I keep thinking about Derren Brown’s 2011 show “The Experiments” because I’m convinced Moftiss have drawn straight from this particular episode for some of their symbolism in S4, which would tell us that this series ended with the spotlights swinging around to point at us, the audience.
Derren set up a fake game show and filled a big audience who thought they were just there to watch an “experiment” on a man who was being watched with hidden cameras on a night out with friends. Well into the swing of the game show something unexpected happens. The subject they’re watching on hidden cameras is hit by a car (it’s okay, it was a stunt guy). But for the audience it sort of came out of the blue while they were yelling and cheering the events on. The audience gasps in shock then goes silent. Derren listens to his ear piece and paces the stage. The transmission cuts out, replaced by the TV test pattern screen.
While the Sherlock S4 promos were being released in Nov/Dec last year, somebody (maybe @skulls-and-tea?) noticed that the flashy rainbow colours behind the “It’s not a game anymore” text on the promos matched the colour bars of the standard test pattern screen:
The order of colours is the same – see? White, yellow, cian, green, pink, red. Once the test pattern pops up, the house lights go up and cameras turn to the audience.
The audience sits stunned because tragedy has struck during something they were cheering and laughing about only moments before (It’s not a game anymore). This audience is basically the tjlc fandom as the credits rolled on TFP.
(Tag yourself, I’m the girl leaving)
Derren turns to the audience again and reveals the secret to them that the ‘show’ was fake and it was all a stunt. THEY were the subjects of the experiment all along. Not the guy they thought they were experimenting on. I think the hidden test pattern in the S4 promos is a BIG hint. Those colour test bars are behind the pretend game show that was S4, the flickering image hinting that we’re about to go off air.
[Basically I’d wager that Moftiss drew specifically from this Derren Brown stunt, at least for the test pattern idea: it aired in 2011. It’s not that outrageous an idea. Anything Derren does is of interest to us, for these reasons.]
In TFP we’ve gone off air earlier than expected (no S5?) because something unexpected and tragic happened (John Watson was kidnapped and replaced with an imposter, villains became heroes, the baby survived, sherl0IIy threatens being considered canon.Basically, the show was hit by a car). We’reon stage now, or in other words, the cameras have spun around to point at us, the audience. Luckily, for Derren’s participants at least, it’s soon revealed that it was all fake, and all done for their benefit. He never leaves people hanging for very long (just long enough to make his point).
I just need to nab this gif (from @sofuckingchuffed) and put it here with this Derren quote, because it’s relevant.
“We’re all trapped inside our own heads. Our beliefs and understandings about the world are limited by that perspective. It can not work without you. You are a fundamental part of this show”
LOVE THIS. AND especially since Ben Caron (TFP’s director) has done a whole special for Derren before AND Mark is besties with Derren…….. I think Derren is a LOT more involved in this show than a simple step on cameo in TEH….
The John’s Garridebs fuelled dream theory I knew, I knew seemed familiar to me, but I couldn’t quite place why… and then I remembered this TV Show. Long story short- the DCI Alex= John, someone who is shot but is thrown into this weird limbo. This could still apply for the ‘we’re still in Sherlock getting shot limbo’, too. Featuring some very applicable quotes such as:
“Right, let’s break it down. Now, I was shot. I saw the bullet and I thought: this is it, Alex. This is how it ends. The result of that act was my arrival in this… dystopia. My mind creates a dark, twisted place for me to go to, my brain is in severe trauma, therefore, everything here is significant!”
“This is a full sensory hallucination! You’re not real.”
SHOT OF A CLOWN SHOOTING HER SAYING: “We are waiting for you, Alex.”
“I have to prove to my subconscious that I am its master, and that is how we’ll get help.”
“I’m strong enough to wake up.”
“They say that as you die your life flashes before you. Well, bring it on. My life can flash away as much as it likes because I am Not. Going. To die.”
Wow they copied the plot of ‘Ashes to Ashes’. Amazing find, @jenna221b! Yep, I think that’s what’s happening to John. His love for Sherlock, and realizing in this hallucination that Sherlock loves him back, makes John fight for his life ❤
“I am not. Going. To die.”
