It’s another edition of your favorite pop culture storytelling debate—the Boomerangerang! This time, we’re inspired by last week’s conversation about Dr. Watson and the sidekick, so we’re pitting the great sidekicks and henchmen of stories against each other in a one of a kind debate. We’ll each pull a sidekick or henchman from a hat, then argue who’d be the best right hand confidant of a particular hero. Tons of nerdy arguments, deep insights about Spongebob Squarepants, and weird surprises await.
Episode 77: My Dear Watson
We spend a lot of time here at the Midnight Myth discussing heroes, villains, epic adventures, and feats of derring-do. But it’s easy to lose sight of those characters just outside the realm of glory, just to the right of the protagonist, propping them up in times of need. This week, we’re talking about the sidekick—through the eyes of one of the greatest sidekicks in all of storytelling, Dr. John Watson. As he accompanies the great detective Sherlock Holmes and chronicles their adventures, Watson may seem like a lesser man, but time and again proves himself essential to Holmes’ success. We’re taking a close look at the pilot episode of the BBC series Sherlock, ‘A Study in Pink,’ to break down what makes Watson both so ordinary and so exceptional.