bedelia1984

In Ireland, 20C is when the men start taking off their shirts and everyone is wearing shorts. And to suffice it to say, to quote Andrew Scott, we are not 'beach body ready' in the majority, sadly. But that doesn't stop anyone.

This is also me. It's 27 degrees here today and warmer in some areas. Sleeping at night has become so difficult. We're totally unused to this. Though, Ireland is so pretty in the sunshine.

I think that feeling of reacting like we did when we were younger to certain situations, is very relatable, for me, anyway. But also, I am constantly encountering people of all ages, including very advanced ages, who behave like children, like really terribly! Is that just me? I don't mean to place Molly in that camp, though she might not be super developed in terms of confidence, she makes up for it other ways. But i often find myself listening to people in positions of authority, say in their 60s, saying and doing things some teenagers would be too mature to say. I think having a maturity that matches your real life age is actually quite rare.

There is also the clue, of course that the first time we see her she's watching Sherlock beating a corpse and seems to find the whole process rather charming. Details like that are why I find it strange that people dismiss Molly as a bland shrinking violet type. It seems pretty clear to me from early on that she has a darker side and that's part of why she's so drawn to Sherlock. Much like John has a layer of ordinariness covering darker depths, I think Molly is the same- whereas with Sherlock perhaps his hidden side, as partly revealed in TFP consists of that which is a bit more ordinary.

This is my favourite thing about Molly too, there's a wonderful, steadfast, determined ordinariness about her that contrasts with the other characters and makes a virtue of the down-to-earth and everyday as an antidote to the extremes of the villains and heroes on display elsewhere in the story. To me there's a courage in being a certain kind of 'normal' and unassuming, which some people in real life have, and I love seeing that in her character. It contrasts particularly well with Sherlock's own tendency to want to showboat his detective skills- whereas Molly has skills in her work too, but she's happy to let her work speak for itself. I think it's what drew me to John, too actually, in the early days, despite his killer instincts I also think he had that quality more in seasons 1-2.

Yeah, ditto on it being both out of character and organic for me. It also has echoes of how she challenged him, using only words, and not even strong words, but still to significant effect, in Scandal at the party- a much better scene, sure, but in this case she's trying to reach him through the fog of drugs as well, which is a more frustrating and heightened situation. The writers routinely position Molly as someone in his life who will challenge him to rethink his behaviour at times he's hurting others, or himself. I also thought The Empty Hearse marked a change in their dynamic anyway, so it made sense to me that things got heated in the slap scene later. I think Molly's recent breakup may have played a part in the whole thing as well, you've got to wonder to what extent either spoken or unspoken Sherlock had played into that, and then to see him apparently throwing his life away is probably quite triggering in those circumstances. In real life, slapping is not something I condone, but in a world where Sherlock and John get physical as part of their friendship, I do think they mean it as an act of friendship (the slap), as well as a wake-up call, which we see again when it's used as a motif in his hallucinationjust after the shooting. All that said, the show's portrayal of women still has a fundamental flaw and there's an unfortunate link they insist on repeatedly drawing between women with a 'dominatrix' style need to physically punish and actual strength of character which rings false.

It's a really nice gesture though. It's only really relevant when you're a co-lead, with two male/female characters who have equal importance, and so far BC hasn't gotten many roles like that, but I hope he does. I've read male actors in the past talk about all the reasons they deserve to get more (not gender related of course), so it's refreshing to hear someone try to level the playing field, even if it is idealistic. I agree with what you say about the writing needing to change too Carol, but hopefully that day isn't as far off as it once was. I don't mind all/ mostly female casts myself but from a box office perspective something approaching 50-50 probably stands a better chance of success.

Definitely not Dr. Who, I'm not a fan, this is Sherlock #earlyretirementlock happening in season five. Sherlockedcamper, I am loving all of your theories/insider information/spoilers. John will produce his own honey which he sells in farmers markets and the jars have a label with a folksy illustration of Rosie in a bonnet on it.

Welcome to bronzeblues also! Arcadia, allow me to be the voice of unreason: it's totally happening in season 5, Sherlock and Molly is on. Hold onto your hats and stripey scarves.

