Sherlock [BBC's contemporary adaptation]

I've just gotten caught up with Season 3. Loved it. I like the goofy joking around. I thought the "I'm not dead" reveal was cruel, but how else could they have done it? Sherlock isn't exactly sentimental.

Cyia said:

Sounds like backpedaling to me. He's been called on the fact that his sociopath doesn't act like one, and now he's trying to say that's the point.

Sherlock's more schizoid than sociopath.

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My theory is that Mycroft is the real sociopath and Sherlock just aspires to be like his brother.

RichardGarfinkle said:

Sherlock's mother is the real Moriarty, pulling strings to keep her sons interested in the world and active (and off drugs in Sherlock's case).

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Again, I fall back on Mycroft. I think it's a family job to keep Sherlock busy and out of the line of fire.

Well, since you ask...

Little Ming said:

The resolution... what the hell? Why didn't John just shoot him? Seriously. John has killed before to save Sherlock. This was for his wife and child. And if Sherlock and Mycroft could fake Sherlock's death for two years, surely they could cover this up for John. Or a million other things. It's just... why was John so passive? So Sherlock could "sacrifice" himself again?

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Sherlock had to so Mycroft could send him away. Plot coupon being redeemed!

It fulfilled His Last Vow to always be there for John.

Doing it in front of others was the other reason. Sure, evidence can be faked, but not even Mycroft would be able to smooth away that moment. That's what Sherlock gets for not soliciting his help...

Really, it was a hurried backup plan, because Sherlock had outsmarted himself by making bad presumptions about CAM.

I suspect they thought that'd shred fandom's collective hearts worse. Really, if they'd left us thinking SH was dead or dying, that would probably have been wiser. From the time of the shot, I was torn. It was clever -- clever-clever, ow! -- but it felt like Moff wanted to be too clever. Personally, I sometimes solace myself with the "it was all a drug dream Sherlock had in hospital" for the final third of this ep.


I have lots of issues with Last Vow. I don't mind some changes to the story, that's fine. But as others at AW have pointed out, other endings were possible.

I believe the week that s3 ep3 aired in the UK was when the news broke that the BBC had signed them for s4, iirc. So nothing could have been quite the cliffhanger finale they wanted.

Little Ming said:

I do think Moriarty is dead. Which leaves us hanging again for the next season/series. Hopefully not another two years.

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Odds are they might use the Moriarty brother solution. 8) It's a source of constant delight to me that ACD was so spotty on his consistency that we've never quite known whether there were two brothers named James Moriarty or three.

JM should be dead. First, it's canon. 8) There's lots of theories as to who ran the video.

Also, as my dad points out, having two fake deaths is overkill.

BTW, there's an amazing Sherlock fan on tumblr who has an extensive theory list going. She's very thorough. I love how many BBC Sherlock fans are Sherlockians who know far more of canon than I do, and aren't shy about speculating. It's made the whole experience more fun for me... I went from BBC Sherlock fan to a fangirl when s2 began.

I run a BBC Sherlock fan blog, mostly to collect/store links.

I had been quite reluctant to give the show a try because of my stubborn loyalty to...ahem...note avatar...

but...I was sick a month ago...with no tv...in France...so I signed up for a month of French Netflicks and binged on the whole show...all three seasons, series, whatever...I found it rather brilliant. Cumberbatch and Bilbo Watson were wonderful, and I loved every single character...exp. Jim Moriarty and Mycroft.

I know what you mean about loyalty. I'm still waiting for my casting call.

I love Sherlock Homes in most variations. As long as Watson isn't reduced to being a bumbling idiot 99% of the time and Holmes isn't immune to the law.

If you want a really old school Holmes series, see if you can find the Ronald Howard series from the either the 50's or 60's. It has a fair balance of light humor and dark elements and the acting is dead on. I found it in Target for only five dollars, so I'm not sure where else in the world you can get it for, but it's definitely a good supplement to hold you over until Season 4 finally graces us with it's presence.

Diana Hignutt said:

I had been quite reluctant to give the show a try because of my stubborn loyalty to...ahem...note avatar...

but...I was sick a month ago...with no tv...in France...so I signed up for a month of French Netflicks and binged on the whole show...all three seasons, series, whatever...I found it rather brilliant. Cumberbatch and Bilbo Watson were wonderful, and I loved every single character...exp. Jim Moriarty and Mycroft.

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Yeah, I get you, but its okay. Jeremy Brett approves. I promise.

Online Sherlock con: FREE.

Smallish bump. For any AW Sherlock fans who would love an online hangout sort of con... there's one next month.

You don't have to be a tumblr user to participate either; I checked already.

Deliberately scheduled the same weekend as the Sherlocked media convention in the UK, altho' some attendees plan to be both at the London con and online.

As a long-time attendee of sf cons, seeing that the media con is having paid parties... is a trifle surreal. Wish I could do this, it'd be fun.

