Tunguska

Around here, I think fat people do face prejudice and ridicule, but it somehow seems to be even more accepted to openly joke about slender people. "Yes, but you do not eat", "Maybe you can shop at the children's department", and, recently, "I'll just take two pieces of pie since you never have any" - this from a chubby colleague to a colleague with a very low fat percentage who is exceptionally active in sports (and consequently eats enough to feed a small country [emoji14]). If the sportswoman would have replied "maybe you really shouldn't eat that", that would have been considered incredibly offensive. But for someone to comment on a skinny person was totally acceptable even though my coleague was hurt. Bottomline: if everyone would just keep their comments about someone's appearance to themselves, the world would be a much nicer place. (To clarify: none of these comments were directed at me, I'm not skinny in any sense of the word [emoji14])

I completely understand your feeling and would probably have felt the same if the big "modern day mind palace" reveal had not occured. I did enjoy it so much more after that, but I can also imagine that it wasn't enough for you to fix the Victorian scenes, which indeed felt off for me. Going to read your blog now!

I assumed Molly was hostile in the MP because that is how Sherlock perceives Molly's attitude to him at this time. Last we saw she was slapping the snot out of him for his drug use in the lab. I'm guessing he thinks she doesn't have a high opinion of him at the moment and is angry and disappointed in him. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337Z using Tapatalk To me, Molly's hostility was not completely out of character. Molly is not in love with Sherlock. She is madly in love with the handsome, charming detective that visits her lab regularly. That man is not Sherlock. Sherlock's only charming when he needs to be, when he wants to manipulate Molly into doing something for him. Whenever Sherlock is truly himself around Molly, she gets upset, angry, or feels hurt. (Which is, to some degree, understandable because he is often acts somewhere between bluntly honest and completely rude.) We see this when he does not want to have coffee with her. When he identifies Jim from IT as gay. At the Christmas party. When he gets high "for a case". Within his mind palace, Sherlock is completely himself - or his perception of himself -, and that's not someone Molly particularly likes. I know this is quite a dark take on their relationship and I'm sure many will see it differently, but it is one of the reasons Molly's not my favourite. However, I have to say she redeemed herself somewhat for me in The Empty Hearse. (Only to have it blown away again by her behaviour towards her own fiancee in Sign of Three.)

I did the same and couldn't agree with you more!

Also - for me, it's pretty clear that 2015 was the real world and 189...? was the mind palace/dream state that was used to figure out the problem. Also because Victorian Mycroft mentioned 'the virus in the data', which can't be a 125 year old saying. :D And I love explorations of Sherlock's substance abuse. I would not mind seeing more of that in series 4.

I was afraid I wasn't going to love it. I was afraid I would see Benedict Cumberbatch playing a Sherlock Holmes instead of 'my' Sherlock, especially after the release of that trailer where Mrs. Hudson welcomes them back home - the lines felt rehearsed, and it all seemed a bit too self-indulgent. I was happily proven wrong yesterday in the cinema when I simply enjoyed the episode and loved the acting (except for the aforementioned scene, which still seemed 'acted' to me). However, it was fun but not great for me. Then we were suddenly on a plane with modern day Sherlock and I sat at the very edge of my seat and realised this was 1,5 hours of insight into how Sherlock sees himself and the people around him. Finally I felt that excitement and rush of adrenaline I would expect to come with a new Sherlock episode. I don't watch Sherlock because I love Doyle's books or the mysteries. I watch the series for the psychology of this BBC Sherlock, the genius, the addict, the socially incompetent man with so many hidden emotions. And most of all, I watch it for his bond/relationship with John. Looking back, it turned out this episode was all about that and that's what made it great. So, my expectations were not great but I ended up in love with it and can't (but have to) wait to watch it again.

