tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post8775704195970678046..comments2024-03-19T07:50:26.697-04:00Comments on Doux Reviews: Sherlock: His Last VowBillie Douxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17141769005175631213noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-58866998440529337212014-03-08T23:38:13.149-05:002014-03-08T23:38:13.149-05:00Paul:
Can you believe I just finally watched this....Paul:<br />Can you believe I just finally watched this. That's the lamest of the lame. ANYWAY. Love your review. Really liked this Sherlock... Totally agree Magnussen was a different creepy weird ultimately insanely cruel villain. Lots is set up for the future... Plus, Mary is a girl after my own heart. (A girl assassin!) Heatherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13953652907115935895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-40093488641517834842014-02-04T14:55:12.806-05:002014-02-04T14:55:12.806-05:00I absolutely loved this season. Loved Mary. Loved ...I absolutely loved this season. Loved Mary. Loved her and John together. Loved Sherlocks parents. So many twists and turns. So much brain joy. Also Sherlock is for all intents and purposes owned by M-I6. That should be interesting. William Russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12994678992529006893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-87097639992364368132014-02-03T02:54:43.827-05:002014-02-03T02:54:43.827-05:00What an interesting episode. Going into this episo...What an interesting episode. Going into this episode, I wondered if we'd get yet another fractured narrative, and we sure did. I like fractured narratives for the most part, but three episodes in a row--hmm. At what point does messing up the plot's timeline start to be a coy trick to cover up for a lack of genuine suspense? <br /><br />That question sounds nastier than I want it to, since I've really enjoyed this season.<br /><br />One huge highlight for me was the shot from Mycroft's p.o.v. of Young Sherlock surrounded by riot police. What an excellent way to finally humanize Mycroft, the rubbish big brother. I do love the visuality of this show and the way it so clearly isn't just (in Joss's words) "radio with faces." <br /><br />Thank you for another wonderful season of <i>Sherlock</i> reviews, Paul.Josie Kafkahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17892717530356699008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-71311888071198814262014-01-22T04:47:13.649-05:002014-01-22T04:47:13.649-05:00"Wouldn't it make a certain amount of sen..."Wouldn't it make a certain amount of sense - as you touched upon in the review - if this version of Moriarty also had a similar complex?"<br /><br />Oh, you didn't actually mention that in the review. You just said something about Moriarty's brother. Well, I got a lot of mileage out of that idea, didn't I?Raide Ortegahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06447591582541695324noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-38214388827477247672014-01-22T04:45:29.011-05:002014-01-22T04:45:29.011-05:00"Oh, now you're just being stupid--"..."Oh, now you're just being stupid--"<br /><br />I said shut up. Anyway, Moriarty is supposed to be a mirror of Sherlock. One of the overwhelming traits of this Sherlock incarnation is his inferiority complex where Mycroft is concerned. Wouldn't it make a certain amount of sense - as you touched upon in the review - if this version of Moriarty also had a similar complex? Constantly in the shadow of a smarter, more sophisticated, more /goal-oriented/ older brother? Wanting to prove himself on his own terms? Wanting to add more unnecessary question marks? Except whereas Mycroft essentially gives Sherlock a wide berth (so long as he's not causing an international incident), the hypothetical older (Professor?) Moriarty doesn't give his brother an inch. Uses him, controls him, and ultimately, discards him. A bizarro mirror of /Mycroft/, rather than Sherlock, never getting his hands dirty, controlling his resources from the safety of a computer desk, far away from any actual conflict. More like the stories, in a way, but different. You know, like the show has done to pretty much everything.<br /><br />Anyway, this didn't really fit anywhere up there, but part of my reasoning for this was that I feel like they used Moriarty up too quickly in the beginning. Involving him right from the start, and then killing him. Too quick to reveal, and too quick to leave. And now bringing him back just feels... odd. Maybe it's a trick. But maybe there was a plan all along. And those are my two best stabs, somewhere up in that pile of rubbish. Just a thought. <br />Raide Ortegahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06447591582541695324noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-23519406780041584482014-01-22T04:45:13.406-05:002014-01-22T04:45:13.406-05:00About Moriarty:
