Elementary, dear Joan

TV REVIEW

THREE very different shows took to the airwaves this week – all of them US imports on Sky. Starting at the more recent and working backwards, Elementary (Tuesday, Sky Living) is CBS’ spin on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous sleuth.

When introduced to us, Jonny Lee Miller’s Holmes is a semi-naked tattooed junkie, fresh out of rehab. More frighteningly, he has relocated to New York City and gone and found himself a female Dr Watson (Lucy Liu), yes that’s Joan, not John. Holmes is still the somewhat smug crime-solving genius we’re used to seeing in more recent incarnations, but whereas his dalliances with opiates were just that, dalliances, this Sherlock has had his life somewhat derailed by his drug habit. Holmes’ rehab stint  is also the reason behind Watson’s appearance, a former surgeon hired by Holmes’ wealthy father to keep him on the straight and narrow.
But never mind all that, there is a case to be solved, a woman’s apartment has been broken into, there is broken glass and blood but no sign of her and that’s the point at which the plotline broke down and disappeared into the realms of the ridiculous.
That said, Lucy Liu is a decent Watson and Miller is a surprisingly good Holmes. The problem with the whole thing is that the Beeb version looms large over this production and no matter how good Miller might be, he’s no Benedict Cumberbatch. Neither does the storytelling have the panache of Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss. When it comes to recreating the sacred texts of the world of Holmes and Watson, it was always going to be nigh on impossible to top those two.
Another one dallying with opiates was Hannah, the self-obsessed central character in HBO import Girls (Sky Atlantic). In one of the funniest scenes I’ve seen in a long time (maybe because I’ve been that soldier who has declared how much they love their friends after one too many vodkas) Hannah’s words of love to her friends shortly after she drank a cup of opium tea was just plain brilliant. “When I look at both of you, a Coldplay song plays in my heart.” 
The ‘tea’ was also the catalyst of waking her parents up in the middle of the night to make them read a few chapters from her novel, in the belief its sheer brilliance would persuade them to continue to financially  support her. “I don’t want to freak you out but I think I may be the voice of my generation Or at least, a voice…of a generation.” Gold!
The self-parody of Lena Dunham may well be true. Written, directed and produced by Dunham and supposedly based on her own experiences, she may well be the voice of the millennial generation – apathetic, well-educated youths that find themselves forever doing internships with little hope of getting a decent job in today’s economic meltdown.
Dunham’s character Hannah is an aspiring writer struggling to survive in New York with her three mates, but it is as far away from the comparative Sex and The City as one could get when writing about four girls making their way through life in New York. These characters are seriously flawed with normal, mundane lives like the rest of us, unlike the previously mentioned Sarah Jessica Parker-driven effort. Hannah, as well as being hilarious, is also highly annoying and talks and looks like a real person, not a coiffed Fifth Avenue beauty.
The show is about girls, unsurprisingly, and while there are male characters, they are on the periphery and merely advance the story rather than having any depth of character. In that sense, women may bond more with this show, as they can more likely identify better with the situations. That said, the dry wit can resonate with both male and female and some of the carry-ons are just downright funny, which will appeal to all codes.
Something that was not so funny was Arrow (Monday, Sky One), the live-action adaptation of DC Comics’ Green Arrow.
Following the template of the comic-book series, Arrow opened with billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) being rescued, five years after a shipwreck marooned him on a mysterious island. Once back at home in Starling City, Queen begins to right the wrongs of the criminal underworld, all the while maintaining a vacuous socialite facade. Sound familiar? It should, because it clearly takes its inspiration from Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. But where Nolan skillfully portrayed a dark tone with strong characters, Arrow doesn’t quite hit the target. It isn’t helped by the script and Amell’s Queen doesn’t really make me root for the guy like I’m clearly supposed to.
It does have potential however. The character of Queen last turned up in Smallville as a mate of Clake Kent’s but here the creators have departed from the source material and given the orphan a family, who don’t seem altogether legit. This, combined with flashbacks about his time on the island, means the potential is there to create something. It also caters for the comic fans, with a teaser shot of the black and yellow mask of villain Deathstroke; Queen’s sister being referred to as “speedy” (the name of the Green Arrow’s sidekick) and love-interest Dinah Laurel Lance (Black Canary).