Episode 4.3 "The Final Problem"

[BLS_Pro]

More Existential References:

Lies - especially to one's self - are a person not being "authentic".  Sartre's novels involve characters who base their actions, not on truth - not on their understanding of reality - but on "external pressures - the pressure to appear to be a certain kind of person, to ignore one's own moral and aesthetic objections" etc in order to have "a more comfortable existence."  His novels also "include characters who do not understand their own reasons for acting, or who ignore crucial facts about their own lives in order to avoid uncomfortable truths".

Sounds familiar, eh?  ;)

 

The existentialist view of authenticity is derived from the fact that humans are different from things.  Things just "are what they are".  They have no meaning.  Humans -create- meaning.  They give meaning to everything.  And this act of creation is not an automatic process.  It is an act of free will (which is why "things" can't do it - they have no will.  They have no ability to "choose".  They simple "are"). 

 

Creating is an act of freedom.

 

To be of "bad faith" is to abandon that freedom.  To kill it.  To kill one's self.  To be inauthentic is to treat one's self as a thing.  It is to give up one's will.  It is no different - and no less destructive - then when others make people into things.  It is the same practice but done to one's self.

 

It is self-immolation - self-destruction.

 

One of the examples given in relation to Sartre's concept is a woman who thinks "just as a matter of fact" that she is a coward.  With that statement, the woman is accepting a deterministic view of herself - that she has no choice.  She is merely a thing - that she has no agency.  Such a woman is excluding from her view the ability to transform her existence through changed ways of behaving.  Such "bad faith" is a denial of "transcendence" ie a denial of the existence of her freedom to choose.

 

The same can be said of Sherlock asserting himself to be a sociopath.  It is him accepting determinism - the Appointment in Sumarra.  He is fated to be what he is - he has no choice.  But he is also questioning that fact - beginning to see he does not have to be the way he is.  He can change his destination and go to Sumatra instead.

 

This is what Satre identifies as a "self-recovery of being which has been previously corrupted" which "we shall call authenticity".

 

That last sentence is the entirety of the plot of TFP.  It is Sherlock's  recovery of himself - from that which had been previously "corrupted" - a term the writers explicitly reference in TLD.

 

Holy fricken cow!

 

'Deep waters' from the writers indeed.  Their levels of integration are truly MINDBOGGLING.

[BLS_Pro]

More Existentialism References:

According to existentialism, the single characteristic which separates "humans" from "things" is free will.  A thing has a determined identity.  "It is what it is".  It is a "brute object".  Humans, on the other hand, supposedly do not have a determined identity.  Their identity is "ambiguous" - ie they can change it by an act of their will.  Their identity is made rather than determined.

So the only question is: will they make themselves - or will they allow themselves to be made?  Will they be human and shape their own identity - or will they abandon their humanity and allow others to shape them instead, allow others to dictate and determine their shape.

Will they be "human" or will they be a "thing"?

 

"Opt-in ignorance" - what existentialism calls self-deception - is the attempt to be a thing.  It is to blind one's self to the truth and thus let one's fate be determined by that which one seeks to evade.

Essentially it is a reverse Pinocchio syndrome.  It is the boy who wants to be a puppet.

That is what we have in Sherlock.  He has hidden from himself so many truths.  He has deceived himself about so many things.  And, in doing so, he has left himself at their mercy, to be formed and shaped by those "external forces" without his knowledge - without his will.  As Mycroft indicates, Sherlock didn't know why, but his every action, and everything he became, was because of that which he had tried to evade.  He did not make himself.  He let himself be made.

 

He wished himself to be a thing and became one.

It is the same act as CAM and Smith and Moriarty - the destruction of treating people as things.  But this destruction is self-inflicted.  It is suicide rather than murder.

[Caya]

I like Eurus. I hope we see her more in season 5.

 

It might be a challenge to get her some kind of arc, though, to move her character towards redemption or relapse. And neither will be easy to pull off, methinks.

 

[gerry]

Wouldn't her character be really limited unless they have her escape Sherrinford? I mean if she can't leave the institution how involved could she be in Sherlock's life?

[Arcadia]

Maybe he won't be the only consulting detective in the world anymore. Just the one running around free.

[Surelock]

Wouldn't her character be really limited unless they have her escape Sherrinford? I mean if she can't leave the institution how involved could she be in Sherlock's life?

 

Sherlock doesn't know how to solve a case so he goes to Euros for advice? I mean Euros can predict terrorist attacks by using twitter. She is good at deductions.

 

I can see Euros act as a wise older (yes I know she's actually younger but still) sister for Sherlock to consult when he's having trouble. Unlike Mycroft, I think Sherlock would be okay asking Euros for help.

[sfmpco]

 

I like Eurus. I hope we see her more in season 5.

 

It might be a challenge to get her some kind of arc, though, to move her character towards redemption or relapse. And neither will be easy to pull off, methinks.

 

 

 

Well, the show isn't called EURUS, thankfully, so even if they do have a S5, I doubt that any kind of character arc will be given to her.  She will simply be in the backgound.  Waaaaaaay in the background.  She seems to only communicate through music now anyhow, because she seems to have had a total mental break.