I really enjoyed it! Will give no further spoilers. It finished in the cinema here around the time it started in the UK so enjoy for those of you who are watching right now! I've taped it and will be re-watching soon :D

I find it surprising Germany doesn't have BBC although maybe it's because dubbed content is such a standard? Come visit your friendly Dutch neighbours, we have BBC as well as imports of your excellent beers! ;)

Liking your post does not seem an appropriate response to such a sensitive topic J.P., so I'll put it in words instead: I agree with you 100 percent.

I am going to add this to my head canon! I've always pictured a younger Sherlock lying on a couch somewhere, chain smoking and listening to Joy Division, Nine Inch Nails and, indeed, the Smiths (How Soon Is Now would be his theme song). I love the idea that he still listens to depressing post-punk and only uses the violin as a ruse to maintain his upper class, high society image. :D

I dreamt that I was in the cinema for the global release of the Christmas special. Steven Moffat was sitting next to me and my husband although he became Mark Gatiss later on. He did speak to me but mumbled so badly I couldn't understand a word of it. The special itself was very confusing - it was a series of short stories revolving around Sherlock which each focused on one of the main characters at the time. John was up first and he had only five minutes of total screen time. So whatever happens in December, it can't nearly be as bad as what I witnessed last night!

Lol! That most definitely counts in my book XD

Ewan McGregor? Wow, your connection beats mine any day - he's one of my favourite actors (although our connections are actually of the same length [emoji14])! :D It's fascinating how these things play out - makes me sing-song 'it's a small world after all'. I have another family member who, ah, holds a minor position in our government which connects me to the prime minister which then connects me to most world leaders without ever leaving my seat or knowing anyone remotely famous.

You know your obsession is bad when you are very excited to realize what your 'six degrees of separation' is from Benedict Cunberbatch and, thereby, all Sherlock cast and crew. (From Wikipedia: Six degrees of separation is the theory that everyone and everything is six or fewer steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person in the world, so that a chain of "a friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps.) These are mine: family member who works in the music industry and has worked closely with the band Elbow - Guy Garvey - Mr. Cumberbatch. Lol, geek alert.

I think mr. Moffat's wording in that interview is still ambiguous enough to allow the special to be a memory or storytelling within modern times. The writer of the article seems pretty convinced of what's going to happen but we do not know if that's his interpretation of Moffat's single quote or if this is a rewording of some unquoted things Moffat has said. Agreed with the nervous feeling, though - I have a hunch this is not going to be my favourite out of the ten eps. But I still can't wait for Christmas!

Agreed, and good to know that you do love Sherlock! :D

I have to ask, Inge l-w and jadpdr - you seem to detest the writers so strongly, you bring it up in every other thread. You claim the character of Sherlock was treated disrespectfully and wrongfully which to me sounds like you don't agree with the interpretation in the current show at all. Then what do you actually like so much about BBC Sherlock that you spend so much time on a forum dedicated to it? To be completely honest, I'm getting a bit tired of reading how terrible it all is while I come here to appreciate this series (and its many flaws) with other fans. But I may be completely wrong in interpeting your posts so if you feel like it, please explain, because I'm confused.

Right, John is clearly using that shower again in TSoT, so he apparently doesn't have a usable shower upstairs. I'm not exactly married to the idea that he has any bathroom/toilet facilities, just that it still seems an open question as to whether he might have at least a toilet, possibly a tub, maybe even a shower with inadequate water pressure. It does seem clear that John doesn't consider whatever's up there to be proper bathing facilities, at any rate. How long is it till Series 4? Lol, they take so long between series, I wouldn't be surprised if we start discussing their favourite toilet paper brand or John's choice of wallpaper soon!

