Episode 4.0: The Abominable Bride (alias The Special)

[Arcadia]

It just occurred to me after watching  the first scene where Mycroft asks Sherlock if he made a list "we will need a list" that Sherlock is mentally reminding himself to make that list because he has gone deep, but he withholds the list because he must go deeper.  Nevertheless, when he wakes up the first time on the plane, he has that list made out.  

Because he's finished taking the drugs by then? And is just now waiting for them to fully take effect?

 

I've never been much bothered by that sort of thing either. I like plenty of things that aren't widely popular, and I dislike plenty others that earned widespread acclaim (Harry Potter, for example - I'll never be a fan of that, no matter what anybody says).

 

I often find it interesting though, to read / hear how someone else reacted to a show / film / book / play and what their thoughts were.

 

Right. I'm reasonably intrigued by psychoanalysis, but in the end I always end up dismissing it as a bunch of hooey, because ... well, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. I was pleased to see that the author herself recognized this. It actually made me respect her opinion more for her to admit she was basically blowing smoke!

[sfmpco]

 

It just occurred to me after watching  the first scene where Mycroft asks Sherlock if he made a list "we will need a list" that Sherlock is mentally reminding himself to make that list because he has gone deep, but he withholds the list because he must go deeper.  Nevertheless, when he wakes up the first time on the plane, he has that list made out.  

Because he's finished taking the drugs by then? And is just now waiting for them to fully take effect?

 

 

 

Well, we know the next bit is his waiting for Moriarty, and we see him go for the syringe, so I think he takes one more hit to go the deepest of all in order to face Moriarty, and that's the end of his "list."  It's also why he couldn't stay lucid for very long on the plane.

[Slithytove]

While I like the concept of a new, modern Sherlock, I definitely dislike shoddy plots (they had almost two years to mull over possible solutions, and they came up with a vague MindPalace thing including the Five Orange Pips and a drug overdose, definitely of heroine, he's much too calm for the seven percent solution), and cheap laughs at the expense of the fandom, with the implausible suffragette murdering females as a counter-threat to a plainly sub-par Moriarty (all, right, he  w a s a figment,) but nevertheless!  They had better pull themselves together and deliver an absolutely stellar, decidedly not maudling, S4, or there may never be a fifth one! There's just so much suspension of disbelief an intelligent fan can take, and everybody is growing older, including Sherlock, Dr Watson, Mrs Hudson and Mark Gatiss, so youthful shenanigans and fooloing around will have to stop before the series become pastiches of their own episodes! As for the Abominable episode, which has somehow acquired the designation S4.0, the least said about it the better!

TAB drew the biggest UK viewing figures over the Xmas holidays, plus they have managed to sell it widely overseas, so I doubt that the BBC sees it as a failure or has any reason to dismiss the idea of a fifth series on the grounds of either popularity or content.  When it does eventually come to a stop, the reasons will most likely be the unavailability of the stars or the constraints of the BBC budget.   Viewing figures do, of course, play a part but Sherlock is more than holding its own in that respect, with no sign that the viewers are deserting it.  I think it is fair to say that a lot of us liked it.

[Slithytove]

For my part, I can't bear watching it past the Victorian spoof, which was good for a laugh and a game of spotting all the ACD direct quotes! Dear Caya's favourite writer has done a masterful analysis of the whole Abominable episode, with which I agree almost 99%, because I would never classify any Sherlock episode as "half pukeworthy", but that's just me: they are not worthy of being ACD followers, laughing all the way to the bank notwithstanding!

@Slithylove, of the three examples you mentioned, I hated both Ulysses (pompous, convoluted and recondite), and Mme Bovary (upwardly mobile frustrated housewife with a predilection for luxury; good thing she committed suicide, or she could very well have turned into Hugo's Fantine or Zola's Nana, take your pick!)

Well, each to his or her own, where literature is concerned, but I could have chosen pretty much any of the classics and there would have been Amazon critics giving low ratings and half-baked opinions.  One my favourites was the reader who complained that Thomas Hardy had written Tess of the d'Urbervilles in his "turgid 19th century style."  Given that it was first published in 1892, what other century's style could the poor man have used?

[sfmpco]

Okay, so which DVD version has the coloring page in it?  Definitely not the USA version!!!

