One of Holmes' most memorable traits from canon, being a "master of disguise", has been almost completely discarded by modern adaptations, because it doesn't fit at all with the idea of a Sherlock who's a total basket case with no social skills who hates dealing with people https://twitter.com/loudpenitent/status/1298782000908603392

It's not a minor thing, either, it plays a key role in several of the stories, and Watson is effusive about it

That many, many other fields of human endeavor lost a potential genius when Holmes decided to go down his unique path in life, but most of all the London stage

He could've been the greatest actor of his generation, when he wants to be seen he has incredible charisma and presence and when he doesn't want to be seen he's a masterful chameleon who can become anyone from any region and social class

Because he pays attention

The key feature of Holmes as a character hammered in over and over again is that he PAYS ATTENTION -- "You see, Watson, but you do not observe"

Watson is drawn as a typical decent guy of his time and social class -- but he fails both intellectually and morally because he DOESN'T PAY ATTENTION

He's a "decent guy" who thinks the way all the "decent guys" around him are taught to think and rarely goes further

(He, at least, can appreciate Holmes' ability to think outside the box and follow behind him on the path he takes

Which is more than people like Inspector Gregson and Lestrade, whom Holmes dismisses as decent and competent enough but like all actual cops "have no imagination")

It's like how most modernizations completely drop the idea of the Baker Street Irregulars

How Sherlock made a point of befriending all the local street urchins and using them as an informal information network, and they trust him because he actually gives a shit about them

The equivalent of this in a modern era would be something like Sherlock volunteering at a youth center or being involved in some kind of mentorship program, which is 180 degrees the opposite of how they usually characterize him

There's also the fact that -- as often remarked upon by moral guardians -- Holmes frequently let criminals go

"Commuting a felony", as he called it (which irl is a use of the pardon power only available to the Queen and her government)

Unlike the BBC characterization of Sherlock as someone who cares only about the glory of "solving the puzzle" and doesn't give a shit about consequences, canon Sherlock cares a LOT about consequences

It's not even just when the criminal is a sympathetic person, or their crime was justified

The dude in The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle was a huge piece of shit who almost fucked up a lot of people's lives

But he decided sending him to jail would do more harm than good

It's a great scene too

The guy is just shamelessly begging and whining and he just silently walks over and flings the door open

"Get out"

And the guy tries to thank him and he's all "Not one more word. Out!"

And afterwards he just sighs to Watson that this guy is an ass and always will be but he's clearly been so freaked out by this experience he's not gonna try anything at this scale again and turning him into a hardened criminal will just make the world a worse place

Also, what the hell, it's Christmas

(That story is in fact one of the most fun and least sappy "Christmas episodes" in history)