John Watson

[Arcadia]

 

... why they wanted "psychopath" Sherlock to be a killer is beyond me. Something to do with being dangerous, apparently. That's sooooo important to boys. :P

 

They've said numerous times that in their opinion, Dr. Watson fudged his account of Milverton's death in order to protect Holmes, that it was actually Holmes who shot him.  So Moftiss were simply being true to their head canon.

 

Okay, good point. I don't agree with their conclusion, but good point.

 

But why they interpreted the original story in that way is another question -- would you care to ask it?

Not particularly, but would you care to answer it? I've read the story and I do agree the ending is a bit of a deus ex machina.

 

 

[Arcadia]

They have said it'll play into the next season and the repercussions will be addressed. I wonder exactly what repercussions though, I can't see him being traumatised by it, they're obviously not going to lock him up since 'England needs him.' Is he going to be forced into doing extra jobs for the government? Other than official punishment I don't know what sort of repercussions they might mean, especially since a lot of very important and influential people are going to be relieved Magnussen is gone. 

Any ideas?

 

Right, I heard that too and wondered the same thing. My first thought was "yay, Sherlock will feel remorse after all!", but Moffat shot that down in the next breath, so that's not it. Maybe it has something to do with CAM's "usefulness" that Mycroft referred to? And now that CAM's gone, Mycroft faces some kind of trouble? Or somehow the repercussions are for Mary (I rather hope not, as that would render Sherlock's action completely pointless.) Maybe CAM's mum comes seeking revenge. (And Sherlock's mum comes to stop her. That would be epic.)

 

[T.o.b.y]

They have said it'll play into the next season and the repercussions will be addressed. I wonder exactly what repercussions though, I can't see him being traumatised by it, they're obviously not going to lock him up since 'England needs him.' Is he going to be forced into doing extra jobs for the government? Other than official punishment I don't know what sort of repercussions they might mean, especially since a lot of very important and influential people are going to be relieved Magnussen is gone. 

Any ideas?

 

Well, Sherlock never actually stood trial, did he? It seemed to me as if Mycroft and Lady Smallwood and some other people in influential positions hushed the murder up. That would make any of them and Sherlock himself potential targets of blackmailers, for example - and / or righteous by-the-book types who might think this is plain wrong and set about to correct it.

[Pseudonym]

I'd have thought it would be easy for Mycroft and other high-ups to make it classified, to ensure the specifics fell under the purview of SIS, especially since the Serbia mission he was being sent on as punishment was likely for MI6. It won't happen, but I keep imagining the ridiculousness of a Sherlock under house arrest with an ankle tracker. 

[Arcadia]

Maybe WikiLeaks hacks Mycroft's files. (Ohhh, interesting: my spellcheck knows how to spell WikiLeaks better than I do..... )

[Pseudonym]

John Simm. He could have done a similar John. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

John?  John Who?      Oh -- wait -- this is the "John" thread, isn't it?  :P

 

Thanks for getting us back on topic, Pseud.

[Pseudonym]

I like the crazy tangents we go on here The Harry Potter forum I used to frequent you had a mod warning every time you posted something off topic, even is it was just thanking someone for a fic rec! 

[Arcadia]

Possibly we're not so picky because as often as not it's the mod who's wandering off topic ....    :P

[Carol the Dabbler]

We do try to be flexible!  :D

[Pseudonym]

It was ridiculous over there, you can't have any good conversation or debate if you're constantly being straight-jacketed!

[Carol the Dabbler]

There are also some forums that won't let you post on "old" threads.  I hate that.  It's nice here when a new member revives an old thread with their take on the subject.

[Pseudonym]

I think it's interesting that in the three modern interpretations of Sherlock every one has done away with the fuddy-duddy pedantic version of John, I wonder if it's just because modern sensibilities mean audiences just won't accept a main character like that, or if it's a case of going back to the source material and extrapolating what that character would be if brought forward (yes, technically the Jude Law version is Victorian but it's still very modern). From what I remember, John may be overly-impressed with Sherlock in the books, but tbh who wouldn't be, but I don't remember him being as stodgy as he became in the various adaptations - I wonder why that happened? Admittedly, it's been a long time since I read the books, I'm sure one of you guys will have a more informed opinion. 

 

I played my way through a Sherlock video game a couple of years ago, and my god, if I was Holmes I think I would have throttled Watson after a week. Dull, naggy, ridiculously straight-laced. Eurgh.

 

I still think having John shoot someone in the first episode, and not feel remotely guilty about it, really brings home the difference between this John and past incarnations. We are so used to seeing people be tortured by their decisions, but John doesn't even have to shrug it off, it's just not an issue to him. It's that kind of cool, calm attitude that make me wonder if those vigilante John stories could have legs, I know it won't happen in the series, but it's a path I could see John going down with a small push. 

 

Completely unrelated, but I just saw a clip of Andrew Scott in Pride doing a Welsh accent which kind of spun me out :P

[Carol the Dabbler]

Good Welsh accent?

[Pseudonym]

He sounds exactly like I do, so yea :D

[Carol the Dabbler]

And now back to John Watson....

[Arcadia]

That's an interesting point about the character of John. I don't really remember what any of the pre-Brett Dr. Watson's were like, but I remember my Dad was impressed that the Brett version had an intelligent Watson. He was the one that told me Watson was usually portrayed as a doof.

 

I seem to remember ... wasn't one of the stated goals of the Brett version to return more closely to the source? Does anyone know? Or maybe that was something else my dad told me.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I think you (and your dad) are right about the Brett series. As far as I'm aware, it was mostly the Rathbone/Bruce movies that portrayed Watson as a dolt, but of course they were very popular for a long time.

[Pseudonym]

Bit off topic again (sorry!) but did they ever explain why Harry wasn't at the wedding?

Edited September 8, 2016 by Carol the Dabbler
Moved here from another thread

[Carol the Dabbler]

Bit off topic again (sorry!) but did they ever explain why Harry wasn't at the wedding?

Nope.

[Pseudonym]

I understand her being there would have taken up time best used for something else since they'd have to say something about her, but you think they would have added in a throw away comment about her not being there. Rehab or her and John not speaking atm or something. Though in fic she's always portrayed as being difficult (other than being an alcoholic), but maybe John is the difficult one, she did give him a phone when he came back after all, and judging by the type of phone (even though it was bought by Clara) I would guess she has a pretty good job so she must be fairly together. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Bit off topic again (sorry!) but did they ever explain why Harry wasn't at the wedding?

Nope.

 

I understand her being there would have taken up time best used for something else since they'd have to say something about her, but you think they would have added in a throw away comment about her not being there. Rehab or her and John not speaking atm or something.

 

They seemed to be implying that she's not very reliable when it comes to social engagements.  John seems disappointed but not particularly surprised.

[Arcadia]

I understand her being there would have taken up time best used for something else since they'd have to say something about her, but you think they would have added in a throw away comment about her not being there.

 

But they did! Ummmm.... Mary asked John about her, he said inviting her was a long shot and anyway, with all the free booze at hand, it wasn't a good idea for her to be there anyway..... I think maybe this was just before Sholto showed up?

[Pseudonym]

Ah, yea, I seem to remember something about that now you've said. I don't like Sholto, I'm not sure why. I don't know if it's the actor or the character but not keen.

[Arcadia]

I didn't dislike him, exactly, but I found him rather dull. I think it's the way he speaks? Sort of too careful with his pronunciation, or something. And of course he didn't really have anything interesting to do in the story, he was just a potential Mr. Body.