This is so convincing but I wonder if they’ll wait 2-3 years to do it?
The Final Problem is The Three Garridebs. The final explanation to John that Sherlock is in love with him.
This is the same exact thing we’ve been saying about EMP for over a year now.
@jenna221b you are so right!! I watched Ashes to Ashes recently and hoooo boy this is fucking similar
Wasn’t this the one where there’s a painting that’s the same as the one in Mycroft’s office as well as the ceiling reminding us of a chessboard?
yup! it’s mycroft’s portrait of the queen in his office and the chessboard ceiling pattern- here you go!
The other obvious thing is the use of billboards in the two shows. Maybe the March 8th red herring was actually a direct link to John’s psyche [or Sherlock’s]
So, which is it? Dr. Watson or Mr. Watson? May 18th or August XXth?
Either way, he’s supposedly marrying Miss ME.
Do not forget me…Do not forget me…The Maid(en) of the Mill
The video that comes after the post, and before the comments, is at the bottom of this meta.
this post is somewhat of a **curates egg as while the prose is better i do not come here to read about weddings
theimprobableone
11 August
Looks like it was a brilliant day! Congratulations and sorry again I couldn’t make it!
Mike Stamford
11 August
sorry john 😦
Harry Watson
11 August
STOP POSTING ON MY BLOG! AND THERE WON’T BE ANOTHER WEDDING! John Watson
11 August
Does your wife know you’re on the Internet when you’re supposed to be enjoying your Sex Holiday with her?
Sherlock Holmes
11 August (Text me, John. I have news.)
Yes. Yes, she does.
Mary Morstan
11 August (Why are you still using your maiden name?)
LOLZZ!
Dame Latif
11 August
Awh!! Lovely!!
Donna Staveley
11 August
Mary. I’ve been doing some research and you need to avoid seafood.
Sherlock Holmes
11 August
SHERLOCK! SHUT UP NOW!
Mary Morstan
11 August
I’ve just had a text from John. I’ll shut up now.
Sherlock Holmes
11 August
Seafood eh!?
Jacob Sowersby
11 August
Why do you all comment on this? Some of you don’t even know John.
Sherlock Holmes
11 August
We’re just happy for him!
Jacob Sowersby
11 August
But haven’t you got better things to be doing? You’re spending all your time on the Internet.
Sherlock Holmes
11 August
Is this why most of you are single?
Sherlock Holmes
11 August
Sherlock. You’re being rude again.
John Watson
12 August
John. You are reading your blog again.
Mary Morstan
12 August
Sorry:)
John Watson
12 August
I just don’t understand why you’re all here. Go outside and find something to do.
Sherlock Holmes
12 August
Pot. Kettle. Black.
Mike Stamford
12 August
HAHAHAAHA!!! MIKE WINS THE INTERNET!!!
Dame Latif
12 August
I don’t understand the reference.
Sherlock Holmes
12 August
He’s asking why you’re here.
Bill Murray
12 August
Aren’t you an actor?
Sherlock Holmes
12 August
Not that Bill Murray. Bill Murray 12 August
DARLING!!!!!!! The photos look amazing and your wife looks
amazing!! Big hugs to you both!!! Sorry again we couldn’t be there but
Ted’s leg was doing that thing again and we just couldn’t make it and I
wish we had because it looks like such a wonderful beautiful
heart-breaking celebration of absolute love!! Big hugs to you both!! Big
squishy hugs!!!! Xxxxxxxxxxxx
Stella and Ted
12 August
You couldn’t make this up.
Sherlock Holmes
12 August
Did nobody notice the attempted murder I mentioned? What’s wrong with you all?
Sherlock Holmes
13 August
Par for the course, mate.
Mike Stamford
13 August
You use the word ‘mate’ a lot, Mike. It’s a sign that you’re
overcompensating for your very middle-aged, middle-class existence. You
want the world to see you as young and cool.
Sherlock Holmes
13 August
Who else wants to be deconstructed?
Sherlock Holmes
13 August
do me
theimprobableone
13 August
LOL!! theimprobableone wants Sherlock to do him.
