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Why we do not need a 5th Sherlock season

03 Thursday May 2018

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Nope, we do not need another Sherlock season. We don’t even want it.

I hope I am shocking you, fans, as much I was shocked when I realised it : Sherlock’s glorious days are gone. The latest statements of Martin Freeman about the filming being not fun due to expectations of fans only thwarted the fandom too. (Really, Martin Freeman? Fans enthusiasm and expectations is the reason why you did not enjoy doing it? The fandom gave you stardom and the Hobbit. BTW, wouldn’t you say that it was rather due to poor writing? If fans could have their words and can participate in the writing, please, Mr Moffat, contact me at once, I have some ideas I’d like to pitch to you!)

Now, I have to admit, Season 1 had turned me into a huge fan from the first 5 minutes on. I wrote about it here, talked (a lot) about it, I profusely praised the series in the column I’ve been writing for 5 years… yet the wonder and spectacular scripting of the first episodes faded a bit, as time went by and as seasons were sparingly released (I meant to write : and exasperatingly awaited.)

Sherlock, the unapologetically ubercreative, witty, fun and addictive TV series landed like a UFO in the streaming service world and onto our screens. It revolutionized our idea of the good ol’English genius sleuth and his faithfull-even-when-betrayed partner in crime (pun intended) the good Doctor Watson. It propelled their relationship in the dimension of cyber bromance, verging on being a potential romantic affair, thanks to the numerous queerbaits the audience was fed to fuel feverish speculation about them, and to keep the watchers and fans falling for the show, hook, line and sinker.

Those hints or sometimes heavyweighted assumptions served as a formidable springboard for the tremendously creative, graphic, and/or suggestive fanfiction and fanart (I must admit I have indulged in fanart too, and drew this, John slumped in his armchair, watching an ep of Doctor Who, drunk & feeling empty 2 days after Sherlock’s “death”, see below) that stemmed from the show shortly after it aired. (Crazy fab fanart out there around the internet, just google “Johnlock fanart“)

Sherlock 2days after

John, 221b Baker Street, 2 days after. (copyright FlorevaV)

The queerbaiting in Sherlock was a master coup of Gatiss and Moffat, of course, and addressed (while non-adressing it frontally altogether, in a sheer paradox) simultaneously the seemingly non-existent interest of Sherlock for romance and his asexuality, and the weird position of Watson, straight at heart and in his carnal desires and attractions but perceived as gay by others, placing him in the ambiguous zone of bisexuality, a thing rarely exosed in a TV series. Most of the audience fell for it, and shipped Johnlock. (fandom jargon expressing that fans liked the idea of a relationship between John Watson and Sherlock).

Because, let’s face it : the whole show is a romantic show, disguised as a mystery show. It’s all about speculative thinking : Sherlock, Molly and their interaction ;  Watson, Sherlock and their interaction (and they do interact like old married couples, being bluntly honest about each other’s qualities but mostly defaults) ; Sherlock, Irene and their interaction ; Mary, Watson and their interaction, Moriarty, Sherlock and their interaction (probably the most fascinating, yet clumsily dealt with after Moriarty’s suicide)… As for me, I would have liked a more complex ambivalence layered admiration/exasperation  between Sherlock and Lestrade.

Nontheless, one relationship remains the most important of all : Watson, Sherlock and their interaction with us, the audience. The poor audience whose hopes and dreams have been toyed with and crushed, resurrected and crushed again. We have been manipulated, tricked, cheated, shocked, made to laugh and hooked. And we have liked it.

Well, up to the moment where it began to make no sense at all and Mrs Hudson almost crashing sportscar on Watson’s nose fails to mend it. Loopholes were already noticeable in Ep 02 in Season 1, The blind banker. How on earth would the book of yellow pages drenched by the rain outside Soo Lin’s building make anyone link it to a possible smugling of ancient artifacts by Van Coon or the journalist and a potential place for the murder to hide? The writers here took a shortcut and it shows when you rewatch it. Similarly, how could Soo Lin been oprhaned so young, and immigrate to the UK so easily from China, not a country known to issue passports to each of its citizen? Through human smugling? Maybe. Yet, it’s not said and that too falls into the gray zone of laziness.

Facts are here, since the end of season 2, it’s been a slow downward spiral to mild disappointment  due to easy writing (what happened, Moftiss? Too much resting on your laurels?) and bizarre construction of the narrative, culminating in the improbable inner changes of Sherlock (who all of a sudden “cared”, thus becoming at the same time a consumate empath  and the ghost of himself), while Watson “toughtened” up (or maybe he just got bored and cared less), to the point of desenchantment. For him and for the audience. Or maybe it was just that the chemistry that was so enjoyable in the first 3 seasons between Cumberbatch and Freeman had been snuffed out like an candle under the blades of Moriarty’s helicopter… The decrease of the brilliant use of data being displayed on our screens while supposedly typed on a phone, or the analysis Sherlock makes in two seconds being plastered on the image of the person he analyses is also something to be sad about, because it was so enjoyable.

