Sherlock 4.3

Jan 15, 2017 22:46

No spoilers this time. I was working through this episode so maybe didn't pay close enough attention to think much about anything, but I'm inclined to think I got the better end of the deal this way ( Read more... )

holmes

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linda_lupos January 16 2017, 19:11:17 UTC
I tuned out halfway through and started doing something else, too, only looking up when it started to sound interesting again. I thought it was a bit of a mess, really. Some lovely character moments (loved how much Mycroft there was! And there was a beautifully acted moment by Ben C at the end) but the plot was way too convoluted imo. The show is way too convinced of its own cleverness.
Martin would have totally know what to do about that plane, though.

Incidentally, have you seen Netflix's Series of Unfortunate Events yet? I've only seen half of the first episode yet, so far it's not perfect but they follow the books quite closely and I'm really enjoying how... Helquist-y everything looks! (Except Count Olaf, he looks... wrong.)

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twirlynoodle January 16 2017, 22:14:57 UTC
From a completely personal perspective, Mycroft was what saved the episode for me - I just like watching Mark Gatiss act, and he had some good moments in this, not least the opening bit which is 100% Gatistacular (as someone who's followed his career, it's everything he loves) and probably my favourite three minutes in all of Series 4.

I kept thinking they were thinking that they were putting in all these very emotional moments, but they just - didn't - read. I don't know why. Maybe they'd gone too far off the rails. But League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse is all off-rail, all the time, and surprisingly emotional, so it can be done ...

Thing is, Series 1 and 2 were clever, and the show had every right to be convinced of its cleverness ... but it's kind of running on smugness alone now with nothing to back it up. I kept wondering why they kept playing the 'game' when it was clear their opponent wasn't going to play by the rules and half of it might not be real anyway. Sherlock should have punctured that pretense. Why didn't he ( ... )

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linda_lupos January 17 2017, 18:59:50 UTC
The emotional moments didn't feel earned. They were too easy. It's a problem Moffat's had with Dr Who, too - it's like he thinks "oh if I put in a lot of drama and amp up the strings on the soundtrack, people will feel emotional!" but it doesn't work that way. Things have to follow logically in a story so the audience can follow along. You don't get to turn a beloved lost dog into a crazy sister who turns out to have murdered a childhood best friend (wtf?!) and then expect the audience to just go along with it and aww the sister just needed a hug (Sherlock's so empathetic like that!) and now it's all ok. No. That's just cheating your audience ( ... )

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