Ariel*---

So, the new trailer for season/series 4 is out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlcWFoNqZHc

I like it. It seems a little action-y for my taste. I'm hoping they pull back a bit from the fan-service and self-reference of season 3. But it does look like some high drama going on.

Wild theory time: is it crazy to think that someone--Mycorft?--might have Sherlock committed? Something about the trailer made that possibility pop into my head.

Hmmmm..... after the Christmas debacle, I am no longer excited about this. I may not even bother watching it. We'll see if there is anything else on. I can always catch-up if everyone says it brilliant.

Yeah. Doesn't scream "Sherlock" at me, as it is.

Raindrop said:

Yeah. Doesn't scream "Sherlock" at me, as it is.

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Why not? Having read all the available stories in the original canon, it's safe to say some are definitely what modern readers would think of as the 19th century equivalent of our modern thriller/action adventure stories. It would seem strange if, as big fans of the originals stories, they didn't tackle that at some point.

I'm excited. And keep in mind, the trailer could be focused on the action, but the series itself could skew differently.

FWIW, I loved the first two series and was iffy on the third and the special, but I'm more than willing to give it a go and hope they realized they went a bit far. I'll still be there glued to my TV screen when it airs here (hopefully the same time as in the UK).

Hmmm. Cautiously optimistic about the trailer -- Ms Hudson's got her game face on, Mary's looking great, and I'm interested in the drug rehab?/psych rehab? thing going on. But the amped-up action does make me a tad uneasy, after the abomination that was Torchwood-with-explosions-and-helicopters-and-guns.

Huh. I don't really know what to think about that trailer. I wasn't thrilled with the Christmas Special, but I'll hold my judgement given that trailers are often inaccurate.

Season 4 Premiered on Sunday night and it was gut-wrenching - *Sigh*

(P.S. I hear there are only 3 episodes in this season)

It was... meh. Predictable, far too action-heavy, and completely shitted over the suspension of disbelief. Sherlock! He barely does any exercise but he can go toe-to-toe with an ELITE ASSASSIN and wins. And someone really, really should have bought Moffat a book on bullet physics for Christmas.

I'll agree with the "meh." It wasn't as self-indulgent as most of season 3, but it had a strong whiff of it. And yes, it was very predictable. It seems laughably obvious that someone was smashing the statues so that someone could get at something inside of one of them. Same with the body of the young man found in the car. Not that the mysteries have ever really been the focus of the story. They're relying on a caricature of their own version of the characters.

Still, it kept me interested, and after season 3, my expectations were tempered.

Also, there've always been 3 episodes per season of Sherlock, and I don't think that'll change; Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch are busy boys.

Meh for me, too. I found it a disjointed mess with an uninteresting story at the heart--and yeah, the bullet! <Pause while I roll my eyes. Again.> By the forty-minute mark, I was drifting off to Words with Friends and checking Facebook. Used to be even the episodes I wasn't crazy about managed to hold my interest. This didn't.

I didn't find it particularly inspiring either. It feels like the fun has gone out of it for everyone involved. On top of that, the show has become very self-conscious.

Also, it was kind of a rehash of the first episode in places.

I actually gave up watching halfway through - and not just because relatives were fidgeting and bickering. (I heard the rundown afterwards, and keep meaning to give it another try online while PBS has it available, but am having trouble finding the interest.) It felt very ADD and self-aware, the dialog seemed mumbled and hard to understand (could be an issue with our TV and the unfavorable viewing circumstances), they got way too clever with the tiny onscreen texts I was supposed to be able to read and the various screen effects that were just plain distracting and over-the-top, and seemed to take forever for the story to actually get going.

Which is a shame, because I loved what they did with The Abominable Bride.

Sooooo, I guess I'm the only one who was moved by Mary's death?

Lavern, you're simply a better and more compassionate person than I am. Once Mary leapt into the path of an already-fired bullet, my emotional response was limited to WTF?

Has anybody watched the Sherlock Parody by The Hillywood Show? I was very impressed by it.

Marlys said:

Once Mary leapt into the path of an already-fired bullet, my emotional response was limited to WTF?

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Well, it's not like she'd have any knowledge of gunplay or bullet dynamics or anything given her utter lack of experience in such matters. Oh, wait... (I figured they were headed toward something like this to keep more or less close to canon - how many wives did Watson burn through? Three? - but the way they did it still felt forced, to create more "tension" between SH and JW. Didn't we spend that nickel when SH played dead and reappeared?)

Netz said:

Has anybody watched the Sherlock Parody by The Hillywood Show? I was very impressed by it.

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Yeah, I've seen that. Hillywood does good parodies. (As for Sherlock parodies, did you ever see the Russian one where three different Sherlock incarnations turn up on the same case? I also got a chuckle out of the Blue's Clues-based "Get Sherlock" parody from a few years back.)

I liked that she died for Sherlock. She was probably still feeling guilty about shooting him. And knows deep down that Sherlock and Watson are the true lifelong soulmates, over her and Watson.

At least that's how I choose to take it.