On January 20th, 2017, the citizens of the United Kingdom find themselves watching BBC Nightly News coverage of President Trump’s inauguration. A woman vacuums her flat and sighs at the television, overcome with dread. A man in a pub glances up at the screen before taking a much-needed gulp of beer. Without warning, the BBC channels freeze. Static snow, broadcast colors – an interruption of the feed. The men at the pub glance up at the screen. The woman turns off her vacuum. There in front of everyone, on every BBC Channel, is James Moriarty, flashing a threatening smile back at them.
“Peek-a-boo,” he says menacingly. The men at the pub look around at each other confused. Moriarty mumbles on.
“It’s doesn’t quite make sense, this doesn’t quite make sense.”
All people in the pub watch in silence as his voice sharpens.
“Of course it doesn’t make sense! It’s not real.”
“I mean, come on, be serious.”
“Is this silly enough for you yet?”
“Gothic enough?”
“Mad enough, even for you?”
“It doesn’t make sense because it’s not real.”
“None of it.”
The men in the pub are shocked. Could this mean what they think it means?
“You want to see the real series four of Sherlock? Surprise. “The Reigate Puzzle” airs Sunday night at nine. The real story will be told.”
“Shall we go over together?”
The feed cuts out. Back to the inauguration. However, no one in the United Kingdom could care less about that. The news spreads virally, every Sherlock fan finds out about this within hours. The fandom spirals into chaos.
On Sunday, January 22nd, Sherlock fans see what this story has been about from the beginning. The episode starts as Sherlock wakes in his hospital bed, John Watson right beside him. Mary’s gunshot was severe, he barely pulled through. It’s been a few weeks of a medically-induced coma, but he’s back now. Finally out of his mind and into the real world. John holds his hand, tearing as he watches his best friend wake up.
And from there we see the two of them take down the ruthless, smart, manipulative Mary Morstan, who was never an assassin, but something far, far worse. All of the extra filmed clips from the last years build to be a beautiful story of love, loss, and revenge. The theorized storyline of the episode can be found here.
i know i really should leave this alone at this point because we’ve beyond established that literally nothing in the episode holds up under even one second of scrutiny but
please i am begging
how does one gain mind control powers just by being smart
After reading a bunch of people’s individual reactions to the Sherlock finale, I think I finally understand why Moftiss referred to this as “insane wish fulfillment.” Without sharing my feelings on the matter, this is how I think “The Final Problem” was, in a way, exactly what they promised it would be:
Every big ship had a moment(s) that – if you had the right goggles on – could have made it canon.
Sherlolly- Everyone knows Molly is in love with Sherlock. But the second time he says “I love you” to Molly during that harrowing phone call, has been perceived as a real confession by those who thought his tone was sincere. They believe Sherlock really meant he was in love with Molly when he said that phrase. And there were also potential hints of a pregnant Molly – so couple that with Eurus’ question about sex, and Molly could even be pregnant with Sherlock’s child.
Adlock- Some have said Sherlock was playing Irene’s theme on the violin when Eurus asked him if he had sex recently. It could also be inferred that it is Irene he is texting at the end (since texting has been their ‘thing’ throughout the show), saying “you know where to find me” and therefore hinting at a possible future reunion.
Mystrade- Sherlock asks Greg to take care of Mycroft after their difficult ordeal and Greg obliges. This could hint at a potential relationship in the future if Mycroft seeks comfort in Greg during a tough time.
John x Mary – The show continued to discuss their marriage (by having the Governor draw parallels between John’s marriage and the Governor’s obvious love for his wife). And Mary appeared yet again by DVD to comfort John after her death.
Sheriarty – We were shown yet again Moriarty’s obsession with Sherlock. He was willing to chat with a psychopath in an island prison in order to learn more about the man he was so enthralled by. Some might interpret this as romantic.
Johnlock – Sherlock implies that John is family when Mycroft tries to kick him out of the room during their discussion of Eurus. Sherlock chooses to focus on saving John’s life rather than a (fake) girl whose death (along with countless others’) is imminent. He only really contemplated Mycroft’s death rather than John’s (although he ultimately decided to kill neither of them). He and John are shown living together and raising a child together at the end. Even Mary’s DVD seems to hint at their budding relationship by saying she knows what they can be once she is gone.
Not to mention, a lot of us believed/hoped that Sherlock had a much deeper, emotional side than he often let on. This episode explicitly showed us his heart and explained why he hid it for so long while simultaneously freeing him from that reasoning, so he no longer has to pretend to be a heartless man. The cold, calculating Sherlock of canon past is no longer, and the loving, caring Sherlock we all believed in is now a definitive reality. (And mainly John, but also his other friends and family, helped bring that side of him out).
Plus, many different theories were proved right, including that Mycroft hesitantly colluded with Moriarty in some way (which later caused issues for Sherlock) and that Redbeard was a reference to trauma Sherlock faced in his childhood.
A lot of people, including myself, at least somewhat expected a more blatant/outright form of wish fulfillment in whatever way we hoped it would manifest. In some ways we received it and in many other ways we were let down. It reminds me of Mofftiss’ approach to Sherlock’s suicide, where they provided numerous different theories to explain how he faked it, but never really confirmed what the true method was. That way, no one was proved wrong… but no one was really proved right either.
Perhaps it was easier for them to give us all a little bit of what we wanted rather than give a specific group exactly what they wanted. Perhaps that’s why so many people saw parallels to the movie “Clue” – because depending on how you analyze the subtext/read between the lines, there are many possible interpretations to the ending rather than one simple and definitive conclusion. Perhaps they wanted all fans to have their wishes fulfilled…
mark gatiss getting salty about the james bond drag, pointing to all the instances in canon to support sherlock being both a brain and a fist.
okee dokey marky mark. in rhyming verse please illuminate the canon indications of eurus magneto holmes and her Awesome Godlike Powers earned through no scientific study or effort at all. please craft me a sonnet regarding how it’s even indicated in your own damn show.
when you brutalize a character you’ve asked your audience to identify with, in a small way you also brutalize your audience. think carefully about why you are subjecting them to that and what you hope they will get from it.
also ask yourself if the audience you are subjecting to this treatment is going to be largely marginalized people. if so, consider another direction.
Victor Trevor is a tiny lil’ version of John Watson ya all! This explains why Sherlock immediately felt connected with him when they first met. He was waiting for him. All his life, without even knowing.
This was what broke my heart.
Looking for Victor is what Sherlock based his entire life on, every move, every decision – not memories of Eurus. He looked and looked and looked, and that’s how he spends his life, looking for clues. That’s why he’s not a scientist or a philosopher. His heart is still looking.
Oh my GOD, CWB, that fucks me right up.
Okay how dare you
Beauty is a construct based on childhood impressions…
I wonder what William Goldman would say about all this fuckery
4. Thou shalt not use false mystery or cheap surprise. 5. Thou shalt respect thy audience. 6. Thou shalt know thy world as God knows this one. 7. Thou shalt not complicate when complexity is better. 9. Thou shalt not write on the nose — put a subtext under every text.
Dksknsjsbdkdbd this is like DON’Ts CHECK LIST FOR TFP
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