Sherlock says, ‘Five minutes. It took her just five minutes to do all of this to us’. And then, ‘well, not on my watch’. Now, he means that while he’s in in charge of the situation (to whatever limited extent) he’s not going to let either Mycroft or John die, of course. This has already been said by both the Holmes Brothers in TST.
But, the play on the word, ‘watch’, really struck me and reminded me of Anderson’s version of the fall. At the end of his story, Derren Brown comes and hypnotises John, setting his watch back what looks like five minutes (we cut away near the four minute mark but the hand is still moving).
I thought these two things might be connected or that there might be a reference to TEH and to Anderson’s story. Or a reference to Derren Brown, even.
‘Five minutes: not on my watch’, is what John might say if he knew that Derren Brown hypnotised him; if Anderson’s story were true.
This is interesting to me because a couple of shots in s4 seemed to linger on watches, like we were supposed to notice. There are two that I can think of with John’s watch. Once during the texting scene in his kitchen in TST, and again in the Watson house when John picks up his phone from the bedside table. His watch is sitting there as well.
There was another scene in 221b, I think, with Sherlock’s watch, but I can’t recall which episode right now.
oh yeah! and there’s also that time where a magnifying glass looks like Sherlock’s watch and it’s like O.O ‘what are you trying to tell us here? pay attention to the time? the watch? the what???’
(Or: Things that everybody thinks make Sherlock canonically straight but they really really really don’t and why don’t you see that, because it’s so beautiful!!!)
Apologies to my Doctor-Who followers for this ongoing Sherlock intermezzo, but I just need to vent a little longer: I. Loved. Series. Four!!!
In particular, I loved The Final Problem. I loved Sherlock calling John family, I loved the smashing of the casket, the touching of non-existent glass, the air plane metaphor, Mycroft outside his comfort zone, etcetera etcetera etcetera. I loved the whole bloody thing.
But my favourite, favourite moment was the one when Eurus asks Sherlock to “play you”. And he plays the theme of The Woman.
Because it is the bravest thing Sherlock has ever done. And it makes this moment incredibly powerful.
deviant-doll said to inevitably-johnlocked: Hi there! I just noticed something while rewatching HLV and I don’t know what to make of it (or if someone already noticed), but when they are in CAM’s office, Janine is lying on a carpet which looks exactly like the one in the therapist/Eurus’ office, the big blood red one… it’s fleeting but it’s definitively there… could this fit in one of the theories going on around here? I’m not used to write meta, but just had to share the thought with someone ☺
Okay, I don’t know if you’re both the same person, but these two asks came in only a couple days apart, and only took so long because I didn’t see the rug in CAM’s office, since there’s no above-shot of it at all. This was the best I could get:
Which actually I think is the EXACT same rug as the one in TLD:
It’s got the same little sploochy ends on it (just go with it okay LOL), so I do think they reused that prop. The questions now are:
Was it deliberately done as a foreshadowing of events (John will be shot, which is what I think the surface symbolism of the rug is in TLD), and is symbolic of blood / injury?
IF TLD is part of John’s TAB, is this something John placed in his story because he has seen it before when he helped Janine?
If TLD is part of Unreliable Narrator, is this something Sherlock added as a detail?
If this is Sherlock’s mind palace, is this a little detail he plopped into his story because he had seen it before when John was helping Janine?
Or is it just a nice prop that was expensive and they wanted to give it more screen time?
All are pretty valid thoughts, I think. Either way, there must be a reason it’s SO prominent in TLD. It shows up very glaringly in many scenes with the therapist, and I think it’s mostly foreshadowing John’s possible gun-shot.
Ok, so the Holmes parents know that Eurus is like a neon, nuclear-powered genius and they don’t have like say a library for her? Where she can see books? And can learn about anatomy and physiology? So, she has to dissect her own arm to see how it works? Dude…
Just. dude.
If Eurus isn’t 100% symbolism and not meant to be taken seriously as a human for a single second then I can understand this. Because it’s not supposed to make sense. but if it is then, yikes.
like mummy holmes is a math genius who’s like not aware that her child geniuses need outlets for the intelligence? Sounds fake but okay.
And like Molly before me, I know it’s not. It’s not. It’s not supposed to make sense literally but like it’s so hard for me sometimes just not to come crashing into the rocks of the surface narrative with just a million questions regarding the basic common sense of like anyone in TFP.
How can I think that we’re meant to take this narrative seriously, at face value? Like, ‘kid was so smart she was a killer?’. Dude, if that’s not about Sherlock’s feeling alienated because he was a gifted child, I don’t know what is.
Maybe Sherlock, as a child, had some of these thoughts and maybe shared them with others and those others weren’t cool but flipped out and jumped to some extreme labels for him like, ‘sociopath’, etc.
