When I heard that they were making a Young Sherlock series, I was over the moon. I didn’t have any interest in getting Amazon Prime, until I heard that they were going to be making this show. I am a huge Sherlock Holmes fan. I’ve read the books, I’ve read non-canon books, and I’ve watched almost every adaptation there is to watch about the famous detective. Now that I have acquired Amazon Prime and have binged the series, I am ready to force my opinion on the world. I am not a movie critic or a brilliant show reviewer, I can only speak from my experience as a novelist and a young woman with too much time on her hands. This will be spoiler-free, not critiquing the nitty-gritty of the plot, but rather comparing the portrayals of the characters to every other piece of Sherlock media I’ve consumed and seeing where it rates compared to the greats.

This series began with some good foundations. Guy Ritchie, who has gained a lot of respect for previously giving us Robert Downey Jr’s Holmes films, returns to create this series. I found his movies to be action-focused, witty, and fun. This series is set apart from it, but I like that. This series has a whole new tone to it, from the light of youthful hope rather than the gritty steampunk London Ritchie gave us before. 

The story is set mostly at Oxford University where Sherlock is sent to work as a lowly servant after getting himself into trouble. Against his older brother, Mycroft’s wishes, Sherlock only manages to stumble upon nothing but more trouble after he’s framed for theft and even murder. Sherlock has to work to solve the mystery and clear his name with the help of new friends like a young and brilliant James Moriarty, and the elusive Chinese princess, Gulun Shou’an. The farther they go, however, the deeper the rabbit hole proves to be. 

First, I’ll begin with the rating. The series is PG-13, a little heavier than I was expecting. There are three F-bombs featured throughout the episodes, many uses of Christ’s name in vain, a raunchy French party in a seedy club, and one suggestive scene of Moriarty getting a little too friendly with a woman that leads to them falling in bed together. As a Sherlock fan, I’m used to generally more clean adaptations with less cussing and suggestibility, especially since this is again, allegedly based on a YA novel series and with, ‘young,’ in the title, would suggest this is to reach a younger audience to encourage a new generation of Sherlock fans, such as the impact Enola Holmes has had. Though Ritchie obviously didn’t have to follow their example tone-wise, the cleanliness was better.

The show is allegedly based on the Young Sherlock book series by Anthony Lane, but as someone who has read most of them, I see little in common. I was disappointed we didn’t see any of the characters from the books such as the Pinkerton agent who mentored Sherlock, the agent’s daughter, or his street-smart friend. Although I admit I have not finished the series yet, so it may be that they’re taking inspiration from later in the books. I felt the show had more in common with Frogwares’ Sherlock: Chapter One videogame: a young Sherlock goes back to his childhood home, he unravels mysteries from his past, and he has a mentally ill mother.

Now, I’ll get into the main characters and their portrayals. Mycroft was mildly disappointing. Though he had three solid scenes of being useful or investigating on his own, I found him watered down to a nagging older brother and less of a driving force in Sherlock’s life. Whereas in the Young Sherlock books he was a mentor and father-figure, and in the BBC series he was a driving influence in his brother’s life. In RDJ’s Holmes, Mycroft was witty and a step ahead of the villain, although Ritchie’s is infinitely better than Enola’s Mycroft, I feel his character was under-utilized to his potential. One could argue Mycroft is young too and not at his peak, but it still didn’t feel like his voice. He makes things right in the end, but I still found him lacking. Not a critique of the acting, but the writing.

James Moriarty, in my opinion, stole the show. He felt the most like his character, Donal Finn did a spectacular job of encapsulating a young Moriarty. A young man getting his first taste of danger and the clear beginnings of his interest in adventure and later, mischief. He’s witty, clearly intelligent, has a good balance between roguish and boyish, and he surprised me with how much influence he has in Sherlock’s life. He’s the one who teaches Sherlock how to utilize disguises, and he even first delivers the iconic line, “Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

His dynamic with Sherlock is golden. From the moment they meet, they have an instant respect for each other as equal minds, keep a playful relationship, and Moriarty is a surprisingly loyal friend for a majority of the story. His progression from loyal friend to a more mischievous player felt natural and gradual, but I already know I’m going to miss their partnership when they reach their fated rivalry. 

I go back and forth on Hero Fiennes Tieffin’s portrayal of Sherlock throughout the episodes. Part of me wants to give him slack since he’s young, but other parts just don’t feel like he has the Sherlock voice. In Spielberg’s Young Sherlock Holmes, Nicholas Rowe as Sherlock was also a young man struggling between human emotion and harnessing himself into the calculating detective he’s meant to be, yet Rowe had a better feel as Sherlock than Tieffin does here. 

Not the actor’s fault, but Tiffin simply has what the internet calls, “the face of one who has seen an iPhone.” While almost every other character looks time accurate, he has a jawline and the eyes of a young man who would have many followers on Instagram. I suspect he was chosen more for his handsome face with the intention of attracting female viewership. Even in the show’s Instagram, they have made promo videos of, “I watch Young Sherlock for the plot” but the visual is Tiffin shirtless in a bathtub. 

Regardless, Tiffin did better than I thought he would from the trailers and am hopeful of seeing him progress in the role as he gets closer to who Sherlock is meant to be. There were several scenes where there was a glimpse of Holmes in him. A scene where he would be pensively looking out the window and he’d subtly lift his chin, looking down on the situation with cool calculation, unvoiced. Or his scenes with Donal Finn, where the two overlook a scene that has already happened, Sherlock going through the steps in his head to help him solve the mystery. These were done masterfully well. 

Overall, the show was addictive. Left me and my family wanting to finish the series in one day to find out the end. We would watch one episode and think we’d learned all we needed to know then they’d bring out one clue that would change everything. Its characters feel real, multifaceted, and are very enjoyable. I would love to see more of this show and am pleased to see more Sherlock works out there in the modern age. 

If anybody cares, I certainly don’t, but Metacritic rates it a 66, which I find too low. Rotten Tomatoes gives this series an 85%, and I’d consider that to be more accurate. I would give it the same. As a fan, it scratches the itch when I’m craving a cleverly written Sherlock. I don’t think Tiffin is going down in history for his portrayal, but again, I am hopefully looking for more and to see him take another crack at the iconic detective. How about you? How did you like Young Sherlock? 

Post-Script Edit: Apparently since I’ve written this, Young Sherlock just skyrocketed to 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Congratulations to them!