Redbeard

Yes, there is. The loss of Sherlock. He says so himself! I think Mycroft and Sherlock are more alike than not. Just Mycroft is Sherlock amped up to the 10th power, or something mathematical like that since my math sucks. Main difference is Mycroft is not a drama queen, is not showy and attention-seeking, whereas Sherlock is. But they are both highly intelligent, emotionally closed off, smug and arrogant, not big on family time, use their power to be on the side of the angels, don't mind torturing their loved ones in the name of the greater good, enjoy deductions, love to pretend to hate each other...etc... I could easily see Mycroft in a relationship and / or a friendship, it would just require the right people. The kind of people that would admire his intellect and tell him was "amazing", instead of "piss off", which I am sure he usually gets. (See what I did there?) The right person or people could thaw him out, just like what happened with Sherlock. I think it would take a lot longer, because Mycroft is even better at distancing himself from others, but it could happen. He just needs his version of a John Watson in his life, or a "Woman" to intrigue him. He is not actively searching but doesn't mean they aren't out there. If we followed Mycroft's life and knew his inner struggles and he was our POV character, then when Sherlock popped in from time to time I'm sure he'd look like an a-hole to us too lol.

I also noticed the very deliberate non-mention of Sherlock. What the heck? He lists the things he's known for and omits Sherlock? That had to be intentional but why? As to the actual show, it was okay. I didn't find the Hobbit/Office thing funny but then I was only passingly familiar with both. I thought the wedding sketch was kind of creepy. I thought he was really cute on the morning show segment as that handyman they kept showing on camera to the point it became awkward. Also thought he was cute in the "Sump'n Claus" sketch lol. He looked really weird as that red=headed saxophonist, a skit I thought was particularly random. And the lever / assembly line sketch was actually kind of funny.

Wow Carol, that is dark. That is just cold lol.

My take is that Sherlock's emotions were genuine...though it is admittedly hard to ever tell with him! But even if he and Mycroft ran through a million different scenarios, there was no way he could be 100% confident everything would play out according to their plans. Too many variables - most especially because his opponent is out and out crazy. Even Sherlock knows he is not perfect and takes the occasional "shot in the dark (good one though)" so he had to have known actual death/defeat was a possibility. But either way his emotion would be real because even a "fake death" would be life-changing for himself and his friends.

I'm looking forward to it. Its funny I hadn't watched SNL in years, but happened to watch it last week because my son was watching. A title came on at the end saying next week's host is Martin Freeman...for some reason in my tired 1:00am mind I read it as Morgan Freeman. Now I like Morgan Freeman, but I wouldn't tune in particularly for him. My son made a comment about it would be cool if they did a Sherlock parody sketch and then it clicked...Oh MARTIN Freeman lol. I am glad he said that or I would have blanked right out on it...well...until I found this post here...!

I've seen a lot of people posting that sort of thing, but I don't get it. (Maybe because I'm also annoying and vulgar?) Could you post some examples, please? Okay, this is hard, but I'll try. I'll start with why I find (or rather found) her annoying, and maybe the "vulgar" part will fall into place. To begin with, her looks. When I first saw her in The Sign of Three, I went, ugh, seriously? So far the women in Sherlock have looked like real people, not the standard American soap opera / sitcom / mainstream movie girls with their perfect shiny hair and teeth and makeup and big lips and sexy clothing. And here was Janine, as large as bloody life, looking as if she'd just stepped right off the set of "Sex and the City", flirting with Sherlock Holmes! Then, the flirting itself. The situation is supposed to be funny, I guess, because she treats Sherlock like a normal human (male) being, when we know perfectly well that he is not, and that she displays a profound insensibility towards that "otherness" as their relationship progresses. I mean, who but Janine would even consider becoming Sherlock's girlfriend or giving him a nickname like "Sherl"? (That's vulgar, by the way. Sherl. Come on.). She doesn't reverence Sherlock, I guess. I am sure I should find that wonderful, but I don't. It nettles me when Mary treats him like a child, and I find Janine's behavior downright insulting. This is the Great Sherlock Holmes, for Pete's sake, who does she think she is talking to him as if he were just a guy next door? :lol: I do love the way she stomps around the flat in Sherlock's shirt, though. That scene with her and John is hilarious. And I love how she got out of a close encounter with Sherlock Holmes nearly unscathed and made a profit of it. His Last Vow largely reconciled me to her. Plus the fact that Sherlock said his drug habit had hit the newspapers. Plenty of ways she could have found out. I think in the beginning, Janine just thought Sherlock was gay. I mean, a man who is not responding to her more-than-obvious signals and who can point out potential male bedfellows for her... To a person like Janine, it takes a lot less to spell "gay". Later, though, I think she's figured out that with Sherlock, the story is more complicated, and by then "the kind of man you are" probably refers to his general Sherlock-ness, his more than problematic approach to feelings, sex and relationships in general, and I think she realizes that before the question of "with whom" came up, Sherlock would have to settle the "what on earth for and how do I do this without getting hurt anyway and no thanks I'm freaked out and this is a waste of time" problem first. I disagree with your description of Janine! To me that sounds more like Irene Adler, she's the one that showed up looking like a makeupy/shiny/glam/stereotypical movie girl or whatever lol. Janine next to Irene is downright normal. To me, Irene is the trashy, predictably oversexy one. While Janine does come on rather strong, there is also something kind of tomboyish and down to earth about her. Good sense of humour and fun too. I was fully prepared NOT to like her, but I did. Just as I fully expected to like Irene, but then I did not. And I also expected to like Mary, and I did for two episodes, but now I do not. I am also prepared to have my opinions on any of them change should they appear in the future!!

