Category: Sherlock Holmes

MARTIN FREEMAN’S DR. WATSON

Why would this Watson stay with this Holmes? The traditional relationship has him chronicle their adventures, but this is only hinted at for a future project. His expertise as a doctor is glancingly mentioned. 

It’s his return from the military. Watson misses the action and doesn’t know how to transition back to civilian life. At least, that’s what I see from the acting and very subtle writing clues. Watson is an adrenaline junkie, and Holmes provides the fix. It’s an interesting (and lonely) take on the doctor. He’s a man hanging by a thread. Integrating with society, finding a purpose — this is good storytelling. Freeman brings much subtext that is enticing. I’m more interested in his sidekick story than I am in the protagonist’s.

Well, that’s regretful.

So, who is a man that lets Holmes walk all over him in order to get a taste of the life he left?

Because Holmes is a Four, the obvious choice for Watson is a Nine. (They are incredibly codependent.) Neither of these numbers is a Head Type, which is fresh but also puzzling for a brainy detective genre. Watson likes conflict too much in this version to be a Nine. Unless . . .  he’s an anti-Nine as Sherlock is an anti-Four.

Ah. I think this might be the case. They’re both true to their numbers by exhibiting the worst variations of their Enneagram. An anti-Nine seeks conflict in a self-destructive, uncontrolled way. He’s burning down the house by going against everything in which a Nine finds comfort and security. Normally a Nine likes when a Four expresses all the emotions they want to ignore. Except that this Four expresses no emotions at all, leaving the Nine to carry the load. It’s totally ill. These men are toxic for each other. Because the production is of a high quality, and because the acting is some of the best, the show has a hook. Everyone loves to watch Holmes mystify with his abilities. This version has a dark underbelly, though. It’s my least favorite so far.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH’S HOLMES, FOUR

In the first episode, this Sherlock Holmes describes himself as a “high-functioning sociopath”. Is he? Holmes is traditionally eccentric, perhaps autistic. This is a new direction for the character. I don’t particularly like it.

Generally, Holmes’ big brain distances him from people, alienates him. It’s part of the job of being a super-detective, and he accepts that. However, he still wants to connect with people. Dr. Watson was originally a writing tool to let Holmes explain a case to the reader via his companion. Over time, though, their relationship developed into a friendship or a partnership.

That isn’t the case in this series. Watson is more of a comedic straight man, and often the butt of the joke. Holmes forgets Watson exists at times, moving on with a case without caring if he follows.

Is this a real person, or a Null?

My initial reaction is that this Holmes can’t be a Heart Type. Social interaction holds no interest for him. But, then . . . wait. Sociability is very important to him: He thrives on rejecting it and demeaning those who would try to connect with him. He’s a kind of anti-Heart Type.

Alright. Not my favorite choice, but I will grant its legitimacy. 

This Holmes is, sadly, no Two. (He collects nothing, not even the arcane or macabre.) He’s too unlikable to be a Three, even with his trope subversion. That makes him a Four. In this regard, he continues to fight against convention. He’s neither happy nor sad, up nor down. Emotionally he has one speed. He’s a mash-up of depression and ebullience. I’m not sure of the clinical definition of sociopath, but this might be it.

He’s consistent. But he’s not fun. He takes the darkest aspects of a Four — selfishness, a teasing cruelty — and doesn’t offset them with a Four’s redeeming qualities of vulnerability and emotional depth. This version proves that being clever isn’t enough for a Sherlock Holmes. He needs more.

LUCY LIU’S DR. WATSON, SEVEN

Joan’s a surgeon who quit after a patient died on the table. This is the doctor part of Elementary‘s Watson, and it’s good. However, if she’s serving as Holmes’ Sober Companion, why didn’t they make her a psychiatrist? Her medical background is acceptable at first, but as time ticks down and Sherlock’s father refuses to extend her employment, it’s harder to believe a surgeon would stay for Holmes’ own good. She starts to look codependent and she’s required to lie to him. Why can’t she admit she likes solving cases with him? 

As the seasons continue, this misstep is resolved and Watson feels more solidly like a Seven. She’s competent and calm, professional and curious. Her abrupt change of career is very Seven. However, her costuming is problematic — those uber-high heels and cocktail waitress skirts. It doesn’t suit her and it pulls too much focus. What did she wear as a surgeon? Business casual seems closer to her personality and is probably what she’d already have in her closet.