There's definitely something ...About Moriarty:<br /><br />There's definitely something up with this, and I don't think it's something as simple as him faking his death too. Though, we can't really discount that, as Moriarty is basically a bizarro mirror of Sherlock, and, well, Sherlock did it...<br /><br />But going into the realm of the completely ridiculous (because why not), I have a couple theories on his sudden reemergence.<br /><br />Both of them are centered around this one fact: We haven't actually met Moriarty. Yet.<br /><br />Because that is how he liked to operate, right? That was his modus operandi during the Great Game, and from what we know about him, he moved entirely through cat's paws and, well, people with dynamite strapped to their chests reading off computer screens. At one point, he blew a woman up for the tiniest description. It doesn't really make a lot of sense that he'd just casually reveal himself to Sherlock in a swimming pool. That he'd risk all of his plans just to play a game. He was very much ready to murder Sherlock at the end of that episode just to keep his secrets, until he was distracted. "Well, he was crazy," you say. "And that's not the point. All he wanted was to find a challenge, and he found that in Sherlock. From then on, Sherlock is all that mattered."<br /><br />Right, right, right. Again, that's plausible, and outside the realm of demented fan-theories, probably correct. But I'm being a demented fan here, so keep reading and try not to laugh to hard.<br /><br />Anyway, back to Moriarty. The simplest theory, and most likely (from a demented fan standpoint): The man we saw actually WAS an actor. <br /><br />"Well duh he's an actor, this is a TV sho--" <br /><br />Shut up smartass. Anyway. Actor. A very /good/, very /convincing/, and very /intelligent/ method actor. Maybe crazy, maybe just leveraged (Magnusson would love that, huh) into it. It'd have to be pretty outstanding leverage for him to just decide to kill himself out of spite, but I digress. The hypothetical real Moriarty gave him instructions, gave him methods, told him what to do, what to say, and he acted as Moriarty's... well, as his Watson. His human face, his intermediary. Maybe the only person who actually knew his identity. The hypothetical real Moriarty would be a much more calculated person with a goal and a purpose, not a bored thrill junkie essentially in it for "teh lulz." Someone with a wealth of knowledge, much like Sherlock, except from a position of authority - because, you know, they're the same, but opposites. Sherlock is "good," Moriarty is... not. Sherlock is essentially a glorified PI, so Moriarty would have to be someone of import and repute. Someone infinitely more dangerous than either the cat's paw "Moriarty" or Magnusson. Someone infinitely more understanding of the one lesson Magnusson taught us - knowledge is power. A professor, perhaps...<br /><br />(That's part of the reason for this theory, by the way. Gatiss and Moffat might take the original stories and twist them, invert them, turn them on their head, but they essentially stay true to the canon. Or at least, they acknowledge it. Ad unless I am brain-dead [possible] there was no mention, anywhere of Moriarty being a professor. Didn't look halfway old enough. I thought that was extremely weird. And really, killing him in the second season? And then setting this Magnusson chap up as a Bigger Bad? Revealing him, younger than anyone expected, as a guy who we thought was a throwaway extra meant to demonstrate just how mean Sherlock was to Molly? I dunno. Just seems a little too... irreverent, for lack of a better word.)<br /><br />(Also, beside anything resembling the point, isn't it funny how both Moriarty and Magnusson ended up with a bullet in the brain?)<br /><br />The second theory keeps a lot of the stuff from the first, with one minor but significant alteration: It was, in fact, Moriarty.Raide Ortegahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06447591582541695324noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-90073007649717606442014-01-15T14:51:47.785-05:002014-01-15T14:51:47.785-05:00My only real problem with that episode is Sherlock...My only real problem with that episode is Sherlock's shooting of Magnussen in the end. That was OOC. Not OO Sherlock's C, he totally had to shoot, but the thing is, John had to do it sooner. We even know that he had a gun on him.migmithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06981055611018991476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13727952.post-29556799374220575482014-01-15T14:20:23.693-05:002014-01-15T14:20:23.693-05:00Definitely my least favorite episode of the season...Definitely my least favorite episode of the season (although I adored the first two, so it's hardly a low bar). I actually had a lot of problems with it, the biggest being the fractured timeline. It worked very well in "The Sign of the Three" because it added to the humor and made sense for the wedding speech context, but here it felt unnecessary and made the episode feel unfocused.<br /><br />I hadn't even considered that the Moriarty thing was designed (by Sherlock or someone else) to get Sherlock back to England. Great thought! My current theory is that before he died Moriarty set up an elaborate game for Sherlock in the wild chance he survived their last game. I don't know how I would feel about Moriarty being alive. He's such a terrifically fun character it would be great to have him back, but, on the other hand, if both he AND Sherlock survived Reichenbach it really diminishes the events of that episode.<br /><br />I attribute Sherlock's less than stellar performance in the Mangussen case to his recent relapse. I liked that we got to see more of Sherlock's addiction and drug problem. It's been referenced before but never really been dealt with in a meaningful way.<br /><br />Cute parallel: In "A Study in Pink," Anderson volunteers to search Sherlock's flat for drugs in order to get him in trouble. Here, he does the same to help him. :)sunbunnyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08553429350476841139noreply@blogger.com