I know this idea has come up more than once. In this post I will try to collect as much evidence, mostly from TFP, as possible – visual, textual, and narrational.
Visual
In this first scene together their hands seem to melt into each other. Sherlock does not expect to be able to touch his sister, and then their fingers interlace just like that. In the second picture both have become one. Sherlock is shining through Eurus’s reflection, her hear roughly being place where his heart is (head/brain and heart becoming one).
Additional note: If we assume that this is her real hair as opposed to the wigs she wore in TST and TLD, they both have dark curly hair.
Narrational
Sherlock and Eurus are very close in age. True, it’s never twins. But at least Irish twins, it seems. (Or just one person after all?)
Sherlock has been deemed a genius from the beginning. Eurus “was described as an era-defining genius, beyond Newton.”
Both play the violin. Eurus even plays a Stradivariusas does Holmes in ACD Canon.
Sherlock had no friends before John. “I had no one.”
Both love to be dramatic.
Both are prone to violence: Sherlock torturing the cabbie / throwing a man out the window / shooting Magnussen. / Eurus’s violent behaviour in TLD and TFP.
Both are seen in a cell of some kind: the padded cell in Sherlock’s HLV mind palace / the Sherrinford cell (All places from the HLV mind palace have real counterparts – so what about the cell? And how probable is it that two siblings both have been inmates of a cell in a mental hospital/prison at some time?)
Both are in a way attracted to Moriarty and are willing to play games with him.
Sherlock experiments on John in ThoB. Eurus experiments on Sherlock in TFP.
Both are very focussed on knowledge: “I don’t like not knowing.” / “She knew things she should never have known …”
Both are disguising themselves / hiding in plain sight.
Both are being used by Mycroft for matters of state security and intelligence.
Both are believed to be dead for years. Both times Mycroft is involved in the plots to fake their deaths.
Textual
“She was different from the beginning.”/”Because he attacks people who are different and preys on their secrets.” (Why Sherlock hates Magnussen)
“Listen. This is my hard drive and it only makes sense to put things in there that are useful.” / “I remember everything; every single thing. You just need a big enough hard drive.”
Sherlock being involved in the flight of the dead/saving Irene from terrorists/revealing the terrorist plot in TEH/ “She predicted the exact dates of the last three terrorist attacks on the British mainland after an hour on Twitter.”
“In any event, there is no prison in which we could incarcerate Sherlock without causing a riot on a daily basis.” / “The depth of Eurus’s psychosis and the extent of her abilities couldn’t hope to be contained in any ordinary institution.“
“That in your case, solitary confinement is locking you up with your worst enemy.” This can also be applied to Eurus’s imprisonment in Sherrinford.
Conclusion
These are a lot of similarities. Too much for coincidence, if you ask me. To me, Eurus is an exaggerated, overdramatic version of Sherlock himself. What he could have become without John’s friendship and Mycroft’s support, without the friends he has found quite late in life.
Guess who’s ascended to a whole new layer of confusion? It’s me.
At first I was absolutely convinced of EMP due to the fact that most of season four appears to be partially/wholly constructed. However, some scenes are impossible. Which makes me wonder if we are witnessing a collaborative retelling of events the perspectives of Sherlock, John, and Mycroft. An alibi. Or perhaps a version of John’s blog. Also, maybe there are drugs involved. It’s all very strange.
NOTE: I try to provide explanations for these scenes, however, the main thing is having them all laid out in a list. Whenever I’m coming up with theories these are always the moments I end up coming back to.
… to John throwing the AGRA data stick in the fire at Christmas — an event he was never present for because he wasn’t even in the room; he was outside eating mince pies with Wiggins (or something.)
(Left: HLV. Right: Sherlock’s TST flashback).
Explanation 1: Sherlock constructed the Holmes family Christmas scene where John forgives Mary in his mind palace as an alternate reality/test scenario. Explanation 2: John and Sherlock have constructed this memory together as part of an alibi. Explanation 3: Although The Six Thatchers seems deeply rooted in Sherlock’s POV, it’s actually filtered through John’s. Explanation 4: Mary plants this scene in Sherlock’s memory through use of HOUND/TD-12. Explanation 5: ???