[Redbeard]

I hope we don't have to see much of Eurus in the future.  All I can think of when I see her is Victor Trevor drowning in a well, the Governor's wife strapped to a chair, etc. etc.  It's too much like Mary all over again, here is a woman that should not be forgiven for what she's done but she is forgiven anyway because well, she is a woman?  And they like her? And of course she is hyper-super-powered and can out-think and outdo everyone else.  No thanks, I just saw that story. 

[sfmpco]

I don't think Eurus is "forgiven" because she is a woman.  If she is forgiven at all, it is because she is a Holmes and because Sherlock cares about her - and we care about the things Sherlock cares about.

[Surelock]

I hope we don't have to see much of Eurus in the future.  All I can think of when I see her is Victor Trevor drowning in a well, the Governor's wife strapped to a chair, etc. etc.  It's too much like Mary all over again, here is a woman that should not be forgiven for what she's done but she is forgiven anyway because well, she is a woman?  And they like her? And of course she is hyper-super-powered and can out-think and outdo everyone else.  No thanks, I just saw that story. 

 

I think we'll definitely see more of Euros in the future. You know why?

 

It's because Moffatiss like her. I mean they created her as an original character so they must like her.

 

Moffat loves bringing back characters he likes in at least some small capacity. That's why Irene was seen and talked about in Seasons 3 and 4 despite not having a big role.

 

I expect something similar to happen with Euros in case there is a Season 5.

[Doe]

 

 

I like Eurus. I hope we see her more in season 5.

 

It might be a challenge to get her some kind of arc, though, to move her character towards redemption or relapse. And neither will be easy to pull off, methinks.

 

 

 

Well, the show isn't called EURUS, thankfully, so even if they do have a S5, I doubt that any kind of character arc will be given to her.  She will simply be in the backgound.  Waaaaaaay in the background.  She seems to only communicate through music now anyhow, because she seems to have had a total mental break.

 

 

I don't agreee with you. When she realizes she's not alone, everything will change.

 

She's detection is ultimate than other Holmes.

 

[Pamela]

I don't think Eurus is "forgiven" because she is a woman.  If she is forgiven at all, it is because she is a Holmes and because Sherlock cares about her - and we care about the things Sherlock cares about.

And because she's insane.

[Doe]

 

I don't think Eurus is "forgiven" because she is a woman.  If she is forgiven at all, it is because she is a Holmes and because Sherlock cares about her - and we care about the things Sherlock cares about.

And because she's insane.

 

 

Sherlock killed a man and sociopath but still free.

[bedelia1984]

 

Wouldn't her character be really limited unless they have her escape Sherrinford? I mean if she can't leave the institution how involved could she be in Sherlock's life?

 

Sherlock doesn't know how to solve a case so he goes to Euros for advice? I mean Euros can predict terrorist attacks by using twitter. She is good at deductions.

 

I can see Euros act as a wise older (yes I know she's actually younger but still) sister for Sherlock to consult when he's having trouble. Unlike Mycroft, I think Sherlock would be okay asking Euros for help.

 

 

I think we might see some form of Eurus helping Sherlock through conevrsation as a way of re-introducing her character. I could see her regaining an ability to communicate and even relate to people through her music and connection with Sherlock.

 

I wouldn't like them to ignore her, when she seems like an important piece of Sherlock's life.

 

However, as others are mentioning, the writers need to be careful. I don't want to see them constantly one-upping their last villain, trying to come up with the new super-super genius that only Eurus can deduce. But we could see a snippet of conversation between Eurus and Sherlock that sparks something for him in a case, or helps him understand something about himself, and I would like to see that.

[BLS_Pro]

Another way of understanding the existentialism at the heart of the show, and Eurus in particular, is to consider another recent existentialism-influenced film:  Gravity.  Eurus - and John in TLD, and Sherlock at the beginning of the series - are like Sandra Bullock.  They have lost someone - and thus lost their entire world.  It has no meaning to them any more.  They are alone and detached from the rest of the world.  This isolation thrusts them into a chaotic and horror filled world one is constantly, blindly scrambling to try to escape - to find some meaning in it all when there seems to be no meaning to it whatsoever - just random, mindless suffering.  Their journey, like Bullock's, is back to people: to love and empathy and being with others.  It is returning to earth.  It is landing the plane.

[Arcadia]

 

 

I don't think Eurus is "forgiven" because she is a woman.  If she is forgiven at all, it is because she is a Holmes and because Sherlock cares about her - and we care about the things Sherlock cares about.

And because she's insane.

 

 

Sherlock killed a man and sociopath but still free.

 

I don't believe Eurus has been forgiven; she's simply been contained. Mycroft says she'll kill again if she gets the chance, and I believe him.

 

And I think Sherlock is still free at the beginning of this series because he "has utility", but also because his victim was a bad man. Whereas Eurus kills bad and good alike.

 

And by the end of this series, Sherlock is no longer a sociopath (if he ever was, which I also don't believe.) But Eurus is, and always will be, unless Moftiss decides to give her some sort of miracle cure. I think (and hope) that she will remain a tragedy that can't be fixed, only dealt with. I like that little note of melancholy hanging over the Holmes family.