[Inge l-w]

The Amazon.co.uk. one. On one side there's the usual pair, with St Paul's in the background, on the other side is the poster of the Abominable episode with the Bride in the background. Handed it over to the kids while the *adults* focused on what at first sight seemed excellent stuff and then all expectations plummeted the moment "the clever one", according to Mind Palace Mary, spoke about a virus in the hard drive! From that point on, I watched with gritted teeth, and the occasional expletive, while my better half couldn't understand what I was getting all worked up about: it's just a show, dearest! Yeah, thanks for the commiseration, when all my hopes were being dashed!

[sfmpco]

So here's what I think about the drugs and how many times Sherlock took them - and I do believe he was snorting cocaine.  Easy to do and easier to conceal.  I think there are 4 times.

 

1.  Before he got on the plane

2.  When he stops playing his violin and says he will have to go deep into himself

3.  When he says "these are deep waters.  i shall have to go deeper still."

4.  When we see him with the syringe 

 

Also, he's a bit sniffly, even on the second time seeing Mycroft, and when he's on the jet his nose is a little red indicating irritation.  Was he only snorting cocaine?  But to take 3 hits of something in five minutes is an overdose for sure.

 

Also, although only two of the modern scenes are real, both of which are on the plane, I do think that after John is trying to get through to him - the light in his eyes - but that then too becomes part of the dream.  

 

I thought I caught a glimpse of the list and it showed 4 items (couldn't read them).  Unfortunately I can't go frame-by-frame with my player, nor can I do frame grabs.  Perhaps someone else can catch that?

[Arcadia]

Don't think it was "just" cocaine, John's reaction to the list indicated it was more than one thing. Although I suppose it could have been the same thing, just different amounts each time. But still, something about the dialog made me think more than one drug.

 

I don't even know enough about drugs to know which one does what to you, but my theory is he took something to calm himself/numb his feelings before he got on the plane. Then something different after to counteract it. And then more because he's a fool.  But I agree with your timeline.

 

Would it really be possible to get up and stride out of the plane like that while od'ing? Or does the effect really wear off that fast? At any rate, I predict one of the "consequences" we see in S4 will be Sherlock getting dangerously ill or exhausted due to pushing his body past its limit. Not drugs, necessarily, just refusing eat/rest/whatever. Heck, I got tired just watching him stalk across the tarmac. :d

[sfmpco]

Even if it wasn't all cocaine, I still think it was all snorted.  That's the fastest way to get it into his system.  Syringe takes too long to prepare and he would have been seen and stopped.  Yes, John did react as if there was more than one kind of drug although he does say right before Moriarty that he had taken cocaine, so maybe that's what he took at that stage.  I think Oxycontin can also be crushed and snorted, but I don't know how long that high is.  I think the high from cocaine is pretty fast.  Also, whatever drug he had to begin with had been in his system for a while - at least as long as the ride in the car with Mycroft to the tarmac and then up until Mycroft's phone call.  Obviously he didn't do it in the car in front of Mycroft.  Interesting that he doesn't deny that he was high before he got onto the plane.  I suppose him being a graduate chemist, he sort of has these things worked out based on past experience, his body weight, tolerance level, etc.

 

I remember at one of the panel discussions a woman stood up and really tried to nail Moffat and Gatiss about the drug use in the stories and on Sherlock, and this was well before TAB ever came out, of course, and they quickly put her question into proper context, but I think her question would have more relevance now in light of TAB.  It will be interesting to see if they deal with this issue in S4... especially since he's going to need to dry out after all that stuff he took on the plane.

 

Also Gatiss suggests that that early scene of Sherlock/Mycroft was actually Mycroft being there for Sherlock while Sherlock was going cold turkey.  So it makes his line of "I was there for you before.  I'll always be there for you" could mean that he recognizes that Sherlock is at a stage where he needs to go cold turkey again.

[sfmpco]

And here's an encapsulation of the obliquity of the ecliptic.  Not terribly complicated.  Harder to say that what it actually is.  Bit of a tongue twister.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecliptic#Obliquity_of_the_ecliptic

[J.P.]

The angle between the plane of Earth's equator and the plane of the Earth's orbit around the sun?

[Pamela]

I've spotted the V.R. on the wall - or at least the 'R.' At 8.44 in just after Dr. Watson offers 'guest' a chair. The wallpaper where the 'V' should be seems scorched.

[Arcadia]

Also Gatiss suggests that that early scene of Sherlock/Mycroft was actually Mycroft being there for Sherlock while Sherlock was going cold turkey.  So it makes his line of "I was there for you before.  I'll always be there for you" could mean that he recognizes that Sherlock is at a stage where he needs to go cold turkey again.

