Sherlock Star Regrets Appearing In Controversial Episode

The longer Sherlock went on, the more it tended to divide opinion with its jarring plot twists and stretching of the show’s in-universe logic, but it always boasted a rabid fanbase desperate for more. The BBC smash hit only comprised of thirteen episodes stretched out over seven years, and even though we haven’t seen the dynamic duo of Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman reunited since January 2017, talk of another installment still crops up every now and again.

Scheduling issues will no doubt be a major stumbling block, with Cumberbatch and Freeman both Hollywood mainstays these days, having interacted as part of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit as Smaug and Bilbo Baggins respectively, and now they’re both part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Another MCU star to have appeared in Sherlock is Gemma Chan, who played Minn-Erva in Captain Marvel before landing the even bigger and more prominent role of Sersi in Chloe Zhao’s Eternals. The episode featuring Chan was deemed a little controversial due to its somewhat stereotypical depictions of Asian characters, and in a new interview the actress admitted that she’d have done things differently if she’d been a more established name at the time.

“Would I necessarily make the same choices now, if given the choice? Maybe not. I think I would speak up more if I felt that a role was leaning into an orientalist trope of some sort. I’m much more aware. And I think I’m in more of a position where I could say something. With complete respect to everyone involved, I’m not here to throw shade on anyone but yeah, I totally hear what you’re saying. I don’t look down on anyone doing any position or in any job on set. The industry has really shifted, even in just the time that I’ve been working. Changing the actual culture, changing in practice, takes longer.”

Chan featured in “The Blind Banker” as Soo Lin Yao, a pottery expert at the London National Antiquities Museum, who found herself under the suspicion of Sherlock and Watson, before it’s eventually revealed that she and her brother are tied to the secret Black Lotus Tong society, known for smuggling antiques out of China. Soo Lin is ultimately murdered by her brother, but eleven years on an industry-wide shift to increase diversity and representation has made some of the content outdated when viewed through a more modern lens.