The day has come for my rating of all Doctor Watson’s reactions at discovering that Sherlock Holmes is still alive (aka the most thrilling scene in the entirety of ‘The return of Sherlock Holmes’)
A little foreword before i delve into the rating.
It was very naive of me to think that I would find a myriad adaptations of ‘The empty house’ or at the very least bits and pieces of it sprinkled in elsewhere. One would think that the exhilarating terror of ‘The final problem’ and the subsequent triumph of ‘The empty house’ would be enough to draw in the audience. Alas!
Out of a gazillion different adaptations i’ve managed to find less than a dozen surviving & readily available (One is lost, another is not available to the public though preserved in the National Film and Television Archive of the British Film Institute) that establish Sherlock’s death and his consequent ‘resurrection’.
Other versions, such as Christopher Lee’s Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock Holmes and the leading lady; Sherlock Holmes and the incident at Victoria falls) or Douglas Wilmer and Peter Cushing’s Sherlock Holmes never really ventured into that territory, either by the peculiarities of the adaptation (CL’s Sherlock is retired and follows a completely original storyline) or by not engaging with Moriarty’s subplot at all (There’s no ‘The final problem’ in PC’s Sherlock). I also won’t be talking about RDJ’s Sherlock or Enola Holmes movies for obvious reasons.
So, without further ado, I present to you my rating.
1. The empty house, Granada Sherlock Holmes, 10/10
Utter perfection. No notes. Watson’s gentle slide against the wall, followed by the blurred vision of Holmes’ kind face and outstretched hands, the undone collar of our unconscious doctor’s shirt and the tender caress of his face as Sherlock seems to familiarise himself with his dear companions’ features once again. There’s no straight way to interpret it all and bless god there isn’t! It’s all very vulnerable and private, as if we - the viewers - are witnessing something that was supposed to belong to these two only.
Also of note are deliciously rolled R’s and fake teeth on Holmes’ part. That disguise would work wonders on me, it’s too good.
2. The empty hearse, BBC Sherlock, 5/10
A drag. A very early-to-mid 2010’s contrarian attempt at ‘subverting’ the expectations in the most dated way imaginable.
‘Listeeen but what if Watson fucking strangles Sherlock instead of being so out of it he faints’ ‘No no no what if he strangles him. And then strangles him again. And THEN headbutts him.’ ‘My god, mate, that is a brilliant fucking idea!’ mr Moffat, probably.
Sherlock draws a flimsy moustache and puts some glasses on as a ‘disguise’. John lunches at Sherlock, enraged. Twice. Then finally aims for the nose and draws blood. There’s no fainting. 3 points for the hilariously lazy accent banana cucumber puts on.
I’ll admit that I have a very severe case of love-hate relationship with bbc Sherlock and while I utterly loathe this scene as an adaptation of ACD’s work, I actually quite like this take as a standalone, divorced from any previous connotations of who exactly are Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. To put it bluntly, it works only if you willingly forget everything you previously knew about John and Sherlock and their canonically established relationship.
3. The tiger hunt, Soviet Sherlock 8/10
Sensationaly dramatic. Watson is grieving, playing his late friend’s violin and shedding sorry tears when his sulking is rudely interrupted by an old book collector (another incredible disguise, works like a charm). Our doctor faints upon seeing his companion in a cartoonish two-legs-up style and Mrs Hudson follows suit (no legs up, she’s fainted properly like any Edwardian lady would). Sherlock covers their entire faces with gauze sprinkled with ammonia to revive them. A sweet group hug follows as teary-eyed Watson & Mrs Hudson cling to Holmes and cry on his shoulders. Sherlock’s very empathetic about it all.
4. The spider woman, Basil Rathbone’s Sherlock Holmes, 4/10
Really neither here nor there, nothing exceptional. Watson is only mildly surprised as if his dearest friend rising from the dead is an everyday occurrence. Lestrade’s only reaction is a joke. Watson plopls down on a chair and has a go at Holmes' flask. No fainting. It’s all rather stiff and bland but then again I guess that's just how things were in 40s mid-war Hollywood movies.
5. The adventure of the empty house, Sherlock Holmes in the XXII century, 4/10
What is it with adaptations and treating Holmes’ death as such an ordinary thing. Really a bore but I’m being too harsh as it’s just a cartoon. The only effect Sherlock's reappearance has on Watson makes him look like a frog for a few frames. Bonus points for the cartoonishly(tomato, tomato) theatrical Sherlock reveal as he disposes of his disguise with a wave of his hand.
6. The empty house, Sherlock Holmes BBC radio drama with Carleton Hobbs, 7/10
Despite the obvious limitations of radio dramas, this was quite a delight to listen to. Watson falls unconscious mid-sentence with a comical thud and a dramatic musical accompaniment and comes to his senses via a very apologetic Holmes reviving him with a mix of water & brandy. Our doctor is visibly quite shaken (rightfully so!) and very touched. Holmes is as gentle as they come. A very good adaptation.
7. The adventure of the empty house, Sherlock Holmes radio show, 9/10
Actually might be my favourite radio adaptation of ‘The empty house’. The first few minutes tell of the tragic death of Mary and the utter destruction of doctor Watson’s life as he knew it. He’s a pathetic wet cat in this one, through and through (delightful!) Upon discovering Sherlock standing in front of him, Watson is immediately out of it and crushes down on the floor with a very loud clatter, apparently taking a couple of shelves with him as he falls. After choking on the contents of Holmes' flask, it takes a long time for our doctor to come back to himself and believe that Sherlock is actually standing in front of him. ‘Well, you’re not a spirit anyhow?’ This Watson is so utterly destroyed by the 'double death' of people who were dearest to him that one of them ‘coming back from the grave’ seems like Jesus' 8th miracle.