Yes, I believe you're correct about John coming out of Sherlock's little bedroom suite. But that doesn't necessarily mean that he has no bathroom facilities upstairs. I can think of three possibilities: 1] He has a toilet and sink, but no tub/shower; 2] He has a tub but prefers a shower; or 3] He has a shower but prefers a tub. And that's not even counting 4] The water pressure is really anemic up there (I had an apartment like that once) or 5] His drain was clogged that day. It may be the only finished room up there, but I doubt that it actually takes up the entire floor! [emoji14]Rewatching TSoT, I noticed John's also showering in the bathroom next to Sherlock's bedroom when Sherlock's trying to guess his middle name ("Higgins?"). That discards the tub preference and clogged up option (unless it is permanently so), at least. I really don't think he has proper bathroom facilities on his floor to be honest.

Nooo :(

Toby, you have such a great way of putting things and I agree with so many points you raise here. Just another thing I want to add as to why His Last Vow is (in my opinion) a great episode: I think Magnussen may be the most interesting villain we've seen in Sherlock so far. Sure, also the most disgusting and most disturbing, but there's a realism and connection to current world events that some other villains lack. Moriarty is just plain crazy and impossible - I love him, but he feels like someone who could only exist in the Sherlock universe. The same goes for the scientist in Hounds, the Black Lotus gang, and Irene Adler. They're otherwordly and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that (I love the Sherlock universe) but they don't quite hit home like Magnussen does. He's the embodiment of what goes wrong in the media at the moment, of how the media influence public opinion and encourage the comman man to go on witch hunts through Facebook and discussion forums without ever involving the legal system. It doesn't matter if you're guilty or not; if someone puts on Facebook that you're a peadophile or cat killer or whatever, you are no longer safe in your own house. And the same goes for news papers: if they print that a politician has a seedy past, it does not matter how many rectifications they place afterwards, the image will stick. And even if the allegations are true, many of them are hardly relevant - none of our slates are clean but many people are so keen to read up on other people's dirt. I just completely understand Sherlock's sentiment when Mycroft asks why he hates Magnussen (from Ariane DeVere's transcripts): "Because he attacks people who are different and preys on their secrets. Why don't you?" Magnussen is dangerous in ways that go beyond bombs and sniper rifles - he has influence in ways that are much bigger than that and hurt and destroy the lives of so many people. He scares me to death and for that, I love him as a villain. Also, I'm still suprised so many are so shocked by Sherlock killing. We never hated John for killing the cabbie. The one thing I can never forgive Sherlock for is pretending to jump to his death in front of his best friend's eyes. This is something I'm still strugling with to accept. I think that was the most cruel and disturbing thing we have ever seen him do, all good intentions aside. It could very well have sent John over the edge. When it comes to Sherlock's villainous actions, I think that was an absolute rock bottom. Shooting the worst villain in Sherlock history (in my eyes) was shocking but also oddly satisifying. Oh my, lengthy post. I wish I could be as concise and coherent as some of you!

Oh my god, that looks exactly like my dad. Sans the pipe and heap of pillows.

Naaah, Sherlock loves Mycroft and so do I. I don't need him to grow a spine, I need him to grow some curls! And I need John to stop growing moustaches! Yes, I am THAT superficial [emoji14] I'm embarassed to say that I've spent more time fretting over hairdo's than over Moriarty's return and/or the Victorian setting, so far. I know. I am unworthy and undeserving of the fandom. It just reminds me of a Doctor Who finale where the tenth Doctor was shrunk to CGI Dobbey in a cage and we only got a few minutes worth of face time of the actual mister Tennant. What! You can't do that to fans if you run a show with long hiatuses! Sittything's post has got me worrying that, indeed, we may not see Sherlock and John but Mister Holmes and Doctor Watson in the special. I'm still looking forward to it tremendously, though.

I once heard someone refer to a Somalian woman as an 'African American' out of political correctness or something. Oh, come on, really? I also knew a guy who was nicknamed (by himself, to distinguish himself from Other Bob) what would translate to 'Bob the Negro'. It's a fine line to thread and it's usually easiest to just see no cause to refer to skin colour at all.

I think Irene's the most attractive but Janine and Mary are the ones I could be friends with. So there's my list.