Speculation: What Would You Like To See In Series 3?

[Carol the Dabbler]

At the very least, Lestrade offered Sherlock something interesting to do.  After all, he (both in canon and apparently in pre-Sherlock days) only does drugs when he's bored.

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Not at all in the canon...but in the series anyway, Lestrade has come off as somewhat a father figure.

[T.o.b.y]

There's quite a little family there if he's a father figure, Mrs Hudson a surrogate mother and John the brother Mycroft never was.

[T.o.b.y]

They're still not going to do anything based on "The Speckled Band" yet, are they? Pity. Even if the mystery couldn't be made into anything with an ounce of sense (and after The Hounds of Baskerville, I am persuaded that this writing team could do even that), they should at least use some of the great scenes and quotes from this story. Like Holmes' packing: a gun and a toothbrush are declared "all we need".

[Carol the Dabbler]

In "Scandal in Belgravia," they already ridiculed the title (and rightfully so, in my opinion) with John's blog entry "The Speckled Blonde" -- but you're right, that won't stop them from mining the story for tidbits.

 

[T.o.b.y]

I sure hope not. That story is worth more than a stupid pun. One of my favorite bits is when Holmes says to the client, Miss Stoner: "Good bye, and be brave". This is a man talking to a woman in late Victorian England and he's actually telling her to get her courage together and actively help in the solving of her problem. He's certainly not misogynistic at heart. I always loved him for expecting the women he worked with to be rational. But setting all that aside, "good bye and be brave" is a great quote in any context, isn't it?

[Carol the Dabbler]

He seems to have asked several women to take an active part in the case, and I'm having trouble thinking of any time when he asks a man to do likewise (though surely there are some!).  In addition to Miss Stoner, there's the fiancee in "Naval Treaty," whom he asks to stay in his client's room (essentially guarding it) no matter what her brother wants her to do, and then signal when the coast is clear.  In "Copper Beeches," he asks Violet Hunter to get the cook, the gardener, and her employers' son out of the way (and she goes so far as to lock the cook in the cellar).  I don't recall him asking Mary Morstan to do anything, but he does compliment her on the intelligence she shows in understanding what's evidence and what's not.  And of course he had much higher regard for Irene Adler than he did for his actual client in that case.

 

Maybe it's because Holmes's female clients (and other women involved in his cases) seem to be more intelligent than his male clients.      I'm thinking here of the red-headed idiot and Mr. Garrideb in particular.  Added:  And all of the male Musgraves since the reign of Charles the First!

 

[T.o.b.y]

Maybe it's because Holmes's female clients (and other women involved in his cases) seem to be more intelligent than his male clients.      I'm thinking here of the red-headed idiot and Mr. Garrideb in particular.

 

They are! Even the poor thing who was tricked into falling in love with her own stepfather is not portrayed as dumb, and Holmes has a lot of sympathy for her. He even threatens to take his hunting crop to the guy. Oh, wouldn't it be fun if they did an adaptation of "A Case of Identitiy"?

 

Come to think of it, aside from Dr Watson and Holmes himself, there are very few nice men in the original. Lestrade is portrayed so differently from story to story that he does not seem like a specific person at all, just "the police".

 

[T.o.b.y]

How I envy the people who get to go to the premiere in December. The little that has been announced about the first episode is tantalizing. A terrorist threatening London? Could that be Moran - out to kill more people than Holmes in the modern version?

[T.o.b.y]

The wish list for the next season is by now so long, that it would take a lot more than 3 episodes to fulfill half of it. At least one wish is realistic: Follow up the last conversation we saw between Sherlock and Molly. I am so relieved that the creators are supposed to have said they won't become a couple. So what does happen? If she really was vital to help him outsmart Moriarty and play dead, then I can't imagine things will go on as before.

 

Isn't it curious that in the teaser trailer, Sherlock is shown to be "hovering" around Molly as well as John, Lestrade and Mrs Hudson? I know this is an insane level of interpretation, especially of a 26 sec promotional, but why class her in with everybody who believes Sherlock to be dead when she pretty surely doesn't? Or does she, after all? If the latter, how on earth could he have fooled her?

 

It would be funny if Sherlock sort of expected her to be just the little helper she was to him before, ready to drop everything and break all sorts of rules at the morgue in exchange for a passing comment on her lipstick or her hair. It would also be very funny if they used her to do a version of the fake engagement in "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton"...