 

Still, I can imagine Sherlock having some really fun cat and mouse game with her, if they did it right. I'd enjoy seeing the "dumber" Sherlock outsmarting the "smarter" sister. Although the way they've been going lately, he'd probably just shoot her. :( Then angst about it.

[sfmpco]

Well, Eurus has become non-verbal, and her only expression seems to be with music.  She will not be allowed out.  I do also believe she will kill again- and have no remorse for it, just as she has shown no remorse for the murders she has already committed.  If they deal with her at all other than an occasional mention, I suspect it will be that they will find her dead in her cell.  Either she has committed suicide or simply died.

 

That being said, I got to thinking about the opening scene in TFP of the girl on the airplane.  Is there any reason to say that the scene is consecutive with the other scenes in the story?  Could that scene have happened around the time she met Moriarty or even led to the meeting with Moriarty?  Did she feel he was the only one who could help her land that "plane"?

[BLS_Pro]

That being said, I got to thinking about the opening scene in TFP of the girl on the airplane.  Is there any reason to say that the scene is consecutive with the other scenes in the story?  Could that scene have happened around the time she met Moriarty or even led to the meeting with Moriarty?  Did she feel he was the only one who could help her land that "plane"?

I understood it to be the same scene as we hear again in the middle of the episode.

 

Even Ariane's transcript indicates this:

 

"(We cut to the first scene we saw in the episode.)"

[BLS_Pro]

You know - we've mentioned it here, and it registered some in the back of my brain.  Eurus says, of Moriarty:

"Did you know his brother was a station master?  I think he was always jealous."

I always focused on the first half, smiling at the little bit of canon cuteness there.  I didn't really consciously make the connection about the second half of the statement.  Apparently Moriarty was jealous of his brother, the same way Eurus was jealous of her brother (or she is projecting her own jealousy onto Moriarty). 

[J.P.]

But I still don't know what Moriarty was about to do next. Where is his post mortem game? And if Sherlock was wrong about him - who the hell was behind the Miss Me message? Sherlock was pardoned to solve that case. And?

 

BTW, wouldn't the manipulation include someone else taking the responsibility for killing CAM?

 

Sorry if I oversee the obvious, my brain is a bit not good

[Caya]

Wasn't the Miss Me number Eurus's doing? As was his whole post mortem game? Love that phrase, btw. :lol:

 

If CAM's assailant is "unknown", it might well be that the case remains unsolved, officially, and no one thinking much of it - the way the guy had been going, half of the populace probably had a motive.

[Arcadia]

Yeah, they didn't explain the Moriarty gif well at all.
 
But for what it's worth, here's my theory: What Sherlock thought Moriarty was going to do next was ... to come after him. Which doesn't quite fit with knowing "exactly" what he's going to do next, but that's the closest thing we got to an explanation in T6T.
 
He thought he was onto something to do with Moriarty with the case of the Thatcher busts. But it turns out he was wrong, and that was sort of the end of that. As near as I can tell, after that he stopped thinking about Moriarty.
 
Meanwhile, Eurus, who IS the one behind the "miss me" gif, finally decides to reveal herself. Sherlock meets with her, and finds out it's her who's after him. (Why, I still haven't figured out.) So he was sort of right after all; he just got the name, gender and relationship to himself wrong. :D
 
Ta da! What d'you think? (I know, I know well, I did well, but I missed everything of importance ... :D)

[Arcadia]

Ohhhhh, I just had a thought .... I wonder if the "red herring" alluded to in Mycroft's notebook (at the end of TAB) could be referring to Moriarty? OMG. They set us up to believe Jim was somehow going after Sherlock from the grave (I think a lot of us guessed that Sherlock hadn't cleaned up his entire "network" after all) ... but that was the red herring! Sherlock did clean up the network, it was someone else entirely, Jim had nothing to do with it other than loaning his face for the gif....
 
Oh, oh, oh, I think I'm right ..... oh Moftiss, you little demons you!!!!!!! :D
 
 
Oh, and CAM's assailant isn't unknown, it was supposed to be a trigger-happy agent who shot him accidentally.

[Pamela]

Ohhhhh, I just had a thought .... I wonder if the "red herring" alluded to in Mycroft's notebook (at the end of TAB) could be referring to Moriarty? OMG. They set us up to believe Jim was somehow going after Sherlock from the grave (I think a lot of us guessed that Sherlock hadn't cleaned up his entire "network" after all) ... but that was the red herring! Sherlock did clean up the network, it was someone else entirely, Jim had nothing to do with it other than loaning his face for the gif....

 

Oh, oh, oh, I think I'm right ..... oh Moftiss, you little demons you!!!!!!! :D

 

 

Oh, and CAM's assailant isn't unknown, it was supposed to be a trigger-happy agent who shot him accidentally.

Shut the front door! Arcadia, you sly fox, you've done gone and figured it out!

[Arcadia]

Let me guess, everyone else figured that out ages ago... :d