Considering the other weird POV scenes in S4/HLV I’m still not sure where I stand on this. But within TST when Sherlock has this flashback the lighting flickers exactly like it does when Mary is in Sherlock’s hospital room and says:
“You don’t tell John. Look at me and tell me you’re not going to tell him.”
Which leads me to believe that Explanation 4 may be correct and Mary has convinced Sherlock that John forgives her through drugging him with “TD-12″/a derivative of HOUND that renders the recipient extremely suggestible.
2) Sherlock has a flashback in TLD …
… after seeing Faith!Eurus, to John walking off into the night with his cane — an event he was never present for because he was off dumpster diving for the pink suitcase. This scene is odd because John is seen from behind, from an outsider’s POV. In the next shot John gets the phone-booth call from Mycroft, who has been watching him through security cameras.
(Left: Mycroft watching John in ASiP. Right: Sherlock’s TLD flashback)
Explanation 1: This scene is from John’s POV and he’s imagining how he used to be before Sherlock from an outside perspective. In a flashback from Sherlock’s perspective. (?) Explanation 2: TLD has been filtered through Mycroft’s perspective as well and he’s working collaboratively to devise an alibi for John and Sherlock. Explanation 3: Sherlock had a flashback to something he didn’t see because it represent’s John in ASiP generally and it isn’t supposed to matter about where the shot is from itself. Explanation 4: Sherlock was secretly watching John leave somehow, hiding in an alleyway. Explanation 5: Season 4 is John’s blog/Sherlock collaborating with John in writing the blog. Explanation 6: ???
At the moment I’m quite interested in Explanation 2, just because it has relevant metaphorical implications considering how Mycroft represents the writers/writers of Holmes adaptations in general.
But to be honest, at this point I’m not sure how lenient this show is with it’s logic/suspension of belief. Explanation 3 does seem possible. It could be that the more simple answer is correct and that this really is Sherlock’s flashback.
Especially considering the fact that there aren’t that many good shots of John walking alone with the cane in ASiP that would fit the tone of this scene. This is a moment in which John feels isolated/alone, so it could just be representational.
Explanation 5 is also pretty interesting, considering how we haven’t seen the blog updating this season while it’s had a lot of attention drawn to it. It could be that the show has become the blog or some other variation of this.
3) “He’s better than a great man …”
In one of the final scenes of TFP Lestrade says that Sherlock isn’t merely a great man, “he’s a good one”, which references what Lestrade told John in ASiP when they first met. A conversation Sherlock wasn’t present for. He was in the cab with Jefferson Hope.
(Left: ASiP scene with only John present. Right: TFP scene)
Explanation 1: TFP is Sherlock’s recurring dream from TST and/or he is unconscious/in a coma after overdosing. Lestrade/John says this at his bedside, the real-world dialogue bleeding into his dream. Explanation 2: Sherlock and John are collaborating by formulating an alibi which involves explaining Sherlock’s dream and they add this line in. (?) Explanation 3: TFP is from John’s perspective and Sherlock explained to him that Moriarty’s “final problem” was to kill him. Also the TAB waterfall scene was beamed into his brain somehow. (?) Explanation 4: It’s in-universe fanfiction/a movie/a TV series about Sherlock and John’s lives. Explanation 5: Sherlock’s dream is being recounted on the blog for whatever reason. Explanation 6: Sherlock and John are coming up with a ridiculous explanation of events on the blog as part of an alibi, because they think the mainstream audience will think it’s the truth. Explanation 7: ???
4) “That wasn’tthe final problem.”
In TFP Moriarty introduces the episode with: “Hi! I’m Jim Moriarty. Welcome to the Final Problem!” John has never heard Moriarty say the phrase “the final problem” before. Only Sherlock hears this multiple times during Reichenbach — once at 221B over tea, again in the story of Sir Boast-A-Lot, and again on the rooftop of St Bart’s.