Ohhh, of course. I like it, that makes sense. And makes me feel a little more kindly towards Myc.

 

And here's an encapsulation of the obliquity of the ecliptic.  Not terribly complicated.  Harder to say that what it actually is.  Bit of a tongue twister.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecliptic#Obliquity_of_the_ecliptic

 

The angle between the plane of Earth's equator and the plane of the Earth's orbit around the sun?

I think so, yeah. I was faintly pursuing until "fundamental ephemerides", at which point they lost me altogether.

[Inge l-w]

Well, if you remember the Hornblower series, without updated ephemerides they would have sailed aground more times than I have posted on this forum! Before GPS and Marconi wireless, without accurate astronomical data, seafarers were well and truly lost! Pirate Sherlock wouldn't have stood a chance if he had deleted the solar system from his brain! He would have been blown out of the water by one of HMS frigates, taken back to Tyburn to hang or secured to the tide watermark of the Thames to await a slow drowning, like Captain Teach!

[Slithytove]

Or hung at Execution Dock in Wapping, like Captain Kidd.  I've sailed down the River Thames past the point where pirates received "the Grace of Wapping."  Still looked pretty grim when I saw it, though it may have been gentrified now.

[J.P.]

Finally I managed to write down all the notes that were assembling in corners. It's massive and I hope I wasn't too repetitive and that it makes sense at all.

 

TAB as a Layer Cake:
There are many lines and situations that touch the writing vs. reality theme (or it's my new obsession within obsession?).

Holmes - being Sherlock's alter ego from his own MP - quotes his alter ego from Watson's stories.
Watson wants Holmes to keep up to the standards he'd written for him. It seems like Watson is trying to make Holmes into his version of him. Does it mean that Sherlock feels like John is trying to make him into a character from his blog?

Can it be that the whole series is John's version of reality? Sherlock states that he is so much cleverer in John's blog...

Victorian Holmes and (to less extend) Watson keep confusing their reality with Watson's fiction (hey argue about quoting things from the stories) What does it suggest?

The Drugs
Watson was the one who made a junkie into a hero. Does John make a hero of a junkie too?
In ASIP he cannot believe Sherlock is taking anything, even though there are little hints here and there (like the scene with 3 patches) alluding to a possible addiction or addiction in the past.

Then, in ASIB John and Mycroft work together trying to keep Sherlock clean. The scene when he and Mrs Hudson talk about the "usual places" looks like this action wasn't first. Which is a bit strange, because there was nothing in S1 that would suggest Sherlock drug problem - or am I missing something?

A Cold Case
In the introduction Watson calls the case a failure. We don't see the case solved (because it slides into a drug vision). I cannot see a solution in the contemporary scenes either. Sherlock doesn't find the body at the cemetery, which somehow should assure him of his failure (even if it's still in his head only), but at the end he seems to find an answer. What can it be?

We know Moriarty is not a single man (as the Cabby says already in ASIP). So why everyone think he is back instead of suspecting that some parts of his network survived Sherlock's crusade?

Sherlock is convinced that Mr. Carmichel was stabbed by a man. Was it his inner Moriarty? He leaves the tag (which could be a mortuary tag, btw) with "Miss Me?" then appears at the end in the Bride's dress... okay, this probably is not supposed to make sense anyway. :P

Not my Sherlock
I predicted that I won't like the Victorian version of Sherlock. And so it is. I don't like him. I don't like John either. Their aggressive approach to one another, their fights, them insulting one another openly. Our Sherlock would never call someone a short-a**e either - his insults usually have much higher standards. While the twisted and knotted plot is a feast for my brain, there is nothing for my heart. Nothing I could relate to, in the way I do to the rest of the series.
Mycroft is the only emotionally moving person in the episode. But I'm not even sure if he's real. Furthermore, the possible interpretations of his behavior contain his possible death in S4 and this is something I don't even want to think about. :o

Plus - as much as I love the setting, I don't like how our boys look like.

On the bright side though - BC did it again: he created a new character, who is (again) nothing like Ben himself, but also not like our Sherlock to the level that I cannot (again) find any visual resemblance between them.

Why Sherlock did the drugs (real, or imagined)?
His brain is a machine conditioned to relate on facts and logic. For some reason he feels like the solution of this new problem needs to break the boundaries of reason, to go beyond logic, to go into Moriarty's realm of insanity. Like a shaman going into a trance.