So, I can either believe that the writers really think that being super smart is intrinsically and mysteriously dangerous or maybe they’re trying to tell us something that’s actually off about that idea. Like, to the extent that everything about Eurus as a dangerous person seems fake: she can control your mind with her clichés, etc., we can see that this is a satire on the very idea that someone’s, ‘too smart’, for their own good.
The whole of Sherlock is basically an ode to the importance of thinking for yourself, of using your brain, and lately, your heart, too. I really don’t believe that, ‘incandescent’, and poorly parented Eurus is supposed to be a real child that the Holmeses had. She’s symbolic of how the Holmes parented their children as being, ‘different’. But, in light of the fact that we know that Mrs Holmes is a, ‘genius’, as of HLV, then even this theory falls apart. Why would a genius not know how to handle her genius children?
Because here, ‘intelligent’, is code for gay. Since it doesn’t make sense that Mrs Holmes doesn’t know what to do about her smart children, it makes more sense that she doesn’t know what to do about her gay children. (I legitimately forgot my own theory that, ‘sociopath is code for gay’, so yeah, Eurus is a sociopath and therefore gay. She’s the gay secret of the Holmes children).
Now, who seems more incandescently gay: Sherlock or Mycroft? I’d say it’s a tie, personally. Since, ‘this is family’, according to Mycroft, himself, let’s speculate that this, ‘Eurus’, phenomenon is about both of them. The Holmes parents found them to be incandescently gay, some might say, ‘flaming’, as children and they internalised the message that that was somehow a pathology.
I think the parents didn’t intend this but they didn’t realise the influence that Uncle Rudy’s struggles and their own ignorance would have on them. The message they received is that their true feelings were dangerous and needed to be locked away in a very secure part of themselves. Lest something terrible happen if their feelings were released.
So, yeah, as facile as it is that Eurus psychopathy is suddenly cured by Sherlock’s hug, it makes actual sense to think that facing family secrets actually can heal a family. Finally having the Holmes family discuss that Eurus is still alive, means finally talking about the fact that their kids are you know, ‘still’, gay, despite having hidden it all these years. The parents never wanted that, but they didn’t realise that it had happened, either. It makes way more sense to think that the Holmes parents didn’t know how to raise two gay boys than to think that they didn’t know how to raise to geniuses considering that Mrs Holmes, herself, is one, too.
Looking back on Eurus’ ludicrous mind-control powers we can see that this is actually a satire of how ridiculous homophobia is. Like, people fear that hanging out with a gay person will make you gay. Somehow, through their gay magic they will make you gay, too. This is equally as absurd as what Eurus does with her incandescent intellect.
Seriously, think about the word, ‘incandescent’. Why that word? Mycroft is not prone to poetic liberties, why here? Because it’s code for, ‘flaming’. To be a, ‘flaming homosexual’, means that you’re very obviously gay; everyone can tell. Eurus isn’t just symbolic of the Holmes siblings’ queerness, she’s symbolic of how easily others could see it. This is why they internalised that it must be hidden, because it was very obvious to others, even when they were children.
Back to Eurus’ powers: homophobia often includes a fear of seduction by a queer person. Dracula doesn’t just drink your blood, he makes you want him, first. He puts you under a spell. We get tons of Dracula coding for Sherlock in series 1. (Part 1, Part 2, Mary, Molly, Sally).
In a way, then, TFP is a satire of horror movies because it’s a satire of homophobia. It’s satirises the fear of intelligence and that intelligence is code for, ‘the other’, ‘woman’, ‘gay’.
If you’ve read @heimishtheidealhusband‘s meta about victorian ghosts you will know that Gothic Horror expressed the anxiety of that time about same sex romance. So, it’s possible that the reason that TFP appears to be both an homage and a satire of horror movies, is that it’s really about the destruction of this homophobia. It’s about throwing out all of these fears and stereotypes that are deeply embedded in our horror movies because they’re deeply embedded in our psyches.
This is the third update of the original TFP Survival Pack posted on 20/1. It contains all of the information in the original along with the most recent meta.
New highlights include:
A section addressing concerns and counterarguments
Meta on specific subtheories, such as John going blind on one eye
Clues about January 29th
Search Ctrl + F + “[NEW]” to look at only the new information.
(Note: if the section is labelled [NEW], all meta in that section is new.)
—
Still screaming over that crazy episode? Some hope remains! This masterpost and theory table collect the fandom’s last hopes—and they’re less crazy than you’d think.
The main takeaway is that the episode contradicts the rest of the show and real-world events far too much for it to be just a mistake. In fact, the evidence suggests that there will be a fourth episode.
“What? That’s ridiculous!”
