Episode 2.1, "A Scandal In Belgravia"

[Carol the Dabbler]

I'm consulting Ariane DeVere's transcript, and here's the sequence of events:

 

Mrs. Hudson is cleaning out the fridge, the driver shows up, and she hollers for the "boys."

The driver is questioned by Sherlock.  We see that John is present, but Sherlock is not in our field of view.

John shows up at the "crime" scene.

Sherlock emerges from his bedroom suite, yawning, picks up a laptop in the kitchen, and apparently re-joins John on Skype (he says "Now show me..."); the driver is sitting in John's chair.

The palace guys show up and terminate the Skype connection.

 

We do not see Sherlock until well after John arrives at the "crime" scene, so he may have been wearing the sheet the entire time.  In any case, yes, it looks to me like he saw no reason to question the driver any further, and knew it would take John a few hours to reach the scene, and maybe Mrs. Hudson's yell had interrupted his sleep -- so he made good use of the time by taking a nap.  (I'd like to think that he offered the driver a book or something, but I sure wouldn't bet on it.)  He took the laptop with him so that John's Skype call would wake him up, and when it did, he got as far as the kitchen before realizing that he really needed to hit the bathroom first.

 

No problem, joanneta -- if I can figure out how to separate this discussion from the rest of the thread, I'll move it to the "Scandal" thread, but in the meanwhile, it's OK here.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

It occurs to me that my comments on the "Scandal" sequence, above, do not take into account Lestrade's little scene:
 

A young police officer brings a mobile phone over to Detective Inspector Carter.
POLICE OFFICER: Sir. Phone call for you.
CARTER (taking the phone and speaking into it): Carter.
(Lestrade is at the other end of the line, sitting in his car in Baker Street.)
LESTRADE: Have you heard of Sherlock Holmes?
CARTER: Who?
LESTRADE: Well, you’re about to meet him now. This is your case. It’s entirely up to you. This is just friendly advice, but give Sherlock five minutes on your crime scene and listen to everything that he has to say. And as far as possible, try not to punch him.

 
That conversation occurs just as John arrives at the "crime" scene.  Note that Lestrade seems to think that Sherlock has gone with John (admittedly, "about to meet him" could refer to the Skype connection, but it's hard to punch someone over the internet).  And he's apparently been so busy at Baker Street (presumably questioning the driver) that he's just now had a chance to phone Carter.
 
So apparently once Sherlock was satisfied that the driver has told him everything he knew that might be useful, he phoned Lestrade, told him that he and John were about to depart for the "crime" scene, and suggested that he come to Baker Street to question the driver.  Then John departed and Sherlock went back to bed.
 
But I'm still wondering why Lestrade went to Baker Street in the first place.  He explicitly says this is Carter's case -- so why didn't he just tell Sherlock to have the driver drop by Carter's office as soon as he's up to it?  Or if Lestrade is trying to help Carter by questioning the driver himself, why didn't he at least tell Carter that he had done so?

 

[sfmpco]

My head just went TILT with that one, Carol.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Good to know that we haven't run out of things to figure out!  ;)

 

[joanneta1]

 

 

:D I'm beginning to understand why tv tropes calls A Scandal in Belgravia "fanservice - the episode".

 

Am I the only person who was actually sorry when the sheet came down? For me, that scene kind of spoils the illusion for a moment, because that is definitely not Sherlock Holmes' body. That's the body of an incredibly fit and arguably well built actor, but it's not the "gaunt frame" of my favorite detective. Rather than force Benedict Cumberbatch to become borderline anorexic for the role, though, I'd be fine with them just keeping his healthy muscles covered and giving him the right costume to make him look more emaciated than (I hope) he'll ever be. They do a very good job there in general... And his face is luckily just perfect for the character, anyway. So guys? Just keep him clothed. If I want the rest, I've got an imagination, ya know... :P

I am never going to argue with seeing BC in a sheet, but I agree that there is a bit of a disconnect between the thinness of canon Holmes's body and BC's body. I wish they would just let this Sherlock be a bit more muscular than canon Holmes, because BC looks best when he has more muscle, and I don't think it is healthy or a great example to encourage actors of either gender to become anorexic just for a part.

Are you totally sure this was a disembodied head? After all, he is a swimmer, which is why he got the injunction to put ketchup in his hair and wrap it in tinfoil in case the dye went green from the chlorinated water, and one thing about swimmers is that they get a particular body shape of well developed arms and torso and very thin hips, flanks and legs, a sort of Y shape. Just a thought.

[sfmpco]

Sorry, but that was his body.  He had put on a few pounds for S2 because it was thought he got too thin for S1.  After all, he's living with a doctor now who is likely nagging him a bit about nutrition.  I will say that he was nice and muscular after playing Khan (supposedly went up 4 suit sizes in the upper body) and also after doing Little Favour which was on the heels of Khan.

 

The only disembodied head is in the fridge.