Jacob Sowersby
13 August
You are all utterly ridiculous. And still none of you have
asked about the attempted murder. John has catalogued two cases on this
blog that we have since discovered tied into what happened today.
The Bloody Guardsman featured a brilliant attempted murder. In the case of
The Mayfly Man , I deduced the how but not the why. During the wedding I
discovered the answer to both. Bainbridge had been stabbed by a tiny
blade through his belt. The belt bound the flesh together when it was
tied tight but once he removed it he started to die. It was a delayed
action stabbing. It transpires that he was merely a test subject for the
attempted murder at the wedding. The Mayfly Man was the man who
attempted to kill Bainbridge. He was sleeping with women to get close to
another potential victim. Through them he discovered that the victim
would be at John and Mary’s wedding.
Sherlock Holmes
13 August
(Recall how Sherlock says John never mentioned Sholto, but then later Sholto says he and Holmes are much alike. It might not have just been about loving John. They’re both the victim, because Sholto is Sherlock, based on what Sherlock thinks John wants.)
Does anyone want to ask me how I worked it all out? And who the potential victim was?
Sherlock Holmes
13 August
Anyone?
Sherlock Holmes
13 August
John would ask me if he was here. He always asks me what’s going on and how i worked it out.
Sherlock Holmes 13 August
Anyone?
Sherlock Holmes
13 August
i am interested but I am going out on a date theimprobableone
13 August
ANYONE!? Sherlock Holmes
13 August
Sweetheart, do you want me to come up and play Cluedo wuith you?
Mrs Hudson 13 August
If you must.
Sherlock Holmes
13 August
Last year, at this same time…(Or it now?) Internet Sensations!!!
Yes, we’re recycling information again. Mrs. Hudson offering to play Cluedo with Sherlock, because they need the hat to be back in the game. It will come up again in S4, because the victim did do it after all. (Original meta linked into the second one deals with The Hat.)
**What’s with the egg?
Well, for one thing, it’s a reference from 1895. In its original context, the term refers to something that is obviously and essentially bad, but is euphemistically described as nonetheless having good features credited with undue redeeming power. Its modern usage varies. Some authorities define it as something that is an indeterminate mix of good and bad and others say it implies a preponderance of bad qualities.
by George du Maurier – grandfather of Daphne du Maurier, author of My Cousin Rachel, which is important with the idea of twins and entanglement theory… We’ve already started looping on the blog, in S3.
The second important element about egg, was resolved by @tjlcisthenewsexy and @darlingtonsubstitution I added a portion about “E” being Mary, Molly, and Eurus, because that carries over into TFP. It’s related to John putting up barriers for why he thinks he can’t/or shouldn’t be with Sherlock.
Matters escalated, in TLD. Sherlock’s transport is weeks from not working, so Mrs. Hudson had to intervene, as Anyonethat cared about Sherlock and John would. She’s been in the game since the beginning, after all.
@darlingtonsubstitution provided a list of a few meta. This is the original version. I added onto a couple of them, but this link is excellent to see what’s out there, and I’ve gone link happy in this already.
Part of this is why I don’t immediately get on board with the idea of EMP in HLV (though I am not discounting it altogether). It’s just that things were weird before Sherlock was shot. But, if we’re still in S2 TRF, then all this makes a bit more sense. Whether it’s the thirteen scenarios being worked out and/or John needs an alibi for killing Mary or Magnussen (because Mary was never real or already gone). We saw the note about John needing an alibi, so he did something or Sherlock imagines he did.
Great additions @221bloodnun ! Reading this reminded me of what Sherlock said at the end of TEH: “Unlike the nicely embellished fictions on your blog, John, real life is rarely so neat.” The fact that it bookends with TFP’s “truth is rarely pure and never simple.” is incredibly telling. I love Sherlock’s MP as a storytelling device – it allows us insights into the making of his mind, and by extension, his heart – which rarely happens in Sherlock Holmes adaptations as we always see the detective through Dr. Watson’s eyes. Despite the surreal quality of series 4, though, I still believe we’re being kept pretty close to the heart of the Sherlockian game – the problem of unreliable narrators and the chronological paradox. But the key to Sherlock, the show itself as well as this version of the detective, I think (and hope still), will come down to John Watson as the one fixed point in the changing world.
