Guess who’s ascended to a whole new layer of confusion? It’s me.
At first I was absolutely convinced of EMP due to the fact that most of season four appears to be partially/wholly constructed. However, some scenes are impossible. Which makes me wonder if we are witnessing a collaborative retelling of events the perspectives of Sherlock, John, and Mycroft. An alibi. Or perhaps a version of John’s blog. Also, maybe there are drugs involved. It’s all very strange.
NOTE: I try to provide explanations for these scenes, however, the main thing is having them all laid out in a list. Whenever I’m coming up with theories these are always the moments I end up coming back to.
… to John throwing the AGRA data stick in the fire at Christmas — an event he was never present for because he wasn’t even in the room; he was outside eating mince pies with Wiggins (or something.)
(Left: HLV. Right: Sherlock’s TST flashback).
Explanation 1: Sherlock constructed the Holmes family Christmas scene where John forgives Mary in his mind palace as an alternate reality/test scenario. Explanation 2: John and Sherlock have constructed this memory together as part of an alibi. Explanation 3: Although The Six Thatchers seems deeply rooted in Sherlock’s POV, it’s actually filtered through John’s. Explanation 4: Mary plants this scene in Sherlock’s memory through use of HOUND/TD-12. Explanation 5: ???
Considering the other weird POV scenes in S4/HLV I’m still not sure where I stand on this. But within TST when Sherlock has this flashback the lighting flickers exactly like it does when Mary is in Sherlock’s hospital room and says:
“You don’t tell John. Look at me and tell me you’re not going to tell him.”
Which leads me to believe that Explanation 4 may be correct and Mary has convinced Sherlock that John forgives her through drugging him with “TD-12″/a derivative of HOUND that renders the recipient extremely suggestible.
2) Sherlock has a flashback in TLD …
… after seeing Faith!Eurus, to John walking off into the night with his cane — an event he was never present for because he was off dumpster diving for the pink suitcase. This scene is odd because John is seen from behind, from an outsider’s POV. In the next shot John gets the phone-booth call from Mycroft, who has been watching him through security cameras.
(Left: Mycroft watching John in ASiP. Right: Sherlock’s TLD flashback)
Explanation 1: This scene is from John’s POV and he’s imagining how he used to be before Sherlock from an outside perspective. In a flashback from Sherlock’s perspective. (?) Explanation 2: TLD has been filtered through Mycroft’s perspective as well and he’s working collaboratively to devise an alibi for John and Sherlock. Explanation 3: Sherlock had a flashback to something he didn’t see because it represent’s John in ASiP generally and it isn’t supposed to matter about where the shot is from itself. Explanation 4: Sherlock was secretly watching John leave somehow, hiding in an alleyway. Explanation 5: Season 4 is John’s blog/Sherlock collaborating with John in writing the blog. Explanation 6: ???
At the moment I’m quite interested in Explanation 2, just because it has relevant metaphorical implications considering how Mycroft represents the writers/writers of Holmes adaptations in general.
But to be honest, at this point I’m not sure how lenient this show is with it’s logic/suspension of belief. Explanation 3 does seem possible. It could be that the more simple answer is correct and that this really is Sherlock’s flashback.
Especially considering the fact that there aren’t that many good shots of John walking alone with the cane in ASiP that would fit the tone of this scene. This is a moment in which John feels isolated/alone, so it could just be representational.
Explanation 5 is also pretty interesting, considering how we haven’t seen the blog updating this season while it’s had a lot of attention drawn to it. It could be that the show has become the blog or some other variation of this.
3) “He’s better than a great man …”
In one of the final scenes of TFP Lestrade says that Sherlock isn’t merely a great man, “he’s a good one”, which references what Lestrade told John in ASiP when they first met. A conversation Sherlock wasn’t present for. He was in the cab with Jefferson Hope.
(Left: ASiP scene with only John present. Right: TFP scene)
Explanation 1: TFP is Sherlock’s recurring dream from TST and/or he is unconscious/in a coma after overdosing. Lestrade/John says this at his bedside, the real-world dialogue bleeding into his dream. Explanation 2: Sherlock and John are collaborating by formulating an alibi which involves explaining Sherlock’s dream and they add this line in. (?) Explanation 3: TFP is from John’s perspective and Sherlock explained to him that Moriarty’s “final problem” was to kill him. Also the TAB waterfall scene was beamed into his brain somehow. (?) Explanation 4: It’s in-universe fanfiction/a movie/a TV series about Sherlock and John’s lives. Explanation 5: Sherlock’s dream is being recounted on the blog for whatever reason. Explanation 6: Sherlock and John are coming up with a ridiculous explanation of events on the blog as part of an alibi, because they think the mainstream audience will think it’s the truth. Explanation 7: ???
4) “That wasn’tthe final problem.”
In TFP Moriarty introduces the episode with: “Hi! I’m Jim Moriarty. Welcome to the Final Problem!” John has never heard Moriarty say the phrase “the final problem” before. Only Sherlock hears this multiple times during Reichenbach — once at 221B over tea, again in the story of Sir Boast-A-Lot, and again on the rooftop of St Bart’s.
(Left: TRF with only Sherlock present. Right: TFP)
“Deep water, Sherlock, all your life, in your dreams. Deep waters …”
While Sherlock has flashbacks to his “past” we get a shot of the waterfall scene from TAB. If TFP were John’s dream, he would be unable to form a perfect visual recreation of a scene that occurred within Sherlock’s mind palace.
However, within TFP we also get these:
(Left: MHR, only John and Lestrade present. Right: TFP)
(Left: ASiP, only Sherlock. Right: ASiP, only John) (Both are shown during Mary’s final TFP speech)
(See #3) and additionally: Explanation 1: TFP is from Sherlock’s perspective and the ending references to ASiP and MHR are metaphorical/parallels. Explanation 2: TFP is from Sherlock’s perspective and he is telling it to John / it is being retold by John somewhere like the blog. Explanation 3: TFP is a fan-theory. Like Anderson’s in TEH or a movie/tv series/book/fanfic.
5) TAB is definitely from Sherlock’s POV …
… because, again, narratively it wouldn’t make much sense any other way. A concrete link is that Moriarty tells Sherlock “Because it’s not the fall that kills you, Sherlock. Of all people, you should know that. It’s not the fall. It’s never the fall. It’s the landing” in reference to “I want to solve problems… our problem. The Final Problem. It’s gonna start very soon, Sherlock… the Fall. But don’t worry: falling’s just like flying, except there’s a more permanent destination” from TRF as well as “I-O-U a fall” — conversations John was not present for.
(Left: TRF. Right: TAB)
6) Gunshot flashbacks.
Within TLD both Sherlock and John have flashbacks to gunshots that look exactly the same. Which makes me wonder what the exact logic of this show is. Can two characters have the same memory of a gun going off? We already know that within this episode Sherlock has a flashback to something it’s likely that only Mycroft has seen — so perhaps these gunshots are also metaphorical, or part of a retelling of events by Mycroft/John/Sherlock?
Gun #1: Norbury’s gun. (Or Mary’s. They’re the same model.) Gun #2: Likely John’s gun. Appears after “Taking your own life” speech to Faith!Eurus.
The fact that when Sherlock is on the bridge with hallucination!Faith!Eurus, the shot of the smoking gun is superimposed over him means that Sherlock is the one who got shot at in this memory.
This matches up with the flashback. Ungloved, right handed, with a Walther PPK without a silencer. (As opposed to gloved, left handed, with a silenced Walther PPK like Mary in CAM tower.)
But TST is presented so it seems like John did not see Norbury’s gun go off at the aquarium.
Therefore, either: a) John was there to see the gun go off and he, Mycroft, and possibly Sherlock are crafting an alibi. b) The whole of TLD is from Sherlock’s perspective, including John thinking about the smoking gun, and he subconsciously knows that John was present to see it be fired in TST but his memory manipulated through drugs. c) The whole of TLD is from Sherlock’s perspective, and he imagines John dreaming about the gun going off metaphorically. d) John’s dreaming of the smoking gun is from his POV and the shot is completely metaphorical.
Summary of Main Points:
– Sherlock has a flashback in TST to Christmas HLV. Therefore the burning AGRA data stick scene is fabricated, the flashback is metaphorical, or TST has been filtered through John’s POV.
– The lighting in Sherock’s TST flashback matches the lighting when Mary snuck into Sherlock’s hospital room in HLV. (Possibly indicating that Mary has drugged Sherlock with HOUND/TD-12 at least once to manipulate his memories.)
– Sherlock has a flashback in TLD to John with his cane. This could be metaphorical, an indicator that TLD is filtered through Mycroft’s POV as part of an alibi, or an indicator that TLD is filtered through John’s POV.
– John and Sherlock both have the same flashbacks to gunshots. This could be metaphorical, or an indicator that TLD is filtered through multiple POVs.
– TAB is definitely from Sherlock’s POV.(Thank God for this one concrete episode.)
– TFP has reference to TAB, meaning it has to be primarily based in Sherlock’s POV. There are dialogue references back to ASiP, meaning that eitherSherlock is unconscious and in a coma with Lestrade’s words filtering in, or that TFP is breaking the fourth wall and is an in-universe fanfic/book/movie that Sherlock has somehow influenced along with John — or TFP is a collaboration between Sherlock and John on the blog.
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