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

 

very funny if they used her to do a version of the fake engagement in "The Adventure of Charles Augustus

 

  Oh, now. There is a gem of a thought.

[T.o.b.y]

Isn't there? And it would work on so many levels, like being all smug around John: look, I can do this just as well as you!

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

That would be so much fun to see! I'm hoping your right on this!

[T.o.b.y]

Well, if I'm not (and I do not honestly think I could be), you can always go and write it...

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

I'll take that as a compliment. Haven't written an Sherlock based fanfiction in months. Will be interesting to see what anything, i in season 3 stirs up my plot bunnies.

[T.o.b.y]

If Sherlock is indeed going to "grow up" and become more like the original Holmes, I should like him grow enough to make a take on this possible:

 

" 'Watson,' said he, 'if it should ever strike you that I am getting a little over-confident in my powers, or giving less pains to a case than it deserves, kindly whisper ‘Norbury’ in my ear, and I shall be infinitely obliged to you.' "

 

The case itself (which takes place at Norbury) probably couldn't be adapted because it is very racist in today's context (though in Doyle's time, the message would probably have been quite the opposite), but it is interesting because Holmes forms a completely wrong conclusion. That happens more than once in the original, actually, and in another story Holmes points out that Watson has made him appear more of an "ideal reasoner" in his writings than he really is.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Moftiss have already stated that they don't see how they could possibly do an adaptation of the Norbury story ("The Yellow Face").  I read it after hearing that, and was expecting something fairly awful -- but I thought the ending was actually very sweet.  I can't see how having one character who is (or to be accurate, is feared to be) a racist, automatically makes the story a racist story.  Goodness knows there are racists in this world, but acknowledging their existence is a far cry from condoning their behavior.

 

Considering how hard it is to know a person well enough to predict their reactions, I can easily imagine a couple being in an analogous situation nowadays, which could make for an interesting television episode.  But even if a story is realistic and is presented in a straightforward manner, the networks might still refuse to air it, for fear of offending heaven knows who.  And I wonder if that was Moftiss's primary concern.

 

[T.o.b.y]

Interesting that they have actually commented on this. I guess you could eliminate the racial aspect completely and come up with some other reason why a mother has to keep her own daughter hidden away, but it would be difficult.

 

The story caught my attention because of the rare instance of humility on Holmes part. I can't really picture him reacting too graciously if Dr Watson had actually started whispering "Norbury" at him whenever he was having delusions of grandeur again in the future...

[Carol the Dabbler]

In the unlikely event that I am ever adapting "The Yellow Face" for television, I would leave the racial element right where it is, just modify the details (and forget that ludicrous mask, for God's sake!).  For example, the husband -- no, let's say the boyfriend discovers that whenever he's away on business, his new girlfriend spends the night at a house in another part of town, and naturally fears that she's seeing another man.  It turns out, of course, that she has a daughter by her previous marriage in another country to a man of another race, and has already encountered enough hostility on this account to be leery of how her new boyfriend might react -- she believes him to be a good man, of course, or she wouldn't be dating him, but nevertheless he might have some deep-seated biases that even he doesn't know about.  So until she can figure out how to approach him regarding this, she is leaving her daughter (whom she has just succeeded in bringing into the country) in the care of a friend, and goes to visit her during his frequent business trips.  As in the original, the man eventually blusters his way into the house and discovers the little girl, and then they all live happily ever after.

 

I don't see that as a likely centerpiece for a Sherlock episode -- not quite that sort of mystery, any more than Holmes was able to do much with it.  But it could perhaps be one of the side stories in an episode.

 

Added:  In the highly unlikely event that the Hartswood people stumble upon this post and would like to use any of it (or in the somewhat less unlikely event that they've already come up  with a similar concept), I hereby give Hartswood my permission to use this plot idea.  I do not expect any remuneration for this -- though if they do get the idea from this post, an on-screen "thank you" would be very much appreciated.

 

The story caught my attention because of the rare instance of humility on Holmes part. I can't really picture him reacting too graciously if Dr Watson had actually started whispering "Norbury" at him whenever he was having delusions of grandeur again in the future...

 

One does doubt it, doesn't one? 

 

[T.o.b.y]

That might actually work, Carol. Ever considered becoming a writer?

 

forget that ludicrous mask, for God's sake!

 

My point exactly. The huge reliance on masks and fake facial hair is one of the more ludicrous elements in the Doyle stories and I am so very, very glad that they have totally eliminated those things on Sherlock. Maybe that is the reason why I got quite irritated when I read all over the internet that people actually thought Sherlock had found a body double for the fall and put a mask on it that was just like his face. Yeah, right, that is totally plausible after one night of preparation and makes for such a great story...

 

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

That might actually work, Carol. Ever considered becoming a writer?

 

Professionally, no way.  Though I am working on a little story about John Watson and what he does while Sherlock's away....

 

... I got quite irritated when I read all over the internet that people actually thought Sherlock had found a body double for the fall and put a mask on it that was just like his face. Yeah, right...

 

Right, he puts a mask on Moriarty's body and gets it to wave its arms and legs.  Don't get me started!

 

I believe I said a few months back, though, that even the most ludicrous-sounding theories shouldn't be ruled out completely, because we may be overlooking something.  I certainly learned that lesson in the case of "Hounds"!

 

[T.o.b.y]

I believe I said a few months back, though, that even the most ludicrous-sounding theories shouldn't be ruled out completely, because we may be overlooking something.  I certainly learned that lesson in the case of "Hounds"!

 

 

How? Could you elaborate on that, maybe in the thread for that episode? Or have you done so already and I just haven't spotted it?

 

I think it is very justifiable to rule out all theories that would make a terrible story! The solution might be whacky, but it has to continue to tell the tale. A body double wearing a mask makes no sense in any sense here.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

I believe you've already seen my "Hounds" post.  The wacko theory that I had been pooh-poohing was Sherlock's, regarding the leaky pipes -- until Earendil drew my attention to this.

 

I'm not saying that all it takes to validate a theory is a sufficient number of warm bodies, but there are a heck of a lot of people currently subscribing to the Moriarty-in-a-mask theory.  I cannot currently prove that they are wrong, I merely consider it very likely.  Out of respect for them, if nothing else, I shall refrain from saying too much against that theory.  After all, we'll see what "really" happened soon enough.  And it's not as though the fate of the world depended on it, for pete's sake -- we're just trying to guess what will be in a television program!

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Unless the head wound didn't kill him outright and he could flail in the air......but like you said, Carol....we will see soon enough.

[T.o.b.y]

I'm not saying that all it takes to validate a theory is a sufficient number of warm bodies, but there are a heck of a lot of people currently subscribing to the Moriarty-in-a-mask theory.  I cannot currently prove that they are wrong, I merely consider it very likely.  Out of consideration for them, if nothing else, I shall refrain from saying too much against that theory.  After all, we'll see what "really" happened soon enough.  And it's not as though the fate of the world depended on it, for pete's sake -- we're just trying to guess what will be in a television program!

 

Yes, voice of reason, that last bit is a very good point.

 

Do I have to be considerate, too? Because if not, I'd just like to point out that

 

A: it is highly improbable that Sherlock could have had a high-quality mask made that resembles his face exactly during one night

B: as to that kind of a mask already being in existence because Moriarty used it for the kidnapping: there would have been no need for that, because it was dark. The kidnapper only needed to resemble Sherlock generally and for identification there was a voice sample available from Kitty

C: Moriarty is stone dead after he shot himself and would not have moved about when being thrown off a roof

D: it is a mystery to me why anybody would actually like the idea. This is a story first and foremost, so why is "he dressed the guy who just killed himself in his clothes, put a mask on him and threw him off a roof" a better story than "he heroically threw himself off the roof, avoided the pavement because of clever planning and tricked his best friend into believing he was dead with the help of a few tears and a good concussion?" Why would they have made such a point of "you see what you expect" on the episode before if they weren't going to use that principle here? (And no, I don't think we will find out Sherlock used the drug from the H.O.U.N.D project, that wouldn't have been necessary).

 

So. There. That said, the great thing about fiction is that nothing is set in stone. Whoever likes the first story better can continue to believe in it even if the show declares something else "the truth", can write it out if they like and store it away in the picture gallery of their mind palace. That's certainly my plan if they come up with an explanation that I find completely unpalatable...