Er, beauty is a construct based entirely on childhood impressions, influences and role models. (TSOT)
SHERLOCK (in reference to the music): Beautiful.
GUARD: Kills you in the end.
SHERLOCK: Aye. Still beautiful, though. (TFP)
EURUS: What do you think?
SHERLOCK: Beautiful.
EURUS: You’re not looking at it.
SHERLOCK: I meant your playing. (TFP)
(All quotes courtesy Ariane DeVere)
So we have this impressive sentence in the best man speech:
I am dismissive of the virtuous, unaware of the beautiful and uncomprehending in the face of the happy.
But if you looks closely, at least the middle part is complete bullshit. From series 1 on Sherlock has definitely known what he thinks is beautiful and has expressed it clearly. He is not unaware of the beautiful, never was. Of course his concept of beauty may vary between traditional (the stars, music) and unconventional (admiration for a clever case of art fraud) but he knows quite well what is beautiful.
The famous TSOT quote has traditionally been applied to male beauty as a construct based on the image of Sherlock’s own father that is reflected in Victor and later in John. So may we infer from this that someone in his life told him about astronomical and musical beauty as well? Probably.
And this made me think. If one part of the sentence is wrong, what about the others?
Now virtue may seem an old-fashioned concept so maybe we should replace it with morals or ethics. Sherlock clearly knows right from wrong and good from evil and usually applies his considerable skills to support the former and fight the latter. When did he ever dismiss moral or ethical people or behaviour? Even when he dismisses the concept of caring, one second later he states that he wants to help people:
SHERLOCK: Will caring about them help save them?
JOHN: Nope.
SHERLOCK: Then I’ll continue not to make that mistake.
I never understood how anyone could see Sherlock as amoral or cold. He saves people. And if something keeps him from doing so, he chooses not to adhere to that behaviour.
In short, Sherlock is not dismissive of the virtuous as long as you define those as people acting in a moral and ethical way and not as some hypocrites who just take on the semblance of virtue.
Now for the last one - uncomprehending in the face of the happy.
This is not something Sherlock talks about often but you cannot doubt that he wants to ensure John’s happiness (whatever that may be). And there are his words to Molly:
I hope you’ll be very happy, Molly Hooper. You deserve it.
It does not matter that neither Mary nor Tom succeed in making people happy, what matters is that Sherlock thinks they do and that he understands happiness very well. At least in others. Sigh.
So what is the conclusion? Sherlock either does not know himself (which I cannot really believe) or people have brainwashed him into thinking that he is dismissive, unaware and uncomprehending. Which with regard to Mycroft’s behaviour seems very plausible. And this is something he has to break free from, he has to liberate himself from this trap. Which, again, leads me to the idea that we are experiencing Sherlock’s self-experiment on how to break free of the limitations of 130 years.
If TRF is a scenario that happens inside Sherlock's head, on his Mind-Stage, then Sherlock himself is the creator of the character 'Jim Moriarty' and the way he is portrayed in this episode. Jim's external appearance, his profession as a criminal mastermind, his behaviour, the words he uses .... everything is constructed by Sherlock. It's how Sherlock perceives what Jim represents.
And Jim seems to represent some of Sherlock's darkest fears but at the same time he is also the cause of immense fascination. Jim - the dangerous and destructive side of Sherlock - a side which turns everything into negativity. Boredom grows into depression .... depression increases into suicidal thoughts.
And when Sherlock's mind suddenly starts to contemplate about the topic of 'girlfriends and boyfriends' .....
... while I’m flattered by your interest ...
... it doesn't take very long and 'Jim' focuses exactly on this topic as well ('hello, sexy'). At first Sherlock deeply enjoys to learn more of this thrilling part of himself. He enjoys playing the game. Not long though and Sherlock starts perceiving Jim as an uncontrollable danger, as a risk for everything that is dear to him ... especially his heart (John). But Jim stubbornly refuses to stay away. Very quickly he turns into the criminal mastermind, the consulting criminal, a constantly growing threat, ticking like an unstable bomb .... ready to explode at any moment. And suddenly it becomes an absolut necessity for Sherlock to examine and investigate and deduce this 'threat' more closely ....
