all over the world. Romance confirmed.
Elementary on CBS- Sherlock Holmes is a consultant for the NYPD and recovering drug addict. He gets assigned Joan Watson as his newest sober companion, and their lives are never the same. Fantastic male/female friendship.
House MD - A looser Holmes adaptation about Dr. Gregory House who solves medical mysteries. Accompanied by his best friend Dr. James Wilson. Their relationship is like nothing I’ve seen since.