My Granada Holmes rewatch continues with The Solitary Cyclist!
It gets to me a little bit that Watson is so kind towards Violet Smith. He seems to genuinely care, there is just a certain warmth and concern for her there.
One moment that made me laugh out loud (like, literally, audibly) is when Violet Smith says that she will marry at the end of summer and Holmes replies "We wish you joy". He sounds so fucking insincere, it's hilarious.
"Try the nearest public house. Always a good center for country gossip." - "Thank you, Watson! Capital notion!" Lmao. Look, I want Holmes to be nice to him but this is a delightful little interaction.
And there is also the scene where Watson stops the horse drawing the empty trap (i.e. the carriage) and Holmes goes "good man" kind of intensely, which - after he told him earlier he did "remarkably badly" - just makes me feel emotions.
There have already been said a million words of praise for Jeremy Brett's performance, all of them deserved, but man do I love David Burke as Watson. I want to highlight this moment here - the Solitary Cyclist shows up, drops his bike and draws his gun; and Watson is the first one to turn around. He grabs Holmes' wrist and says "Holmes" in a quiet, warning and kind of soft voice, it is just SUCH a good delivery.
"You're too late. She is my wife!" - "No. She is your widow." Not gonna lie, that is one hell of a line.
God look at him. This is just so sweet.
The more I watch him, the more I appreciate Burke's Watson, and his chemistry with Jeremy Brett is just so good and works so well.
























