Holmes-san and Hudson share a common dynamic; Holmes-san shares his insights and adventures with Hudson, and Hudson provides back-up and the needed audience for his genius
The appeal of Vampire Holmes, specifically, is that it delves into the underlying emotional connection that holds the two together. It doesn’t take a genius to see that the relationship between Hudson and Holmes-san is what holds the attention of many of its most attentive fans. Of course the mysteries are clever and exhilarating, but whether you feel it’s romantic or bromantic, the connection and tension between the two heroes is an absolute thrill to witness.Hudson becomes Holmes-san’s connection to humanity. He replaces his isolation with acceptance, and fills his previously scorn-filled world with encouragement and friendship and, in turn,Holmes-san gives Hudson’s life meaning again. He fills his days with excitement and gives him the chance to be extraordinary, to make a difference.
But this is not at all what we get with Episode 5.
In fact, the most interesting thing about this episode is how markedly different it is from all the other episodes in the series. Compare ep5 to ep3, or even ep2, and it’s almost a different program. It has a different tone emotionally, and the pacing of it is…well, frankly, it’s kindof tedious and plodding by ratio to the others. All the intensity and passion that was present in the first episode, the magnetism of Hudson and Holmes-san’s chemistry as well as the case itself, has almost disappeared entirely.
I had honestly dismissed this episode as, “just not a very good episode.” at first.Even my roommate, a casual viewer who enjoys Vampire Holmes as a show but does not care about HudsonxHolmes-san in any way, had trouble sitting through this episode, saying it was boring and tedious. But since the creator was quoted explaining Vampire Holmes as, “not a detective show,but a show about a detective,” I changed my mind. Viewed in that light, this episode’s atmosphere suddenly makes perfect sense. In other words, if you look at the series not as a seasonal detective show, but a planned sequence of events that tell the story of the detective’s life, this out-of-pace episode suddenly takes on a very significant meaning.
This episode shows us what the lives of these two men were like before they met each other because, even though they’ve technically moved in together, they’re still living separate lives.
If episode 1 captured the excitement and emotional high of meeting someone you click with and starting a new relationship,episode 5 is the morning after when you wake up next to an almost-stranger who you don’t really trust and has a ton of annoying personal habits.
But more importantly, this episode sets the emotional pacing for the remainder of the series, in that it shows how slow change is for these two, even after an event so fantastically significant as episode 1.
At the start of this episode the two of them aren’t even consciously aware of how much they make each other step up their games and, most importantly, it shows what Holmes-san and Hudson look like without the always unstated, but absolutely vital, emotional connection.
Following the advertisment, this episode opens with the two men engaged in two very different battles. Sherlock is fighting a criminal alone in his living room,himself, and Hudson is fighting against petty, everyday tedium in his life. This parallel is very important because it tells us right off the bat where the two men are emotionally and what they’re having trouble with. Hudson is frustratingly defeated by the ordinary world and Holmes-san is successful but isolated, taking care of a pretty significant problem,himself and his inner demon, all by himself—and not even out in the world, but in his own tiny apartment. This is not Hero Holmes-san and Back-up Hudson, but Hulmes-san-the-island and Hudson-the-island, dealing with problems that their counterparts are totally unaware of.
This episode marks Holmes-san’s recognition that if he wants them to function as a unit, he’s going to have to let Hudson in. And that’s significant because it’s something that he was clearly hoping to avoid doing. But because it happens, it sets the precedent for all the future episodes and, clearly, it serves as the baseline for the remainder of the series. One with a long term relationship as its focal point. |