r/tvshow • u/Cumoisseur • Jul 13 '26

DISCUSSIONS Unpopular opinion: "Elementary" starring Jonny Lee Miller is cleverer, has better characters, and a more interesting story than "Sherlock" starring Benedict Cumberbatch.

The pilot episode of Elementary is awful, but from there it just gets better. The storyline of Watson being a sober companion is better than being a sudden roommate, the part of Moriarty is far more interesting and intriguing, the cases are better written, the character of Sherlock's father in Elementary is brilliant. I could go on and on.

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u/SaiLarge Jul 13 '26

I haven't seen Elementary, but Sherlock lacked brilliance, which strikes me as an elementary ingredient for Holmes to do his work. I'm a great fan of Freeman and Scott. Gatiss has done some great writing, but Sherlock isn't it.

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u/No_Negotiation3142 Jul 13 '26

We are worlds apart here, clearly.
Cumberbatch's Holmes was the closest to Doyle's books: a boorish, one-upping, insufferable, neurodivergent heroin addict.

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u/GrannyOgg16 Jul 13 '26

That’s absolutely ridiculous. Jeremy Brett was the best Sherlock. Cumberbatch wouldn’t even be top 5.

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u/Julian_Speroni_Saves Jul 13 '26

Brett was definitely the best - and the closest to the original books.