(Left: TRF with only Sherlock present. Right: TFP)
“Deep water, Sherlock, all your life, in your dreams. Deep waters …”
While Sherlock has flashbacks to his “past” we get a shot of the waterfall scene from TAB. If TFP were John’s dream, he would be unable to form a perfect visual recreation of a scene that occurred within Sherlock’s mind palace.
However, within TFP we also get these:
(Left: MHR, only John and Lestrade present. Right: TFP)
(Left: ASiP, only Sherlock. Right: ASiP, only John) (Both are shown during Mary’s final TFP speech)
(See #3) and additionally: Explanation 1: TFP is from Sherlock’s perspective and the ending references to ASiP and MHR are metaphorical/parallels. Explanation 2: TFP is from Sherlock’s perspective and he is telling it to John / it is being retold by John somewhere like the blog. Explanation 3: TFP is a fan-theory. Like Anderson’s in TEH or a movie/tv series/book/fanfic.
5) TAB is definitely from Sherlock’s POV …
… because, again, narratively it wouldn’t make much sense any other way. A concrete link is that Moriarty tells Sherlock “Because it’s not the fall that kills you, Sherlock. Of all people, you should know that. It’s not the fall. It’s never the fall. It’s the landing” in reference to “I want to solve problems… our problem. The Final Problem. It’s gonna start very soon, Sherlock… the Fall. But don’t worry: falling’s just like flying, except there’s a more permanent destination” from TRF as well as “I-O-U a fall” — conversations John was not present for.
(Left: TRF. Right: TAB)
6) Gunshot flashbacks.
Within TLD both Sherlock and John have flashbacks to gunshots that look exactly the same. Which makes me wonder what the exact logic of this show is. Can two characters have the same memory of a gun going off? We already know that within this episode Sherlock has a flashback to something it’s likely that only Mycroft has seen — so perhaps these gunshots are also metaphorical, or part of a retelling of events by Mycroft/John/Sherlock?
Gun #1: Norbury’s gun. (Or Mary’s. They’re the same model.) Gun #2: Likely John’s gun. Appears after “Taking your own life” speech to Faith!Eurus.
The fact that when Sherlock is on the bridge with hallucination!Faith!Eurus, the shot of the smoking gun is superimposed over him means that Sherlock is the one who got shot at in this memory.
This matches up with the flashback. Ungloved, right handed, with a Walther PPK without a silencer. (As opposed to gloved, left handed, with a silenced Walther PPK like Mary in CAM tower.)
But TST is presented so it seems like John did not see Norbury’s gun go off at the aquarium.
Therefore, either: a) John was there to see the gun go off and he, Mycroft, and possibly Sherlock are crafting an alibi. b) The whole of TLD is from Sherlock’s perspective, including John thinking about the smoking gun, and he subconsciously knows that John was present to see it be fired in TST but his memory manipulated through drugs. c) The whole of TLD is from Sherlock’s perspective, and he imagines John dreaming about the gun going off metaphorically. d) John’s dreaming of the smoking gun is from his POV and the shot is completely metaphorical.
Summary of Main Points:
– Sherlock has a flashback in TST to Christmas HLV. Therefore the burning AGRA data stick scene is fabricated, the flashback is metaphorical, or TST has been filtered through John’s POV.
– The lighting in Sherock’s TST flashback matches the lighting when Mary snuck into Sherlock’s hospital room in HLV. (Possibly indicating that Mary has drugged Sherlock with HOUND/TD-12 at least once to manipulate his memories.)
– Sherlock has a flashback in TLD to John with his cane. This could be metaphorical, an indicator that TLD is filtered through Mycroft’s POV as part of an alibi, or an indicator that TLD is filtered through John’s POV.
– John and Sherlock both have the same flashbacks to gunshots. This could be metaphorical, or an indicator that TLD is filtered through multiple POVs.
