Time For Your New Year's Sherlock Holmes Subscription Sale
This week's writing
Last week, in the dying days of 2025, the Robinsons watched the first series of Sherlock, which debuted in the summer of 2010. That was sometime before Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) was better known as Doctor Strange and the voice of Smaug the dragon from The Hobbit, which starred Martin Freeman (Watson) who was in Captain America: Civil War and Black Panther.
My son loves the show, so I didn’t make him wait another two years for the resolution of the series one cliffhanger. (Enjoy below.)
Of course, the second season premiere is a tad anti-climactic when viewed just a couple days later. Score a point for delayed gratification!
However, we did quickly advance to Lara Pulver as Irene Adler. My stereotypically male response to Pulver aside, I still don’t approve of Steven Moffatt making Adler a femme fatale. She’s more Mary Astor as Brigid O'Shaughnessy in The Maltese Falcon than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s revolutionary character from A Scandal In Bohemia. She doesn’t successfully outwit Sherlock in 2012’s Scandal In Belgravia, which misses the whole point. Irene Adler is truly the “one who got away” but not in any romantic sense.
I enjoy a good femme fatale, though, and Pulver definitely delivers in that capacity. She’s British Catwoman, just not the character Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created.
The kid’s back at school and as responsible parents, we’ll likely limit the feature-length Sherlock episodes to weekends. I’m sure he’ll demand viewing the season three premiere immediately after the season two cliffhanger, so we’ll prepare accordingly. I doubt he’d enjoy the idea of spending the rest of middle school speculating online about how Sherlock might’ve survived Moriarty’s diabolical plot. Score a point for instant gratification!
For the remainder of its run, Sherlock would debut new episodes on New Year’s Day. My wife and I watched the season three premiere on January 1, 2014 just a couple months before our son arrived.
Now that we’ve settled into 2026, it’s time to launch our New Year’s subscription deal. Become a paid subscriber for 40 percent off the usual annual rate. That means you can help keep this newsletter survive the winter for just $30 a year. Thanks to all who have upgraded to paid subscriber status recently.
This week, I wrote about how it’s gotten more difficult to date across political divides. “Opposites” don’t really attract when one of them’s a fascist.
Five years since January 6 and the insurrectionist in chief is back in the White House. America never learns.
The Trump White House is delivering its own drunk-on-fascism history, but let’s never forget what really happened five years ago.
The U.S. has invaded Venezuela. Where’s Superman when we need him?
I interviewed former congressional candidate Erica Lee, who has some great points to make. This is also where I suggest you hop over to YouTube and subscribe to my channel.
That’s it for this week. I’ll see you on Monday.
Definitely worth it to subscribe!
I love love love Sherlock! I can't believe it's been 15 years. Time just keeps rolling by.