As you say, both are brilliant actors but very different people, with a very different perspective. I do suspect the papers of trumping things up here, and yet I was upset when I read about this too. I wonder if part of the problem was that John was not given the best material in season 4. Maybe MF isn't as excited by the role and where it is going, and the material is part of the problem here. I think the writers may have slightly run out of ideas for John, especially now Mary is gone, and arguably season 4 also damaged John's likability too. I don't think he's 100% opposed but he sounds like he feels a bit put-upon to do more of Sherlock, when he says he feels people will call him names if he doesn't and that it isn't fun? The article I read was on the independent online, much the same as the other though and no video. I high-tailed it here immediately to see what people are thinking. I'm taken aback to be honest, as the whole group seem so fun to work with, I always pictured on set to be a good atmosphere- Gatiss and Cumberbatch especially both seem so funny, polite and respectful. It seems odd to me that he's referring here to fans and critics- whatever either group might think about anything crtitically, to me that's not the actor's remit. Yes, people had issues with the storyline at times, and were a bit vocal- about killing Mary, about Johnlock. But to me, the actors are just bringing the story to life, so what a fan thinks of the story shouldn't have the actors feeling insulted, as the story was never their responsibility. I wonder if he'd do a reduced appearance on the show. Maybe he doesn't want to spend as much time in the UK, if he has offers in the US? Honestly, I'd be fine with that. I think John is a great character, but the writers, for now, have run out of good ideas for him. I wouldn't be averse to them shaking up the format a bit and focusing more on Sherlock himself, or placing him in a new context. I also think TV movies rather than series might work better going forward.

I also love Hannibal, and yes I think if you like it you will like the Alienist. It is also beautiful to look at, like Hannibal, but in a different more vintage style. I adore Ayoade in the IT Crowd- so funny and well-observed in that role. Thank you, I am most interested in this. All roads really do lead back to Sherlock! I'm so glad it is based on a series, I have high hopes for more seasons of this. The acting is just incredible. In terms of female roles, this show has the edge over BBC Sherlock- they are equally as well written and developed as the men.

I have absolutely loved 'The Alienist'. I think it is the sort of show that fans of Sherlock might enjoy. Just in case the name is putting anyone off, it's not about aliens at all, but the psychology of a murderer.

Love Happy Valley, especially the lead, she is wonderful, so lacking in vanity, and also the villain, James Norton, he's very charming in Grantchester, too, incidentally. Father Ted is a true masterpiece (but of course I'm biased).

This is a pet peeve of mine as well. Some shows are much worse than others though. Catherine on CSI and Beckett on Castle are ones that come to mind as classic offenders. Speaking of that article and CSI, that’s the only American show I can think of a with a Sherlolly shipper type of appeal in Grissom/Sara. I definitely don’t think the plain girl getting an extraordinary anti-hero man is common in American TV. Then again I don’t think anti-hero’s are that common in American TV. Usually it’s the classic good vs. evil, at least in crime shows. Yes, they were definitely two who came to mind- especially Beckett. I can see Grissom and Sara- well actually I can see it in the sense that I imagine it was quite controversial with the fans too, and also because the male lead is so unique and beloved that the fans feel very strongly about who he should end up with. He even had his own Irene- Lady Heather. I've actually noticed the same, and it is quite hard to know why- but a lot of the most adored british actresses are probably the character actresses- people like Maggie Smith and Judi Dench. It always surprised me, for example, that Colin Firth was such a runaway success after Pride and Prejudice and Jennifer Ehle didn't get much of a look in? She's still a very pretty actress, but apparently the English rose type just doesn't have that box office draw in Hollywood? I think Grissom wasn't quite extraordinary, but he had that quality on TV that is almost better- where there is something indefinable about the character that causes people to warm to him even when he's not the most like-able in terms of his actions. This reminds me what I didn't always like about Grissom/ Sara- he could be very stodgy and controlling, so I felt like that type of age gap relationship was prone to bring out his worst qualities. Now, I thought it played nicely onscreen for the most part- especially because Petersen is a very strong performer and managed to make it not seem weird. And about Beckett- that performance was part of the problem there, I think, the character was just a bit inauthentic in appearance and behaviour.

Is that last bit true? I don't see enough British TV to make that call, but I haven't noticed it so much on the things I have watched. But then, when I see Brit TV at all it's usually crime drama, the girls usually wind up either dead or in jail. :P I 100% agree- with the quotes, on my phone so will read the article later. I see the comparisons with Austen, Bronte, Bleak House... And it doesn't hurt that LB shares qualities with many of the actresses in those period BBC pieces. I would also see some comparison to Scully in the X files with Molly. But British dramas especially just make their heroines differently and I think it's seen more as a sign of cool to not care how pretty you look (Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect, the heroine of Happy Valley, etc) as opposed to a cry for help from your fairy godmother. It's actually a pet hate of mine on American TV to see female detectives totter on high heels with giant heads of hairsprayed hair and about an inch of makeup on. For me, that rings false. Not that you can't look like a fashion model and solve crimes, but something about them and the large numbers of them onscreen feels false.