TheImprobableOne

[HedwigJune]

For those of you who have visted Sherlock's and John's blogs, you have probably noticed a special username, who keeps cropping up throughout "seasons" 1 and 2: theimprobable one.

 

While I have seen some Tumblr posts regarding this mystery, I have not seen any lengthy forum threads discussing the topic. Here are some things we know about him/her:

 

- always types in lower-case letters, without punctuation, except when he/she is upset.

- somewhat of a rebel; calls everyone else "sheep"

- likes Citizen Kane

- offered Sherlock a place to live - implies Sherlock know who he is, but John does not.

- Smart enough to "realize the case would be pink", but had some difficulty solving the puzzles "Anonymous" (Moriarty) sent to Sherlock

- First post on Sherlock's site was well before "SiP", but his/her last post on John's blog was on January 1st, and his last post was commenting on Kirsty Stapleton's post on the Science of Deduction. So, he didn't comment on anything after "Hound".

 

Many people have suggested theimprobableone is Mycroft, but I think this is unlikely. He refuses to do "legwork", nor does he like to send text messages, and he doesn't strike me as the "rebellious" type. No, I've come up with another minor character:

 

Dr. Franklin.

 

He says in "HoB" that he's "never off {Sherlock's} website", and he's the only "villain" so far who wasn't backed by Moriarty - that definitely makes him a singular anomoly. Obviously, he dies at the end of "HoB", as evidenced by his lack of posts (and limbs).

 

Anyone have any other ideas? (Other than "it must be Sherlock's twin brother/the man who the little girl mistook to be Sherlock/the body double Sherlock used to fake his death/the Doctor")

[Carol the Dabbler]

This is all news to me, since I have spent very little time on the other sites you mention. However, this all sounds intriguing, and your supposition seems reasonable (though of course my only information has been filtered through your awareness).

 

Any speculation on why s/he would choose that particular user name?

[Dexter]

Interesting topic though I also would guess it's maybe Mycroft ...

[Banshee]

Intriguing! I hadn't spotted that! Must read the blogs again...

[HedwigJune]

Carol: "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, HOWEVER IMPROBABLE, must be the truth." (One of the most famous Sherlock quotes of all time.)

 

The blogs were first online a couple of months after season 1 aired in the UK, and updated in "real" time (by which I mean, with each episode) during season 2. You must read through all the comments on every blog post on John's website, and read through all the posts and comments on Sherlock's blog. Clearly, the writers have been planning for this for quite some time, and I will be FURIOUS if it turns out to be a red herring.

[HedwigJune]

@Dexter: From the way improbableone speaks, he/she sounds nothing like Mycroft. Yes, we know that Mycroft is smarter than Sherlock, but he is not exactly "anti-establishment", is he? When he texts Sherlock and John, he uses proper capitalization and punctuation. No, this person is most likely a new character, but one whom we have seen in the books. I'm working my way through "Hound of the Baskervilles" now, and there is definitely some promising evidence...

[Carol the Dabbler]

Carol: "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, HOWEVER IMPROBABLE, must be the truth." (One of the most famous Sherlock quotes of all time.)

 

Right, in the original stories, it's supposed to be one of Holmes's favorite sayings. I don't believe that we heard it in the BBC series until "Hounds," and when Sherlock says it then, John responds, "What does that mean?" -- which I assumed meant he'd never heard it before. But he could just as easily have meant, "How does that apply to the current situation?" -- in which case John might already have heard it on numerous occasions, and could therefore have quoted it in his blog early on.

 

This explains how Dr. Frankland might associate the word "improbable" with Sherlock. It does leave open the question of why he would choose that screen name for himself -- but then a whole lot of screen names are pretty cryptic!

 

Could you post links to those two blogs? Thanks!

[aely]

http://thescienceofdeduction.co.uk/

 

 

http://www.johnwatsonblog.co.uk/

[HedwigJune]

Yes, but theimprobableone has been "present" in the storyline since before even Watson met Sherlock. But Franklin knew of Sherlock before they actually met in person; "I'm never off (your blog)". The links to these blogs are listed below:

 

http://www.johnwatsonblog.co.uk/

 

http://www.thescienceofdeduction.co.uk/

[Carol the Dabbler]

Wow, talk about instant gratification!

 

Thanks, aely!

