Since Arthur Conan Doyle began publishing stories of the Baker Street detective and his...um...roomate, hundreds of movie and tv adaptions of the Sherlock Holmes mythos have appeared. Many depict Sherlock and Watson as gay-subtext buddies or even boyfriends, but I don't hold much hope out for Sherlock & Daughter, now streaming on MAX. Having a daughter pegs him as heterosexual, and with those two sorting through clues, Dr. Watson is bound to be relegated to a few walk-on "Hello, old chap" lines.
But David Thewlis (Sherlock) played gay poet Paul Verlaine against Leonardo DiCaprio's Rimbaud, and almost-gay Lupus in the Harry Potter movies. And he has shown us his d*ck several times on screen, so I'm reviewing the first episode anyway.
Scene 1: London, 1896 (Sherlock is in his mid 40s). He takes a hansom cab through a late-Victorian cityscape to the crime scene, a giant mansion, and greets Inspectors Bullivant and Whitlock (Aidan McArdle, left early photo). The kidnappers dragged the boy from his room, but the maid intervened, and they fled.
Uh-oh, Sherlock finds a red string on the boy's wrist, refuses the case, and rushes out.
"But his father is the Italian Ambassador."
"Tough, I'm out."
Scene 2: New York, still 1896. Amelia bursts into a cheap hotel, past the prostitutes, and gets a room. A bellhop named Cooper (Kasper Andreasen) offers to carry her luggage, but he actually leads her to the alley and tries to rob her. She pulverizes him, but he takes her purse anyway.
Left: Kasper Andreason, from Banbridge, Northern Ireland, hit the newspapers in 2017, when the 12--year old raised thousands of pounds for children with cancer with a paperclip swap. In 2020, he flew to London to interview the stars of the movie 1917.
Age 21 as of this writing, Kasper has 5 acting credits on the IMDB, including the paranormal teen Silverpoint and Mordlichter - Tod auf den Färöer Inseln, so I'm guessing that he's fluent in German.
A more...um...intimate portrayal after the break
At the steamship ticket office, Amelia has no more money, but she offers a blueprint for a machine that pasteurizes milk, so you can bring it on ships. You're offering that to a ticket agent? How about a CEO? He doesn't want it, so how about her mother's watch?
Scene 3: Back on Baker Street, Sherlock looks at a mysterious letter he received, while his housekeeeper, Mrs. Halligan, brings his dinner. He rejects it: the egg is overcooked.
She scoffs: she only agreed to help out because he's taken the case of the kidnapping of her sister, Mrs. Hudson, and Dr. Watson. Why would that require you to take a job as his housekeeper?
"Tough, it's simple instructions. 4 minutes 12 seconds to boil an egg for toast soldiers. Go find someone with the brains to do it properly." Toast soldiers must be a Victorian thing.
When she storms out, he looks at the message: "Lamp in the window tonight to show you will observe the thread or Watson and Hudson (the housekeeper) will pay like your maid." Next he opens a box with a red thread and severed finger.
Scene 4: On the steamer en route to London, Amelia is also playing with a red thread. A rich girl in a pink cape approaches and starts flirting voraciously. Careful, ladies: Oscar Wilde's trial just ended.
Oh, well, what the heck: let's change course for "Lesbos, where kisses, languishing or joyous, burning as the sun's light, cool as melons, adorn the nights and the glorious days" (Baudelaire).
Back stories: Amelia's father lives on Baker Street (hint, hint), and the Girl's father is the new U.S. Ambassador to the U.K. "By the way, Papa is throwing me a ball to celebrate my coming out. Won't you come as my date?" You're quite an ally, Dad. Yes, I know she means coming out into society.
Uh-oh, the girl's chaperone, Lady Violet, aka the Wicked Witch of the West, appears, drags her away, and warns Amelia to back off, or she'll put her in the brig. The Girl is going to marry the aristocrat that her parents choose; she doesn't have time for indulgences like lesbian romance!
Scene 5: Amelia stays out of sight until they reach New York. Then the Girl spots her, rushes up, and assures her that class distinctions are meaningless, they should become very close friends. "Call on me anytime. Anytime."
Native American actress Blu Hunt (left) identifies as "super queer," and played a queer character on "The Originals."
Amelia makes her way through London's Chinatown, gets cruised by a prostitute (what, is she wearing a Pride flag?), barters food from an African lady, and finds a secluded park bench to sleep on. Why not go directly to Baker Street and reunite with your Dad?
More after the break. Caution: Explicit.