Yeah when I first heard it I thought the very first line sounded like Benedict, but then the rest of it not as much. I do hope he shows up in the series somewhere, sometime...if not that's okay because it will still be incredible I'm sure. I got chills just watching that trailer. I can't wait!!!!

Have any of you seen the new Star Wars teaser trailer that was released today? Some speculation has been that the voice over / narrator is our BC. You guys surely know the nuances of his voice! What do you think? Does anyone know for sure?

1. I echo everything you said here, Boton. Mycroft for pretty much all the same reasons. 2. John. He's quiet, considerate, doesn't mind doing the shopping, a good listener and would be up for anything. 3. Molly. I think she would be friendly and co-operative and not a back-stabbing witch like the person I DO work with. ahem. sorry. 4. Sherlock. He seems to loosen up after a beer and so would probably have lots of great conversations. His witty Sherlock-isms would make for a very entertaining night out. Would love to hear his deductions and comments on people at the pub lol. 5. Sherlock. Even if he hated the activity of my choice there would never be a dull moment! BONUS: Benedict Cumberbatch. He just seems so warm and fun in real life...would be a blast to know.

Bwa-ha!

Awesome article! After reading it I am just craving a cup of tea and a Holmes book.

Makes sense Arcadia! Thanks. I just thought I was ignorant to some pop culture reference about goldfish or something!

I did a deduction last week! When I showed up at work my co-worker was already there and she had brought me a coffee. She said she'd started early and been there over an hour. My mind involuntarily went (*cue Sherlock music and rapid fire talking*): You said you've been here over an hour yet the coffee you brought me is piping hot - too hot to drink so no way it has been sitting on my desk for an hour which tells me you really just got here yourself, it has been snowing steadily all morning yet your footprints out front are not covered over, the radio is not on and I know you have a habit of instantly turning it on nearly the moment you arrive...all of which tells me you are full of it, you just barely arrived here just ahead of me and you are saying you have been here over an hour because you have time to make up and you want me to be your "witness" if management asks if you've been starting early! The answer is no you did not start early, no I will not vouch for you with management, but yes, I will take that coffee thank you." I was proud.

That is funny, and so is Sherlock response. It reminds me of his line when he says "Might not be peas. Might not be him. But he's got a great singing voice. Or somebody does." I love how he fails to remember all these details about his friends. Just a vague sense of something once told him about themselves lol.

I got 10 out of 10 too! Oh okay, actually I only got 6 out of 10. Clearly I will have to schedule a Sherlock marathon to get back up to snuff. *hangs head in shame*

Huh. I have to admit it never occurred to me Mycroft might be gay until I learned that Gatiss was. It never occurred to me he might NOT be gay either ... nothing about his characterization made me wonder about his sexuality one way or the other, at least until S3. The "goldfish" remarks kind of made me think about it. Someone somewhere suggested it was a sheath for a sword, which is the coolest idea ever. I so want it to be true. Hey Arcadia, what is the connection between the goldfish remarks and leading to think of Mycroft perhaps being gay? I'm just not sure what you mean by that, but maybe I am just missing something. I personally never thought of Mycroft as being gay...reminds me of something was it from a TV show or something? Where they say someone's not gay, he's just British lol. I see Mycroft like that, just so refined and upper class and prissy that he could come across as being gay. But I could see through his mannerisms that maybe as a child he was once bullied or teased about being gay and Sherlock seizes on that as a "pressure point" of sorts in the brotherly abuse game.