Like you, I don’t think “dreaming” is what’s happening here either – it’s the matter of “imagined” v.s “perceived” and I’m definitely in the latter camp. A lot of series 4 has more to do with presentation and appearance as a form narrative commentary, while the actual plot being embedded and hidden. I don’t think this is out of the blue either – it actually began with THoB (in my opinion), then TAB, and series 4 being a mashup of every allegorical and metaphorical storytelling techniques under the sun. It may seem like an impossible rabbit hole to climb out of at the moment, but A LOT can be said in a matter of minutes on screen, so I’m still hopeful that whatever the point(s) Sherlock is trying to make will come about sooner or later, and won’t be as convoluted as we fear 😀
Not sure if we have talked about this. Two men, same hair colour, same hair style, blue jacket, light shirt, sitting to Mary Watson’s left on a plane, both looking at her. Any ideas?
Okay so I know this guy is James Holmes who played Lady Bracknell in The Importance of being Earnest in the west end once and also played Emory, a very camp gay in The Boys in the Band alongside Mark Gatiss last September to November…
Yeah guys, of course that man who’s evidently 1000% done with Mary is a John mirror! The fact that it’s such a lengthy scene makes it evident too. She’s lying, presenting a fake persona – just like she does with everybody– and over-the-top acting – exactly the same she does when she jumps in front of Sherlock to take that bullet. And the things she says to that poor man!
MARY: Pardon me. I can hear a squeaking. Can you hear a squeaking? MAN: No. MARY: Only I watched a documentary on the Discovery Channel. MARY: “Why Planes Fail.” Did you see it? MAN: (Politely) Can’t say I did. MARY: Oh, truly terrifying. Swore I would never fly again, yet here I am! FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Everything okay, madam? MARY: No! No, it’s not, but then what’s the use in complaining? I hear a squeaking. Probably the wing will come off, is all. FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Everything’s fine, I promise you. Just relax. MARY: Oh, okay, relax. (Slapping the man’s arm) She said relax! MAN: (Trying his best
though clearly annoyed by her) Um, did you have a nice time? In London? MARY: It was okay, I guess, but did somebody hide the sun? (Laughing and slapping his arm again) Did you lose it in the war?
“Did you lose it in the war?” To John’s mirror, seriously? I hate this. I hate that Mary’s only purpose in this show was HIDING THE SUN that is John (specially from Sherlock) and darken John’s life in general. They even dare to make her poke at the wound of John’s traumatic experience in the War, TWICE. Because she does it again at the end when she says John is “The Doctor who never returned from War”, which is A TOTAL LIE AND A HORRIBLE THING TO SAY. That’s her most effective villanous plan; manipulating the boys into believing they’re still trapped in
what they used to be, using their traumas to keep them in the dark. Erasing their character development is what she wants. It’s like the creators took pains to make her mock the boys’ pain and therefore ours, until the very last second.
Anyway, I wish I was right when interpreting that Mofftiss’ intention in this scene was to show Mary as irritating as she could possibly be, in order to make everyone in the audience feel about Mary just like the annoyed man feels –and therefore
sympathize
with John. Because, otherwise I find this long, exasperating scene pointless. I don’t see another purpose for it.
also the windows….the sun (sherlock) and the woman who allures john (by acting like sherlock) in the same spot lol
So, I rewatched Amy’s Choice and Rory’s ‘death’ scene is literally TST.
The framing, pacing, and narrative beats are all the same. Even the “promise me you’ll look after the baby” and “you’re supposed to be a hero, otherwise what’s the point of you” moments are the same.
After TFP’s more overt film references in comparison to TST and TLD’s subtler Bond etc., I wouldn’t be surprised if the fourth wall is being broken in the fact that Sherlock and John have actually watched Doctor Who together and this scene within TST is literally a recreation of Amy’s Choice, EMP or otherwise.
Culverton Smith in TLD would then actually be based on Toby Jones playing The Dream Lord, meaning that technically Sherlock and John “exist” in our own reality / a very near parallel universe.
