It’s fair to say I have made my peace with series four. I didn’t like it, although some scenes were clever. Visually it was often beautiful, although that mawkish scene when John and Sherlock were blown nicely out a window was cringeworthy.
I’ve read lots (LOTS) of different views here, and all of them have informed me one way or another. I appreciate the varied views and opinions. There isn’t any one way to enjoy or loathe a program, although usually there are firm underlying reasons that will support your like or dislike.
It has taken me ages to work out why I didn’t like series four. I had my secret head canons, but no expectations that the writers would uphold them. I felt I had a good handle on the characters, and felt I had paid attention to the plots. Indeed, Moffit insisted that we must pay attention to the plots and clues, or heaven help us.
Bleeding obvious, isn’t it? Viewers have to pay attention, because that’s how they claim their the payoff, and satisfaction from the stories. So if we’d been told in ASIB that Holmes was besotted with Irene Alder, if we knew somewhere (anywhere) in series three that he was still texting with her, it would have made sense when we John made his furious directions (for Sherlock to make himself complete and pursue her) in series four. But series three was a train of events wherein Sherlock acted only in the service of John.
Same with Mary. If I knew that the writers were intending to create this platonic threesome with Mary at the core, calling the shots, I would never have watched, because that kind of tedious soapsuds narrative bores me.
And that’s why I hate series four. I like to follow clues and suggestions in a program. I like to have the rug pulled, I like to see how the clues are interpreted or tipped over. I expect good stories to do that. The Sopranos is a masterclass in that skill – you know about the mafia, you get to know the characters, but even after six series, the program can still shock or stun. Swathes of dream sequences that are not only brilliantly connected wit the story, they are also pinnacles of program making. Hugely ambiguous ending, yet utterly in keeping with the story we’d been told. Series one and two of Sherlock lured me into the same (false) sense of security. I expected a payoff, a resolution, some confirmation and some rug pulling.
Instead, with the final series, I got pails of garbage thrown at me from all directions: the murder sister (incarcerated at the age of four contrary to all British laws) who Sherlock thought was a dog. The assassin who was stupid enough to store their identity on a usb key and then hide it in a plaster vase. The other assassin who shot Sherlock and then – well, nothing happened. She just did it and then everyone forgot about it, and then she became some kind of Angel who shops at Next. The great advocate, John Watson himself, kicking and striking Sherlock in an assault that would score at least a couple of GBH charges and two years minimum. Another frigging serial killer who wants to kill Sherlock for no adequately explored reason. Moriarty unable to actually die. Mycroft thinking it would be a good course of action to introduce Moriarty to the murder sister. The murder sister who didn’t actually have to stay in the prison but just did. Her mind powers. All these tails of thread that were supposed to make a story and ended up being a a mess of tangles that, no matter how carefully you try to unpick them, won’t form a coherent pattern or even a serviceable mat.
The writers had no concern for the people whose investment made their product globally famous and hugely profitable. To be sure, they have no obligation to do that, but isn’t that what writers do? Tell a story that makes sense, or is at least consistent? Well, that’s what the ones I like do for me. The story doesn’t have to take the path I thought, and I am more than happy to suspend my belief to see a character turn bad or redeemed. I just like to see it supported by the narrative.
Anyway, I’m not trying to start a fight or cause distress. I’ve just realised that Sherlock made me feel duped, and that’s something I expect from face creams, not the world’s only consulting detective.
@monikakrasnorada @gosherlocked @ebaeschnbliah @the-7-percent-solution and @tjlcisthenewsexy interesting signs from TST considering our discussions about choices. Interesting that the arrows go opposite to the way I would expect… I’ll look up some real signs from that area to see if they match…
So I’ve been pretty gung-ho on meta and vocal about Sherlock theories for the last three days and I gained 52 followers from doing so, which goes to prove there are many people out there who are looking to research meta and talk/read about this kind of stuff even though the theory community has greatly diminished or quieted since last year at this time. I remember gaining over a thousand followers in the week after The Final Problem just because so many new people went “wait a sec, something’s wrong, I’m suspicious now too, let me in” and that’s the time when the older meta community started itself on fire. We assumed theories were over just because some of ours were. That is definitely not the case. All these months past series 4 and still new people are going “wait a sec, something’s wrong, I’m suspicious now, too” and they’re coming with theories we’ve also worked on, all of us simultaneously uncovering similar things. This is a PSA alerting everyone that there are a LOT of people out there with that nagging sensation in the pit of their stomach, that even though it may seem only 500 people care about this topic, there are many, many more people than that hanging on the edges of this conversation. The original content I create is 95% subtextual fan theory and 5% fanfic and I have almost 18,000 followers. I could be wrong, of course, I could have only 500 Sherlock followers and 17,500 porn blogs following me. You never know. But the point of this is no one is following me for things other than theory. It would be maddening putting up with my content solely for the non-theory stuff I reblog or the once-in-a-blue-moon fanfic I write. I used to get messages from people who refuse to follow me but love reading theory so they keep my page bookmarked so they don’t forget to refresh it every once in a while. “Thanks?” I would say. To each their own.
Sure people might not be as loud or as excited or as certain now as they used to be, but that is directly related to the aura of the fandom. I’ve had at least 9 people tell me that my last few days of excitement has made them excited, which goes to show many people are just waiting for the fandom aura to stabilize before letting themselves be vocal about the things they like again. Because after series 4 we as a group became a snarling, viscious monster that didn’t allow anyone to like anything ever again. For me that walking-on-eggshells period is over. I came here to have a good time, and the best fandom time for me was August 2016 – February 2017. The theories were wild! The memes! Oh, the memes! It was like watching the world spontaneously combust with thousands of your closest friends waiting to find some humor in it. It was like confidently going into battle with your comrades by your side and then watching the opposing army unexpectedly mutate from their human form into a plague of flying cockroaches. Some of your friends ran, some shielded you, some got out super-soakers full of bugspray, but 100% of us went “what the FUCK is happening?!?!”. Those six months were the most fun I’ve ever had.
Tl;dr There are more people out there than you think who like BBC Sherlock, who like hashing out theories, and who are ready to fling themselves back into the fray.
thinkin about how when i was 16 i asked my mom to give me permission to get a sherlock tattoo and she was adamant in refusing no matter how much i begged. like…. u saved me, mom. you saved me in every way you can save another human being
How much money did Holmes make from a case? According to canon his standard fee was £1,000 per case, which in today’s money would be around £60,000. [BERY, BLUE, SCAN]
His most lucrative case? The Priory School where he netted £6,000 or converted to today’s money, £360,000
Obviously he took cases for free, or pro bono, and also took cases from clients who were not wealthy. His lucrative cases made this possible.
I have just been reliably informed that in The Priory School, Holmes was in fact paid £12,000 for his efforts. So double the amount I originally thought. One case alone could have secured his entire financial future! Well done Sherlock.
It’s also worth noting that the low end of the a middle-class income in the late Victorian Era was about £300 pounds per year. No, I’m not missing a zero there.
£1000 per year would have been wealthy. Extremely wealthy. Arisocratically wealthy, even.
And yet despite all the money he was rolling in Holmes still chose to live in that same flat with the same roommate his entire career 🙂
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