SHOW:
The Irregulars
WHERE TO WATCH:
OUR RATING:
2/5
WHAT IT'S ABOUT:
A crew of misfits investigates a series of supernatural crimes in Victorian London for Dr. Watson and his shadowy associate, Sherlock Holmes.
WHAT WE THOUGHT:
Another day, another Sherlock Holmes reboot - but one that had could have contributed some unique insight to the Baker Street universe. Instead, it is marred by obnoxiously bad acting, a frivolous plot that feels like fan fiction, and boring villainy painted by miserable attempts at misdirects.
Netflix's The Irregulars is a teen-focused rendition where Holmes and his partner Dr Watson are secondary characters, making way for a rag-tag group of street urchins running around London to investigate supernatural crimes on their behalf. It's based on actual characters created by Holmes' creator - Arthur Conan Doyle - but reimagined as street smart teenagers that unsurprisingly have to also deal with the tribulations of family and love while processing the familiar trauma they've endured in Victorian England.
It was a series I was quite excited for - even if it was nothing else but a fun supernatural ride filled with teenage drama and love triangles. But somehow, the show's creators took a fun, gloomy concept that could have shined an exposing light on the dark side of Holmes' toxic arrogance and turned it into a monotonous, drab affair that I would have stopped watching after the first episode. It's certainly not one of those shows that needs time to get into it - I never reached that point, except maybe when there was a glimmer of hope that they might have done something interesting with the villain behind all the drama, but unfortunately, they copped out at the last minute. There's some poor soul tainted with warping powers in each episode, but they feel incredibly superfluous and their powers uninteresting. They try to present these as poor ordinary souls with deeply personal motivations behind their crimes, but for some reason, it feels insincere.
But a show can still be engaging and fun with a mediocre plot if you have a charismatic and endearing cast to fall back on (think Supernatural or Lucifer). Unfortunately, that was not the case for The Irregulars. The street urchins are led by Bea, played by Thaddea Graham; a stern leader softened by compassion for her fellow humans. As the show's lead, she could not have been more bland, lacking chemistry with both her supposed love interests and struggling to evoke camaraderie with the audience. I do appreciate, though, that the focus was more on her relationship with her sister - a clairvoyant plagued by prophetic nightmares - but even that small spark wasn't enough to make the audience care more. As for her love interests - the boy she grew up with in a workhouse and a charming secret prince - they both were interchangeable pretty boys with no real charisma beyond their looks. The fifth member of their crew - another boy with feelings for the sister - was so unmemorable that he didn't leave much of an impact either way.
Where the casting failed the most was with Dr Watson - played by Royce Pierreson - and Sherlock Holmes - played by Henry Lloyd-Hughes. Holmes looked more like a wandering gypsy (even pre-drug addiction) than part of the gentry, while Holmes was a sulking husk with no real personality. While I get that they were trying to create different characters out of these famous heroes, they felt so far removed from the originals that they could have been anyone else. In short, they are complete jerks which I would have been fine with if they just leaned into them as villains, but they ruined this with redemption arcs in the last act that came off as gratuitous and lazy. In 2021 we should be done with storylines where toxic men are too easily forgiven for their transgressions.
The Irregulars was an attempt at a feminist retelling of the Sherlock Holmes story, but instead of pushing the envelope, it was a drab mess filled with clumsy performances, no loveable characters, and couldn't even make it into the guilty pleasure category. If you're really desperate for an elementary fix, instead, rewatch the enchanting Enola Holmes for a different take on the Baker Street universe.
WATCH THE TRAILER HERE: