SPOILERS! Series 4 Setlock

[clavery111]

dragging myself along the floor... FOUR MORE MONTHS?  Good gawd, will this hiatus never end?

[Carol the Dabbler]

Yup, it'll end all right -- and then two weeks later, the next hiatus will begin!  ;)

[Arcadia]

I'm not bored, a discussion on ties is the pinnacle of scintillating conversation and debate. 

 

Sherlock's normal look screams GQ to me more than a knitted tie but ah well, each to their own. Gatiss and GQ are as welcome to their dubious fashion choices as I'm welcome to mine.

 

Though I am now imagining Sherlock's reaction to a knitted tie. And Mycroft's. :D

Somewhat like yours, I imagine. :P

 

And we now have a reliable method for distinguishing between Mark Gatiss and Mycroft Holmes!

 

Hang in there, Arcadia. By just about everybody's best guess, Series 4 should premiere a paltry four months from today.

 

 

Yup, it'll end all right -- and then two weeks later, the next hiatus will begin!  ;)

 

Oh, you just had to add that, didn't you?

[T.o.b.y]

Shouldn't Sherlock Holmes look a bit mature? After all, the photo doesn't seem to be meant to advertise the actor's personal beauty but the character. Sherlock is aging and that's just fine. But I agree, the picture does look very odd.

[Boton]

Shouldn't Sherlock Holmes look a bit mature? After all, the photo doesn't seem to be meant to advertise the actor's personal beauty but the character. Sherlock is aging and that's just fine. But I agree, the picture does look very odd.

 

It's not so much that Sherlock shouldn't be aging; I'm looking forward to a more mature Holmes.  I mean, this photo looks much younger than some shots I've seen of BC as himself in the past year, so its fine.

 

What bugs me about it is that this is the promo shot for the season. So, while real time has passed from S3 airing/taking place in 2014 (and filmed in 2013) to S4 filmed now and airing in 2017, there will not have been three years pass between the end of HLV/TAB and the first moment of S4, if the setlock information is to be believed. At most, we're probably looking at 9 or so months between the end of HLV/TAB (when Mary looked full term pregnant) and the first bit of S4, when that baby that MF was carrying around looked to be about 9 months old or so to me. I just did a double take because it seemed a bit odd to me to put a shot out there that makes Sherlock look about 5-10 years older than he did in S3, when not that much time will have elapsed between seasons.

 

(And yes, we could potentially kill off 5-10 years during the course of S4, which might be a wise move to keep things consistent as the actors and actresses age. Or, of course, S4 could open in the year 2020 and include a flashback that encompassed earlier years, which would also negate my argument.)

[Carol the Dabbler]

At most, we're probably looking at 9 or so months between the end of HLV/TAB (when Mary looked full term pregnant) and the first bit of S4, when that baby that MF was carrying around looked to be about 9 months old or so to me. I just did a double take because it seemed a bit odd to me to put a shot out there that makes Sherlock look about 5-10 years older than he did in S3, when not that much time will have elapsed between seasons.

 

Maybe he volunteered to handle the 2 a.m. feedings....

[Arcadia]

Yeah, I don't put too much store in what ages the actors look, because it changes all the time, sometimes in the same scene. For example, they both lose years when they smile. (Just like real people! ) I think Toby has the right word for it ... Sherlock looks more mature. Given what he's been through lately, I should hope that would sober him up some. Of course, that's probably because I've been thinking that all along; Sherlock is going to become a more distant and somewhat grimmer figure as time goes on. I don't want him too, but my instinct is that's the direction they're going ... because that's the "heroic" path to take. Bittersweet.
 
I remember some panel or other (I kind of think it might have been a previous Comicon) and Moffat mentioning how they hoped to be making the show when John and Sherlock are old men (or something along those lines); and the audience all went "nooooooo". Meaning, they don't want to see the boys get older! (Moffat teased them by saying something like "it happens to us all.")
 
