Now that some time has passed, I was taking a look back
through the promotional materials for Season 4, and I noticed something.
I apologize if someone has already mentioned this stuff! I looked around for a
meta with this topic, but I didn’t find one, so here we go!
I recall that when the promotional materials for Season 4
were released we all sort of commented on how dark everything in the photos
appears, what the hair looked like, how the burned out flat photo with just
Sherlock and John in it looks like a heart, and how the smiley doesn’t show up
in the reflection in the flooded photo. I also recall intense discussion about
the three photos in the chess themed set, and how the leak of the final photo
drew so much attention from The Powers That Be. All of these are valid catches, but I noticed a few other
things relating to the promos.
I’m not sure what they all mean, to be honest, but I do know
that everything on this show is deliberate, so…
1.
There are still no photos of Eurus/Sian Brooke in
the official photos on the BBC One Sherlock site. Surely by now it would be ok
to release some. I mean, Sian Brooke is attractive and well known enough to
warrant some photos! They have certainly included her in some of the post
season videos. But if you’re looking for a lovely, composed, high resolution
shot of Eurus or any of her personalities, you’re going to be disappointed. I
think this is weird, especially given that we see both Culverton Smith and Jim
Moriarty (and he was a big secret) in the photos.
2. This photo is NOT of 221B. Look closely.
The smiley is different than the original! It’s tilted wrong and aligns with the wallpaper differently.It’s just not the same. I know I have seen a meta on the Miss Me Smiley from this image:
The burned out smiley almost looks like a mirrored version of this one, doesn’t it?
So what about this bumped out area in the wall in our 221b? Not there in the burned out flat.
Where are the windows on either side of the
room? Again, not there.
And what about that trim high up on the burned out
left wall? Not there in 221b.
The people in this show KNOW their set.
This can’t be a mistake or something where they thought, hey…that’s close
enough.
So what does it mean?
3.
Now on to the seven images that they released
the week before the season started. One a day, a right? Burned out flat in the
background. I noticed a few things about these images.
But first, this image for reference:
Every one of these characters is wearing the same clothing as the group shot, but with a
coat/jacket added in the individual photos, with one exception.
Take a look:
(Greg’s photo is missing from the BBC One Sherlock site. A little odd, given the wind-up they gave these each day…but anyway.)
Molly.
Molly is the exception. Her clothing is completely different under her lab coat.
To me, it seems like this singles her out in some way. Just like they single Mycroft out in another way.
Can you see it?
It’s the smiley again. In each of the other six photos, the smiley moves around, but it is the original smiley from 221b. The size, shape, and orientation are correct.
But Mycroft’s smiley is different.
It’s the strange, new smiley from the burned out flat photo, and unlike the other character shots, this smiley isn’t on the 221b wallpaper.
I think it may have been @the-7-percent-solution who commented to the effect that if you want to mess with people’s heads, just mess with their surroundings. Make things a little bit off, and that will make the audience uncomfortable, and they probably won’t even recognize why. Maybe that’s what’s going on here. Or maybe there is some deeper meaning.
I don’t know for sure, but I do still believe that these weird details are part of a larger plan. The cast and crew are too attuned to the details of the show to overlook errors or do things half-assed.
Thoughts?
As always, apologies for tagging the unwilling or missing a
tag! Please share with whoever may be interested. Thank you!!
Wow okay these are some really cool points I’m so happy you tagged me @bluebluenova!! ❤ One thing that stuck out to me was your mention of the smiley face being reflected in the burnt down flat photo. That got me thinking…what if the burnt flat photo is a literal reflection from a mirror, possibly the mirror above the mantle? Two reasons why I think this:
1) The skull is on the mantle under the mirror, and we clearly see it by Sherlock’s feet in the burnt flat photo. Also, the first thing I think of when I see that photo is that Sherlock and John are in front of where the fireplace and mirror should be, except there’s a hole where it’s blown out – but what if they are meant to symbolically stand in for the missing mirror?
2) This is the realization that really freaked me out. Do you guys see that weird hallway with stretching into the distance behind John and Sherlock? With occasional rectangular frame/column things? Here I’ll even outline it for you:
When you mentioned the smiley face on that wall being a reflection, i made a connection between those hallway/door frames and mirrors. Because look what happens to the reflection when you place two mirrors parallel to each other:
(Literally just googled parallel mirrors reflection, hope no one sues me)
Infinite mirrors. Infinite reflections.
THE HALLWAY LITERALLY LOOKS LIKE THE FRAMES OF THE REFLECTION OFF ANOTHER MIRROR AS IT GOES INTO INFINITY I’M KIND OF FREAKING OUT.
To make it worse, you also see bits of the infinite frame/mirror/reflection motif in the close-ups of the other characters hahahahahaaaaaaa
What does it all mean? Is everything and everyone in s4 a dream? What’s the metaphorical significance of parallel mirrors? Is the whole season literally a distorted of infinite reflections from the mirror on top of the mantle piece? Can you hear my internal screaming from across the internet?
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