What would you like to see in series 4?

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Or maybe it means that he is...as such an enduring English fixture and will always be needed....he is immortal and will never need to retire.

[T.o.b.y]

Or maybe it means that he is...as such an enduring English fixture and will always be needed....he is immortal and will never need to retire.

 

YES! PLEASE!

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

In fact I doubt he ever did. He talked about it at the end of "HIs Last Bow" but really he was such a patriot and if his Watson was going to be active on the home front, I can't see Holmes just fiddling away happily among his bees while England was in such need. He was still very effective at disguise, I am sure the government would more then gratefully found something for him to do.

[jesskayding]

I want to see him smoke a pipe. I'm tired of Moriarty.

[Redbeard]

Ha!  It would be awesome to see him smoke a pipe. 

lol

[Carol the Dabbler]

Well, they've worked the hat in.  No reason they can't come up with some excuse for the pipe.  (Wouldn't care to see him making regular use of it, though. *cough, cough* )

 

[Arcadia]

I can't recall ever seeing a young man smoke a pipe. Well, not that kind of pipe, anyway.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

I would much rather see Sherlock with a pipe then ten cigarets stuck in his mouth.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Oh, come now -- a pipe wouldn't be half as funny as those ten cigarettes!

 

[Arcadia]

Depends on the pipe!

[Carol the Dabbler]

Oh, come now -- a pipe wouldn't be half as funny as those ten cigarettes!

  

Depends on the pipe!

 

 

You thinking maybe bubbles? 

[T.o.b.y]

I can't really picture Sherlock with a pipe at all...

 

Jumping from one thing to another as I do so often (sorry about that), I'm feeling a bit uneasy for poor Molly if Moriarty comes back. I mean, he won't make the mistake of overlooking / misjudging her importance to Sherlock a second time.

 

I wonder what Sherlock would be like if anybody harmed or threatened to harm Molly. My guess is he'd turn, to use his mother's words, absolutely monstrous. I don't think he has any romantic interest in her, but he's aware enough of her love for him to feel she's "his", in a way, and he seems to have developed a kind of reverential fondness for her since The Reichenbach Fall (and rightly so!). So I suppose what he did to the CIA agent who hurt Mrs Hudson in A Scandal in Belgravia would pale in comparison to the fate of anyone who dared to lay a finger on Molly Hooper.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

 

So I suppose what he did to the CIA agent who hurt Mrs Hudson in A Scandal in Belgravia would pale in comparison to the fate of anyone who dared to lay a finger on Molly Hooper.

 

  I was thinking along those same lines. Pity the person who hurt Molly in anyway. He might have made sure he shot CAM in front of witnesses......this poor fool would disappear like a wisp of smoke never to be seen again.

[Redbeard]

I agree I think he would flip if anything happened to Molly.  He seems to have developed a lot of affection for her, he talks to her so gently now.  Before he was aware of her crush and used it for whatever he could get from it, feelings be damned.  Now, he is aware of how those emotions must make Molly feel around him and he wants to put her at ease, to let her know she is safe with him, and that he cares.  He cares about her as much as he is able to care about anybody and he does not want to hurt her.   I love the "Don't be John.  Be yourself" exchange. 

 

Sometimes I wonder if he thinks at all like this:  Man if only I didn't have to keep such tight control over myself I think I would enjoy a few hot years with Irene Adler.  And then when I am ready to settle down for some true love and domestic bliss I hope I can look up Molly Hooper.  lol 

 

[Redbeard]

I can't really picture Sherlock with a pipe at all...

 

 

I could picture it if he was doing one of his false identities (like the priest and the nerdy neighbor).  Of course he would have to sputter and cough a bit.  Bonus points if he does it while wearing the deerstalker.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

 

Of course he would have to sputter and cough a bit.  Bonus points if he does it while wearing the deerstalker.

 

  Is pipe smoking that much different then cigarets?

[Arcadia]

Only to look at. Oh, and the smell can be overwhelming.

 

Carol, yeah, bubble pipe, but I'm not sure we're talking about the same kind....

[sherlockandjohn]

 

Mhh what about this:

Episode 1.

