"BBC Sherlock" articles & other miscellany

[J.P.]

Well, if I was Mycroft I would surely check each of the people working for me. But maybe Mary was that good at hiding though. In TAB she's clearly smarter than Mycroft.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Besides, even if Mycroft knew who Rosamund was (as an individual rather than merely as the "R" in AGRA), he might well have stopped tracking her once he stopped hiring freelancers -- and therefore had no idea she had become Mary Morstan.

[Arcadia]

And the whole point of her becoming Mary Morstan was so people like him couldn't track her.

 

What puzzles me is why Mary wouldn't have bolted and assumed another new identity the moment Sherlock returned. Or the moment she realized CAM was onto her. Or after she shot Sherlock. Are we supposed to think she simply loved John that much? I guess. Either that, or she just thought she was so much better than they were that she could control the situation. Maybe that's it; Ajay seemed to have a similar assessment of his own skills.

[J.P.]

This vid is great. I like the way of showing the series quoting itself.

The song run in TV for an advertising, and since TLD I always think about Sherlock hearing it.

[Arcadia]

Yes, that is well done. I'll have to watch it more closely when I can get to a quiet spot.

 

I've been wondering if all the funny memes etc will start showing up again ... we didn't get much after TAB, it seemed to me. I don't know if the fandom has lost interest in doing that kind of thing or not, but that's always been one of my favorite parts of it; all the funny gifs and crazy photo captions. Hope this means the fun-makers are still out there.

[J.P.]

"Sherlock": A Study in Ourselves
https://fee.org/articles/sherlock-a-study-in-ourselves/

 

Sherlock has shown us so much about human emotion and human nature through the years because he’s objective and (unintentionally) kindly walked us through his reasoning thanks to good script writing and cinematic effects. It’s like when you don’t see things in your own relationships until an outsider points them out. But if the show is a double bluff of learning directly from an outsider, “The Final Problem” is like the triple bluff the criminal in “A Study in Pink” suggested: an outsider is looking in – the first bluff – and we are on the inside looking at the outsider – the second – but in doing so we’re actually looking at ourselves – the third.

Sounds familiar. Even if I did apply this only to myself.

[J.P.]

Not sure where to put it, but I know some of you will like it. I'm not as radical as the author, but he surely has some valid points.

 

https://sherlockshome.net/2017/03/15/watch-new-video-explains-why-the-new-sherlock-episodes-are-terrible/

[Arcadia]

I couldn't finish watching it, because I so profoundly disagreed with his premise, which I took to be ... Sherlock worked the first two seasons because it followed a formula. Whereas I think one reason the show succeeded so well is because it didn't follow a formula. So I gave up ...

 

This, however:

 

"Sherlock": A Study in Ourselves
https://fee.org/articles/sherlock-a-study-in-ourselves/

 

Sherlock has shown us so much about human emotion and human nature through the years because he’s objective and (unintentionally) kindly walked us through his reasoning thanks to good script writing and cinematic effects. It’s like when you don’t see things in your own relationships until an outsider points them out. But if the show is a double bluff of learning directly from an outsider, “The Final Problem” is like the triple bluff the criminal in “A Study in Pink” suggested: an outsider is looking in – the first bluff – and we are on the inside looking at the outsider – the second – but in doing so we’re actually looking at ourselves – the third.

 

 

That started off brilliant. Too bad she seemed to abandon it halfway through. I got what she was saying about TFP but I would like to have her ideas fleshed out.

[J.P.]

I have seen it more from a perspective of consistency of the universe. And also the fact that some people after S2 were expecting something totally different. I still wonder how I would react if I had to wait for S3 and developed my own expectations.

[Arcadia]

I've wondered about that too. Many people around here, who were here a lot longer than I, said that S3 was "different", but I didn't really see it. I had no idea there was a whole world of speculation bubbling up about it until I came here, and that was after S3 aired.
 
But I sure think S4 is different, so I get what they were feeling. And this is from someone who deliberately damped down expectations as much as possible, because I know that never works out well.
 
Do we have any new folks still hanging around out there? I mean, people who only found Sherlock recently, and didn't have that agonizingly long wait between seasons? If you're out there, it would be nice to hear if you think Season 4 is completely different from the previous 3, or not. Someone? Anyone? (I promise I'm not secretly a serial killer looking for victims. Honest.   )

[gerry]

Me actually. I started watching Sherlock last year and binged watched the first two seasons. I didn't see season 3 until it aired on PBS before season 4. I noticed the decline in quality of season 3. I actually told my sister season 3 wasn't nearly as good as seasons 1 and 2 as she's the one that recommended Sherlock to me in the first place.