I have never seen House, but I still find the discussion interesting. I am thinking I might have to see it - it sounds so GOOD.

Yes! I love Sherlock with his parents too. This episode just kind of makes me giddy with joy lol. Love it!

I just watched this episode tonight. I love it so much. I think the restaurant scene is so amazingly done. It is beautiful work by everyone involved. And I can't help but love Sherlock in the subway car. Wow he is so infuriating yet endearing at the same time. I also hadn't noticed before how John changes from the beginning when he says, "I don't care how you faked it Sherlock, I want to know why." Then at the end he asks, "Sherlock are you going to tell me how you did it? How you jumped off that building and survived?" I think his thoughts coming full circle shows that he has finally accepted that Sherlock did what he had to do. He has emotionally gotten past that and can now move on to practical curiosity. I think it shows John has healed. How resilient he must be to have Sherlock Holmes for a best friend. Good on ya, John.

Sometimes I wonder if Sherlock's jabs are meant to imply Mycroft is gay? (Not that there's anything wrong with that. Cue Seinfeld music) With his comment about being there to "see the Queen" being directed at Mycroft and then his comment about never having spoken to "a woman" I wonder. We know that Sherlock has no actual problem with anyone being gay ("I know it's fine"). But the two comments together make me think he is trying to tease Mycroft. Whether Mycroft actually is gay or not would be a different matter, but it seems like something Sherlock likes to torment him with. Which again goes back to what Boton was saying about reverting to the old childhood taunts. That is something I can see young boys doing to get at each other, whether there was any truth in it or not. Come to think of it, Mycroft does the same to Sherlock lol. (Might we expect a happy announcement?)

I would love to have the kind of varied knowledge that Sherlock has! And not the just the knowledge but the ability to have that instant recall...to instantly apply the information. I mean I find even with things that I KNOW, it takes a while to process. Like if I recognize a certain shoe tread, I would be like "Yeah...I've seen this before let me think....on the tip of my tongue....oh shoot just give me minute....where have I seen that...." etc. etc. etc. Not the like Sherlock's ability to say "Ah yes, this shoe was made my Nike in 1999, only twelve were made etc..." Even I knew that I would never be able to reach it in my mind. So I wonder if I think all the information in the world might just be wasted on me.

Ha ha, well she could still do that.

Yeah its a weird theme, of strong men wanting to be dominated by women (but only in bed mind you). I know that happens psychologically but doubt it is really THAT common. And for Sherlock Holmes? Nope. (In MY opinion). Still thinking about that word "adventuress" (it intrigues me)...it leads me to think she could have been like a female Indiana Jones type, a globe trotting artifact hunter or whatever. Still could have been embroiled with the royal family for knowing too much about something...maybe she could have been some foreign language interpreter tied up in political intrigue...or maybe keep her as an opera singer / actress whatever who lives a jet set life with a shady past...shady past doesn't have to be as blatantly obvious as DOMINATRIX lol. I don't know. I find the topic interesting anyway!

Also my reaction to sex or violence depends on what I am watching. I do expect a certain amount of violence going into a show like Sherlock (We all know he is a detective whose world revolves around murderers and criminals...that is what he does! So a little violence isn't going to shock me). But I see absolute no need to expect an episode about a dominatrix, clever nudity, sexual overtones, lol. Just like if I am watching, say a romantic comedy, I wouldn't expect the lead to be brutally raped and murdered for example. Doing the unexpected sometimes is good, sometimes if its just for shock value it can jar a bit. Not just the nudity but the dialog, the "I'll have you right here on this table until you beg for mercy" type of stuff. Seriously? In Sherlock Holmes? Sir Arthur Conan Doyle AND Jeremy Brett are probably looking down in dismay.

I can see that but original Irene wasn't any kind of prostitute that we know of. An "adventuress" sounds so cool! She could have been anything! Why does it have to be sex? It just seems so obligatory nowadays. She could still be strong and rebellious and fascinating with her clothes on couldn't she? Heck it would be more fitting if Irene was the "assassin trying to be a good person" and Mary was just a normal person (more like Sarah). I think that would suit both characters more to original canon. But they can do what they want and changed up both characters to the point that I can't agree with. And you can't please 100% of the people 100% of the time right. But then its okay because I watch the show for Sherlock and John anyway. All the other characters are just gravy.