Produced by HBO Asia and streaming service Hulu, the eight-part Ms Sherlock reimagines Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes as a modern-day Japanese woman (Yuko Takeuchi).
And just like Elementary, Sherlock’s sidekick, Dr Watson, is a woman as well, Wato Tachibana (Shihori Kanjiya), a surgeon suffering from PTSD following a stint in Syria.
Takeuchi is engaging as the Great Detective: insanely smart, socially awkward, emotionally detached, incredibly frank, and downright narcissistic.
Just how we like our Sherlock — a total a**hole but one who gets the job done. Sherlock’s gender switch also adds an interesting element to the mix: when she isn’t solving crimes, she battles sexism in a male-dominated arena.
There’s one weak link, though: Kanjiya’s Wato is way too — how shall I put this delicately? — passive. Most of the time, she just shows up with Sherlock, looking lost and confused, doing very little sleuthing. Just saying.
Watch it on: Fri, HBO, StarHub Ch 601; HBO Go; HBO On Demand
Photo: HBO