[HedwigJune]

I have my doubts about it being Dr. Franklin, but that is more because we are looking at it from the other side of the fourth wall, and not because we've had any evidence to the contrary (yet.) Besides, his storyline appears to be over, yet the connection was never made between the two characters. Just doesn't seem very...."Moftiss", for lack of a better adjective

 

I am prepared to hear all other arguments for any other character, seen or unseen.

[HedwigJune]

The definitive list of links can be found here:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018ttws/features/disclaimer

 

All of these are considered canon, since they have been created by the BBC.

[Carol the Dabbler]

This is the second time I've seen a new post appear *above* a post I'd already seen. When I first saw my "Wow" post (above) on the forum, it followed immediately after aely's two-link post (I double-checked that at the time, to be certain I had thanked the right person), but now HedwigJune's two-link post lies between them. I'm guessing that mine was actually posted first, but since HedwigJune's was posted during the same minute, the forum software's sorting algorithm placed it before mine. So anyhow, thanks for all the links, HedwigJune!

 

I read all of John Watson's blog last night, and enjoyed it. It does sound like John -- not quite like the way he talks, but the way he might write. I like that it doesn't sound as though it was written by a professional writer (since that's not John's background), but yet is well written (since John is clearly well educated), and that the tone is enthusiastic but not gosh-wow.

 

I wondered while reading it whether it would be considered canon. Have you heard/read a statement to that effect, HedwigJune? Obviously, it's more credible that a BBC site would be considered Sherlock canon than a fan site. But since Moffat & Gatiss are the keepers of that canon, I would like to know whether they have approved John's blog, or whether it was just something that the BBC thought would be nice to have.

 

One reason I'm wondering is John's last post. It rings true, but -- well, I can't help thinking that John would honor his friend's last request, that he "tell anyone who will listen" what Sherlock said. Obviously, John would not say that Sherlock was a fraud, since he can't bring himself to believe that -- but he could truthfully say, "Sherlock Holmes told me that he was a fraud." Even though he may not understand why this is so important, he surely realizes that it was very important to Sherlock.

[Undead Medic]

This is the second time I've seen a new post appear *above* a post I'd already seen. When I first saw my "Wow" post (above) on the forum, it followed immediately after aely's two-link post (I double-checked that at the time, to be certain I had thanked the right person), but now HedwigJune's two-link post lies between them. I'm guessing that mine was actually posted first, but since HedwigJune's was posted during the same minute, the forum software's sorting algorithm placed it before mine.

This happened because, at the time of posting HedwigJune had yet to reach the 6 approved posts mark at which members are automatically elevated out of the "Moderated" usergroup, whereupon they no longer have to have their posts approved before they appear on the site. And as the posts are given a timestamp when they are submitted to the database, not when they are approved, they often appear later chronologically but in the place in the thread that they would have taken if they had appeared instantly.

 

(If that makes any sense)

 

 

[HedwigJune]

@Undead Medic So, does this mean I am approved now?

 

@Carol I would assume that all posts, comments, and videos were either created and/or written by Mofftiss & Co., because if you look closely at the words on the screen (during SiB, particularly) while John is typing up his blog posts, the words are exactly the same as the ones featured on the blog itself. Compare, for example, the scene that John is typing up about "The Speckled Blonde" or "The Geek Interpreter". Why would Mofftiss feature those exact words within the show if they hadn't been written for that specific purpose? They are fanboys of the canon - I'm sure they were DELIGHTED to write all their own fanfic

[HedwigJune]

@Carol: Did you watch all of the videos as well? What do you make of them? I know this thread is about @theimprobableone, but why do you think the media failed to mention that Moriarty was lying up on the roof with his brains blown out? You'd think they'd be all OVER that...stuff.

[aely]

It kind of tickles me that Joseph Lidster who did all the Sherlock blogs has also written for Doctor Who and Torchwood.

[Undead Medic]

@Undead Medic So, does this mean I am approved now?

Indeed you are.

[Carol the Dabbler]

... as the posts are given a timestamp when they are submitted to the database, not when they are approved, they often appear later chronologically but in the place in the thread that they would have taken if they had appeared instantly.

 

Thanks, Tim! I think I understand you. Let me rephrase it, just to be sure: A new member's post will be assigned a place in the thread immediately upon receipt, but it will be "invisible" until approved, at which time it will suddenly appear (possibly ahead of some subsequent posts by older members).

 

Is that it?

