Episode 4.0: The Abominable Bride (alias The Special)

[Arcadia]

Am I the only one who finds that weird?

[Carol the Dabbler]

That the TAB music isn't available through normal channels, you mean? It is kinda odd, but I'm guessing that Moftiss/BBC/whoever weren't planning to offer it at all, so the composers either exercised their rights or asked for permission (as the case may be). They may make out pretty well if enough fans are aware of the opportunity. Alex and I have already decided to order from them.

[Arcadia]

I keep hearing what a "cash cow" this show is supposed to be, I just figured they'd make every penny they could. But I don't know how any of that works.

[clavery111]

I would think that once those CDs drop into the real world, the tracks will be available free on the internet?  I don't know how these things work either.  You'd think BBC Sherlock was making enough money to pay BC and MF et al enough money to do another season, to get it locked in and scheduled but... like I said, I have no idea how it works

[Alex the Dabbler]

I found it! As I understand it, if you PRE-order the S4 CD from the Arnold & Price online store, you will get a free CD of the TAB music, which will, alas, not be available elsewhere.

 

Start out on MichaelPriceMusic.com and go to articles. You can link to the pre-order page of their store from there.

 

Unfortunately this turned out to be extremely popular and they're sold out already:

 

https://sherlock.tmstor.es/cart/product.php?id=30942&cur=USD

 

Added next day: Then again, see following post!

[Alex the Dabbler]

 

I found it! As I understand it, if you PRE-order the S4 CD from the Arnold & Price online store, you will get a free CD of the TAB music, which will, alas, not be available elsewhere.

 

Start out on MichaelPriceMusic.com and go to articles. You can link to the pre-order page of their store from there.

 

Unfortunately this turned out to be extremely popular and they're sold out already:

 

https://sherlock.tmstor.es/cart/product.php?id=30942&cur=USD

 

 

Apparently there was a problem with the site yesterday, but I was able to preorder the CDs today. :D

 

[Pseudonym]

Does the grave digging scene actually happen or is it just in Sherlock's head?

[Boton]

Does the grave digging scene actually happen or is it just in Sherlock's head?

 

I think it's in Sherlock's head, but I know that other people see it differently.  To me, it makes sense that, as the drugs start to wear off a little for Sherlock, he's still hallucinating, but he's taking the modern versions of John, Mary, and Mycroft into his hallucinations rather than importing them only into the Victorian fantasy.  

[Arcadia]

I don't see how it can make sense unless it's in his head.

 

It's an odd scene, though, isn't it? Out of character with the rest of them.

[Carol the Dabbler]

At the very least, the animated corpse is in his head.  But I would assume that it all is.  I mean, even with Mycroft's connections, people aren't likely to just saunter into a graveyard with shovels and start digging.  Assuming that they'd gotten permission that quickly, wouldn't they have hired professional gravediggers to do the work with machinery?

[Arcadia]

Well, the clincher for me is that they're back in the airplane in the last scene.

[Janyss]

I'm taking the opportunity of a few days off to watch the few episodes I couldn't see, or just some parts.

 

This Abominable bride is great! I love the way the characters both changed and remained the same in this "breach of the space-time continuum" (are there Person of interest fans here ;)?). I loved the funny situations and lines (Mrs Hudson refusing to talk as it is the way Watson describes her in his books). I loved the historical background with the suffragettes, and Mary Watson's role in the story (by the way, Mark Gatiss wrote the part of the man of progress for himself, beyond the "grotesque" -in the cinematographic meaning- of his character. I have the feeling it is the way he does things: entertaining surface, fundamental questions underneath).

 

There were so many good things, that took place in a very interesting way in the whole story. Great tribute to the actors who portrayed Sherlock before BC (I thought much of Jeremy Brett, whom I've seen as Sherlock Holmes too) and to Conan Doyle of course!

[Arcadia]

Yay, someone who loves Mary! 

 

Glad you enjoyed it, Janyss. Now I'm wondering why I didn't take some of my vacation to watch Sherlock. Hmmm, still have a few days left........

[Pseudonym]

I watched TGG and it nearly caused a family argument, so maybe you were doing the best thing. 

[T.o.b.y]

I watched TGG and it nearly caused a family argument, so maybe you were doing the best thing.

How so?

[Pseudonym]

My mother is not a fan. She snorted derisively at one of Sherlock's deductions, so I snarled at her, and it went downhill from there.

[T.o.b.y]

My mother is not a fan. She snorted derisively at one of Sherlock's deductions, so I snarled at her, and it went downhill from there.

Ahhh. Okay. I stopped mentioning the series at my parents' house after my mother called A Scandal in Belgravia "silly".

 

They both liked series 1 though.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I stopped mentioning the series at my parents' house after my mother called A Scandal in Belgravia "silly".

 

And you didn't appreciate her opinion because .... ?   :P

[Janyss]

Yay, someone who loves Mary! 

 

Glad you enjoyed it, Janyss. Now I'm wondering why I didn't take some of my vacation to watch Sherlock. Hmmm, still have a few days left........

 

Yes, I love Mary in the episode. She hasn't enough scènes, however. But her role in the two stories are great! I quite like the character in general all along the series, and the actress is very good.

 

Pseudonym, sometimes it is difficult to be a fan with people who are not. That is why this kind of website is so good :)!

