Arcadia

Here's a thought ... just because Mycroft knows doesn't mean he cares. He protects the people HE cares about, his parents and Sherlock ... but is there any indication he protects the people Sherlock cares about? I can't remember. Besides, he seems pretty hands off as long as Sherlock isn't taking on someone that Mycroft has an interest in. He didn't intervene during the Blind Banker or Hounds, e.g.

In addition to what Carol said above: Yes, that was an intentional clue that the story was not actually taking place in the past, that it was all in Sherlock's head. There's a few other clues like that, although at the moment I can't remember what they are. That's always bothered me too. Maybe the Moftisses think they're writing for American TV. Come to think of it, didn't the American Masterpiece Theatre provide some of the funding for Sherlock? Maybe they really were writing for Americans!

Is time travel involved? I've actually heard of the series but never tried it. If I ever get up-to-date on the Gamache series I may give it a try. I wouldn't mind re-introducing some sci fi into my reading habits ... it all seemed to get so bleak that I stopped trying after a while. Oddly, I seem to be enjoying non-fiction more than fiction these days, such as the above-mentioned West By Night. But I have so little time to read, it's really hard to say what I like. I haven't touched a book since I wrote my last post in this thread, e.g. 😞

Ah. I'm not familiar with that species. Is it any relation to this one?

Eek. I hope you're right about that. I've been burned by so many people in so many different ways in the last few years that I just expect the worst from all businesses now. Sad but true.

Dang straight, we don't want yer kind over here!

What the ever-lovin'........... That reminds me of this:

Well, I probably can't remember any differences from how I talk now and how I talked as a kid (except for - perhaps? - a larger vocabulary? ) but no, I didn't make a conscious effort to do it differently, I was just curious to see if I'd get the same result. I'm not sure they were even all the same questions this time? What's interesting to me is how my parents' points of origin seem to have affected my dialect more than the places I've lived. Makes sense, I suppose, as those were the most consistent dialects I would have heard during my most formative years, but somehow I didn't expect it. But I imagine my other influences muddied the water enough that it's not easy to pinpoint the exact area they were from. It's weird, thinking back on it, to realize that my ever-travellin' parents never went more than 50 miles from where they were born ... until their mid-twenties, when WWII came along and changed everything. Whereas I never had the chance to stay in place for more than a few years until I was in my mid-twenties. Quite frankly, having gone through a huge move recently myself and facing another one soon ... I don't know how my mother stood it! And she had four kids to move with! Egad. 😬

For anyone not up on somewhat-old-fashioned American derogatory slang, the word can refer to black people -- when it's not referring to ghosts or perhaps to government agents such as those in the CIA. OMG, I never thought of that! Another mystery solved. I never was really clear on that, especially considering the source. Was Magnussen being honest or manipulative or what? Join the club. I can think of no reason to believe anything CAM said, and certainly when they got around to showing Mary in her former life, it wasn't much like what he described. Another continuity issue, or just CAM being a liar? Beats me! Besides, that should be "whomever." Oh, I think my intent is clear enough.

And Carol and I crossposted again! I'll have to come back later, have to go make dinner!

More appropriate? Yes. More to my liking? No. What I personally would have preferred is for Sherlock to show remorse. That's it. I wanted him to demonstrate that he was decent enough to realize that he had overstepped his authority; that he is not the arbiter of life and death. Whether that involved a pardon or not (which seemed to me the cleanest way to explain why Sherlock was condemned one minute but free as a bird the next) wasn't really important, except that it would have cleared up a loose end in a way I would have appreciated. The fact that they made him so gleeful about getting away without even a harsh word just made it worse. As far as the government responding to Moriarty ... there's other smart people out there, they would have managed. Sorry, Sherlock, but I don't believe you're the ONLY one who can solve problems! Yes. Such an action on Mycroft's part would have made me think less of him, but that's okay with me because a) he's not the protagonist and b) I don't think that highly of him to begin with. (Sorry Mycroft! ) He's already too morally grey for me to root for. And furthermore, that's his job. It's not Sherlock's. I tend to have deep respect for characters who have a line they will not cross. To this day I remember the dismay I felt when Eliot Ness decided to push Nitti off the roof at the end of The Untouchables; it almost spoiled the movie for me. Worse, it seemed like from then on that movie "good guys" became just as bloodlustful as the bad guys (I'm looking at you, Die Hard.) But at least Ness realized he'd crossed the line. In Sherlock, they won't even acknowledge the line is there. And it diminishes my enjoyment of the show. And that's all it does, folks. I'd enjoy the show more if they did things a certain way, it's not the end of the world if they don't. I admit it distresses me a bit that I always seem to be in the minority on this point, but I do recognize it's just a TV show, that Moftiss aren't advocating that everyone turn into Americans and start shooting whoever they like. But sometimes it's nice to see a TV character who shares your point of view. I guess I could always go rewatch some episodes of MacGyver.

Well, I took American dialect quiz again, and this time practically the whole country was red, except for some icy blues around the Great Lakes and lower New England. But the deepest concentrations of red this time were Kansas, Kentucky and Georgia ... three places I've never lived. But still, pretty close to Ohio and Tennessee (my parents' roots) and a touch of the South. Although quite a bit further south than I actually live. California and Maine, which I had traces of before, were more slight this time. What this means, I have no idea. I've always believed my dialect was pretty generic, does this mean I'm right?

Yeah, but that's not what I meant. He was brought back to deal with Moriarty, but that alone doesn't absolve him of murder ... he's just become a useful tool for the government. What I wanted to see ... and never got ... was acknowledgement that appointing yourself judge, jury and executioner ... as Sherlock did ... carries consequences. But Sherlock suffered no consequences; neither legal nor personal. And that doesn't sit well with me. I know the show is fiction, but it functions in a world that is based on the one I live in, and I don't like the suggestion that it's okay to do what Sherlock did and just saunter away from it. While stuffing your face with cookies, no less. The opening of TST was a very, very ugly moment, for me. I lost a lot of respect for the character of Sherlock in that moment. Besides, it's another continuity issue. Oh my, Sherlock's a murderer, we have no choice but to send him to his death. Oops, wait, we need him to deal with Moriarity. Oh, lookie, guess what, there's alternatives to exile and death after all! Gee, who knew?

The words amuse me, but it's the body language of the cats that really cracks me up...

We sort of cross-posted, but yeah ... this.