– TAB is definitely from Sherlock’s POV.(Thank God for this one concrete episode.)
– TFP has reference to TAB, meaning it has to be primarily based in Sherlock’s POV. There are dialogue references back to ASiP, meaning that eitherSherlock is unconscious and in a coma with Lestrade’s words filtering in, or that TFP is breaking the fourth wall and is an in-universe fanfic/book/movie that Sherlock has somehow influenced along with John — or TFP is a collaboration between Sherlock and John on the blog.
The only episode that remotely worked in S4 was TLD, because, eventually, there was no (living) women beween Sherlock and John.
I remember that, after watching TST, I felt zero Johnlock vibes. The whole episode was just centred around Mary and getting rid of her. We were only told that John and Sherlock chased Mary together, but we never saw it. Instead, we got scenes with Mary alone, or between Mary and John, and Mary and Sherlock, or all three of them – but not one single scene just between John and Sherlock – there were always Greg or clients or whoever present. But it were those scenes just between Sherlock and John that, in previous episodes, were the most intense, intimate and touching moments.
I don’t really have to talk about zero Johnlock in TFP, have I? John saying vatican cameos and Sherlock biding his time; Sherlock trying to shoot himself and John looking on. Even the ‘John is family’ scene played out in the presence of Mycroft; it sounded more like John being a brother. And during the final scenes, we had Mary’s voiceover.
So, Mofftiss tried really hard to eliminate the Johnlock moments i S4 – and it killed their show. All characters seemed OOC, it got boring, there was no real character development, no motivation, TST and TFP seemed filled with meaningless rug pull scenes just for the sake of it, not even Mary dying has left a lasting impression or was particularly touching.
But then, in TLD, there once again was the feasible chemistry between Sherlock and John; they interacted, they touched, they talked. True, ghost!Mary was present during some of those scenes – but she couldn’t interfere, couldn’t interact with them – and the show thrived. The acting got better, the punch lines hit home, the timing worked. It once again was hilarious, funny, moving, sad, even clever. True, it might have been because even the format was more traditional Sherlock – with a case, a villain, a plan to take him down that again threatened to fail spectacularly – but it all worked beautifully. You could see that this was how the show should be – the two of them against the rest of the world, facing an external enemy (Culverton Smith) as well as their inner demons (John’s guilt and self-loathing, culminating painfully in the scene in which he beats up Sherlock, who lets him; Sherlock’s drug addiction because he had lost everything when John sent him away without even talking to him face to face at the end of TST).
And it all culminated in a scene in which they for once declared their special kind of love for one another without the need to define it (it is what it is). They were raw, honest, they interacted, they opened up. This is such a beautiful, intense, honest scene, superb acting, you can see a whole character study in just a small gesture – this is what made Sherlock the biggest show on earth. Not James Bond analogies or the killer sister from Saw crossbred with The Ring mocking ACD canon (3 Garridebs!).
Sherlock did not need all of this beefing up. It was and is at its best when you just let John and Sherlock be together.
But I fear, in their attempt to get rid of each and every Johnlock vibe, Mofftiss simply killed the show. They couldn’t or wouldn’t see that this relationship was the heart of their show – and in suppressing it, they burnt its heart out.
I still don’t understand why. But it shows to me that we didn’t halucinate these vibes, the subtext, the chemistry. It was there – perhaps only to be acknowledged even by the casual viewers when it was gone.
Something felt wrong, amiss, in TST and TFP. It felt like a whole different show. I think, in a way, it’s a case of ‘you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone’. Which, in reverse, proves the presence and importance of Johnlock for the quality the show once was so proud to deliver.
During the Molly scene at roughly 60:20/60:25 minutes, we hear Mrs Hudson’s voice saying “softer Sherlock!”. Why? I thought that if we had ever heard Mrs Hudson talk in Sherlock’s head it would only be “Norbury”. Is it only a sign of his new better, more “human” behaviour?