The Victorian world is a bit like the contemporary world... on drugs :D

Everything is exaggerated, it shows in the 221B interior, in the scull that becomes a head, the bigger dog statue, the kitchen turned into a real study/laboratory.

Mrs Hudson being a housekeeper and having nothing to say (must have been a relief, lol).
The enormous Mycroft dwelling in his smoky, spooky room in the Diogenes Club - the light in this room reminds me of the Mycroft's Secret Room from S1-S3 so maybe those two locations merged into one. Mycroft can solve all cases by just thinking about them.
John, who is the boss, the writer and maybe even smarter than Sherlock himself.
Mary who is also at least as smart as Sherlock.
The women who Sherlock wronged appear as killer furies looking for revenge.
Aggressive Molly, submissive Anderson, a cane instead of a riding crop.
The Bride's dress seems a more decorative version of Mary's wedding dress, while her black outfit makes me think of the scene at CAMs office, when she's clad in black and only the perfume is giving her away (and this time Holmes does not confuse her with anyone else)

Then - unlike in sober Sherlock's subconsciousness - Jim is running free in this world, causing confusion and mayhem, and finally being close to overpower Holmes in his own head. Which seems to be consistent with my imagination of him as a dark side of the personality, the weakness etc. IMO when Moriarty talks about jumping together he talks about falling into insanity. Which makes me wonder what Holmes' free will jump is about to symbolize? Acceptance for his dark side?

Why both airplane scenes might not be real:
- Mycroft is too nice, too concerned and not sarcastic enough - it's so different from his behavior just moments earlier, and also from his reaction in HLV.
- he calls John "Dr Watson", while he's been calling him John for a while already.
- Mary is effortlessly breaking into MI5 archives and brags about it. She wouldn't do that. Mycroft wasn't supposed to know about her(?), but even if it was the case, she wouldn't show off like this. It almost feels like she is working for (or even with) Mycroft, just like in the MP
- John and Sherlock act like their aggressive Victorian versions, yelling at one another
- In one of the plane scenes the sound effects are similar to those when the Victorian world started to fall apart. The scene does fall apart seconds after this - Sherlock talking with John's voice etc. It might be that Sherlock is sliding back into his overdosed MP, but I don't see it as clear.

 The Second Contemporary Scene
- Mycroft is more like himself than in the two other ones. But we know the scene is definitely not real
- I doubt there would be still maggots on a 100 year old body (Sherlock must have known such details!) - that's the first clear sign something is wrong, after the fact that Sherlock and Lestrade do the digging alone instead of letting someone other dig.
- Mary is still the cleverest of them all.

Assembled Random Observations:
Sherlock says Mycroft put on weight TWICE to change the subject, interesting
Mycroft gives work to his brother to keep him from trouble, even it he could solve (or already solved) the cases by himself
BTW, isn't it interesting that while Sherlock is killing himself with drugs, Mycroft openly kills himself with food, and enjoys it?
A stupid side note: Maybe Mycroft was so heavy that his mass have distorted the time-space continuum?

Is the substitute corpse played by Janine actress?

[Inge l-w]

Dear J.P. , concerning the drugs issue, please have a look-see at dear Arcadia's thread about what it all means.

[sfmpco]

If I ever finish assembling my notes on this episode, they will definitely be too long to post here, so I will simply post a link to a blog.

[T.o.b.y]

Not my Sherlock

I predicted that I won't like the Victorian version of Sherlock. And so it is. I don't like him. I don't like John either. Their aggressive approach to one another, their fights, them insulting one another openly. Our Sherlock would never call someone a short-a**e either - his insults usually have much higher standards. While the twisted and knotted plot is a feast for my brain, there is nothing for my heart. Nothing I could relate to, in the way I do to the rest of the series.

Mycroft is the only emotionally moving person in the episode. But I'm not even sure if he's real. Furthermore, the possible interpretations of his behavior contain his possible death in S4 and this is something I don't even want to think about. :o

Plus - as much as I love the setting, I don't like how our boys look like.