[Arcadia]

I am never going to argue with seeing BC in a sheet, but I agree that there is a bit of a disconnect between the thinness of canon Holmes's body and BC's body. I wish they would just let this Sherlock be a bit more muscular than canon Holmes, because BC looks best when he has more muscle, and I don't think it is healthy or a great example to encourage actors of either gender to become anorexic just for a part.

The way I look at it, this is a modern Sherlock, and a modern Sherlock, like most modern people, probably wouldn't be as gaunt as a Victorian Sherlock. Just part of the update!

[Carol the Dabbler]

Hey, that's not bad!  Anything to keep Mr. Cumberbatch from alternately starving and force-feeding himself for his art.  'Tain't worth the health risks, in my opinion.

 

[Arcadia]

Yes, I'm sorry that seems to have become a "thing" with actors, to drastically change their bodies to fit their roles. C'mon, the audience does have some imagination, y'know.

I don't get the impression BC takes it as far as some of the others though. Anorexic? Nah.

[sfmpco]

I do think at times he looks quite gaunt, but anorexic, no.

[joanneta1]

Thanks for all your helpful input. I kind of caught a nod to what sfmpco pointed out, when at the beginning of the commentary to a Scandal in Belgravia Benedict says that his face suddenly inflates, referring to the change from S1 to S2.

[Arcadia]

The funny thing is, even after he mentioned that I still didn't notice it. But then I'm terrible at noticing things like that anyway.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I didn't notice his face either -- but Sherlock's shirts did seem to have shrunk!

 

[SherlockedCAMPer]

1 of my biggest pet peeves (mild as it is) in fashion is strained buttons on a shirt when the person wearing it is relaxed. And yes it's obvious that the shirts shrunk in comparison to Sherlock's chest. However, I've seen worse with co-workers and am glad they have appeared to correct the shirt sizing issue with our beloved Sherlock.

[sfmpco]

Either his shirts shrunk or he bulked a size or two.  Or... they have the strained buttons for the sake of the fangirls. 

[sfmpco]

[sfmpco]

I'm always surprised that John tries to lie to Sherlock at the end about Irene being in a witness protection program, because he ought to know Sherlock well enough to know that Sherlock can't be lied to like that.  Sherlock sees right through it.  of course, Sherlock knew exactly what happened and allowed John the lie... and if John was more observant, that would have set him off a bit.

[joanneta1]

Well, if John were more observant, he would be a competitor, not a helpmate, and please note, this is not my quotation, it is Mr Holmes's : "A confederate who foresees your conclusions and course of action is always dangerous, but one to whom each development comes as a perpetual surprise, and to whom the future is always a closed book, is indeed an ideal helpmate."

And that comes right after his observation If I burden myself... used in SoT!

[Carol the Dabbler]

I don't believe I've come across the "If I burden myself...." quote in canon yet -- what story is it from? and does it end the same way?  :P

[Carol the Dabbler]

Oops -- never mind -- I found it here (in "The Adventure of the Blanched soldier," which I indeed have not read):

 

 

 

... if I burden myself with a companion in my various little inquiries it is not done out of sentiment or caprice, but it is that Watson has some remarkable characteristics of his own to which in his modesty he has given small attention amid his exaggerated estimates of my own performances. A confederate who foresees your conclusions and course of action is always dangerous, but one to whom each development comes as a perpetual surprise, and to whom the future is always a closed book, is indeed an ideal helpmate.

 

So what Sherlock says in So3 is a shortened, far less flattering, form of that.

[sfmpco]

Because I know SHERLOCK so well, I will be marking all the little references in the original canon when I read the stories for the first time.  They will stick out like a sore thumb!

[joanneta1]

No they won't! I have been reading them since age 12, I make a point of re-reading them together with Raffles, Arsene Lupin, Pride and Prejudice and Anna Karenina once a year, by turns, but when I post something here, back I go to my Complete Sherlock Holmes to double check. One thing you will be able to do is appreciate the insider jokes, if that is what you meant! And I must have mentioned somewhere in HLV that I cannot forget , or as Toby observed, erase THAT scene from my mind because of a nearly eidetic memory,but for posts, I double-check.

[Arcadia]

Oops -- never mind -- I found it here (in "The Adventure of the Blanched soldier," which I indeed have not read):

 

 

 

... if I burden myself with a companion in my various little inquiries it is not done out of sentiment or caprice, but it is that Watson has some remarkable characteristics of his own to which in his modesty he has given small attention amid his exaggerated estimates of my own performances. A confederate who foresees your conclusions and course of action is always dangerous, but one to whom each development comes as a perpetual surprise, and to whom the future is always a closed book, is indeed an ideal helpmate.

 

So what Sherlock says in So3 is a shortened, far less flattering, form of that.

Erm .... I don't know about far less flattering.... :D

[Carol the Dabbler]

Well then, far more explicit!  :D

[joanneta1]

Sorry, Carol, I should have mentioned that there are only three cases in the whole of ACD that are not narrated by Dr Watson, namely The Mazarin Stone, in third person narrative, perhaps because it featured in the play of William Gillette, The Blanched Soldier and The Lion's Mane, which are narrated by Holmes himself. Got a bit carried away in the Baby Watson escapist fun.