More under the cut ....
Previous to The Reichenbach Fall
In ASIB Irene crosses the threshold of 221b. The first incarnation of sexuality. And though the plot makes it absolutely clear that male as well as female clients are on her customers list, Irene says just as clearly that she is gay. Is this the moment when Sherlock deduces his own sexuality? (Explosive ... it's more me) Is it really a big surprise under these circumstances that Irene is adviced by no one else than Jim Moriarty 'how to play the Holmes boys'? Sherlock the 'virgin' ... the vulcano hidden under a snowcapped mountain ... covered by icy glaciers ... the summit high above the clouds ... the head .... the BRAIN ... the 'ice man'.
And Jim is blowing raspberries at the BRAIN ... 'Jumbo Jet. Dear me, Mr. Holmes, dear me' ....
In THOB Sherlock visits Baskerville. An extremly guarded governments facillity. The section of the BRAIN where frightening monsters are created? (The Return of Baskerville ... in S4) Soon it turns out that the monster in question - the HOUND - is fake but the man behind this horror story creates a drug which serves the same purpose. It induces fear. And when Sherlock looks behind Frankland's mask at the end, it is no one else than Jim Moriarty who grins manically back at him.
Jim has become the face of Sherlock's sexuality
The very last scene of THOB shows how Jim is released from his high security prison by Mycroft ... the BRAIN. This indicates that it is a conscious decision of Sherlock - of his BRAIN - to release what Jim represents and take a closer look at this special topic ... despite all his concerns and his fears ....
First cases and gifts in The Reichenbach Fall
GALLERY DIRECTOR: Falls of the Reichenbach, Turner’s masterpiece, thankfully recovered owing to the prodigious talent of Mr. Sherlock Holmes.
SHERLOCK: Diamond cufflinks. All my cuffs have buttons.
Cufflinks are a device to fasten shirt cuffs. Shirt cuffs .... one could call them the 'soft' version of handcuffs. Handcuffs are generally used to restrain and to capture.
Diamond cufflinks for metaphorical handcuffs ... an interesting present for bringing back 'Reichenbach'. Maybe something precious to endure captivity a little easier?
And .... TURNER'S masterpiece? To turn something, can also mean to change something. This could be used for a very nice little wordplay. :))))
”Top Banker Kidnapped” ”Sherlock Holmes was last night being hailed a hero yet again for masterminding the daring escape of the kidnapped man."
As the public applaud, the boy smiles and offers a small gift-wrapped box to Sherlock. He takes it and rattles it briefly.
SHERLOCK: Tie pin. I don’t wear ties.
A tie is 'a long piece of cloth worn around the neck'. One could call it the 'soft' version of a leash. Or even a garotte ... a device used for strangulation. Strangulation and asphyxiation are main themes throughout Sherlock BBC.
Sherlock gets this present for bringing back a 'Top Banker'. Finances are one of the most important foundations of any government. This seems to be a plausible connection to Mycroft .... the BRAIN.
A precious little jewlery to adorn a metaphorical leash or even garotte as a present for reestablishing the BRAIN ... choosing logic and reason over a suffocating and drowning heart? :))))
LESTRADE: Peter Ricoletti: number one on Interpol’s Most Wanted list since nineteen eighty-two. But we got him; and there’s one person we have to thank for giving us the decisive leads. .... We all chipped in.
As Sherlock tears open the wrapping paper, Sally and Anderson grin expectantly. He pulls out a deerstalker hat.
