Guy Ritchie's 'Young Sherlock' on Prime Video Is Better Than 'The Gentlemen'

The Gentlemen has gained traction on Netflix with its exciting story and expert use of Guy Ritchie‘s trademark filmmaking style. Spinning off the 2019 film of the same name, the series has a lot to offer, and after its second season, that is truer than ever. However, earlier this year, Ritchie released a Prime Video series that even surpasses The Gentlemen. Though it isn’t as well established, the streamer has already renewed it for another season, giving Ritchie’s latest project a chance to grow.

Young Sherlock isn’t the first time Ritchie has explored Arthur Conan Doyle‘s famous literary character; previously, he directed two Sherlock Holmes films over a decade ago, and his latest project serves as a prequel to the version of the character that fans know. Young Sherlock delivers a compelling mystery and endearing characters, and though there are only eight episodes for now, the guarantee that it will continue next year gives the audience even more to look forward to.

‘Young Sherlock’ Thrives With an Action-Packed Story

As the show’s title indicates, the story follows a 19-year-old Sherlock Holmes (Hero Fiennes Tiffin), who uses his intelligence to make mischief. After he is jailed for pickpocketing, his brother, Mycroft (Max Irons), secures a position for him as a scout at Oxford University. However, when priceless ancient scrolls go missing and Sherlock happens to be nearby, he becomes the prime suspect. With permission from Princess Shou’an of China (Zine Tseng), who donated the scrolls, Sherlock investigates the crime to clear his own name, but things only become more complicated after he and his unlikely new ally, James Moriarty (Dónal Finn), discover the truth.

Sherlock and Moriarty uncover a larger conspiracy involving murder, revenge, royalty, and past trauma. Given the accusations leveled at him, the mystery is already personal, but that is only the beginning for Sherlock. Throughout the story, he learns more about his sister Beatrice’s (Holly Cattle) disappearance when they were children, adding another layer to the ongoing mystery. With so much going on, it’s impossible not to get swept up in one of Ritchie’s best series to date. The questions build, providing shocking twists that keep the audience on the edge of their seats as they try to piece the puzzle together.

‘Young Sherlock’s Characters Are the Highlight of the Show

Image via Prime Video

Image via Prime Video

Image via Prime Video

Image via Prime Video

Image via Prime Video

Image via Prime Video

Image via Prime Video

Image via Prime Video

While the mystery of the scrolls’ theft is an important element of Young Sherlock‘s first season, the show’s greatest strength is its characters. Sherlock Holmes’ legacy has endured for a reason, but Ritchie’s series offers a new perspective on the beloved character while he is still honing his detective skills. This offers room for the show to grow and evolve, but it isn’t the only change Young Sherlock makes. Throughout the series, Sherlock and Moriarty take center stage, but instead of their usual rivalry, they develop a friendship rooted in their mutual status as outcasts and a shared intellect. Their witty dynamic draws the audience in, and they make an impressive duo as they work together.

Britain makes more detective television than any country has any
business making, and somehow almost all of it is good. Here is the one you belong in, what it says
about you, and the case for it being the best of the four.

You want the tea, the gossip and the vicar behaving oddly.
Midsomer is a county where the scenery is beautiful, the fete is on Saturday and the murder
rate is roughly that of a small war, and absolutely nobody involved thinks this is strange.

• You are sociable, curious and the first to notice that somebody has changed their
  routine.
• It has been running since 1997 and sells to well over two hundred territories worldwide.
• John Nettles handed over to Neil Dudgeon in 2011 and the show did not miss a step.
• Your flaw is that the line between caring about people and enjoying the gossip is
  thinner than you admit.

You feel other people’s grief as if it were handed to you
personally. Broadchurch is less a whodunnit than a study of what a small town does to itself
when it finds out that the answer was always going to be somebody everybody already knew.

• You are the one people tell the truth to, and you carry all of it afterwards.
• Olivia Colman won the BAFTA for Best Actress for the first series and David Tennant has
  never been better.
• Chris Chibnall wrote it before taking over Doctor Who, and took Jodie Whittaker with
  him.
• Your risk is absorbing so much of other people’s pain that nobody notices yours.

You go through things rather than around them. John Luther is the
best detective in London and a liability to everybody who works with him, and the show is
completely honest that those two facts are the same fact.

• You are the one people call when the normal approach has already failed.
• Idris Elba won a Golden Globe for it in 2012 and it made him a film star more or less
  overnight.
• Luther: The Fallen Sun arrived on Netflix in 2023 and took the character properly
  cinematic.
• Your weakness is that doing the right thing your way still leaves a mess for somebody
  else.

You say the thing and you do not dress it up. Vera Stanhope turns
up in a hat and a mac, is rude to almost everybody, and is the only person in the room
prepared to ask the question that the family has been waiting years for somebody to ask.

• You have no patience for performance, and the people who like you really like you.
• Brenda Blethyn played her for fourteen series before stepping away, and ITV ended the
  show rather than recast.
• Ann Cleeves wrote the novels, and also wrote the books behind Shetland, which is the
  same trick in a colder place.
• Your flaw is that blunt and kind can be the same thing, but only if people already know
  you.

However, Sherlock and Moriarty’s friendship raises even more questions about Young Sherlock‘s future. As close as they are now, it seems inevitable that something will come between them as the series moves forward, given their history as enemies. The complex dynamic between these two leads opens up many more stories for Young Sherlock to explore when the show returns, promising even more adventure, mysteries, and laughs. Ultimately, the Prime Video series is ideal for fans of fast-paced mysteries, especially those who enjoy Ritchie’s style of filmmaking.

Young Sherlock