That’s what I thought at first, too. But things in real life don’t add up, and they can’t be explained by bad writing. At this point, a rug pull is simply the most logical explanation. And if we’re wrong, well…it can’t really get any worse, can it?
This pack has 6 parts:
Issues: Everything within the episode that makes TFP not only a dumpster fire, but a (literally) unbelievable dumpster fire.
Clues: Real-life weirdness such as cast quotes that don’t fit, scenes missing from filming, and strange new promos that hint at a fourth episode.
Descriptions of the two main theories
Theory table: Compares which theories explain which issues
Resources: Links to meta that explain specific issues or the episode’s weirdness as a whole
Conclusions: What it all means, and why we should hold out a little longer.
Enjoy!
-soe
Disclaimer: Everything in this post is speculation. If you don’t want to get your hopes up, by all means skip it. However, I’d suggest at least waiting until January 29th before going full-out against Mofftiss (reasons below).
=============== Issues ================
Everything weird about that episode. With over 70 nontrivial plot holes, it’s hard to view the episode’s quality as an accident.
(The bolded phrases are descriptions, not the actual titles.)
Scenes that were filmed but that we’ve never seen? Quotes that make no sense with TFP as the finale? Something is up.
==============Theories================
It’s in Sherlock’s Mind
Everything in Season 4, since either the end of TAB or Mary shooting Sherlock, is in Sherlock’s mind as he is comatose. This theory requires all three episodes to be at least partly imaginary. A main variation is that John is talking to him as he is comatose, and that what John describes influences what Sherlock imagines.
For meta on variations of this theory, including EMP and John’s alibi, please see the TST Survival Pack.
It’s in John’s Mind
Everything in TFP is in John’s mind after John is shot. Variations include:
TST and TLD also took place in John’s mind.
Mary shot John, not Eurus.
This one is starting to gain more ground, particularly because it would make the whole season an adaptation of “The Three Garridebs”, leading to canon Johnlock, etc.
==============Theory Table=============
Green = Completely addresses this issue
Yellow = Addresses this issue somewhat plausibly, but not the best solution
They broke every rule of writing unless it’s a rug pull. The filming, cast and crew quotes, promotional material, and subtext within the episode make no sense unless a fourth episode reveals that it took place in John’s or Sherlock’s mind. The reputation of the whole show relies on them successfully revealing the real season finale.
So when would they reveal this fourth episode? When would it air?
They’ll air it on 29/1 or announce it on 29/1 and air it soon afterwards, via:
“The Final Problem” is either sheer stupidity or utter genius. Either way, let’s enjoy one last conspiracy.
The game is on.
I will be updating the table and theory list regularly.
If you have theories, issues, or meta to add, please comment.
If you think a theory does address an issue that the table says it does not address (or vice versa), please comment.
If I described your theory inaccurately or you just want to add something, please comment.
If I tagged any of your meta above: I would love to add any other work you’ve done that I haven’t seen. If you’d like to add something, please comment it and I would love to include it in the next update.
John was exposed to Eurus for several weeks prior to her shooting him at the end of TLD. Euros moved in on John in T6T. He was her target to get to Sherlock. When the seduction didn’t work, as John rejected an affair, she changed tactics and targeted his psychological treatment. Makes sense that a bit of ‘Manchurian Candidate’ mind manipulation was occurring.
The best thing about this is that John knows this. I mean, TFP is in his head, so HE pictured Eurus as a psycho mind-reprogramming manipulator in his dream, because clever John concluded she must have manipulated him into pouring all of his anger and blame over Sherlock. I love this clever boi.
Eurus traumatized Sherlock so badly that he completely re-wrote all of his memories about her. Got rid of her completely. That is a level of trauma that you just don’t see every day.
In the present, he finds out by degrees (horrifying examples) just how evil she is. Situations in which he’s forced to choose one life over another, emotionally damage one of his few friends. He finds out that in a fit of jealousy she drowned his best friend and set fire to the ancestral home. Finds out that as a child she cut her arm open to see how the muscles worked. Finds out that she mutilated a guard during a rape so that the sex wasn’t able to be distinguished.
But as soon as he finds out that all she wanted was a hug and for him to show her attention …. Ah well. All’s good. Here’s a hug and I’ll be round regularly to play violin with you.
What the ever loving fuck???? How in the fuck is that scene in which he hugs her and rocks her a sign of his emotional growth? Simple answer: it isn’t. Long answer: it’s what an abuse victim would do in order to stop the abuser from causing anymore harm. Culverton was the epitome of evil because he built a murder hospital and was a serial killer. But all his sister needs is a hug and some attention? Because if she could orchestrate everything that she had, he would have to mollify her in whatever way possible just to keep her in check.
That’s not emotional growth. That’s being trapped in the abuse cycle.
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