Oh, the deerstalker! Sherlock calls it 'death frisbee'. This hat seems to be of great imortance on many levels at the same time.
it's the most famous trademark of canon Sherlock Holmes
it can be used as wordplay 'deer=hart' ... 'dear/heart' ... 'stalking the dear heart' ... the dear/heart being John. (Sherlock, the Stag and the Skull)
it can be used as an indicator for changing the levels/plays on Sherlock's Mind-Stage. (Stalking the Deerstalker)
On this level though ... with the main theme circling heavily around sexuality ... the meaning of the deerstalker seems to be none of the above mentioned. As many people have already pointed out, the deerstalker represents also the Victorian era - a time where homosexuality had been forbidden and prosecuted.
Sherlock gets the 'hat' for arresting a man called Ricoletti. The name Ricoletti turns up again in TAB - associated with the murderous ghost bride Emelia.
she commits suicide like Jim,
her substitute body lies in a morgue like Irene's,
she fakes her death and goes undercover like Sherlock,
she kills her husband like Mary kills Sherlock.
I think one can safely say that Emelia is a mirror for all of them. And when Sherlock finally lifts the veil of the bride it is again Jim who's hiding behind it.
Short version: Sherlock receives the deerstalker as a gift for arresting Ricoletti the criminal .... Ricoletti the bride behind whose veil hides Jim .... Jim the master criminal who represents Sherlock's sexuality ... homosexuality. Well ....
Places of power under attack
Three places of great power are invaded by Jim Moriarty at the same time.
The Tower of London - a high security facility where the precious Crown Jewels are harboured.
The Bank of England - a high security facility where immense wealth is kept, a powerful foundation of the government.
Pentonville Prison - a high security facility where 'the dangerous' are imprisoned.
At all three places ... tea is served directly before the attack
'Tea-Code' has already become a classic and TLDs ... 'Is "cup of tea" code?"... confirmed it.
In the nearby surveillance room, one of the two men watching the security footage from all around the Tower turns to his colleague.
SURVEILLANCE MAN 1: Fancy a cuppa, then, mate?
SURVEILLANCE MAN 2: Yeah, why not?
A man brings a tray containing a cup and saucer and a milk jug into the office of the bank’s Director.
The prison’s governor, with an enormous “Keep calm and carry on” mug full of tea on his desk, slams a file down onto his desk as several warders sit or stand nearby.
The moment Jim calls ..... the tea gets spilt
At the Tower of London: "This is an emergency. Please leave the building."
In the surveillance room, the man slams down the cups of tea he was bringing back and grabs a phone as he starts to dial.
At the Bank of England, the Director looks down at the cup of tea he is holding as the liquid inside begins to shimmer and the building vibrates gently.
BANK DIRECTOR: The vault!
Alarms blare and his screen flashes the alarm “VAULT OPENING” as a graphic shows the door to the vault swinging slowly open. The Director’s jaw drops and he stares in disbelief, his tea cup slowly tilting in his hand until the tea pours out into his lap.
In Pentonville Prison, the governor is just lifting his mug to his mouth as alarms begin to sound. A prison warder bursts into the room.
PRISON WARDER: Sir, security’s down, sir. It’s failing!
The governor surges to his feet, accidentally sweeping his mug off the table and onto the floor.
But only at one of the three locations Jim shows up in person. Jim Moriarty comes to Tower Hill to claim the Crown Jewels
With a diamond and a fire extinguisher Jim shatters glass that is 'tougher than anything' (Elephant Glass?) to get to the famous symbols of rulership.
And Jim dresses up as King of the Empire.
Applying a methphorical reading .... the Empire/England/London represents Sherlock's body. And going by the assumption that this episode is located inside Sherlock's head ... acted out on Sherlock's Mind-Stage ... then ....
Sherlock envisions that homosexuality is ruling his body
Crown Jewels .... Definition by Urban Dictionary
'UK slang for penis and balls. Because they are a guarded treasure.'
