“‘You ought certainly to forgive them as a Christian, but never to admit them in your sight, or allow their names to be mentioned in your hearing.’ That is his notion of Christian forgiveness!” - Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
I was genuinely looking forward to Lupin vs Holmes in part 6, but what a disappointment it was. Actually, disappointment is too weak a word. In my opinion, it was pretty much a disaster.
There were so many reasons to be hyped for that crossover. You’ve got Holmes, the greatest detective of his time, and Lupin, the greatest thief of his. They’re both canny, eccentric, and always a step ahead of everyone else. They’re also both independent and live by their own set of morals. Holmes picks which cases he’ll take without concern for money, and lets people go even if they’re guilty if his own convictions say they don’t deserve punishment. Lupin always does what he wants, doesn’t let himself get pushed around, and enjoys wreaking havoc among inhumane criminals just as much as he enjoys flouting the law.
They’re even perfectly matched in the ways they’re different. I was open to them either liking or disliking each other (though I feel convinced they’d definitely have respect for each other), because I can see either take making sense. Holmes is calculations with a pinch of chaos, Lupin is chaos with a measured dash of calculation. Holmes eschews relationships aside from a very few - Lupin enjoys social interaction (but prioritizes just a few). Holmes is functionally asexual. Lupin is never not horny.
Even the supporting cast was so promising! To tell the truth, from watching previous seasons I didn’t really think the rest of the Lupin gang or Watson would have much to do. But I hoped they would because there was so much potential.
I mean Jigen and Watson are both war veterans in their own way. It’s not the best comparison (Watson was a doctor, and got shot almost immediately… but he is also a “man of action” and does have a lot of fight and pluck, even if he’s not going to be a match for Jigen in terms of marksmanship). And they’re the right hand men of two pretty difficult geniuses… couldn’t they spend a moment commiserating lmao.
It could have been awesome to see Fujiko interact with Holmes because her usual tricks wouldn’t work on him. I admit it isn’t unlikely the show would have been like “Ahh, but this time they do work on him, just like Irene Adler!” and totally ignored that book!Irene impressed Holmes with her wiliness and not her sexiness… But I’m talking about my fantasy here. And in my fantasy, Holmes would have had a similar reaction to Fujiko’s manipulation and acting skills similar to how he did with Irene. It would have been pretty cool to see Fujiko interact with a man who was NOT into her, but was just as smart and brave and perhaps wiser than Lupin.
Even Goemon would have had something to do. He could have had a super cool kenjutsu vs baritsu (“what even is that?”) battle with Holmes. Extra points if Goemon walks away saying “I respect the skill of that fellow warrior, even if he can’t spell his own martial art correctly.”
And of course Lestrade and Zenigata’s shenanigans at Scotland Yard are a nobrainer. But serious bonus points if they both pine away with equal envy and admiration for their respective smart ass thorns in the side hahahahahahaha.
I mean. There was SO MUCH there. How, HOW do you mess that up???
(Answer: By knowing absolutely nothing about Sherlock Holmes to begin with and basing everything on your memories of inaccurate movies from fifty years ago x’D)
So instead we got: perpetually sad, somber Sherlock Holmes, who isn’t working the job that he literally loves anymore in favor of looking miserable a lot and raising a child. And the child is Watson’s kid, who Watson can’t raise because he’s fucking DEAD, and mom can’t raise because SHE’S dead (just say Holmes is her mom. Come on. We’re in the future. Just say it). Also Watson is dead because Lestrade killed him like WHAT. Of all the twists they could have gone one, they definitely surprised me with that one. Was it a fun surprise though? … No, no it wasn’t.
Add to that the extremely dull characterizations of everyone, the heavy reliance on the danger to a little girl who isn’t even a canonical character but is very cute, and the slow, slow pace of the episodes… What a mess. It was memorable, sure, but for the wrong reasons.
Like the only thing I can think of that I didn’t hate about the whole arc was Lily taking her first steps as Holmes’s assistant at the very end. Fine, that’s adorable, and makes me feel ever so slightly better about Watson being dead. And I’m desperate for something to like here so let’s go with it.
(“It’s not really Sherlock Holmes anyway because of the generational difference, it’s his great grandson who has his exact same name and job! Same with Watson and Lestrade and sexy Mrs Hudson and and and-” I’m gonna stop you right there we all know it’s Holmes. Whatever excuses they make, no matter how they have to bend time and physics to make it happen, it is Holmes Prime in every way that matters lol.)
A melancholy sigh for the Coolest Crossover Ever That Wasn’t. As a Lupin fan and a Sherlock Holmes fan, I’ll regret it till the day I die.
I have a theory as to like Holmes is so bland in Part 6. First I must mention Part 6 was rushed out the door to meet an arbitrary anniversary date during COVID lockdown AND IT SHOWS.
My main point in the case of bland Sherlock is due to copyright bullshit. Remember when the films Enola Holmes and Mr. Holmes was sued by the Doyle estate. Remember that we got Herlock Solmes in the English version of the Great Ace Attorney. The Dolye estate were strict about people depicting things from later Holmes stories that had yet to be added to the public domain (as of 2023 they are). If your Holmes story had the following elements they would sue.
Holmes respecting women
Holmes liking dogs
Holmes having a better appreciation for Watson
Holmes having more “emotional depth”
Watson’s other marriages
Looking at Part 6 with this in mind can make a little sense. Worried about sued in case Holmes cares too much about Watson? Kill off Watson. We have to make Holmes as bland as sliced pan to avoid lawsuits on “emotional depth”. Holmes can’t respect women so he interacts with a young girl and Lupin. Can’t make Holmes look silly just in case so Holmes single handedly defeats the Lupin gang. The staff of Part 6 is aware the arc sucked as the first arc begins with Lupin yawning at an article about Holmes.
All the other issues I’m blaming on the same reasons why BBC Sherlock is like *that*. Part 6 is a damn mess that fascinates me to no end.
Well, I don’t really think so. First off, the copyright issues are as interesting as they are stupid, but no one forced the producers of Part 6 to do a Lupin vs Holmes story. If they had concerns about copyright, they could just not do it. Even imagining the setting of England for part 6 was unchangeable, they still had lots of content to choose from without ever touching Holmes.
Furthermore, those matters of copyright apply to the United States. All of the Holmes stories including Casebook have been public domain in the UK for much longer. In Japan Holmes appears in works of fiction regularly (Ace Attorney’s Herlock Sholmes is just Sherlock Holmes in the Japanese version). Lupin III himself was borrowed from France in the 60s, and while France changed his name, other countries didn’t. So in terms of international release, Lupin III could have picked a similar route, and really didn’t need to worry about what it did within Japan.
Not to mention, while yes the Doyle estate has chosen to be stingy, their suits have not ended with clear victory for them - usually a compromise or a dismissal - and there were still many, many adaptations of Holmes in the world made before 2023. So the threat of lawsuit didn’t really seem to stop anyone. It certainly didn’t make other recent adaptations feel they had no choice but to make Homes super bland or to kill Watson, etc. (And if anything, killing Watson is what gave Lupin III’s Holmes emotional depth, rather than the reverse.)
However it’s great that we may soon get new Holmes stories that aren’t hampered by copyright since the US copyright of Casebook is now expired.