With this Holmes and Watson we have Five/Seven, Strength and Weakness numbers. A lot of conflict and similarity is possible here. By Season Two the showrunners start to utilize this interplay. It’s no longer codependency, but cooperation. Joan’s firm boundaries for her personal life become established — very Seven. She’s more than Sherlock’s assistant, in her own mind and in reality.

The clothing, though, doesn’t change and it really bothers me. I see that Liu needs extreme heels so that the full shots have her at a comparable height to Miller, but they’re so ridiculous and ugly. How does a detective in four-inchers and a short skirt manage to investigate a crime scene? The costuming continues to contradict her practical and efficient character. It’s a silly complaint, but I refuse to give it up.

JONNY LEE MILLER’S HOLMES, FIVE

From the first moments of Episode One of Elementary, this Sherlock behaves like a Five. He’s much more serious and less fun than the archetypal Seven Holmes. His super-smartness also comes with a weariness because he must explain everything to the peons around him. (A Five hates to explain; a Seven loves it.) Also, his drug addiction is a result of emotional turmoil. His substance-usage is to forget his despair. The Seven Holmes partakes because it’s stimulating and fun.

We still have a Head Type Sherlock, but this is a darker version. There’s no twinkle in the eye with this Holmes. It’s a valid choice with interesting possibilities, but the showrunners need to stay on point. A Five isn’t going to lean close and sniff the rug, for instance. A Seven loves that kind of sensory input, but a Five would find another way to follow the clue. A Five wouldn’t invite hookers in. He would recoil from the need to touch and interact with a stranger. A Five can just shut that tap down, so to speak, and become celibate. A Seven is the Holmes who would explore all avenues, including sexual. I believe the show is playing with different parameters of Sherlock, but it slides back sometimes to the old portrayals.

By Season Two, this Sherlock is firmly established. His clothes, with the high-buttoned collar and bland styling, are very Five. He’s eccentric, but he likes an ordered world. Watson must live in his house so they can work at all hours. He’s more than disdainful of those who don’t understand, he’s actually pained. Everything borders on over-stimulating for him. It’s a complete and beautifully acted portrayal of a Holmes with a different Enneagram.

JUDE LAW’S DR. WATSON, NINE

He’s a caretaker of Holmes, a bridge between reality and Sherlock’s head. Of course, a medical doctor would indeed always evaluate the state of their patient (even when he’s a friend). Does Watson go beyond a professional involvement, though? He can’t seem to stop saving Holmes.

Tidy, brave, prepared — Sherlock himself names these traits for Watson. He’s also courteous. When Holmes insults his fiancee, Watson restrains himself in a public restaurant with a lady. He approves of her wine toss in Sherlock’s face, and he later, when alone with him, punches Holmes in the nose. This Watson has a physicality controlled by good manners.

The two of them are like an old married couple, sniping and circling, knowing everything the other is thinking. Holmes is so erratic (these days we would say he’s on-spectrum) that Watson initially seems grounded and normal. 

He’s not, though! His co-dependency with Holmes is possible because they’re both strange men. Watson is just better at socially hiding it. What would he do if he couldn’t roll his eyes at Holmes? He’s able to pretend he’s a regular bloke by showing exasperation with Sherlock. This isn’t the traditional sidekick role. Law’s Watson is an actual character with separate motivations.

He’s a Nine. The competitive spirit between him and RDJ’s Holmes, a Seven, is appropriate for these numbers. And Watson is very much someone who thinks as a Body Type. He enjoys the intellectual pursuit with Sherlock, but he prefers his profession — tending to the physical — and clues that require him to interact with them. He is a Nine who pushes the edges of his Enneagram: a little bit daring and reckless, a little bit angry and injudicious. He hates himself for it, but luckily he can blame it all on Holmes.

ROBERT DOWNEY, JR.’S SHERLOCK HOLMES, SEVEN

One of my first character posts was a generic look at Sherlock Holmes. I’ve come a long way, lol. I assessed an unspecified Holmes as a Seven, and declared that RDJ would portray him well. Let’s dig in, though, and see what and who his Holmes is.

Downey’s Holmes really does dabble in it all. The drugs, the violin-plunking, the pugilism, the chaos — his Holmes tries everything. He even conducts, for research, a satanic ritual. Sometimes he envisions events many steps into the future, like his boxing technique, and sometimes he has to experience something to deduce it.

He’s brave. Indomitable and fearless, really. He’s either supremely confident or a lucky fool. He’s a mediocre friend to Watson. Loyal, yes, but selfish.