It's not an especially interesting case but it reveals that Mary faked her pregnancy to insert herself even more in John and Sherlock's life. Like many fans predicted, she got close to John after Sherlock's death because she actually had been working with Moriarty. She's "Moran", and the one we see in TEH is only a red herring the writers threw into our direction, someone by chance also called Moran (Moran didn't get more than one line, did he? He could be a brilliant enemy, I was really disappointed they didn't even draw some connection to Moriarty. So, here I am. Recycling the idea.). The thumbdrive only included her past without the gory details (her shared past with Moriarty). It was her plan to throw both off track to buy herself more time. Mary's real plan begins in season 4, now that Sherlock trusts her. She intends to take revenge for Jim. She's behind the fake message. If Sherlock had disappeared, she would have lost the chance to stage the last game when she ultimately kills him in a more "meaningul" way after destroying his life.

Of course, she gets away. John will be devastated, but his anger will this time be solely directed at Mary. After all, he had decided to trust her once more, and she had used it for her own gains.

The episode ends on a sad note because John mourns what he could have had. Even if the baby never existed, he feels like it has been ripped from his life. It's like a barrier between him and Sherlock who tries but cannot comprehend John's feelings.

 

Episode 2 then, like the past second episodes of each series, will included hints for the final episode of the season but the case will not be connected to the "final problem." Sherlock maybe suffers a setback from his injuries in HLV. He "goes on a holiday" and visits Victor Trevor (a doctor!) whom he had lost contact with after a major fight in their university days. John has to come to terms with their new situation (about to move back to Baker Street), and Trevor will serve as an intermediary in the end (in the beginning, John and Victor fight like cat and dog while Sherlock is completely oblivious to the tension).

Preferably, Lestrade joins them for a case. While John is busy with keeping Sherlock resting ( which isn't happening!), Lestrade is set on solving some case or another that is important to him because it involves a girl (which is called Gloria Scott). Sherlock and Lestrade thus get some interaction time on their own.

John and Sherlock move past their problems, and John finally comes to term with Sherlock's fake death (in HLV, we see he's not past it yet). 

 

In episode 3, Mary makes her move. She originally had intended to go through John but during their time together, she has become fond of him, so now she uses Mycroft ( we finally get to see that Sherlock cares about his brother, too). She kills an important politician, and plants evidence that connects the murder to Mycroft. His position is precarious at best, and it is only a matter of days until they will decide how to get rid of him. Mycroft has to ask Sherlock for help.

When Sherlock gets involved, he by accident unveils his brother's inglorious past. Sherlock finds out about their half-brother, Jim, whom Mycroft had ordered to be killed in his twenties when he had shown interest in Sherlock, and after he had shown homicidal tendencies in his teens. Jim somehow survived but kept in the shadows, and changed his name to Moriarty (meaning: navigator) as a pun, to forever remind himself of who he wants to take revenge on. Mycroft, and by extension Sherlock (whose loss would break Mycroft's heart).

Sherlock realizes that whatever Mycroft saw in Jim (the darkness) is also part of himself, to some extent. He takes Jim's words, "You are me", to heart, and for the first time in his life sees Mycroft not as a meddling protector but as a possible threat to his own life. Sherlock retreats which leaves Mycroft alone and devastated. John, unlike Sherlock, understands that Mycroft in his own frightening way loves Sherlock, and is not pleased with the fact that Sherlock leaves Mycroft to fend for himself. They have a fight.

Then Mary who now has eliminated "the queen" from the chess board, goes in for check mate, and seeks Sherlock out to kill him. The season ends with her pointing the gun at him in 221b, to get some symmetry with HLV, as well as TRF. All third episodes nicely connected.

 

I'd like to see that in series 4. Not that I expect it to come true.

 

 

I am impressed with your ability to develop plots! Really impressed. It's the hardest part in writing for me. The character stuff comes more naturally.

 

If Mary's past somehow catches up to her in series 4, I won't be surprised, but I'm just as inclined to think it was only a plot point in that one episode, HLV.

 

I'm not too keen on the amount of action and sadness connected with your episodes 1 and 3 scenarios, whereas I'm all for your ep. 2!