Maybe this is a nice moment to bring back once more the icon on Jim's phone. The one he uses as a symbol for attacking The Tower of London and the 'Crown Jewels'? Someone has chosen the shape for that crown. When it is fully open .... looks like this .... before it explodes .... :))))
Side note: The little cross at the top and the bigger one lower down .... they look suspiciously like stylised pirate flags. Pirate signs are used in Baskerville to warn of explosives and it is Sherlock 'thie pirate' who enters Sherrinford.
Baskerville - the tip of the iceberg - the little cros (your idea @gosherlocked :) and ... 'I have to go deeper' ... to Sherrinford - the bigger cross?
Then Sherlock gets the message ....
Is this the moment when Sherlock feels that his investigation ... his Mind-Stage experiment ... gets more and more out of control? Is this the moment when he desides it's better to send Jim back behind prison bars? Jim gets arrested. The 'trial of the century' takes place with Sherlock as 'witness for the prosecution'. But then 'no evidence is offered and the defence rests'. Sherlock and the judge (the BRAIN?) simultanously recite the summing-up speech:
"I find myself in the unusual position of recommending a verdict wholeheartedly. You must find him guilty."
No defence - not guilty - Jim walks free
It seems that at this point Sherlock isn't able anymore to keep Jim behind lock and key. Jim sucessfully invades every locked room, breaches every security system, summons all kinds of assassins (emotions) near Baker Street.
The Tower of London - SEXUALITY?
The Bank of England - finances/goverment/BRAIN?
Pentonville Prison - the imprisoned dangerous/unwanted EMOTIONS?
And apparently no court is able to condemn him and send him behind bars again. Jim doesn't only walk free, he even visits 221b himself, the valued home Sherlock shares with his HEART. He threatens everything and promises Sherlock a fall. Jim has become the man with the key. The king. He can take everything he wants. There is no such thing as privacy and secrecy anymore. Jim can blow up the whole world. A 'spider in the center of a crimianl web with thousand threads and he knows precisely how each and every single one of them dances'.
This is how Sherlock envisions Jim
If Londond/Engalnd is a metaphor for Sherlock's body ..... is this how Sherlock depicts his own sexuality? As an insane demon under whose reign he would become a 'prisoner of his own meat'? And a threat for everything he holds dear?
his HEART (John)
his HOME (Mrs. Hudson)
his WORK (Lestrade)
First Irene then Jim. An attracktive and fascinating but misbehaving and manipulative dominatrix, who wants to have Sherlock on a leash and an equally fascinating but dangerously insane criminal mastermind, who wants to burn Sherlock's heart to ashes. These are the characters Sherlock choose to represent sexuality - his sexuality - on his Mind-Stage.
Are they representing Sherlock's deepest fear? That he might be dominated by sexuality, by emotions and sentiment .... by love? Is he afraid of losing control over all those unwanted feelings which are beginning to stir inside him? Ready to break free at any moment ... even from behind elephant glass ... ready to overwhelm him? What is he going to do to avoid this? What is he going to do if he can't avoid this?
I'm too clever to become a prisoner of my own meat
An episode prior - in THOB - Henry Knight tells Sherlock what he keeps seeing as his lost memory slowly starts coming back. Just a couple of words: "Liberty" and ... "in". Sherlock's first association with these words is ....
Liberty in death ... the only true freedom
Is this what Sherlock believes to be his last resort? Is this the reason why both - Sherlock and Jim - commit suicide at the end of The Reichenbach Fall? Is Sherlock's fear to feel emotions so big that he rather chooses death instead? At least in this version of the play .....
I’m afraid. Always been able to keep myself distant ... divorce myself from ... feelings. But ... my body’s betraying me. Interesting, yes? Emotions. The grit on the lens, the fly in the ointment. (Sherlock THOB)
What might be the reason for such a severe anxiety of not only sexuality but all kinds of other emotions as well? Something seems to be lurking in Sherlock's past. Something must have caused Sherlock's need to 'divorce himself from feelings' in such a drastic way.