[Carol the Dabbler]

I would assume that all posts, comments, and videos were either created and/or written by Mofftiss & Co., because if you look closely at the words on the screen (during SiB, particularly) while John is typing up his blog posts, the words are exactly the same as the ones featured on the blog itself. .... Why would Mofftiss feature those exact words within the show if they hadn't been written for that specific purpose?

 

My question is, who is copying whom? Maybe the people doing the BBC's web version of John's blog copied the partial posts that had already been written for the show -- in which case M&G may or may not have approved the rest of that site.

 

 

Did you watch all of the videos as well?

 

I tried, but -- OK, let me try again. Right, when I click on the arrowhead-thing, the image goes a bit faded, then after a few seconds, a message comes up, saying "media selection request failed." I suppose that means I don't have whatever software is required, but I have no trouble playing YouTube videos (except that the download is slow as molasses, since we're still on dial-up). Any suggestions would be welcome!

 

 

I know this thread is about @theimprobableone, but why do you think the media failed to mention that Moriarty was lying up on the roof with his brains blown out?

 

Yeah, we are just a tad-bit off topic, aren't we? But what the heck, it's your thread!

 

That same question has been raised elsewhere (probably in another thread on this Spoiler forum), but I don't recall seeing any consensus. My best guess is that Sherlock had Molly monitoring the roof -- if there's a security camera up there, then she distracted the guard who's supposed to be watching it, and if not, then she was at the top of the stairs, holding the door open just a crack -- but with strict orders NOT to interfere (no matter what!) until whatever was going to happen had happened.

 

ADDED LATER: Upon rewatching, I see that "holding the door open just a crack" would not allow Molly to see what's going on, since the door opens the other way. But what the heck, maybe she used a mirror.

Once Sherlock had jumped, she would have realized that Moriarty's body was a loose end that needed dealing with. (In fact, Sherlock might have included disposal of Moriarty's body as a possibility in his instructions -- though he would probably have been thinking that he might need to kill Moriarty.) A helicopter landing on a hospital roof would draw little attention (they do that sort of thing all the time), and Molly could have had a friend standing by with one of the hospital's helicopters, just in case. The police were bound to check the roof eventually, looking for possible evidence in the "suicide" case, but the helicopter would have been long gone by then.

[Undead Medic]

Thanks, Tim! I think I understand you. Let me rephrase it, just to be sure: A new member's post will be assigned a place in the thread immediately upon receipt, but it will be "invisible" until approved, at which time it will suddenly appear (possibly ahead of some subsequent posts by older members).

 

Is that it?

 

That's about the size of it, yep.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Thanks for the confirmation!

 

One other side effect of the approval process seems to be that "New reply" emails may come out of sequence (that is, out of the eventual sequence), with the older members' posts being announced first, and the newer members' posts being announced only after approval. Now I understand why that happened the other day.

 

Probably the reason why I'm just now noticing this is that there's been quite a bunch of very active new members lately. Yay!

[Undead Medic]

Probably the reason why I'm just now noticing this is that there's been quite a bunch of very active new members lately. Yay!

 

 

We like this, we like it a lot!

[Carol the Dabbler]

... Joseph Lidster who did all the Sherlock blogs has also written for Doctor Who ....

 

Thanks for that info, aely! I didn't see your post till I had already finished replying to HedwigJune's post about the blogs. The Doctor Who connection does make it much more probable that John's blog was indeed approved by Moffat & Gatiss, in which case they presumably would consider it to be Sherlock canon. On the other hand, it could be that the BBC assigned Lidster to do the blogs because of his prior association with M&G (or even on their recommendation), but not under their direction or approval.

 

John's last post still puzzles me a little.

[HedwigJune]

@Carol:

 

I had to watch the videos on Youtube as well The videos are another argument for the validity of the blogs: someone would have had to go onto the set, write the script, hire the actors, shoot the vids, and then post it online. It is highly improbable that these blogs were not the result of intense collaboration between the site-makers and the show-writers.

 

For example, when JK Rowling debuted her official website back in 2004 (since re-vamped) there was initially some questions as to what was canon, and what was. Obviously, JKR did not "make" the website herself, she hired other people to do that, but she wrote everything on there; hence, everything published on her official site is considered "canon". The same now holds true for Pottermore

 

We should now distinguish between the "original" canon and the "show" canon - how about ACD!Canon vs BBC!Canon?