very unfortunate because i don’t think adapters of sherlock holmes realize the extent to which he isn’t theirs, and that he and john have intrinsic qualities that can never be erased no matter how severely they’re bent. gives way to a lot of unnecessary tragedy.
sherlock and john eternally carving out a heartbreaking existence together in the wreckage of bad adaptations
I am honestly trying very hard to accept that S4 is real, trust me, but I just can’t. Each time I am like: okay, this is it, it was real after all. I remember all the inconsistences, plot holes and horribly bad writting, all the things they said before it aired and I can’t! I simply can’t! Where is the rug pull? where is everything? Why didn’t they care about their final episode, the most secret of secrets (remember they wouldn’t even give us the name) being leaked twice?
Do I have to believe that the same people who wrote TAB wrote this shit? Pleople don’t change their writing like that, don’t go from taking care of every little detail to this, the same way any other artist wouldn’t screw their creations when they know they can do better and claim it’s their best. It just makes no sense at all.
I wish I could just accept it.
But I just CAN’T. I can’t logically believe or accept or fathom that everyone involved would do this. I’ll never ever ever take series 4, especially TFP, at face value.
Same. I’m not going to be acquiesced into believing s4 at face value. I can’t even do “it is what it is” as my coping mechanism. At this point, I would’ve been happier with an ordinary series full of cases that get solved within a day, as long it makes sense. We were led on sooooo much with all sorts of hype as they prepped our anticipation to the peak … and now we’re sort of like that girl in the plane. How the hell are we going to land? Why is everyone involved with the show silent and evasive? How long can we even stay in the air? What the hell is the final problem? Why are we still here????????
I sincerely have read the posts that treat s4 as real, and entertained these theories and tried to get into the headspace of taking it all at face value. It seems as though doing that gives people some kind of sense of peace and acceptance and maybe a basis for moving forward? And some of the explanations are even kind of sort of beautiful, or at least workable from a fic writer’s pov, like, okay, here’s what it is, here’s the clay, this is what we have to work with, this is what we can reshape into something better. And then I think about this
Remember when the BBC sent out their first replies to our complaints and said “[…]
and we hope viewers enjoyed the overall journey over the last 4 series.” [x]
And actually, you know what? For me personally the answer is NO, it wasn’t.
Ever since S2 it’s been a rollercoaster of emotions for me. Admittedly I wasn’t in a good place in RL when S2 aired but one way or another TRF hurt like a bitch and influenced certain parts of my health as well.
Then S3 aired and I expected a logical explanation for the fall, but nada. Disappointing to no end. But that wasn’t the worst. After HLV I was so confused? I can’t remember a time when a show left me with so many conflicting feelings. I saw that Sherlock was in love with John, but he pushed John back to Mary and John went? And Mary just got a free pass? If it weren’t for post S3 fandom I probably wouldn’t have stayed around or been active in fannish activities. Fandom kept me sane with the explanations of theories of what was supposedly really going on between the three of them.
But as it turned out, nothing of all that was actually the case in S4. And tbh, NEVER have I been SO HURT by something I’ve loved so much media-wise. Yeah, TFP was complete garbage and TST was characterisation hell but TLD? I have not cried this much about anything like I did over that episode probably ever. Yeah, some triggers might have been involved too. But the way the character ~development went thanks to the shitty plot arc? It was terrible to see that happen to my favourite characters.
So no, overall the journey was NOT ENJOYABLE. What kept me holding on over the years was my love for Sherlock and John and the fandom. The show itself? A clusterfuck of emotionally shocking moments that were never dealt with in a serious way, something that I usually expect from a good TV show.
Right, our expectations might have been sky-high and we hoped for something good, something logical, something coherent. And then we received none of that. But I refuse to blame our high expectations for the level of disappointment we’re now dealing with. This is not our fault.
No, seriously, did we imagine all those interviews where almost all the cast and writers talked about how; “It’s not a detective show, it’s a show about a detective?” When Martin said; “It’s a love story between these two men who need each other.”? When Amanda defended the plot of TAB by saying; “In the end it will always be about those two men and their relationship.”?
What was that? Why did we get all of that when their relationship was ripped to pieces and very poorly put together only to be pushed to the background in these last two series? This isn’t even about Johnlock. I keep reading Jeremy Brett’s post about why they didn’t have Watson marry Mary because Holmes is the true love of Watson’s life. Series 4 showed that wasn’t the case with this version. John was prepared to let Sherlock die because he was so cut up over Mary’s death and treated him like shit. I can see Brett watching S4 and shaking his head along with us.
The show was no longer about this great relationship, platonic or otherwise. Or at least it wasn’t about showing why this is apparently “the greatest friendship in literature”. Wasn’t that always supposed to be the point? What happened? Did Mofftiss just develop ACD syndrome and grew to hate these characters and didn’t care enough to give them and their relationship a decent resolution?
