The Irregulars

Netflix | Release Date: March 26, 2021

4.5	USER SCORE Mixed or average reviews based on 32 Ratings

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MetabaronicApr 8, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The Irregulars has less to do with Sherlock Holmes and more to do with creating a Victorian Buffy show crossed over with poor Young Adult fiction. It genuinely left me wondering why the series creator would produce a show set in a world he clearly dislikes. Every canonical supporting character is subverted to the point of being unrecognisable.
Holmes is a useless drug-addles delinquent with PTSD, Watson is a brutal and controlling **** Mrs Hudson is more akin to Bill Sykes as a property baron, Lestrade is a gun-toting racist zealot, and Mycroft Holmes is a feckless idiot who displays no evidence of intellect whatsoever.

The young leads do work well together, with some real chemistry, but they highlight the failure of blind casting in the context of this series. Blind casting can be a good thing, but when used in a historical context with no backstory acknowledgement, and in a way that completely undermines the social context of the period—the classism, the poverty, the lifestyles and the sheer unbelievability of both situations and character motivations.

There are too many episodes where our ‘heroes’ would simply walk away and not get involved. And the suspension of disbelief is palpable—for example, a bunch of teenage workhouse-educated orphans happily discuss the existence of clones, using a term that didn’t even exist until later in the 20th Century.

Fantasy this show may be, but it is lazy, stereotypical and a poor and dangerously inaccurate representation of the period in which it is set. Exactly the kind of show that creates a poor understanding of history, and helps reduce the intelligence of the viewer.… Expand

3 of 3 users found this helpful30

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froglegsApr 7, 2021

Decent production values and premise, but atrociously bad writing. Would not recommend.

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

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gandalfsucksApr 7, 2021

Acting: 10/10, Story: 0/10

Horrific writing, terrific acting. Every single actor here should find greatness, all the writers and creators ought to be fired and blacklisted from the industry immediately. I don't care that this isn't aboutActing: 10/10, Story: 0/10

Horrific writing, terrific acting. Every single actor here should find greatness, all the writers and creators ought to be fired and blacklisted from the industry immediately.

I don't care that this isn't about Sherlock Holmes, I don't care about the supernatural either, especially given Authur Conan Doyle's fascination with the occult. The writer knows nothing of how to write a horror story, nor thriller nor mystery. This is a coming of age story for young adults, everyone keeps reminding of that point, and the story is infinitely poorer for it. While each episode is compelling enough, the overall story never truly builds towards a climax, and when it inevitably arrives, it ends in a massive cop-out. So much potential and promise, simply lost. I truly hope they can salvage the world out of this dumpster fire.… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

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Kdk2626Apr 8, 2021

A masterclass in overacting and terrible scripting. Most of the actors spend their time shouting at each other. A good premise, badly exercised.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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LunaticInkApr 23, 2021

This has nothing to do with Sherlock Holmes other than the use of his name. It’s closer to Scooby Doo in tone, poorly paced and badly acted.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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SteveRobMar 30, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The betrayal of Victorian London as a backdrop was excellent; the plot was good (not unlike some of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s more spooky tales). The show is well placed and exciting in parts. Intersectionality, race and gender politics were of course on show; and it felt like there was a lot of product placement going on (only 1.6% of people in Victorian London were actually BAME whereas the show ups the number considerably); this can be very annoying/distracting, particularly if you get the impression that the actors only there because they meet some race/gender quota; but happily each cast member provides a quality performance, making the race/gender politics stuff almost forgivable. I say almost, as making John Watson a person of colour, was I felt, a bridge too far. There’s subverting expectations and then there’s pushing an agenda, and this felt like more of the latter. If you check your brain at the door and accept it for what it is, then it’s eminently watchable. If on the other hand you happen to know the word clone (used in the second episode by a main character) wasn’t in use in Victorian England then you’ll find such sloppy writing frustrating. The show has loads of potential, the ideas are good (even original) but the dialogue, the politics, and ahistorical elements are off putting.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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DrBAMF_PhD_MMTMar 31, 2021

This show seems to go completely out of its way to defy expectations, past the point of it becoming pathological. Sometimes this is good, yielding a few unique and interesting moments, but most of the time (especially in the last fewThis show seems to go completely out of its way to defy expectations, past the point of it becoming pathological. Sometimes this is good, yielding a few unique and interesting moments, but most of the time (especially in the last few episodes) it just cheapens the narrative, abandoning all sense and rationality.

As others have said, this is one of those new streaming service shows that puts a huge priority on having non-white, non-heterosexual characters. Unlike some others that leave reviews on the internet, this trend doesn't really bother me when its done well. But this is 1800s, VICTORIAN london. The original Sherlock Holmes stories were set in the 1880s i believe, and while the Holmes and Watson characters have been borrowed for different periods before with great results, this show is very deliberately set in the original era, they even specifically state that the current Queen is Victoria. At this point in time, slavery and the triangle trade were still in living memory, and people of african descent in london were a tiny minority.

Showing the difficulties of Victorian-era black people could have been an interesting journey in its own right, yet here the racism and sexism of the time arent just sidestepped, they are deliberately RETCONNED out of existence. They have a black lord as a character, with a white wife, something that doesn't even exist NOW, as well as a huge population of affluent upper-crust black social climbers, many of whom wear makeup and earrings that would seem a bit much in a modern nightclub.

