Mr Homophobia is the driver of this ride, and I’m the enabler. Together we have hijacked the story and derailed it rather beautifully. So do hop on board – it’s gonna be a bumpy ride!
Choo – choo!
When Mr Homophobia – let’s call him ‘Jim’ – made his first appearance in the show, he already managed to give HBTQ people a negative representation:
Jim lured Sherlock into deducing him and ‘outing’ him as a dishonest gay man in front of John (who we all know is a bit closeted) and Molly (who had presented Jim as her new boyfriend).
As a Consulting Criminal, Jim also ‘helped’ minor gay characters in the show to appear to the audience as murderous people seeking revenge:
Jim’s Consulting services even included persuading a lesbian woman to dissimulate “falling in love” with a man (albeit in a rather treacherous way):
Jim’s true mission was made clear already in Season 1, though:
The inclusion of hallucinatory drugs made Mr Homophobia into an increasing problem for Sherlock…
…until the time was ripe for The Fall:
The Fall consisted in Sherlock abandoning the love of his life…
…and leaving said love interest in my warm, heteronormative hands:
And then, after Sherlock’s complete heartbreak…
… some traditional, homophobic tropes could play out nicely in Sherlock’s mind, even without Jim’s physical presence:
And Jim has even made sure Sherlock thinks he deserves being beaten:
And even if Sherlock might have had his doubts…
He still succumbs to the general concept:
Isn’t it amazing just how much Jim managed to do to an otherwise rational mind – the famous Sherlock Holmes – in just five minutes?
So, as I was saying, this story is really a beautiful train wreck; a masterpiece of post-modern, cynical art. Mr Homophobia and I – Mrs Heteronormativity – make a wonderful, serial-killing couple together. In short: Jim instils the fear and I give it some social context; we are the perfect villains!
[Sorry about this rather bleak take on Moriarty, but this is basically how I see him; as a companion metaphor to ‘Mary’. And this, as it seems, is now the way that everything’s going to remain… At least until the moment that Sherlock – and the audience – finally decides to WAKE UP and get rid of these villains once and for all!]
Hi, I’m ’Mary’. Or actually I’m A.G.R.A. Or – come to think of it – I’m rather ’Rosamund’. Or why not ‘Gabrielle’?
Or whatever. Whoever. The thing is, who I really am doesn’t matter; I could be anyone at all. ANYONE.
I’ll be who it’s convenient to be at any given moment. My mission: Serial Killer; I’m here to kill the series – slowly but surely.
I’m Mrs Heteronormativity; the one who tells you how to behave according to convention and normality. You do as I say – or else… I’m the one entitled to guide you through life, to make sure you remain perfectly ordinary. And here are some lessons about me I want to teach you:
1. You must always marry me; everyone knows it’s for the best.
2. Don’t even think about same-sex relationships!
3. I’m here to prevent any sidestepping.
4. Marrying an assassin is perfectly sane and normal.
In fact anything is OK as long as it means No Homo. Oh, are you hurt? Sorry, but collateral damage is inevitable.
5. There’s no use trying to express your pathetic feelings if I tell you they are inappropriate.
6. Just so you know: I’m everything you wish for.
7. I make sure your baby’s name is appropriate to gender.
Which means:
Nope.
Exactly. Good boy!
8. With me you’ll be sure to have the right family values.
9. I’ll always be there to tell you what to do – even if you think I’m dead. And it’s No Homo!
10. And ultimately, I’m the one who gets to define who you really are.
I do hope you’ve been paying attention to me now, and never more try to step out of the ordinary…
[This is, very much, how I see ‘Mary’. She’s not a real character – she’s a nightmare! That’s why she lacks any constancy regarding feelings or back-story or name or anything. And that’s why she keeps haunting the show even after her death, like a ghost. “Do not forget me” – we’re not getting a chance to ever forget the Abominable Bride, not even for a moment. She’s merely a metaphor. And series 3 and 4 are mainly about consequences – the results you get when you listen to this sort of concept and let it define your life.]
The most commonly seen collars in formal men’s clothing are the Henley and the Ascot, but most of these collars are still common throughout men’s fashion. When drawing shirt collars, be aware of how the stiffness of the fabric will affect the way the lapels fold against the clavicles and shoulders and any other clothing present, such as a suit jacket.
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.
I was thinking yesterday and I realised I never questioned how well Moriarty was able to sell his fake actor persona. Sherlock thought it was because of the key that’s able to break into every computer, but we know that that key doesn’t exist, so how was moriarty able to do it?
I definitely hated the reporter chick, but are you telling me she didn’t at least check out these shows and see if he was actually in them? And it took the police over two years to prove Moriarty was actually real. If all of these were fake I’m sure it would only have took them a couple of days. Or what Moriarty was actually an actor on the side in case this situation ever came up?
No, I think Richard Brooke got the same deal as the cabbie. Maybe he was dying as well and in exchange for money he took up the persona of Moriarty.
So, who’s behind Moriarty? Mary, of course. She’s been orchestrating all of this from the beginning. Remember in the blind banker just before Shan was killed, she got a message from M and we assumed it meant Moriarty? Well, what if it was actually Mary?
It was Mary all along who wanted to burn Sherlock’s heart out. She made him into a fake and got him to take his own life. I do think that for a while there she actually believed that he was dead, but if Anderson could figure out he wasn’t dead then so could she. She called Mycroft and got him to tell the police and media that Moriarty was real and Sherlock is innocent, so he could come back.
So, I think she realised that killing him wasn’t the best idea anyway and decided to take something way more important from him, John. And boy did she try to break them up. Marrying him, then getting pregnant all that just to chain John to herself.
Shooting Sherlock in HLV was a mistake, because she didn’t plan on him interrupting her. What Magnussen knew could have blown her whole operation apart and she had to stop him, but also couldn’t let Sherlock stop her.
And then in s4 we really saw her evil side. Saving Sherlock from a bullet and making John lash out at him trying to drive a wedge between them. Sending Sherlock to hell was just a little bonus.
This is it though. She ruined him and the possibility of John and Sherlock ever getting together. I mean look at her evil face. This was her plan all along.
But yet again she underestimated the love John and Sherlock have for each other and that they can always find their way back to one another.
So, I think she was done waiting and just ended up shooting John. There’s no Eurus, it’s always been her and she put a bullet through John’s eye and Sherlock is the only one who can save him.
So yeah this is my theory, on the one hand i hate it cause it would mean moriarty is not real but i love him so much, but on the other hand it would reveal mary to be even more of despicable human being than we could have ever anticipated.
Sorry if this has been talked about before, please do link me to other metas on this if you have any.
Tags under the cut (if you want me to untag you please let me know, i just don’t have too many followers but am excited about this)
So, they talk about the “groundbreaking” thing of playing three different roles… But before Sian Brooke there was another person in the Sherlock series that played three different roles. Meet Moriarty, Jim from IT and Richard Brook.
They can tell me again that was the groundbreaking tv history they teased 😉
Sherlock Fandom Archive 