This will haunt me. I just want to know why.
They would have been free to stop with the series.They could have simply said it was too difficult to schedule… I know it’s a big cash cow but seriously, if they hated it so much, they could have stopped. They didn’t invent the characters like ACD did. Doyle was much more closely tied to Holmes and Watson than Mofftiss. And Mofftiss say they are fan boys. They are fans of Sherlock Holmes and still did S4 to him.
I have no idea why they thought Sherlock Holmes / John Watson relationship in the stories needed the addition of a central female character. I have no idea why they thought it a good idea to make Mary Morstan that upgraded female character. Why not Irene, who traditionally, if not canon compliant, takes this role? Or Molly, their own invention? They could have made Lestarde female ffs! Or made Mycroft a sister. Or even made Sherlock and John female, if they wanted a feminist version!
And even when they decided on making Mary Morstan a / the central character on the show from S3 onwards – why like this, with this nonsensical character arc? What was Mary’s arc actually? Mary was a different person in every episode she was in, and that is bad story telling!
Why not make her the baddie? A great, evil, female baddie! She could still have had input on John’s and Sherlock’s lives, John could still have grieved for her, could even have raised her child with Sherlock. Her betrayel could have shaken Sherlock to the core, could have made him question some of his choices, could have changed him if that was what Mofftiss went for. But Sherlock and John could have defeated her TOGETHER! Because these stories are always about Sherlock Holmes and John Watson! There’s the heart and soul of the stories, that’s why every story starts or ends with Holmes and Watson together, talking about a case or life in general (apart from maybe 2 or 3 stories, in which Holmes nevertheless bemoans Watson’s absence).
And speeking of nonsensically employed female characters out of nowhere: There was no need for Eurus, no need for this kind of crazy, farcical back story. What they wanted to tell us with that (that Sherlock has feelings but that he suppresses them, why he does so and that it has to end, for him to become a whole person, that he has to accept himself the way he is to love and be loved etc) could have better been achieved by employing characters and arcs already set up during S1-3 and TAB. Why, prey tell, was the insane wishfulfilment Mofftiss wanted to realise in S4, especially in TFP, to give us Eurus Holmes?
I will never neither accept nor understand this! The most important person in the life of Sherlock Holmes isn’t a murderous, omnipotent sister or John’s (dead) wife, it is and always has been John Watson! Mycroft features in three original stories. There are no parents in canon. And no other siblings. There is no Molly. Irene Adler is a clever, happily married opera singer who meets Holmes once. Mary Morstan features by name in one story and vanishes during hiatus. Even Moriarty is only in three or four stories! Go read the books, Mofftiss!
Mary Morstan embracing Mary Watson as the life that was worth living is akin to Amy Pond becoming Amy Williams, for all intents and purposes, in Doctor Who. Also Mrs. Holmes herself, the genius scientist who gave it all up for her children.Moffat has a serious boner for strong, independent women (?) who end up giving up their lives and identities to become wives and mothers.
Eurus’ role, if someone was going to be Jim’s puppeteer, would have been much better if Mary had filled it, because we actually cared about Mary: some people hated her, some loved her, but we knew her? She had some weight as a character, she had a mysterious past. If you want an effective plot twist, for god’s sake don’t use a NEW CHARACTER WE DON’T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT BECAUSE WE’VE ONLY JUST MET HER.
Bravo @isitandwonder this is exactly my feelings. Unless series four is the entire rug pull (for which I would still have mixed feelings about) this will go down as one of the worst debacles ever. So sad because what they had was beautiful. Flawed yes, but the chemistry between John and Sherlock – you just cannot find that anywhere. What a wasted opportunity.
I just had a polite discussion with someone about Mary and we disagreed as expected.
Mary Morstan embracing Mary Watson as the life that was worth living is akin to Amy Pond becoming Amy Williams, for all intents and purposes, in Doctor Who…..if someone was going to be Jim’s puppeteer, would have been much better if Mary had filled it, because we actually cared about Mary: some people hated her, some loved her, but we knew her? She had some weight as a character, she had a mysterious past.”
My point is they did a great job at butchering the heroes, the villains…leaving some confusing characterisation which made no sense. Thank you again @isitandwonder for writing down my thoughts exactly.
I will forever mourn this.
I saw a post the other day (that was unfortunately tl;dr at the time) that suggested that BBC Sherlock is original fiction. And right now I feel like there’s a point to it? It’s just a tragedy and a travesty that they used these names and characters as groundwork and then created whatever THIS IS. Guess no one would have cared had they named it Detective #57 and his “I can barely type” Blogger, no, we gotta call it Sherlock Holmes and then butcher the characters and the original references to pieces.
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