Photo: Courtesy of BBC.Full disclosure: We love TV. So much. In fact, sometimes we'd rather spend Saturday night in front of the tube instead of at da club. Feeling left out because you canceled cable? No problem! You can get by just fine on Netflix, Hulu, and all those other streaming services that are rapidly taking over the home-entertainment industry (thank you, Internet).
Some shows are just better when binge-watched. Whether it's the latest BBC comedy, a PBS miniseries from the '70s, or that cult classic that was prematurely scrubbed from the network — it's easy to get hooked on the stream. So, we've unrolled Staying In(stant), a feature that highlights the best of streamable TV. Each week, we bring you a show we love and think you should, too.
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This week, we're profiling BBC's Sherlock — your newfound crush that will supplant all other obsessions you've had ever.
Where To Watch: Netflix and PBS.org.
How I Got Hooked: My penchant for mystery novels and thrillers dates all the way back to those geeky elementary days when I was BFFs with Nancy Drew and wore pink spandex leggings. Once I outgrew read the entire series, I moved on to others: some with great characters like Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, some with cats solving crimes à la Lillian Braun's mediocre The Cat Who series (don't judge; our local library was small). Then there were the classics, such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
Forget what you think you know about Holmes, what with all these modern iterations where Iron Man portrays him or Lucy Liu plays Dr. Watson. No one does justice to the brilliant, reclusive, insufferably-obnoxious-yet-so-hopelessly-attractive detective — except Benedict Cumberbatch. Cumberbatch is, in short, magnetic. His quick wit, his gorgeous mop of curls, and his constant expression of distaste all enthralled me, and I found myself up until 2 a.m. on a school night binge-watching through each 90-minute episode of the first season. It's true; I'm a Cumberbitch and proud of it.
Best Episode: Season 1, episode 3: "The Great Game." Each episode riffs on Doyle's original story titles, with familiar nods to Baker Street and THAT deerstalker hat. But, this particular episode introduces you to the infamous Moriarty, the man who makes Holmes plunge to his "death" at the Reichenbach Falls. Moriarty prods Holmes via text message, pushing him to solve one murder case after another in order to prevent a series of hostages from blowing up. All of which Holmes, naturally, solves for a questionable final prize: finding out who the criminal mastermind really is. And, Moriarty's creepy reveal at curtain call is nothing short of mind-blowing.
Why You'll Love It: Fast-paced montages and graphic text pop-ups walk you through Holmes' "mind palace" as he analyzes each murder — putting a 2014 spin on the charming 19th-century classic. Still, the most endearing aspect is watching Sherlock and Watson develop a serious bromance that'll make you believe in all the good things in the world. As the series progresses, Holmes ultimately realizes that he values his best friend even more than he loves a good murder — which is a lot, coming from this guy.