John. John Watson. Sherlock Holmes is lost without his blogger. So are we. What’s happening to John? Well, Eurus did tell us, but did we listen?
Three Garridebs. Six Months. Who’s Evans?
The surname Evans is a patronymic surname created from the Welsh personal name Lefan, or Evan, which is a cognate of the personal name John. {x}
John. A dead man walking? When did this supposedly happen?
As I mentioned in a separate post, series 4 consists of events of the past, “5 minutes since Mycroft called” and 10 minutes after Sherlock landed. I may be changing my mind about how close to the present time we got by the end of TFP, but there’s really not much to go on. I think what we saw in series 4 included the missing months between Mary shot Sherlock and Christmas at the Holmes, which all connected back to Moriarty, TRF, and the cause and effect of Redbeard. All of which likely had something to do with Carl Powers,1989, kidnapped siblings (cough Jim and Mary cough), their wicked father, and Hansel and Gretel. Series 4 was not a dream, but we were mostly in Sherlock’s head. As Sherlock sorts through his memory of everything he observed and stored away, pieces from wildly different occurrences were inevitably melted together to represent various aspects of one single story: save John Watson. Not only his life but of his heart and his love – all of which tied to Sherlock’s own.
But how? Well, Sherlock was doing exactly what Sherlock Holmes does best: solve the murder. Let’s take a look at our timeline.
Six months before the tarmac scene. We know Sherlock spent a week in solitary confinement after the Magnussen incident; since his birthday was mentioned in TLD, it was likely Sherlock spent the day on the tarmac saying goodbye to his love and his life – no wonder Sherlock wanted to leave his name with John. Hahaha, but it’s not a girl’s name. FUUUUUUUUUCK. No, there is no baby, but still. Sherlock didn’t know. I don’t think he did. FUCK either way.
Anyway.
Six months – that put us before John and Mary’s wedding according to John’s blog. End of June, beginning of July. When John posted The Bloody Guardsman and The Hollow Client. I’ve covered the parallels between these cases and series 2 in part 1 but didn’t really think much about it in term of John. I rambled on a paragraph or two about The Poison Giant right after TST because of the six pearls and the Thatcher busts and the black pearl of Borgias; the jellyfish in connection to The Adventure of Lion’s Mane and how Mary’s possible posthumous revenge could work – but I didn’t pursue the idea further. However, after reading Doyle’s The Parasite and s4by @may-shepard I realized perhaps we’ve been given clues about what’s been happening to John, alongside Sherlock and Mycroft’s more distant past.
The sign of three referred not only to Mary (666) and Sherlock’s love (3rd death), it applied to John as well – John is the 3rd Bloody Guardsman. The case of The Poison Giant was likely the “planned and rehearsed”. But by whom?
Six pearls; six Thatcher busts. Swandale’s laptop; Ajay’s memory stick. A trap for Sherlock and John; a noose for Sherlock to put his neck into. A pair of jewel thieves; a pair of assassins. That’s… quite a few coincidences, wouldn’t you agree? Sherlock and John were able to escape The Poison Giant—Sherlock’s good with a sword and John had bought a gun—one of the thieves fell off the roof, and the other ended up in prison. In TST, Ajay ended up dead and then… nothing. Was what we saw on screen really what happened?
There are two not-good scenarios running side by side here, both lead to John being, um, undermined: a) delayed action poisoning (how little Carl died); and b) gun shot. I’m uncertain if they are both life-threatening or one is more symbolic of ACD’s The Three Garridebs:
This is fantastic @221bloodnun – thanks so much for writing this and pulling all the meta along! (and for the tags 😘)
You know, your theory of post TRF is entirely plausible – we had three repeats of ACD’s The Final Problem in Sherlock to date: TRF, the tarmac scene (as Holmes’ goodbye letter to Watson), and TFP. The wheel kept turning and the path has locked around everyone’s feet. The Reichenbach Falls scene in TAB being the exception, a happier ending if you will – my hope is that it’ll end up being a foreshadowing of what likely happened after TRF or some kind of combination with HLV…… TAB being a literal sign of “the four” in modern time to solve the final problem? Who knows, but I have a nagging feeling that the “miss you” dvd at the TFP was actually from Sherlock during his time away 🤞
As Sherlock gets up from his bed to check The Woman’s first text message we see a picture of Edgar Allan Poe behind him.
