This serves as an excellent follow-up to season one.
The second season of Sherlock opens where season one ends. There is one grand twist, then it's off to more adventures. It continues to build characters even as it adds new ones, and does it all with style.
The first episode has many, many references to the original works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Some are just one line, some are the titles of the blog posts, and a few are the interviews themselves. This is one thing I appreciate most about this version of Sherlock Holmes: the writers acknowledge the original stories and don't try to make it something completely new for themselves.
This is also a great episode for character development. John is still trying so hard to be normal, as is evidenced by his girlfriends. Mycroft is always shown in a setting that gives him power. Sherlock continues to overdo himself and is only beginning to really learn his lesson. And then there's Jim Moriarty, whose character is more fully developed later in the season, but even here we see how comradely his relationship with Sherlock really is. They understand each other. In Ender's Game there is a line, "In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him." I think this is what is going on between Moriarty and Sherlock.
Of course, there is a lot of humor in this episode, as well as foreshadowing and camera play. You can see everything, but what you need to be paying attention to is never the point of the shot. The camera tells you where to look. It is playing the part of you and me as casual viewers, instead of the trained thinker Sherlock is.
Episode two, "The Hounds of Baskerville," opens with some fantastic shot sequences and a ton of foreshadowing. There is foreshadowing in the dogs, and the fact that Sherlock is acting crazy because he needs a case to solve. This episode also develops Sherlock's sense of humor, which is important to understand when you are getting to know a person.
The character Henry Knight is played exceedingly well. He is nervous, but willing, and an adult for all his childishness. It is an interesting combination of characteristics. He also plays 'insane' quite well.
Sound in this episode was incredibly important, as even Sherlock pointed out when he was explaining to John why the poor doctor was drugged and locked in the lab. There are a lot of sounds in this episode where there might instead be music. Somehow having noises instead of music makes everything more intense and it carries the story better.
Another quote can be applied to this episode: "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." The opening sequence of "The Reichenbach Fall" is mysterious. It is all explained in the end, but for the time being we as an audience are confused. There is suddenly so much publicity for something Sherlock has been doing all along. Then, of course, we see Moriarty's little scheme. The biggest question I had while watching this episode was whether or not Moriarty was even sane. I am inclined to doubt that.
There are some sweet camera tricks in here, too. Again, the eye of the camera does not tell us everything, and neither does Sherlock. The security camera views make us feel eyes are everywhere, which of course they are. In the actual fall sequence, the shaky handheld camera adds a lot of emotion to a generally emotionless man. It shows us, also, what we expect to see. The sound cuts out for a few seconds to let panic settle in. The camera and focus become confused and disoriented and don't know where to go. It is thus the elaborate game Moriarty built comes to a solid end.
Finally, and I don't remember which episode this is in, Sherlock has the periodic table of elements on his bedroom wall. Why? I would think he had the thing memorized. Maybe it is there to remind him not all people are idiots. Maybe it is another nod to Doyle that I missed. Maybe it's just a set dressing, but given the amount of detail in these shows, I doubt that.
Episode two, "The Hounds of Baskerville," opens with some fantastic shot sequences and a ton of foreshadowing. There is foreshadowing in the dogs, and the fact that Sherlock is acting crazy because he needs a case to solve. This episode also develops Sherlock's sense of humor, which is important to understand when you are getting to know a person.
Sound in this episode was incredibly important, as even Sherlock pointed out when he was explaining to John why the poor doctor was drugged and locked in the lab. There are a lot of sounds in this episode where there might instead be music. Somehow having noises instead of music makes everything more intense and it carries the story better.