#s4 hell

[fluffbyday-smutbynight]

[in reference to this post in reply to @dinner--starving]

I replied:

the fact that the scripts for T6T and TFP were not released tells me that there's something there, that we're not supposed to know. So yeah - I think they must know at least *something* about it.

Plus, I can't picture Martin accepting to do the beating scene without an explanation.

Time to elaborate, CHOO CHOO!

Let's take a look at the script for TLD.

(note that the morgue scene is intercut with John and Lestrade seeing the newscast about it; I'll paste here just the morgue beats)

1) John's abrupt violence is: unwarranted, over the top, and out of character

It's not believable that John "I can break your bones while naming them" Watson - who disarmed Wiggins of a knife by just spraining his arm with surgical precision - can't disarm a drugged up Sherlock of a fucking scalpel without beating him up.

And John certainly has anger issues, but him totally losing control like this because his grieving self believes that Sherlock has "killed his wife" is, frankly, ridiculous. It goes against his core nature: John Watson saves lives.

2) This script is incredibly DRY of writer's/director's notes.

It reads almost like a transcription of what's on screen.

Just imagine for a moment Martin reading *this* script and thinking, "yep it makes sense, let's shoot it".

The point being - I think that he and Ben have either been given a different version of the script or, at least, a thourough explanation of what it all *really* means (most likely, an exaggerated rendition of what's playing in Sherlock's or John's mind - a Theatre of the Absurd play, if you will, as I mentioned here about TFP).

... and while we're at it, let's ask Moffat what the fuck is up with the sluglines: a DAY to NIGHT transition between beats that are supposedly continuous and happening in the span of... a minute?

[ermojas]

I’m a big fan of EMP theory: it stands for Extended Me Prison, and it means that everything since 2:59 CST January 1, 2017 has all been in MY mind and I’m gonna wake up any second. 

[reichenlock]

it's not just fucky because johnlock was left ambiguous. i always half expected that anyway, oops. it's fucky because they could've done ambiguous johnlock in an actually well-made episode. do you guys see what i mean? ambiguous, non-explicit johnlock is heartbreaking, absolutely, but in the midst of a high-quality, emotionally reconciling episode that actually tied up the loose ends in the show and strongly implied canon johnlock, i could have almost stomached it. i would be pissed, but i would say, hey, this is still bbc sherlock and it's always 1895 and i'll go write some fanfic. but that's not what they did at all. that's what's confusing me. if johnlock was the thing they didn't want to follow through with they still could've made like a Good Episode to appease everyone involved and just go on their way ?? but they didn't. tfp was literally shit, just from an objective level, honestly. they purposefully left loose ends open and made a low-quality episode. i don't know if it was out of anger or what but this wasn't just below our expectations. this was clearly, deliberately a bad episode. but why ??

[sapphosbees-blog]

catch me swigging from my upturned tinfoil hat here in apple tree yard babes

[fluffbyday-smutbynight]

Friendly reminder that in the original version of "Appointment in Samarra" the man who gets scared away by Death is not the merchant... but his servant

[fluffbyday-smutbynight]

i'm about 20 minutes into a rewatch of the six thatchers and -

i'm not even gonna mention the weird-ass water reflections ok -

just tell me:

what's the matter with the orangey lamps

they're fucking everywhere, and they're always on, even in daylight

...is electric power free in the UK or what

or is this just a fever dream

it clearly is a fever dream

i'll see myself off

[reichenlock]

my brain right now like.....i'm going to be crushed if i Keep Believing bc i doubt anything will happen tomorrow.....but mark gatiss not saying anything about sherlock on twitter, what's that about? bbc not ignoring—even drawing attention to—the fourth episode theory? what's that about? the "johns alibi" sticky note, what's that about? the sketchy rainbow video warps in the promo that had 0 to do with this series' plot, what's that about? the official sherlock facebook page posting openly about the russian leak, what was that about? all of series 3, what was tha—

[shiplocks-of-love]

On the subject of characterisation and why S4 is many people’s nightmare

Having finished reading two brilliant long, plotty fics in the Sherlock fandom, I started thinking about a comment I left in a salty thread a few days ago.

Sherlock Holmes is one of the most popular fictional characters ever, he is internationally recognised and has permeated popular culture for more than a century. And whoever recognises Sherlock Holmes, they will know that there is a Dr. Watson.

Those who bother to know a bit more will read ACD’s stories and realise that many are written from Watson’s POV. And so the characterisation that we have of this sharp, gifted, intellectual consulting detective is coloured by the relationship between the two men.

This is to a large extent independent on how we interpret the nature of the relationship, whether ACD was normalising a homoromantic atmosphere or if they were just good buddies. The fact is, there is no Sherlock Holmes without the good Dr. Watson, they are two halves of the same sphere, even if many react more readily to the first name than to the second.

So how is the characterisation in the canon? There are good and bad adaptations of Sherlock Holmes adventures, but one thing is consistent: when the story includes Watson, these two men are there for each other. They have each other’s back. Yes, Holmes can exasperate anyone including Watson, but the stories don’t break that fundamental bond between the characters.

Enter BBC Sherlock’s S4.

Where did the unity between these men go in S4? Mary shot Sherlock in HLV, had a baby with John, and John still chose her. At the end of S3 I really thought things would break apart - knowing canon, I knew Mary’s days were counted. But her death brought division instead of bringing the two men together (I’m not even talking about johnlock). What was the point?

The absolute strongest point of any Sherlock Holmes story, and of later adaptations, is the existence of a powerful unbreakable bond between Holmes and Watson. You take that away, and everything falls apart.

The first time I watched the morgue scene in TLD I almost cried. I still can’t watch it. In no known universe would Dr. Watson ever lay a finger on Sherlock Holmes.

Maybe the creators are doing some funny plotty thing with EMPs or whatnot. Maybe there will be a big cathartic reveal in S5. But I feel right now that it’s the audience that is going through Garridebs! Is all of this worth the thousand wounds that are being inflicted to the fandom?

One could argue that the hug and TFP rebuilds the lost relationship, but the damage is done, and TFP is a fever dream anyway (of Sherlock? Of John? Of Mofftiss??). So there’s no actual resolution of the highly emotional disconnect that happened in S4.  

Please understand that many of us that are upset, and more or less salty about the whole debacle, love Sherlock and John. We loved this show when it was about Sherlock and John. What we have now is a crawl across a barren desert, with no end in sight, possibly, the worst hiatus ever -  at least we knew after TRF that Sherlock would come back somehow, because canon.

I don’t want to love S4 because it feels like I’m in an abusive relationship - maybe it will be better, it was just this once, look there’s signs that things will be better... But will they?

tl;dr I want my boys to not go through emotional divorce because that destroys the whole concept of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson.

Pssst: the best fics are the ones that keep character, regardless of the story. Someone deliver the memo to Mofftiss.