 

[sherlockandjohn]

I have a feeling John will do something magnificent in return in the next series. Maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part, but he's growing as a person too.... and he's due a big moment, I thought he was a bit of a second fiddle in S3.

 

So, so, so agree! And if I think about it, in series 2 he wasn't all that heroically portrayed, either - apart from his standing by Sherlock in TRF when no one else seemed to do so.

 

So, my top wishes for series 4 are:

 

- More clever deductions and big cases

- Some heroic "John saves Sherlock" moment

- Quit the 'end of an era' theme that was so prominent in s3 and made it feel so sad

- A development of Mary and Sherlock's relationship that isn't too sweet and perfect. I dislike the thought of them being completely in alliance, but I like the idea of their mutual respect. I would love if their dynamic is based on respect for each other's skills and love for John, but also on a suspicion of each other's character. I still don't love Mary, but I've come to a point where I sort of like not loving her.

- More Lestrade, and definitely a happy one, please

- A realistic answer to Moriarty's return (or whatever it is that's happening)

 

[sherlockandjohn]

 

- Let John mess something up for a change; I'd like to see how he would handle having to apologize to somebody

 

 

Agreed. I was thinking the very same thing a few days ago. Granted, I love Sherlock's awkward, yet sweet, apologies, but John certainly isn't perfect either. No one is, so it would be great to be able to identify with him a bit more.

[sherlockandjohn]

 

 

Things like this, I just decide Mycroft does it on purpose and wander dimly away thru the maze.....

 

   Oh yes, decidedly Mycroft bringing that laptop to Christmas dinner was no oversight on his part. "On Purpose" without a doubt. As for "wandering dimly away".....now there....I doubt that very much.

 

I don't know, I can be pretty dim!

 

Oh, maybe you thought I meant Mycroft was wandering in a maze? I wish! One with no exit.

 

 

 

Yes, that would be awesome! But I actually want to see that happen, not just have Mycroft disappear... that would be contrary to the purpose of seeing him mess up!

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

The problem is.....at least I can't seem to shake it.....if there is a maze about....it's Mycroft who constructed it. He may wander off in a maze....but he's darn sure he knows every nook, cranny, hidey hole and what lurks in it.

[sherlockandjohn]

Sigh... yes, that's how it feels. He knows too much. I  like Mycroft's character - I'm not fond of his personalilty, but I think he's got an interesting dynamic with Sherlock - because he serves to shine a light on the intricacy of Sherlock's character. However, it annoys me that he can just snap his fingers and get Sherlock out of trouble. Dull.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

But he's very good at getting Sherlock into that trouble in the first place. He always supplies the bait. He admits to pushing him into Irene's path. He practically did the same with CAM.....well....Lady Smallwood helped in that as well.

[Zain]

 

 

I am impressed with your ability to develop plots! Really impressed. It's the hardest part in writing for me. The character stuff comes more naturally.

 

 

 

If Mary's past somehow catches up to her in series 4, I won't be surprised, but I'm just as inclined to think it was only a plot point in that one episode, HLV.

 

I'm not too keen on the amount of action and sadness connected with your episodes 1 and 3 scenarios, whereas I'm all for your ep. 2!

 

 

 

Thank you for the compliment

 

I suppose I just love a bit whump in my stories, so that kind of carried over. And, I guess I cannot imagine a carefree s4 after what they pulled with s3. Actually, I would feel quite cheated if they went for that. I would feel like the writers thought me stupid and a mindless viewer. There are too many unresolved issues, and it would not feel real to me if suddenly everything was sunshine, bubble baths and baby talk. Injuries like Sherlock's are prone to cause further post-operative problems, then there's the matter of John and Mary's marriage which is basically footed on a lie, there's the matter of Sherlock's exile, the references to Eastern Europe were too prominent not to be part of s4, yeah, then there's the matter of drugs. Even if Sherlock quit drugs, he was given morphine due to the operative procedure, he took some drugs in the beginning of HLV, too. It is unlikely he'll just go back to being clean at all times.

Just to name a few things. Not that happy....