This time of the pilot. I promised myself to never watch that episode again, because the first and only time I've seen it, it made me cringe. But keep_counting talked me into rewatching it. And it wasn't as bad as I remembered, phew.


So here's how this episode is different from A Study in Pink, what I disliked about it and what I liked. Yes, there were some things I did like.

Oh, look, we don't have to watch John's nightmares.
Vaio! Just saying. Because I noticed it.
Looks like John is (not) writing his blog in something like Word instead of directly on the website. How boring.

Therapist's office, like John's room, is so beige. I mean, I like beige, but in comparison with what we've seen in A Study in Pink it's a bit boring. Also, this office is a bit claustrophobic. Maybe also in comparison. And not really when you're actually in that room.
Bet they only wanted to get Ella and John in the same shot without someone's back to the camera. It's not my personal space, but it almost feels like it, argh!
Haha, Ella reminds me of a crazy Simpson's character (It's the hair!). I think that character was a babysitter, but actually a criminal.

This opening sequence is a bit lame. And so is the music. But at least the melody's there already.

I dislike this episode in so many ways. Everything that's shiny and awesome about the show didn't exist here yet. It scared me. What if they hadn't changed it all?

In a boring shot Lestrade walks along that corridor and O HAI, hairy, bespectacled Anderson! I like the beard and the glasses, suits him. Although, when you've seen A Study in Pink before the pilot, it could make you wonder what's with the bad disguise.
We don't get to see the victims in need of a cab, we don't get so see them take the pills. We also don't see that press conference. That's just wrong.
Lestrade is calling Sherlock. Aw, poor Anderson is so likable here. I wish we could have seen this side of him in the finished product too.

The huge effect tiny little changes can make amazes me sometimes. Like make up, hair, clothes, style of fonts, tone of voice. But that has nothing to to with the episode, those were just examples of things that I keep wondering about, even if I somewhat understand it. Anyway, I'm talking about the soundtrack again. Sounds familiar from ASIP, but still different. But what's different here, also reminds me of something. The X-Files. Heee. It sounds totally X-Files-y!

John meets Stamford not in a Park but on the street. That building behind John looks like it could be that theater. I've walked past that place when I was in London last September. *slightly fangirly*

Soo... the Criterion. I know that outtakes aren't necessarily graded, but as what does this episode count? Would they have shown it on TV like that? I'm wondering if this episode lacks some post production. Is it supposed to be that dark in there? It's also a bit too yellow and there could be more contrast. I prefer the park. But I like John's mood here better. Does my memory deceive me or was Stamford's accent less clear in A Study in Pink?

Helloooo, Sherlock! That cut is a bit lame and the music is meh.
I don't like that shadow.
I swear Sherlock looks thinner. o_O
Wow, I can see the lipstick! This color stands out, the one in ASIP doesn't very much. I don't know what it is, but Molly looks cuter or younger here. Which is probably the amazingness of tiny little changes in make up. ...Could also be lighting. Or acting? If so, it's too subtle for me to notice. But there's definitely something different in Sherlock's acting. He states his coffee preference in a way that doesn't sound like it translates as "Trololol, not interested".

Oh look, Sherlock's writing on a bulky, immobile computer. Mycroft, "when you have eliminated the impossible...", Gregson. Dropping some references. Not only ACD, it seems, but also Doctor Who: "Davies is you man". ^^

Sherlock seems so normal. And I don't like it! I also don't like his hair. It's not that different from the rest of the show, but different enough to be perceivable. Sherlock seems overall more colorful. His hair is brown, he's not so pale and his eyes are blue!

Mrs Hudson's Snax 'n' Sarnies. Hahaha, Mrs. Hudson so totally would use Comic Sans.

The flat! It's cozy to a ridiculous degree. I don't think I like it. OMG, there's a door in the corridor. It's not there in ASIP. Doors that aren't there - you know what that means? Aliens!
Gah, Sherlock is adorable. But in a different way from the rest of the show, so I don't like it. Lestrade is like always, which I find really comforting.
Sherlock's not happy enough about having a case. I like him more when he's completely "Who cares about decent?". Meanwhile Mrs. Hudson is still not your housekeeper, but in a slightly different way. :o/

Shit, I never should have seen that promo pic of Bilbo. Now I keep seeing John as a hobbit. Hey, I love hobbits, but that's just distracting now.
John's mood seems a bit better in this episode. I like that.

The taxi scene, again a boring shot. Much shinier in ASIP, where we also look from the outside with things reflecting in the windows. The deduction speech isn't fast enough and the flashback seems to go on too long with nothing happening.

Well, Donovan seems a tiny bit nicer. But I still prefer the bitchier Donovan.

OMG, Sherlock puts on a blue suit thingy! You know what that means. No coat twirling! So that's definitely a minus.