Maybe Sherlock still asks himself the same questions after the 'fall' ... the same question he asked Mycroft - his BRAIN - already in ASIB at the beginning of S2:
'Do you ever wonder if there is something wrong with us?'
When Sherlock comes back from his hiatus in S3, he starts exploring and investigating the concept of the 'facade'. HIS facade. Who is she? What is she? Where does she come from? Why is she like this? Why did he chose her to be like this?
And all those questions will finally lead to another one .... the key-question Sherlock asks himself after S3 ... in a very 'special' episode ... in TAB:
What made me like this?
I shall have to go deep ..... into myself ....
(Side note: I left out the theme of the kidnapped children of the ambassador, of Sherlock being framed for a crime he didn't commit and the media as a source of (fake) secrets and scandals and guarded knowledge. All this seems to be more related to Sherlock's past ... to the event that changed a very emotional child into someone who felt the need to create the facade of an unfeeling sociopath ... to hide his heart behind that mask.)
I leave you to your own deductions. Thanks @callie-ariane for the scripts.
This is a list of the occasion the word “deep” is used figuratively in the show. Some facts: there are 10 quotes 6 of which occur in the last 4 episodes. 4 quotes occurring in altogether 9 episodes, not much really. 6 occurring in 4 episodes, well. And 4 of these 6 occurring in one episode, i.e. TAB. The Mind Palace episode. Extra: the Derren Brown quote from TEH only happens in Anderson’s mind.
So there seems to be a strong connection between the use of the word “deep” and the idea that what we perceive happens in the mind of a character. Eurus’s song with the key line “deep down below” line is repeated over and over again as if to drive home that we are still in Sherlock’s mind.
Here is the full list (all quotes courtesy @callie-ariane)
Perfectly sound analysis, but I was hoping you’d go deeper. (ASiP)
There has to be something ... something ... ah, something ... something buried deep. (THoB)
Right the way down, right the way deep, right the way sound asleep. That’s right. That’s good – keeping my voice just there in the centre of your head and floating all the way around you. (TEH)
You got yourself in deep there ... with Baron Maupertuis. (TEH)
HOLMES: I shall have to go deep. - WATSON: Deep? Into what? - HOLMES: Myself. (TAB)
Not yet. These are deep waters, Watson. Deep waters. And I shall have to go deeper still. (TAB)
You’re in deep, Sherlock, deeper than you ever intended to be. Have you made a list? (TAB)
Too deep, Sherlock. Way too deep. Congratulations. You’ll be the first man in history to be buried in his own Mind Palace. (TAB)
Deep down below the old beech tree? (TLD/TFP)
Deep waters, Sherlock, all your life. In all your dreams. Deep waters. (TFP)
ELLA: You’ve been having dreams. A recurring dream? D’you want to talk about it? This is a two-way relationship, you know. The whole world has come crashing down around you. Everything’s hopeless, irretrievable. I know that’s what you must feel, but I can only help you if you completely open yourself up to me.
SHERLOCK: That’s not really my style. I need to know what to do.
ELLA: Do?
SHERLOCK: About John.
Everything she says fits John far more than Sherlock. We know he has recurring dreams of war, we know he is not good at opening himself up to others.
The whole room is weird and not at all like the one she used before.
Why does Sherlock go to see her at all? He must know that she is not allowed to discuss her patients.
There are no consequences whatsoever from this scene. Why include it here?
Why the John/Elsa and Sherlock/Ella parallels? Quite apart from the fact that these women have almost the same name.
How does Ella know what happened to Sherlock? Most if not all of it would have been top secret.
For me all this is evidence that in S4 we see Sherlock putting things on his mind stage, using information about John and his past, hence the appearance of Ella. And the fact that both the Ella situation and the Elsa story are so very weird and out-of-this world point to both of them happening in Sherlock’s mind.