If they wanted to show the diversity of the real world, they would have been better off making these characters Indian instead, as there is a historical basis for affluent (and poor) Indians being present in Victorian London. So what are we to make of this? Racism and sexism, indeed prejudice of any kind seems essentially non-existent in this world, so is it intended to be some kind of alternative history fiction, set in a world where international, institutional, race-based slavery never existed?

Ok, I can accept that. After all, the entire point of the show is the investigation of supernatural, magical nonsense that clearly didn't happen in Victorian London anyway, so why not? Because the show tries to have it both ways. It spends all this time painting a world where racism, sexism, and anti-gay prejudice doesn't seem to exist, then also stirs in this Dickensian early-industrial poverty meat-grinder which isn't even slightly explained, then it tries to make these points about prejudice in the last few episodes that dont make an IOTA of sense to the world they've tried to portray.

And thats the real problem with this show, it doesnt know what its doing or what it wants to say. It seems to know that it wants to say SOMETHING, it just can't figure out what that is. The fact that Watson and Sherlock Holmes are part of this show is almost incidental, there is very little Holmsian investigation, and the focus is almost entirely, not just on the supposed irregulars but the Beatrice character specifically. She's smart, but not enough to figure things out for herself, brave, but not enough to do anything without having her hand held, and cares, but not enough to see past her own personal problems. Though in fairness to her character, that's pretty much the same for all of them. The world is under threat, and London is about to run down the tubes due to supernatural McGuffins running wild, and all anyone seems to care about, Holmes and Watson included, are their own stupid personal subplots. The whole story proliferates with ignominious personal problems, some of which are lifted DIRECTLY from Dickens books, none of which feel even slightly natural, and most of them don't even make any sense. Its infuriating how unfocused the entire narrative is, it makes you think "Well, if the characters who LIVE HERE don't care about the world, why the hell should I care about their pathetic ham-strung engineered dramas?"… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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Chris1974maJan 18, 2022

For a show that spends so much time beating into its viewers how pretentious Sherlock Holmes is, you would think that the writers would have tried harder not to be pretentious themselves. This show is more personal rant than entertainment.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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JankoMar 27, 2021

My knowledge of Sherlock and Watson is not just limited to Downey Jr and Law's movies, so when I saw the trailer for this I was intrigued and willing to give it a shot.

It has all of the elements I find entertaining in a show: mystery,My knowledge of Sherlock and Watson is not just limited to Downey Jr and Law's movies, so when I saw the trailer for this I was intrigued and willing to give it a shot.

It has all of the elements I find entertaining in a show: mystery, period, suspense. The sets are well done, I'm not sure if they're historically accurate, but they are aesthetically pleasing. The story is interesting.

That, unfortunately, is where the positive stops. The acting is pretty bad. Ranging between stilted and overdone, and that is with the same actor. I don't mind the diversity, this is a fiction story, but it does seem a bit forced. Especially when the acting is so terrible.

If you're looking for a historical, and accurate, show to watch, I'd pass on this one. I'd honestly pass anyway. It's boring and uninspired. There are definitely better ways to waste time.… Expand

3 of 4 users found this helpful31

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elguntorMar 26, 2021

This is completely off the chart from Sherlock Holmes. It's almost unwatchable. There's barely any connection to Holmes. There's no Holmesian method. It's a farce playing on Sherlock Holme's good storytelling. You cannot even go 20 minutesThis is completely off the chart from Sherlock Holmes. It's almost unwatchable. There's barely any connection to Holmes. There's no Holmesian method. It's a farce playing on Sherlock Holme's good storytelling. You cannot even go 20 minutes into the first episode until there's some supernatural event. It's abysmal.… Expand

3 of 4 users found this helpful31

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DomFouApr 11, 2021

Could only tolerate 5 minutes of this show, music is absolute bloody rubbish!

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

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nicolesapo_22Mar 29, 2021

pretty fun and decent show, don't get why some people hate it, its nothing too impressive but its an ok show

2 of 4 users found this helpful22

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Arifhan99Mar 28, 2021

Don't believe what negative audiences have to say about the series. It is not cheesy & it has its own quality that we never seen in any other series. It's surprisingly fun & thrilling

2 of 5 users found this helpful23

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MowtoApr 16, 2021

Very funny, probably one of the best investigation series out there. Sherlock Holmes is rapresented exactly like he was.

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

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fj007Mar 30, 2021

Enjoyable, if you can accept, that this is not a historical show, but rather depicts an alternate universe which has some similarity with the 19th Century London, but also plenty (really plenty!) of differences. In a way a lot of goodEnjoyable, if you can accept, that this is not a historical show, but rather depicts an alternate universe which has some similarity with the 19th Century London, but also plenty (really plenty!) of differences. In a way a lot of good entertainment works like this - or did you really believe that world crises are solved by a man with a license to kill? The rules of this dream world cater more to the sensibilities of the beginning 21th Century than to some historical truth or even to the intern laws governing this fantasy London, but this is entertainment, not school. Basically a young adults horror story which uses the name of Sherlock Holmes and Watson to give it some grounding, it is best, when it is telling its own story with a cast of good actors (quite impressive: Thaddea Graham as Bea), spooky settings and gruesome killings. It has its weakest moments when it wants to be taken seriously as a story about how the older generation screwed up and now has to step aside. At such moments, it no longer feels like just happy wish fulfillment, but like the somewhat sleazy come-on of a vanity drug salesman.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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anonymous133Apr 5, 2021

It's a great heartwarming show. If you're expecting Sherlock Holmes you're not going to to like it though.

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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