If any of you doesn’t want to be tagged please let me know
Ah! I’ll need to listen with headphones on…
Mrs. H coaching Sherlock by John’s bed? Comforting him as he tries to tell John what he needs him to hear?
I JUST LISTENED TO THIS BIT THREE TIMES AND I REGRET TO INFORM YOU IT IS INDEED MARTHA LOUISE HUDSON
Assuming that TFP is John’s near-death moments- I can only imagine this to be at John’s sickbed, Mrs Hudson telling Sherlock to speak to him softer because he isn’t responding. He isn’t “picking up his phone” and it went to the voice mail, in which molly (the mirror) tells him that she’s in “dead centre of town.” John is dying.
(On a separate note, if anyone sees this, could you please confirm in TLD if Sian does a voiceover on Gina Bramhill – the morgue!Faith – during the scene in which she’s td12’d and trying to remember? “I can’t remember, can’t remember who you’re trying to kill” I think it’s Sian’s voice but please tell me I haven’t lost my mind)
@holmesianscholar I listened to the TLD td12d Faith and it seems the voice of the orignal Faith not a voiceover but maybe someone else can listen to it?
just gonna leave this here again
I don’t care what anyone says, that is 100% Mrs Hudson holy shit.
@badsnowfo said: This would make sense of why there is a six Thatchers case in the blog and again this season…
RIGHT?! I’m going to kick myself if the reason the blog “has gone downhill a bit” is because there’s nothing to update it with because we’re still in Dream World aaaaaah 😉
I just don’t get it. Every episode had all these lovely little nods to the canon and they were all at least loosely based on the original stories, and then TFP comes in like
*kicks down the door* HERE I AM TO LITERALLY CURB STOMP ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
LEONARD: You know I could arrest you? VELMA: What for? LEONARD: Wearing a dress like that. VELMA: Would you like me to take it off? LEONARD: Then I’d really have to press charges. VELMA: Press away.
VELMA (offscreen): Isn’t that how they got started? LEONARD (offscreen, with Mycroft mouthing along): Who? VELMA (offscreen): Adam and Eve. LEONARD (offscreen, with Mycroft mouthing along): Oh, them. VELMA (offscreen): And that turned out okay. LEONARD (offscreen): You think so?
VELMA: Now, what was all that about arresting me? (She flicks the ash from her cigarette onto the floor beside her. Mycroft smiles.) LEONARD (offscreen): Well, maybe not arresting you. VELMA (offscreen): No? LEONARD (on the footage): I could just keep you under close watch.
VELMA: Very close? LEONARD (offscreen): Uh-huh.
VELMA (offscreen): Shame. I was looking forward to putting myself into the hands of the authorities. LEONARD: You were? VELMA: Fingerprinting … (Turning back, Mycroft reaches over and stubs out a lit cigarette in an ashtray.) VELMA (offscreen): … being searched … (Mycroft turns to the screen.) VELMA: … thoroughly.
It’s the little things that make John’s mind bungalow so freaking good.
Velma (Wilhelmina, William) and Leonard (brave lion, my GOODNESS) are delicious together.
Leonard flirts like John does: he comes on clearly enough, but backs down again to allow room for a “no.” (“Well, maybe not arresting you…I could just keep you under close watch.”)
Velma smokes. Nice touch? Nice touch.
John realises that Sherlock wants him: Velma wants to put herself in authoritative hands; Velma wants to be searched thoroughly; Leonard is pleasantly surprised.
I LOVE THIS.
The Final Problem isn’t about sex. John’s figured out that it won’t be a barrier. It’s about whether he can trust Sherlock. It’s about love.
And what about voyeur Mycroft? Well, he’s been watching them from the start, hasn’t he? Bit embarrassing, that. Probably has cameras in 221B. Probably enjoys himself a bit too much.
It’s John’s idea to disrupt the movie. It’s okay for Mycroft to keep an eye on Sherlock as family, but that’s all. The rest is private.
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