I recognize that reaction because I feel a little of it myself ... as I've mentioned before, I really enjoyed the boyish Sherlock of the pilot and slightly regret they made him older for the actual series. And I love the youthful beauty and bounce of the ASIP Sherlock. But I can enjoy mature beauty too, it's all okay. I think it just reminds me that youth is all too fleeting. :P
 
Anyhoo, that's not why I'm here again! I just found this.... clearly some of us are not the only ones who think that promo photo has been photoshopped. This person has increased John's width (not height) by 6%, and I agree, he looks far more .... well, natural. But you decide:
 
Original photo:

 
John increased:

[Pseudonym]

Yea, that looks a lot better

[Carol the Dabbler]

John's pose is awkward, too -- what with his neck being kinda strained.  That may be part of the oddity that we're reacting to.

[clavery111]

Remember the first promo photo though?  Sherlock w/ the blood hound... he looked pretty darn haggard in that one too.  I"m sticking w/ the baby at home theory for now.  

Here it is:
 

[Inge l-w]

Sorry, but are y'all forgetting that this flipping S4 is supposed to start right after TAB modern? Sherlock took a rather fanciful mix of his favourite chemicals before boarding the accursed plane, apparently, and he will have to be detoxed as well as pardoned to get on with the new cases. He's bound to look grim, even haggard, with stubble and careworn.

Add to that the possibility of The Dying Detective taken to the usual Moffat extreme, and you have a picture of a fraying-at-the-edges consulting detective.

[Arcadia]

I am assuming the picture doesn't represent the first few minutes of the show, though. I don't expect to see John Watson age as they drive away from the airport, I'm guessing there will be a time jump, like in Scandal. At least ... I hope so! (Although it could be very funny if John gets in the car with one hairdo, and gets out with another.... )

[clavery111]

There'd better be a very good explanation for The Swoop!  (I bet it's this:  My wife made me do it.  That explains John's new wardrobe as well)

[Arcadia]

"The Swoop" being his hair? :d

He has a new wardrobe too? Still looks like checkered shirts and jeans to me, what's new?

[clavery111]

The Swoop, the baby, the baby-carrier attched to the front of him, this new plaid shirt, the royal blue polo shirt,  etc.  And what is with the untucked nature of this new shirt in the promo photo anyway?  Way too casual for an Army doctor, IMHO.  It disturbs me as being jarringly un-Watson like.  ; )

[Pseudonym]

He looks smarter to me, perhaps it's because the colours are darker. I like the swoop, I know a lot of people don't and it does seem out of character but I think it's cool. And I think there will be a bit of a time jump.

[Carol the Dabbler]

... it could be very funny if John gets in the car with one hairdo, and gets out with another.... )

 

He has a new wardrobe too? Still looks like checkered shirts and jeans to me, what's new?

 

As Clavery & Pseudo have already pointed out, he's wearing new checkered shirts this time.  Maybe the same jeans, but so far I haven't seen any familiar shirts or sweaters.  So -- new wardrobe.  And Pseudo's right, the colors are darker.  *cue ominous music*

[clavery111]

I did see a setlock 4 photo w/ John in his familiar S1E1 black checkered shirt, and another one where he had on his greenish plaid one from S2 and S3.  But wearing a polo shirt and/or a dress shirt that is not tucked in?  Is that our John Watson?  

 

I don't mind but I really DO want them to supply a great explanation for the changes, thassall.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I don't mind but I really DO want them to supply a great explanation for the changes, thassall.

 

Especially the Swoop!  :D

[Arcadia]

Mid-life crisis? xd

[J.P.]

It seems someone's really going in the water...

http://thesetison.tumblr.com/post/149881582411/welovethebeekeeper-sherlooks

[clavery111]

... a watery grave for Mary and the baby maybe.... ?

[J.P.]

We have a boat scene and Sherlock looking down from a bridge. And an island.

Or maybe Sherlock is taking a bubble bath.

[Carol the Dabbler]

It seems someone's really going in the water...

http://thesetison.tumblr.com/post/149881582411/welovethebeekeeper-sherlooks

 

We have a boat scene and Sherlock looking down from a bridge. And an island.

 

Someone -- or something.  If the boat scene is (as speculated) based on the chase in Sign of the Four, then what went overboard could well be some valuable object(s), plus maybe a baddie.

[Arcadia]

But that post says the underwater filming dates correspond with the filming of ep. 1. Wasn't the boat in 3? And the island also? And the bridge scene with the Woman in Red, where he appears to drop something in the water ... I think that was 2. Altho I suppose special effects filming could go on at any time?

 

Does anyone know what the references to "3G moment" mean? Oh, wait, never mind ... Three Garridebs. Aha.