This Sherlock doesn't sound confident enough. I mean, he does sound confident, but it lacks arrogance. Haha, I'm complaining about someone's lack of arrogance.
:O Look at that, there's dialog deviation! Sherlock doesn't say "perfectly sound analysis..." here. I like it more when Sherlock's all "Duh!".
No text on screen :o(. But listen, there's the deduction speech music sounding very much like it does in ASIP.

And there we have something that made me cringe: Sherlock on a roof, with the moon and the music. Oh god, the Narm!

Look, there's no Mycroft :o(! And no text messages displayed on screen :o(. Also, I swear in this context 'anyway' is just one word. Sherlock, y u no type right? AND WHY ARE YOU CAPSLOCKING?! Yeah, yeah, I know, easier for us to read. :o/

Sooo... this episode has 2 skulls in the flat (Is the bull skull wearing headphones/earmuffs? XD). I like the ASIP version better, where the second skull is only a painting. It's kind of Abby (You know, that adorable NCIS character that is adorable that you just have to adore her).
Oh god, what is Sherlock wearing? Seriously, I swear he looks thinner here. And I'm blaming the clothes.
Oh, I see the victim's name is different. Oh, and it's Northumberland Terrace instead of Street. Heh, terrace will always make me think of 742 Evergreen Terrace.
We see how Sherlock found the case. He runs and his coat is billowing, making him look like an overgrown bat :oD. I never get tired of the similarities between Sherlock and Snape, haha.

Ooh, look, it's Luigi from Ashes to Ashes! Haha, I like how he doesn't stop hugging Sherlock. Haha, the eyebrow wiggle.
"Everything else is transport." - "You might consider refueling."
John asks if Sherlock has a boyfriend in a way that could pass more easily as John is interested. Not as in he'd just like to know out of curiosity but as in interested in Sherlock. Like getting in Sherlock's pants even if they're impossibly tight, so getting in could prove difficult. And it's probably even hard to get out of those pants without cutting them off. Also, kinda I'm picturing Mofftiss sitting at a computer, LOLing every time they write something that feeds the slashers.
Haha, John seems much more awkward in this version of the conversation. It reminds me a bit of Coupling.
"Why can't people just think." says Sherlock. Creepy, in ASIP that was the cabbie's line. Wait, what, car? Sherlock talks about the victims climbing into a car. If we know that, it makes it much too easy to guess. The next time you see a car, you'll know the perp. "What are you saying? That the killer's got an invisible car?" - "Yes. Yes, exactly!" OH MY GOD, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy did it :O! Gah, creepy-story time with Sherlock - I don't like it. Seriously, by just the way he's talking he could make me afraid of taxis.
And we skip mystery, it's already revealed that a taxi driver did it. This is where is starts to get really different. Up until then the stories had been very similar.
Headless Nun? Oh my god, is she in any way related to the Headless Monks?

No chase, no Sherlock Maps D:. While Sherlock plays drunk, John stays in the restaurant.
LOL, Sherlock calls the cabbie from right outside the taxi! With the window rolled down! Did Sherlocks face absorb the alcohol and it affected his brain?
Sherlock gets poked with a needle and fails to notice until the cabbie points it out. Which reminds me of the fake drugs bust, which didn't happen here. So Lestrade doesn't see that Sherlock found the case. Anderson doesn't have to face the other way, because he's putting Sherlock off. We don't find out that Rachel is the password (and now I just remembered that that wasn't scratched into the floor and Anderson didn't share his German skills with us) and John won't find Sherlock via this GPS thing. And most disappointingly: Sherlock doesn't go with the cabbie freely. I like it more when it's curiosity that almost killed the Shercat.

Also, no college. Baker Street instead. Drugged-out-of-his-mind Sherlock scares me. Oh god, can't watch. And the cabbie is kind of giving off rapey vibes. Yeah, squick me the fuck out, why don't you?!
Okay, the cabbie gets to say "Why can't people just think?" here too.
Oh, look, outside police car lights start flashing. And the phone rings (OMG, the landline - it's not just decoration!). The cabbie doesn't have a fake gun.
The cabbie is dead before he can say anything about his sponsor. Does that mean he didn't have a sponsor?
The shot came from across the street. How did John get into that building? And how did he get into the apartment?

There's no "I'm in shock. Look, I've got a blanket!" :o(

The gun is gone.
No giggling at the crime scene :o(! Which reminds me of the scene before the drugs bust, the laughing in the corridor. That also didn't happen here. This episode lacks inappropriateness.

Just because Mycroft is absent, doesn't mean the episode doesn't end with a silly "Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson".


In summary:

+ Anderson
+ John's mood (also, he looks a bit cuter - SHUT UP, YEAH, I'M SHALLOW!)
+ "I'm his doctor."

- the story is too compact
- sets, photography and post production not shiny enough
- the soundtrack
- Sherlock's character, hair, clothes
- the flat is too cozy
- Mrs. Hudson is not adorable enough
- the taxi scene with the deduction speech
- narmtastic Sherlock-on-the-roof scene
- lack of Mycroft
- no on-screen text
- the whole climax is all different