 

Funny that several of you around here say that you didn't particularly care for the Victorian Sherlock and / or felt like he was a completely different person. It wasn't so for me. Not only did I really like him, but I felt at home and comfortable with him, both as Holmes and as Sherlock. He was little more dignified and a little more mature, but no surprise, since this is Sherlock's idea of himself plus his idea of himself as written by John. Of course this man doesn't lie on the sofa pouting, or stutter or go to Buckingham Palace dressed in a bed-sheet. Sherlock isn't likely to think of himself that way. Very human, very understandable. Don't we all have idealized versions of ourselves who we cast into the stories that make up our daydreams? Victorian Holmes had me thinking "whew, he's back and in top form" one moment and "awww, Sherlock" the next.

 

John however... You know, I am kind of sad to say this, but I don't really like his recent character development. He was "off" for most of series 3 in my eyes, and the mind palace version simply highlights this. I was really relieved to see him more "like himself" on the plane. I thought the contrast between 21st century John and this 19th century Dr Watson was pretty striking. 

 

Things are definitely getting louder. Everyone is more aggressive, not just the boys. Even Molly is shouting and slapping and killing people (the latter only inside Sherlock's mind as far as we know, but still). I also liked Molly better before.

 

What I did miss a little during the Special was the gentleness the series used to have. Not always, but often. Even His Last Vow, for all it was such a brutal episode, had all this low sad music and the softly spoken dialog and subtle little moments.  But then, The Abominable Bride takes place inside Sherlock's mind, and he's not a gentle person nor would he harbor gentle fantasies. He loves crashing and banging and yelling, fighting. Far from objecting to John as a macho bulldog, he likes him that way, and the women he dreams of are all more or less d0minatrices.

 

I do share Sherlock's taste for melodrama. Melodrama is my guilty pleasure, I can identify with him very well in that respect.

 

[BlackButterfly]

I also miss the subtlety of S01&S02 , everything is a bit more in your face and obvious now.

[Arcadia]

Yay JP! I've been wanting to do something like this, but just haven't been able to make the time.

 

The Drugs

Watson was the one who made a junkie into a hero. Does John make a hero of a junkie too?

In ASIP he cannot believe Sherlock is taking anything, even though there are little hints here and there (like the scene with 3 patches) alluding to a possible addiction or addiction in the past.

Then, in ASIB John and Mycroft work together trying to keep Sherlock clean. The scene when he and Mrs Hudson talk about the "usual places" looks like this action wasn't first. Which is a bit strange, because there was nothing in S1 that would suggest Sherlock drug problem - or am I missing something?

Well, there was the drugs bust in the first episode; I thought it was pretty clear that a) Sherlock had a history of using and b ) he had something in the flat he didn't want the police to find; I've always assumed it was drugs. Whether that constitutes a "drug problem" I suppose is a matter of interpretation; Sherlock, I am sure, would insist it's not a "problem."

 

A Cold Case

In the introduction Watson calls the case a failure. We don't see the case solved (because it slides into a drug vision). I cannot see a solution in the contemporary scenes either. Sherlock doesn't find the body at the cemetery, which somehow should assure him of his failure (even if it's still in his head only), but at the end he seems to find an answer. What can it be?

Remember at the very end, when Holmes and Watson are discussing the case?

 

(From Ariane DeVere

HOLMES: Have you written up your account of the case?

WATSON: Yes.

HOLMES: Hmm. Modified to put it down as one of my rare failures, of course?

WATSON: Of course.

 

I think that's what Watson is referring to in his introduction. It wasn't a failure, they just represented it as such to hide the truth.

 

We know Moriarty is not a single man (as the Cabby says already in ASIP).

Oooh, good catch, I had forgotten that.

 

So why everyone think he is back instead of suspecting that some parts of his network survived Sherlock's crusade?

Because it was his face on the screen, I guess. Plus, we don't really know what everyone thinks yet, only five minutes have passed since the gif appeared! :D

 

Sherlock is convinced that Mr. Carmichel was stabbed by a man. Was it his inner Moriarty? He leaves the tag (which could be a mortuary tag, btw) with "Miss Me?" then appears at the end in the Bride's dress... okay, this probably is not supposed to make sense anyway. :P

He was? I don't remember that part, he just denied Carmichael was stabbed by a ghost, didn't he? And then at the end he says it was Lady Carmichael. Hang on..... Aha. It was Lestrade who thought it was a man ... at first.

 

LESTRADE: Anything you can tell us, Doctor?

WATSON: Well, he’s been stabbed with considerable force.

LESTRADE: It’s a man, then.

WATSON: Possibly.

LESTRADE: A very keen blade, so it could conceivably have been a woman.

