EXCHANGE INTERFACE

Fandom March Madness - it's down to Joan Watson and Hermione Granger. I got that much right, anyway!

However a few things I've noticed:

1. Frequent use of the word 'flawless' - to describe the characters, to describe the arguments...just as a general term of positivity...

I guess it disturbs me a little, considering that most of the characters being 'stanned' (IDEK) this year are female. Don't women get enough of the 'you must be perfect' bullshit without an extra helping of it in a competition where (for the first time ever) female characters are sweeping the board?

And if it's not meant that way, then I still think it's problematic.

2. "Team Misandry"? To describe the fact that, this year, the vast majority of candidates was female? Doesn't that mean that every previous year of f_march_madness was "Team Misogyny"?

That word, you keep using it; it does not mean what you think it means. No, really. IT DOES NOT MEAN WHAT YOU THINK IT MEANS IN THE WAY YOU ARE USING IT. Even as a joke. (And, yes, SRS BSNS, but neither misogyny nor misandry are particularly hilarious IMO. ps. feminism is not misandry. *listens to the choirs sing*)

Finally, we're down to Hermione Granger vs. Joan Watson, both awesome characters. It's a win either way, but I have absolute faith that Joan Watson is going to kick ass. Because she might be the sidekick, but the person she's kicking in the side (or, at least, nudging with gorgeous footwear) is Sherlock. Every episode.

Plus maturity, experience, the 'real world', and a portrayal of a woman who knows how to hold her own, and who is not only respected by the men in her world but accorded due deference and acknowledgement when she's right. And that's after her original archetype was genderbent and racebent.

It is taking a little longer to warm up than I'd like. Also, I may never quite get over the episode-by-episode format, simply because I love the EPIC and an episode-by-episode doesn't really allow for that unless there is MYTHARC.

There are various trailing threads in Elementary that could go places but which haven't really been properly pulled and displayed as Significant Threads, so I wouldn't say that it has MYTHARC.

( on the other hand, there's the relationships )

I'm still wanting MYTHARC from Elementary, but I'm willing to wait. It took Fringe a while to get off the ground and look what they're doing now! The 40-minute episodic format can hamper, but it could be a benefit if the writers are willing to take a longer-term risk and put some long arc in there as well as the crime-of-the-week.

And yeah, the Holmes&Watson dynamic is reeling me in, slowly but surely.

Honestly, couldn't they call it something else?

I like the characters and the potential in them. The story's a bit weak in places, but otherwise enjoyable.

( Tall men in your life; I'd like a list. )

Conclusion: watchable for the dynamic between Holmes and Watson, and the acting by JLM and LL.