The woman, dressed all in black, wearing Sherlock’s coat, has come in to his room through his window, like a bird. She leaves his coat hanging on his door, like a dark figure silhouetted against its pale paint colour. From his coat will come a repetitive sound: her new text alert. This sound will confound Sherlock and he will ponder on who The Woman is and what she’s trying to say. Is she deeply wise or is she just speaking nonsense?
Sherlock and The Woman mirror each other throughout and here Sherlock mirrors her as The Raven, as well. Sherlock wears all black and looks like a bird when John puts him back in bed. Whatever The Woman says to Sherlock, as The Raven, he says to himself. She reflects back to him his own life, his own troubles.
In The Raven, by Edgar Allan Poe, a lonely man immerses himself in books and learning, hoping to forget a love lost. One night a bird comes into his room and repeats a single word, ‘Nevermore’. This is an unwelcome visitor, one who reminds him of the sweetness of love and the agony of loss.
Irene Adler’s text alert is repetitive, like The Raven’s answer. Her message is enigmatic, like his. Sherlock, like the main character in the poem is torn between finding it deeply meaningful and dismissing it as gibberish. In the end, The Woman serves to remind him of the love he tries to forget. He is really the one who’s said, ‘Nevermore’, because his, ‘Lenore’, is right there with him, literally coming into his room. In The Raven, a memory of Lenore sweeps over the narrator and he feels as if he can smell his beloved. This cruel trick he blames on The Raven. And like the Raven, the Woman brings John into Sherlock’s bedroom. She has drugged him into unconsciousness, this is what the narrator of The Raven longs for, he longs to forget, to be unconscious. And yet, this incident leads John to take care of Sherlock and to come into his lonely bedroom and remind him of the very person he is trying to forget.
The Woman’s message is, ‘Nevermore’, because that’s how Sherlock feels about his love. He will not risk getting hurt. "Alone protects me". This is one of the ways that Irene Adler challenges him. She reflects him back to himself so he must face his decision to shut down his heart. With her in his life, he can’t just keep pretending he’s not in love. His self-imposed prison is laid bare by her gaze: she, in her mysterious wisdom, like The Raven, sees all.
When the narrator of The Raven first thinks there’s someone at his door, he says, ‘Lenore!’, ‘Lenore!’. When Sherlock wakes up, he says, ‘John!’, ‘John!’. Then he sends John away, like the narrator sends away the memory of Lenore. It is easier to forget than to suffer over something that can never be. Except, eventually hope emerges and the narrator wants to know if he will ever see Lenore again. But, the Raven is hardcore and all he can say is, ‘Nevermore’.
So, he can never have her and he can never forget. This is his lot in life. But Sherlock’s Lenore is not no-more: he’s right there, next door. Sherlock can Scrooge his way out of this bind and now that The Woman has made him think about all this. I think she forces him to see that what he feels is real.
If Sherlock had resigned himself to never have John, this contrast between Lenore and his own beloved one would hope would have a positive effect on him. He can have his heaven with his beloved, because his beloved is there. Now, if only there were a way for him to confirm that John’s into him, too. Maybe The Raven’s got a message for John, too. He better follow him wherever he goes, just in case.
The first time that The Woman appears to John as The Raven is at her own window when she tells him that Sherlock has successfully ascertained her measurements. This is her first, ‘Nevermore’, to him. The soundtrack and her face tell us that this is bad news to John, this is reason to be jealous. She is perched with Sherlock’s dark coat on in the window and jumps out as if she could fly.
Irene’s text alert has an even more Raveny effect on John because he does not read her texts. All he has is that repetitive sound: to count, to wonder about, to obsess over. To John, that moan is literally, ‘Nevermore’, if he sees it as a sign that Sherlock is into The Woman or into women in general. Every time that John thinks Sherlock is receptive to this perceived seduction he hears a door closing. With every text, his jealousy expands and his hope shrinks. When he gets to confront The Raven, at Battersea, she says the opposite of, ‘Nevermore’, to him. She says, ‘You’re Lenore’, and he’s taken aback. And Sherlock is listening and he’s taken aback by John’s reaction because, when pressed, he does not deny it.
