The Final Problem, or, Sherlock's Last Bow...
Last night, I finally found the time to give TFP a proper watch. From the fragments I saw when it originally aired, it made me angry over what this once great program had devolved into, but I think, having genuinely given it a chance, can say it was not half as torturous as was TST, and I am not angry with it anymore. Just sad. Grieving, really.
The entire episode had an unreality to it, but more than that, it collapsed under a domino effect of too much information. We are still speculating about Holmes of Canon today, because Watson was so delightfully cryptic, giving us just enough tidbits to whet our appetite. All this excessive character background Sherlock has taken upon itself to convey is bogging down the characters under their own weight. And for me, at least, that saps the enjoyment, because that place they led us to with TFP was inescapably bleak.
It has ruined me for even re-watching earlier episodes, because these revelations portray everyone's actions going back to ASiP in an entirely new light. It's not only one I don't care for in relation to the series in and of itself, but when taken into account this is based on the literary character I have been enamored with since I was seven years old, this modern reworking leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
I understand there is a segment of fandom extremely upset over the lack of "Johnlock" in the episode, who have decided to wash their hands of the series due to alleged queerbaiting. In some ways, I can sympathize, but to be perfectly honest - and this may get me in trouble, idk - I think many of them are simply delusional. There has been no love, no respect, no genuine affection between Sherlock & John since ASiB, and personally, while I can see some redeeming episodes or scenes after that, S2 E1 was where I knew these writers were not the dedicated Holmesians they claim to be, and had/would continue to deviate from Canon. That aside, we saw a Holmes in The Empty Hearse who was as far from the doting fellow who never expected Watson to be so overcome at his return - we had a Sherlock who was self-absorbed, placed John in danger, and played mind games with him to get him back. If you interpret that as love, then please, for society's sake if not your own, seek professional psychiatric advice.
Basically, what I am trying to say in my overly long-winded fashion, is that the lack of slash fodder in this episode has NOT affected my opinion of S4 in general or this episode in particular. That bird flew the coop long ago with this series, and I was merely hoping we could get back to a solid crime drama with a side order of bromance. Or really, even just a solid crime drama would do.
However, I felt the entire episode - the Eurus plot, the Moriarty nonsense, the family history melodrama, the darkness and violence, the gaping plot holes - all of it was pure, undiluted, Grade A shit. Confession. In my head!Canon, "the most winning woman" Holmes ever knew was his mother or sister, and from that debacle stems his misogyny. So I should have been right at the forefront, cheering on the idea of a certifiable Holmes sister. What a brilliant villain she could have made, a true match of wits. But much like this comic book Moriarty, she was nothing but a bad horror movie trope.
I thought everything about the episode was disrespectful to its entire audience, but the ending was particularly to me as a Holmesian. It proved that Moftiss are exploiting an already established bond between Doyle's characters to provoke a cheap emotional reaction, one which has only lately caused me no end of anxiousness and disappointment.
When I was seven years old, and making my way through the Sherlock Holmes Canon for the first time, I set aside my copy of 'The Memoirs', as the cover featured some Paget-esque artwork of Holmes and Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls. From that, and 'The Return', I deduced, as it were, that something terrible had happened to Holmes. Having fallen in love with a literary character in the first few lines of dialogue in SCAN, I decided not to read either book, because it meant something monumental in that Holmesian world had shifted, and I wanted to remember Holmes as he was, without the taint of sadness in these stories that made me so happy.
Well, something has happened to him in Sherlock, and after TPF, I am now that seven year old girl again, only this time, I've read 'The Memoirs' without realizing there is also "The Return', and Sherlock Holmes is dead.
Whether they end the series here or not, by reminding us with that ending that this was, inf fact, intended to be Holmes, they've irreparably ruined something of my love for that literary creation, and that I will not forgive. Whether I discard my DVDs of S1 & S2 remains to be seen, but I want nothing to do with this series again.
The entire episode had an unreality to it, but more than that, it collapsed under a domino effect of too much information. We are still speculating about Holmes of Canon today, because Watson was so delightfully cryptic, giving us just enough tidbits to whet our appetite. All this excessive character background Sherlock has taken upon itself to convey is bogging down the characters under their own weight. And for me, at least, that saps the enjoyment, because that place they led us to with TFP was inescapably bleak.
It has ruined me for even re-watching earlier episodes, because these revelations portray everyone's actions going back to ASiP in an entirely new light. It's not only one I don't care for in relation to the series in and of itself, but when taken into account this is based on the literary character I have been enamored with since I was seven years old, this modern reworking leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
I understand there is a segment of fandom extremely upset over the lack of "Johnlock" in the episode, who have decided to wash their hands of the series due to alleged queerbaiting. In some ways, I can sympathize, but to be perfectly honest - and this may get me in trouble, idk - I think many of them are simply delusional. There has been no love, no respect, no genuine affection between Sherlock & John since ASiB, and personally, while I can see some redeeming episodes or scenes after that, S2 E1 was where I knew these writers were not the dedicated Holmesians they claim to be, and had/would continue to deviate from Canon. That aside, we saw a Holmes in The Empty Hearse who was as far from the doting fellow who never expected Watson to be so overcome at his return - we had a Sherlock who was self-absorbed, placed John in danger, and played mind games with him to get him back. If you interpret that as love, then please, for society's sake if not your own, seek professional psychiatric advice.
Basically, what I am trying to say in my overly long-winded fashion, is that the lack of slash fodder in this episode has NOT affected my opinion of S4 in general or this episode in particular. That bird flew the coop long ago with this series, and I was merely hoping we could get back to a solid crime drama with a side order of bromance. Or really, even just a solid crime drama would do.
However, I felt the entire episode - the Eurus plot, the Moriarty nonsense, the family history melodrama, the darkness and violence, the gaping plot holes - all of it was pure, undiluted, Grade A shit. Confession. In my head!Canon, "the most winning woman" Holmes ever knew was his mother or sister, and from that debacle stems his misogyny. So I should have been right at the forefront, cheering on the idea of a certifiable Holmes sister. What a brilliant villain she could have made, a true match of wits. But much like this comic book Moriarty, she was nothing but a bad horror movie trope.
I thought everything about the episode was disrespectful to its entire audience, but the ending was particularly to me as a Holmesian. It proved that Moftiss are exploiting an already established bond between Doyle's characters to provoke a cheap emotional reaction, one which has only lately caused me no end of anxiousness and disappointment.
When I was seven years old, and making my way through the Sherlock Holmes Canon for the first time, I set aside my copy of 'The Memoirs', as the cover featured some Paget-esque artwork of Holmes and Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls. From that, and 'The Return', I deduced, as it were, that something terrible had happened to Holmes. Having fallen in love with a literary character in the first few lines of dialogue in SCAN, I decided not to read either book, because it meant something monumental in that Holmesian world had shifted, and I wanted to remember Holmes as he was, without the taint of sadness in these stories that made me so happy.
Well, something has happened to him in Sherlock, and after TPF, I am now that seven year old girl again, only this time, I've read 'The Memoirs' without realizing there is also "The Return', and Sherlock Holmes is dead.
Whether they end the series here or not, by reminding us with that ending that this was, inf fact, intended to be Holmes, they've irreparably ruined something of my love for that literary creation, and that I will not forgive. Whether I discard my DVDs of S1 & S2 remains to be seen, but I want nothing to do with this series again.