 

Season 4 had a different feel than season 3. 3 was more positive and happy than 4 but neither season had the charm of the first two seasons.

[Arcadia]

What did you consider a "decline" in S3, Gerry? The scripts, or just a general overall shift?

 

I think Sherlock's youthfulness in the first two seasons lent him a charm that (obviously ) couldn't be maintained. I rather shallowly wish they could have hung onto that a little longer. Although he has plenty of other charms. ;)

[gerry]

General overall shift away from the interesting cases that he solved with his friends.

 

I really enjoyed TEH actually, the humor and it had a warm feel among the characters: Sherlock/John, Sherlock/Molly, Sherlock/Mycroft, Mrs. H/Sherlock/John, Sherlock/Lestrade, etc. It was the episode most like season 2. You understood and felt in that episode why they were friends that cared for each other.

 

The wedding episode bored me to tears and was the first episode that shifted Sherlock's focus from his cases and friends to Mary and assassins. The only thing I liked about the wedding episode was Janine. HLV was the jump the shark episode for me with Mary shooting Sherlock and him being perfectly fine with it. I was with John angry that his normal reaction to her lying was dismissed because he was attracted to danger and don't get me started on CAM murder.

 

Season 4 was better than season 3 for me but I don't mind darker storylines as long as they are with characters I care about. I really disliked T6T because of all the Mary nonsense but I really enjoyed TLD (except for the Irene references that I rolled my eyes at) and TFP (except for the end after the Eurus bedroom scene).

[Arcadia]

Okay, thanks, that's interesting. Of course I had completely different reactions! :d Except that I really, really love TLD, that's the real show, to me. Which is strange, considering Sherlock was high throughout most of it. But he was still brilliant, that's what I love most ... any time he's being brilliant.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Apparently Radio Times is also having trouble finding things to talk about, so they posted this medley of Cumberbatch or Freeman appearances on the Graham Norton Show (and if the video that I'm attempting to embed below doesn't show up for you either, just click on that link back there):

 

https://youtu.be/nvUj736Kq-A

 

And I must say, after rewatching one of those bits, it's now clear to me that...

 

 

... John got the idea of stomping the sh*t out of Sherlock from none other than Benedict Cumberbatch himself.

 

[J.P.]

Another long interview made by mid0nz, this time with Michael Price.

https://mid0nz.wordpress.com/2014/04/16/music-to-picture-an-interview-with-composer-michael-price/

 

And a list of fun facts from the series

https://mid0nz.tumblr.com/post/159004040539/mid0nz-sherlock-obsessive-observations-fun

[Arcadia]

Thanks JP, I really like her blog, although this is the first time I've been able to navigate around it. I wish she'd write about the cinematography in S4.....

[J.P.]

Yeah. That's what comes out, when both sides know what they are talking about and take time to do it - which is not the case with the normal, commercial interviews. I wish she could catch the big ones, actors and makers.

[J.P.]

Another post from mi0nz, still have to take a look at it - it's too late today.

https://mid0nz.tumblr.com/post/159458884699/a-new-way-of-seeing-studying-sherlock-watch

[Arcadia]

I'm not sure I understood it....

[J.P.]

About Mind Palaces:

http://afreemindsw.blogspot.de/2014/09/how-to-build-mind-palace.html

[Arcadia]

Sounds time-consuming. I need a palace filled with more time.

[J.P.]

Sherlock managed it somehow. All TAB in 5 minutes.
BTW, I was thinking about it last night - and how much more convenient the plot jump from HLV would be, if they just allowed the flight to be a bit longer. (Yes, I still cannot forgive re-writing Sherlock as high at the tarmac - but I'm repeating myself, I know…)

[Carol the Dabbler]

About Mind Palaces:

http://afreemindsw.blogspot.de/2014/09/how-to-build-mind-palace.html

 

I've been thinking that Mycroft was right in TAB, what Sherlock calls his Mind Palace is actually something else.  What he used in Hounds seemed to be more or less a traditional Mind Palace, but what's he's used since then is something not only different but far more complex.  He doesn't just remember old things in there, he experiences new ones.

 

Of course he could have started with a more-or-less traditional Mind Palace and extrapolated hugely from there.  This comment sounds as though the author might be headed in that direction:

 

When I built my mind palace I originally planned to use it to remember stuff. And I do, but not very often. More often I use it as sort of place to go to in my imagination to think. It's a place where I can go to to be alone. I’ve never told anyone what it’s like, when I imagine it I’m the only one who’s ever imagined it: I have its only key. My mind palace is a place where can go to be still and to think and for me that’s wonderful.

[J.P.]

That's the reason why I posted the link.

CAM had a Mind Palace. Sherlock has a Mind… Mind? :P