 

 

[Arcadia]

Hmmm, I've just discovered one of my local PBS stations has been rebroadcasting Sherlock ... I don't know how long, but I suspect starting with Season 3. Tonight His Last Vow, next week Six Thatchers. I think I'll watch ... it will be interesting to see how one series transitions to the other without the Bride in between. Just want to check my reaction.....

 

By the way, the ads they're showing for HLV are phenomenal, if I weren't already a Sherlock fan I'd definitely be giving the show a try just based on the ad. And probably be hopelessly lost as a result.... :p

[Carol the Dabbler]

I can't imagine starting in the middle of things like that, but apparently some people have done so and survived.

[Janyss]

I did! The way I've been able to watch the various episodes is a mess! I've started in the middle of the middle, with a scene in Baskerville. Fortunately it is the best known Sherlock Holmes story to me, thus I immediately picked up what the show was about and how. One advantage: when you know what writers have in mind, you enjoy some scenes much more (the opening meeting of series 4 for eg).

[Hikari]

I'm taking the opportunity of a few days off to watch the few episodes I couldn't see, or just some parts.

 

This Abominable bride is great! I love the way the characters both changed and remained the same in this "breach of the space-time continuum" (are there Person of interest fans here ;)?). I loved the funny situations and lines (Mrs Hudson refusing to talk as it is the way Watson describes her in his books). I loved the historical background with the suffragettes, and Mary Watson's role in the story (by the way, Mark Gatiss wrote the part of the man of progress for himself, beyond the "grotesque" -in the cinematographic meaning- of his character. I have the feeling it is the way he does things: entertaining surface, fundamental questions underneath).

 

There were so many good things, that took place in a very interesting way in the whole story. Great tribute to the actors who portrayed Sherlock before BC (I thought much of Jeremy Brett, whom I've seen as Sherlock Holmes too) and to Conan Doyle of course!

 

The Abominable Bride has grown on me.  I liked it better on additional viewings than I did the first time through.

 

Rupert Graves's muttonchop whiskers make me laugh.

 

Six degrees of Sherlock Separation:  Tim McInnerny, who plays one of the murdered husbands, also appeared in the Red-Headed League episode of the Granada Brett series as Moriarty's henchman, John Clay.

[J.P.]

Yesterday they showed Bride in TV and I have to say I still enjoy this film and the way it put the actualized elements of canon back to the 19th century. At the same time, the loose ends and allusions and possibilities that were dropped in S4 are literally screaming from the screen. The Moriarty storyline was so promising - there should have been an explanation why he was taunting Sherlock  from the deep of his psyche, or any sensible follow up, something that feels like a close-up (or another cliffhanger for S5)

But worst of all are those damn five minutes on the plane and the lame attempts to integrate them into the storyline. I literally woke up with this thought in my head. Because it makes no sense, no matter how much you try.

Sherlock high on the tarmac completely destroys the last scene of HLV. If Sherlock took something to soothe his nerves, would he be able to switch to the trance mode, not to mention that it would need another kind of drug.

The last picture of HLV suggests the plane landed immediately after Mycroft's call. They should have make clear that the plane coming back needed longer, because in reality it really would. With 20+ minutes it would look more believable.

Or they should put Sherlock in some kind of isolation until Mycroft gets his status cleared. It would make enough time for the storyline and also spare the effort to recreate the plane's interior in the studio.

I think I have to watch something else before I start to

[Arcadia]

25 minutes ago, J.P. said:

 The Moriarty storyline was so promising - there should have been an explanation why he was taunting Sherlock  from the deep of his psyche, 

Yes! 

27 minutes ago, J.P. said:

Sherlock high on the tarmac completely destroys the last scene of HLV.

Alas, yes. That was completely tone deaf. Sometimes I wonder if Moftiss ever watch their own show.

30 minutes ago, J.P. said:

The last picture of HLV suggests the plane landed immediately after Mycroft's call. They should have make clear that the plane coming back needed longer, because in reality it really would. With 20+ minutes it would look more believable.

This one I can accept, though, because making the time jump clear isn't really necessary … because logic dictates that it would take longer than shown on screen. TV shows make that kind of time jump constantly, we mostly accept it. I agree that it looks like what you said, but I'm inclined to give them a pass on this one.

40 minutes ago, J.P. said:

Or they should put Sherlock in some kind of isolation until Mycroft gets his status cleared. It would make enough time for the storyline and also spare the effort to recreate the plane's interior in the studio.

Good idea! You're hired!  

My guess is that they didn't want to bother with the exposition … easier to pick up from right where they left off, rather than take time to explain (even to themselves) what happened from the time the plane landed to the time Sherlock obtained the drugs. They would have had to ditch the "it's not the fall, it's the landing" motif too … which would have been okay with me, as I still don't understand what that is supposed to mean.

Still, I love TAB, especially after the reveal that it's tied to the HLV storyline. It's just so much fun to watch, like most of Sherlock. I find I enjoy Sherlock most when I watch it with left brain (artistic side) firmly engaged, and tell the right brain (analytical side) to take a hike. At least, until we get to S4; both T6T and TFP are so visually ugly (compared to their other episodes) that I find them hard to simply watch. But TAB is a visual treat.