WATSON (angrily standing up and walking back to the other two): In theory, yes, but we know who it was. I saw her.

HOLMES: Watson.

WATSON (loudly): I saw the ghost with my own eyes.

HOLMES (angrily): You saw nothing. You saw what you were supposed to see.

WATSON: You said yourself: I have no imagination.

HOLMES: Then use your brain, such as it is, to eliminate the impossible – which in this case is the ghost – and observe what remains – which in this case is a solution so blindingly obvious, even Lestrade could work it out.

LESTRADE: Thank you(!)

HOLMES (angrily, to Watson): Forget spectres from the otherworld. (More calmly) There is only one suspect with motive and opportunity. They might as well have left a note.

LESTRADE: They did leave a note.

HOLMES (to Watson): And then there’s the matter of the other broken window....

 

And then Holmes gets distracted by the "miss me" note, and never finishes either of his deductions. But it would appear that he had realized that the killer was Lady Carmichael ... but then figuring out the mystery of Moriarty became more important to him. Which is odd, because Moriarty is why he was thinking about all this to begin with...

 

Not my Sherlock

I predicted that I won't like the Victorian version of Sherlock. And so it is. I don't like him. I don't like John either. Their aggressive approach to one another, their fights, them insulting one another openly. Our Sherlock would never call someone a short-a**e either - his insults usually have much higher standards. While the twisted and knotted plot is a feast for my brain, there is nothing for my heart. Nothing I could relate to, in the way I do to the rest of the series.

Mycroft is the only emotionally moving person in the episode. But I'm not even sure if he's real. Furthermore, the possible interpretations of his behavior contain his possible death in S4 and this is something I don't even want to think about. :o

 

Plus - as much as I love the setting, I don't like how our boys look like.

 

On the bright side though - BC did it again: he created a new character, who is (again) nothing like Ben himself, but also not like our Sherlock to the level that I cannot (again) find any visual resemblance between them.

I empathize, although I think I didn't mind as much as you seem to have. Actually, I quite liked Watson, especially when he demanded that Holmes "hold himself to a higher standard." I like it when John reveals his basic decency, even if it means yelling at Sherlock.

 

But although I was amused by Holmes' wit, I didn't love him the way I love our much more vulnerable, petulant, juvenile Sherlock. That moment when Sherlock woke up and quipped "Miss me?" .... awwwwww.  And the Victorian hair ... egad, no. If Sherlock thought John's mustache made him look like an old man, he should see himself in a slickback. Just ... no. No, no, no.

 

... IMO when Moriarty talks about jumping together he talks about falling into insanity. Which makes me wonder what Holmes' free will jump is about to symbolize? Acceptance for his dark side?

I'm still puzzling on that myself. He seems to be experiencing real joy at the end, which I don't equate with acceptance. To me it's more like he's finally freeing himself of Moriarty's influence, but I don't understand how or why he got to that point, or how jumping off a cliff represents that. Have to ponder it some more.

 

Oh, and I like your interpretation of falling into insanity. Although it could equally be death, I suppose, or just "the dark side." Or all three at once!   Another one I have to ponder, I think.

 

A stupid side note: Maybe Mycroft was so heavy that his mass have distorted the time-space continuum?

Ooooh, you're going to be in big trouble with some people for that one! :D

[Van Buren Supernova]

Watson wants Holmes to keep up to the standards he'd written for him. It seems like Watson is trying to make Holmes into his version of him. Does it mean that Sherlock feels like John is trying to make him into a character from his blog?

I suppose he always feels that. John tries to make him into a hero and sort. While I'm sure deep deep down he actually appreciates it, it must be a burden for him.

He used to act alone without caring about other people's opinion. Case solved, boredom avoided, life goes on. Then John comes along and believes he could be better than that, and should be. Suddenly he has to live up to the expectation of others, while he doesn't really ask or care for it on the first place. Maybe he doesn't even think he is capable to be what John wants him to be. Isn't it frustrating?

 

 

In the introduction Watson calls the case a failure. We don't see the case solved (because it slides into a drug vision). I cannot see a solution in the contemporary scenes either.

My impression is that the case is written as failure because they have to let them win.

He solved the case, but let it go and suggested that John wrote it as failure.

 

This is one of the Sherlock's minds that I appreciate a lot, regardless how unpopular it is.

