Honestly it pisses me off so much that people keep altering the Holmes/Watson dynamic when making comedic adaptations bc they think that the only way to make them funny is for Watson to be really stupid, or for Holmes to be an asshole to him, or for Watson to be constantly chasing after women, etc. Because their actual, original, canonical dynamic is SO RICH with comedic potential!
"A total weirdo and his nice, polite, normal friend who is secretly just as fucking weird as the first guy" is a hilarious dynamic. "Awkward autistic genius who makes everyone uncomfortable and his well-adjusted companion who acts as his normal people translator" is hilarious. "Two guys who are so codependent that they're constantly doing bits and making up inside jokes and everyone else is sick of it" is hilarious. "Extremely self-destructive guy plus the person who's constantly holding him back from running into danger except sometimes their roles completely reverse for a bit as they fight over who gets to take a bullet for the other one" is hilarious. They're so fucking crazy i love them
This post has gotten a ton of tags with people recommending their favorite adaptations that get this dynamic correct so I thought I’d round them up here:
First of all: ELEMENTARY. Yes, this was one of the adaptations I was thinking of when I made this post. They absolutely nail the freak4freak dynamic. I started watching it last year and it has quickly become one of my favorite SH adaptations. I love how they create such a good contrast between Holmes, who has long ago accepted that he’ll never fit into the mold of society, vs. Watson, who is secretly also a weirdo but has been trying to fit into that mold her entire life and doing a very good job of being respectable and normal but making herself miserable doing it.
Ritchie Holmes (The one with RDJ and Jude Law): it’s not a perfect adaptation and it’s not particularly book accurate BUT it’s fun and silly and I do think they captured the chaotic energy of their partnership pretty well. Also the soundtrack slaps.
House M.D and Psych: these shows have been tagged A LOT and I haven’t seen them but from what I hear, yeah they get the dynamic down pretty perfectly. They’re not technically Holmes adaptations, they’re more like Holmes *inspired* but I’ll still include them.
Frogwares Holmes (particularly the video game Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened): Yes. Absolutely. There’s a great scene with Watson where he’s like “I’m being dragged all over the world doing insane shit and risking my life all to chase these rumors of a crime and I’ve NEVER FELT SO ALIVE” which is iconic of him tbh.
And nobody’s tagged it but I’m also gonna say: Granada Holmes. It’s the most book accurate adaptation, so their dynamic is very close to what’s written in the canon. And they’re extremely married and I love them.