In The Raven the main character is just projecting onto his annoying visitor the things that are already on his mind. In reality, ‘Nevermore’, could be a sign of a million different things depending on what one may ask. The message he gets is one of doom because that’s already how he feels. The message that The-Woman-as-The-Raven gives to John and Sherlock is one of love and hope because that’s already how they feel.
Other Raven-like themes in ASiB include: the boomerang (‘another kind of flying thing’), the plane (‘the flight of the dead’) and Sherlock and Irene wearing either black or white almost exclusively. In some traditions white ravens as seen as messengers that later turn black. Sherlock wears a white sheet to Buckingham Palace before changing into an all-black outfit. When we meet Irene she’s coming home in a white dress. Later we will see her in Sherlock’s coat and in a black dress. In a furry coat she looks very raven-like, indeed, next to a very phallic set of lights, reflected in glass. She is two ravens, one who visits Sherlock and one who visits John.
The very last time we see her, she’s dressed entirely in black, head covered. This is as Raveny as she will look in the whole episode. Sherlock is her Raven, too. And while he did say, ‘Nevermore’, to her during the scene where he reveals her keycode, here, he proves himself to be a good bird and saves her, as her friend.
OMG thanks for pointing me to this meta @just-sort-of-happened – I love it so much! Irene Adler as Lenore and the Raven, an embodiment of the unattainable love and forbidden desire. I read the ending of ASiB a bit differently, though, more ominous – whether “the elephant in the room” happened, Sherlock, by joining Irene Alder once again dressed in all black, he decided the better story was to become the Raven himself. Instead of risking it all by being the other narrator with John by his side, he repeated to himself again and again: nevermore 😭 😭 😭 (kinda like Redbeard doesn’t it).
Thinking about series 4 in this context and given Arwel’s tweet during setlock – Billy the skull as the bust of Pallas, a symbol of wisdom but blinded by the “looking glass” the entire time; when Eurus said “play you” it was Irene’s theme – once again, the wheel turns and we are back at the end of ASiB: will Sherlock choose a different path or is it still locked around his feet?
John in the well was interesting too – as Poe seems to think of man “as a paradoxical well, a “reservoir,” not of possibilities but of limitations {x}.” I’m not sure if you’re checking on the @contact twitters, but I nearly fell out of my chair when they started quoting Keat’s Ode to a Nightingale… a different, more positive outcome awaits or creative fans strike again? Either way works for me I suppose!
Moriarty loves stories, fairytales. He planned everything like one. If we need to understand everything that happened since TRF, we just need to understand Appointment in Samarra. This is the key behind everything.
Sherlock is the merchant trying to outrun/outwit Death. If we consider Moriarty to represent Death (and Mary ultimately taking his title and his place in the narrative), Sherlock must find the one path to survive the Fall.
It begins with Sherlock/the merchant meeting Moriarty/Death and understanding, no, knowing that this person will take his life. So, he runs, he runs from his life in an attempt to escape his fate.
So, in the Reichenbach Falls, Sherlock fakes his death, thinking he’s done it. There was just a little problem with that plan:
The tale of Sir Boast-a-Lot, TRF never was the Final Problem, the same way the first meeting between the merchant and Death wasn’t supposed to end with the merchant’s death. Yes, Sherlock managed to escape Moriary’s plan but that was pointless. His appointment wasn’t in St Barthelemy Hospital.
Nor here.
Or even that, whatever that was.
We need to focus on this.
Because, ultimately Sherlock has been warned times and times again. Moriarty said it many times “I owe you a fall.” Not this little magic trick, no, don’t be silly. I’ll burn you, I’ll burn, the heart out of you. Survive this little game and you’ll have the privilege of seeing my real work.
Now, that’s more like it. You’ve got to admit, that’s sexier.