Not a One or Six. Rules are meaningless to him. Not a Two. All of that detective gear is too haphazard. Not a Five. He’s an intuitive thinker, not one to organize a problem. Not a Nine. He thrives on conflict.

So, we have Three, Four, Seven, or Eight remaining. Socially, he’s a fiasco. Not a Three or Four.

Seven. His fighting style comes from the head, not from the gut, as an Eight’s would. And I really like that Sherlock Holmes has an Enneagram type. I mean, we all knew he’d end up a Seven. The excessive edges of his personality and his success in that lifestyle are really only manageable by one number.

HENRY CAVILL’S SHERLOCK HOLMES, NINE

Now, I love Cavill. He’s a real-life gamer! But, lol, does he always play his characters as Nines? Geralt the Witcher, Superman, and now Sherlock. All of these heroes have a cool distance from the problems surrounding them.

In the first Enola Holmes movie, Sherlock makes only a few brief appearances. Obviously, he detects. He also involves himself in his sister’s life reluctantly. It’s not his business; Enola is Mycroft’s ward. When he does poke in, though, he meets a mind that thinks like his own.

In the second movie we see more of him. He’s inebriated in one scene, which is what we expect of Sherlock. We’re not shown why, or told of his drug/drink choice. Instead, it’s presented as normal: the dude had a night out. It’s not the debauchery we associate with him. It’s almost like a box is checked. 

Same for a brief moment when he lifts a violin.

Look, it’s not his story. It’s okay that Sherlock is only an outline of a known character. Everything we see, though, is not a Holmes who is a Seven. (That honor goes to Enola.) I mean, it’s a good choice. We don’t want carbon copies in the same show. And, it’s Henry Cavill busting the arm seams of a double-breasted frock coat! He can steal the scene right out from under everyone if they don’t keep him in the background. The judicial detachment of a Nine is a wise Enneagram decision for this Holmes. We believe he’s competent, famous, and not the protagonist.

ENOLA HOLMES, SEVEN

Here’s the question: In Enola’s first movie, how much of her character can I attribute to her own Enneagram? Her mother’s training dominates her young life. She even says something about her purpose — what she was made for — is to fight. Does Enola relish fighting, or does she pursue fighting because her mother relishes it?

Like her brother, Sherlock, she has a mind that solves puzzles. Her mother exposed her to word games, but she is also naturally good at it. This is a trait that genuinely belongs to her.

She is not, however, natural at physical pursuits. She’s willing to try anything, but she wobbles on the bicycle and can’t initially master the jiujitsu takedown maneuver. The tennis she and her mother play is more about luck than skill. Although she’s very active, Enola doesn’t seem a Body Type.

In the second movie she leans into her detective skills. She’s brave, unintimidated, and socially comfortable in awkward situations. Her mother makes a brief appearance (as a small-scale terrorist, actually), but doesn’t drive Enola’s behavior like she did in the first movie.

I’m tempted to say she’s a Seven. It’s very Holmesian to love the world of the mind, yet engage in so much of the physical and dangerous. Also, the showrunners and Cavill have made their Sherlock a not-Seven, which gives Enola breathing room.

At this point, Enola’s rebellions are her mother’s. I hope the series continues and we see Enola embrace her own countercultural instincts. As a Seven she should become more efficient, more focused, and more comfortable with her own beauty. Right now she manipulates her image to be more boy-like. When she matures, that will become less believable. A whole world of disguises awaits her, and the use of prosthetics is very Holmesian. I look forward to it!

SHERLOCK HOLMES, SEVEN

I haven’t read much of the original stories. My knowledge of Sherlock comes from movies and TV. Doesn’t he seem like an Enneagram Seven, though?

He really must be a Head Type. I just can’t see any way that the world’s most famous case-solver isn’t.

That means Holmes is a Five, Six, or Seven.

A Five is deeply observational. That’s very Holmesian. And a Six is so focused on right and wrong. That’s also very Holmesian. If we look only at Sherlock’s detective work, we may never identify his Enneagram number.

However, what about the cocaine and morphine? A Six would worry too much about side effects, and a Five wouldn’t be interested in clouding the brain to that degree. A Seven, though? For a Man Seven, this is his wheelhouse. Multi-tasking, dabbling in the arcane, fiddling and dosing, Seven Men want it all, and they’re one of the only numbers who can survive and almost thrive through the process.

If Holmes is a Seven, then the best actor to portray him is Robert Downey, Jr. He’s medium height, power in the legs, and convincingly plays that joie de vivre. Whatever his real life number, he’s well-suited to play a Seven.