For Sherlock to admit he couldn't solve a case when he actually solved it, indicate that he agrees with the woman's cause and willing to go as far as admitting being a failure, his Achilles heel. Something he wouldn't readily admit even if his life is in danger.

This is probably the point why the character heroism is debatable, he is willing to go far and pay a price for something he believes in, and get his hand dirty. Perceived moralism never clouds his mind when he believes he does greater good for the weak. And I am firmly on his side. The one quality that any other character doesn't have.

 

 

Not my Sherlock

I predicted that I won't like the Victorian version of Sherlock. And so it is. I don't like him. I don't like John either. Their aggressive approach to one another, their fights, them insulting one another openly. Our Sherlock would never call someone a short-a**e either - his insults usually have much higher standards. While the twisted and knotted plot is a feast for my brain, there is nothing for my heart.

Funny that several of you around here say that you didn't particularly care for the Victorian Sherlock and / or felt like he was a completely different person. It wasn't so for me. Not only did I really like him, but I felt at home and comfortable with him, both as Holmes and as Sherlock. He was little more dignified and a little more mature, but no surprise, since this is Sherlock's idea of himself plus his idea of himself as written by John. Of course this man doesn't lie on the sofa pouting, or stutter or go to Buckingham Palace dressed in a bed-sheet. Sherlock isn't likely to think of himself that way. Very human, very understandable. Don't we all have idealized versions of ourselves who we cast into the stories that make up our daydreams? Victorian Holmes had me thinking "whew, he's back and in top form" one moment and "awww, Sherlock" the next.

I'm with you. I don't see Sherlock as different, it's how you put it. Everyone is a hero in their own story.

But in this case, except his behavior portrayal, Sherlock is actually very critical and harsh to himself, which make me sympathize with him more.

[Arcadia]

Funny that several of you around here say that you didn't particularly care for the Victorian Sherlock and / or felt like he was a completely different person. It wasn't so for me. Not only did I really like him, but I felt at home and comfortable with him, both as Holmes and as Sherlock. He was little more dignified and a little more mature, but no surprise, since this is Sherlock's idea of himself plus his idea of himself as written by John. Of course this man doesn't lie on the sofa pouting, or stutter or go to Buckingham Palace dressed in a bed-sheet. Sherlock isn't likely to think of himself that way. Very human, very understandable. Don't we all have idealized versions of ourselves who we cast into the stories that make up our daydreams? Victorian Holmes had me thinking "whew, he's back and in top form" one moment and "awww, Sherlock" the next.

Now that you say that, I do remember: once I learned it was all Sherlock as he sees himself (and everyone else), I was much more comfortable with the Victorian Holmes. I don't think I would have fallen in love with the show if that was the only Holmes we met, though. Enjoyed it, maybe, but not loved it. Amazing, isn't it, how the same people can seem so strange in a different context?

 

John however... You know, I am kind of sad to say this, but I don't really like his recent character development. He was "off" for most of series 3 in my eyes, and the mind palace version simply highlights this. I was really relieved to see him more "like himself" on the plane. I thought the contrast between 21st century John and this 19th century Dr Watson was pretty striking.

Yes, I'm afraid I had a similar thought ... the language he was using in the cab when he was demanding to know about Mary did not sit well with me. And I thought once again that John doesn't really play a big enough role in the story ... although his appearance at the Falls almost made up for it. I'm starting to get the feeling that they are having trouble coming up with important things for him to do, except point a pistol at the right moment and look dangerous. I still have a feeling they are holding him in reserve for some magnificent gesture in the future, though. He's earned it, so I hope so.

[sfmpco]

The "pompous prick" comment didn't bother me and seemed totally in character.  He's called him a cock and a dick.  He's simply rounding out his synonyms with an added adjective.

[Arcadia]

Oh, of course. I phrased that badly; what I meant was, the hostility John was exhibiting at that point bothered me. He was understandably upset about his wife, but ... I don't know, something about the way he came across just didn't sit well with me. He was just too... whatever he was.

Although, now that I think about it, since that was modern John intruding into Victorian Holmes's world, maybe it was meant to seem out of character for our John. Things definitely seemed to be falling apart in Sherlock's mind at that point.

And who was the "Mary's in danger" note from, anyway? Sherlock's subconscious, I presume. As a way to divert John/Watson from the real issue, which was Sherlock od'ing at that point?

I just had a thought; wouldn't it be funny if S4 opened with Sherlock still on the plane, and we discover everything about this episode was a dream? :p