We both know you don’t care about your reputation, about the press slandering you. We both know that’s not your pressure point. But look how you care about John Watson. Well, your little pet, I’m going to take it from you. Let’s see how far you’re willing to go for him. That wife. Such a poor soul, so tragic. I’m sure she didn’t actually want to kill you, you were clearly a threat to her, if only you’ve told her you wanted to help her. Oh you did? Oopsie.
Well, the woman you call Mary? She’s going to take you everything, she will even break your little toy and there is nothing you can do about it. Enjoy the show.
Because John has always been and will always be his heart. He is the reason he decides to restart his, he is the reason he hasn’t killed himself like Jim. Separate them and death will be a kinder fate.
Somewhere, John or Sherlock is in terrible danger, dying and unable to escape his end. The electrocardiogram is still beating in TAB, like a phantom pain the wound still hurts Sherlock, John may or may have not escaped the bullet (no, a fuming gun don’t throw sleeping darts, it just can’t) “Eurus” shot.
Who cares how Sherlock survive the Reichenbah Falls? This wasn’t the point, this never was the Final Problem. Season 3 and Season 4 are the real thing.
Like a throwback to Jim in TRF, ‘Mary’ has become the author, the one calling the shots and stripped John of any narrative power. That is absolutely devastating, how can they survive if the two vilains have taken over the story so completely?
“Sherlock Holmes will now wear the silly hat because Mary liked it. It just felt right.She changed and illuminated the path of the show.”
Now that she is the one calling the shots, both men’s hearts are effectively reduced to ashes. Their identities have been stripped and they have become actors in their own lives.
Who you really are, it doesn’t matter. It’s all about the legend, the stories, the adventures.
This is Appointment in Samarra, you can’t avoid Death, not when the vilains are the one reading the story since TRF. This is predeterminism, all roads were leading to this ending. No matter how much Sherlock’s struggled, the author aka Jim/Mary has always planned this ending. Resistance has always been futile.
And yet… there is one fic that managed to save the merchant. Appointment in Sumatra may be a mere fanfic, Sherlock has succeeded in changing the ending. Mary, the new author, may have stripped John of everything that was him, he remains the first narrator.
The game isn’t over. This is a struggle between the two authors that have decided to destroy the story and the fans who need to find the one path that will save the merchant. Jim/Mary vs Sherlock and John, or if we are very daring between Mofftiss and the fans.
Samarra can be avoided but dear God, that’s going to a hell of a ride to save Sherlock Holmes. We just need to completely rewrite the ending, to let John take back his narrative power and let him lead Sherlock to Sumatra and avoid Samarra.
there are at least 3 bottles in process and mary isn’t drinking because she’s pregnant, so yeah. happy john.
Taken together with MHR, he possibly never stopped drinking…
Wonder how much that makes him loathe himself just that bit more. I suppose the first time he realises he smells like Harry, some of those bottles are gonna be smashed against a wall.
yes! had the same thoughts… remember the beginning of TLD, him standing against the wall with the glass… i still think s4 was not legit lol but they definitely wanted to make it look like john was walking harry’s path
@faithchan that’s okay to be skeptical, i just follow the hints they implied before. harry’s history and what ^Chris said about MHR.
i don’t know about months, but those didn’t stay there for years indeed. there’s only one bottle that looks alike (the one with the black end). but it is more empty in mhr than in hlv, so those are not the same
I do think it’s quite likely John might have been self-medicating with these the whole time. He was a mess throughout s3 too, and we never saw a thing, only saw him beat up a junkie because he needed it. With endless days home at night, domesticity, and a baby arriving? John probably didn’t even notice the bottles becoming emptier and emptier. Maybe he thought he was being responsible, too: “See, I can do this–settle somewhere. I get up, go to work, come back home again to stay with my family. I can do this.”
He could, too–with alcohol by the side.
Not saying this is canon, obviously. Just that it is very likely and I can absolutely see this.
Because I don’t believe for a second Mary’s death was so disastrous for him that this alone drove him to drink. He’d been a mess since Sherlock was gone, all throughout series three (and let’s not forget the fact that he almost lost Sherlock there again, too).
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