The Sherlock finale

[lokifan]

You can tell by how late I am posting this how much I’m interested-yet-not-in-the-fandom. And yet: so many opinions! There'll be another post about "who you really are? it doesn't matter" and stories.

First off: I really enjoyed most of it. I totally get why those who enjoy Sherlock for the, er, Sherlock Holmes elements - solving mysteries - would

Comments

[iibnf]

I think previous seasons killed this fandom so thoroughly for me, I ended up with no opinions on this at all. I didn't hate it, didn't love it. Pure indifference. Is that worse than hate?

[lokifan]

If I was Mofftiss/Vurtue, I'd say worse!

[kikimay]

I think that the concept wasn't so bad, it was interesting, but the execution ... uuuuggh.

It felt like Sherlock meeting "Saw" meeting "Jane Eyre" placed in Azkaban. What even was the point?

[lokifan]

Haha I kind of feel the opposite. I was totally down for the execution, it was all scary and tense and character relationships under pressure, but I also have deep sympathy for people looking at the concept and being like "what even was the point?"

[prunesquallormd]

A fascinating analysis.

I've been a Sherlock Holmes fan since I was a child but like you I'm not in Sherlock fandom, and I've never really expected Sherlock to be simply a murder mystery series. Conan Doyle's originals were a lot more formulaic in that sense, but the fun of a modern reworking is that you're not limited to the source material.

Which is all to say I rather loved it. It kept me gripped to the end, and that's really all I ask. (But then, I love Gothic horror too and don't at all see it as being out of place in a Sherlock Holmes story: my favourite Conan Doyle story is The Hound of the Baskervilles, which is totally a Gothic horror pastiche, so).

[lokifan]

Why thank you :D

I love Gothic horror too and don't at all see it as being out of place in a Sherlock Holmes story: my favourite Conan Doyle story is The Hound of the Baskervilles, which is totally a Gothic horror pastiche, so).

Yep, exactly. There are a few other Holmes stories that are super Gothic to me, regardless of how they end in Holmes revealing the prosaic truth - pale widow in black veil shows up, family secrets etc etc.

I mean I do think this episode was a shift forward on the Gothic scale, because despite the very meta OTT opening sequence it wasn't pastiche but full-on Gothic. (As opposed to either the original Baskervilles or the Sherlock version.) But yeah, as you say, they're not limited to a particular format

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[writcraft]

See, now I'm a sucker for gothic horror in literature but I absolutely hated this season. I do a bit of writing and lurking in Sherlock fandom but not loads. I don't know if I'm influenced by post-show Tumblr reactions, but so much of this season jarred with me. My favourite seasons by far were seasons 1 and 2 and I think the kind of grand scale action thriller esque last episode just didn't do it for me. I'm one of those people that likes Sherlock and John wandering around solving crimes ;-)

I hated what they did with John. HATED it. I hated the terrible depictions of queerness as villainous or 'lesbian turned for Sherlock' and the completely random need to het everyone up in the second episode.

I've watched each episode a couple of times now and I find myself fast forwarding through scenes. I didn't find it tense, I just found it...boring.

Gutted :(