At the time of the last season, an odd thought crossed my mind that maybe the personnal lives of both actors, hitting a major milstone, had changed quite dramatically their mindset and their perspective about their near future  : (ATTENTION : TABLOID MOMENT) Cumberbatch getting married and about ot become a father, happily engaging in family life, and Freeman having left  or leaving his partner (Abbington) of 15 years and mother of his 2 children, thus desenaging himself from family life. I remember thinking that certainly the convos during coffee breaks on the set would have been quite odd, one being so happy and cheerful about his relationship, and the other two only miserable about theirs. In any case, the gloomy atmosphere in the relationship on screen of Sherlock and Watson seemed to reflect the gloomy falling apart of Abbington and Freeman’s couple and the distance between the main male actors. And in an eery way too : shortly before the death of his wife Mary Morstan, Watson flirts with another woman and detaches himself. I dunno, it was just a thougt I had at the time.

Yet the epitome of weird narrative is encapsulated in the so-called Eurus mystery. Seeds have been planted all along to bring us to swallow this Everest of no-sense of Eurus being the “other sibling” devilishly more evil and smarter than her brothers (“The East wind is coming” S03E03, “I’m not given to outbursts of brotherly compassion. You know what happened to the other one” S03E02 (please note the neutral-gender used by Mycroft, a hint that it might be a she), “RedBeard” S03E02, etc).

I don’t know for you, but if Eurus can escape, anytime she wants, her highy guarded prison to trick Watson and impersonates the skrink he sees and the girl on the bus he secretely dreams of having an affair with , then why would she stay stuck in this prison? Makes no sense.

And if she is cleverer than the Holmes brothers together, how can she be needing Moriarty’s help? Makes no sense ( unless you want an anthologic scene with him dancing and being his best villainish self.)

Makes no sense either to see Sherlock painfully blabbing the dreaded words to Molly, as asked by Eurus. It’s painful to watch because the writers have stretched this moment of unease for both protagonists up to its breakpoint, rendering the whole thing just artificial when it could have been more subtle and effective. It’s difficult also not to think of it as a wink to all those who ship Sherlolly. Which is both a blessing and a curse. As it infiltrates the narrative, the show lost a bit of its soul in that moment. This concession to fans may have been “the expectations” that Freeman said killed the fun of it. Yet it is lovely to see that the creators wanted to acknowledge the huge following of the show and in a way, thank them for their loyalty. Not sure it served the show. Once again, Sherlock becoming sentimental, caring about others’ feelings and state of mind, and becoming compasionnate is just plain weird.

So we were left to see Sherlock and Watson reunited once again, “Here are my Baker Boys” ( was it a hint at the 1989 movie the Fabulous Baker Boys? Will Moftiss make a movie out of the series?), exclaimed a videotaped Mary Morstan. From that moment on, Watson is expecting to blog, Sherlock to be bored again, especially now since all the horrendous villains are dead (each being more despicable that the precedent, if you remember, even if we have never heard about any of them in previous episode). Or maybe it could be the other way round, Watson getting so bored he kills himself, and Sherlock could blog about it while raising Baby Rosamund Mary, with Molly, why not…

So, Mofftiss, Gatat, don’t inflict another season on Sherlock’s fans world, please. That’s enough.

Moriarty’s dead, after all.

 

 

 

 

 

Sherlock’s faked death (should’ve posted earlier, oho).

02 Thursday Mar 2017

Posted by in TV Series

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(Disclaimer : This is a draft I wrote 4 years ago,  can you imagine, 4 years already!!! and forgot/feared  to post. Time has come)

Episode 3 of Season 2. The Reichenbach Fall.

We know what it means, when Moriarty and Sherlock are reunited for the last time around the Reichenbach fall. It means the end of Moriarty and the apparent death of Sherlock. But we, as a baffled audience so engrossed with the show, need to figure out HOW Sherlock did fake his own death.

Many fans have crafted fanvids, and you can find them on YOUTUBE.

Here, I am no developing a theory,  but rather considering elements of clues sprinkled in the episode. The mannekin hanging from the ceiling,the breadcrumbs, the scream of the little girl, the fairy tales references and the book, the gingerbreadman,  the apple and the penknife, the little bouncing ball,  Sherlock saying several times that he’s not himself, Moriarty stating : “You are me” and “I am the storyteller”, fairy tales “and pretty grim ones”, grim or Grimm?,  this statement about changing/false/creating identities, the “I.O.U.” signs , the fake call about Mrs Hudson being shot, Mrs Hudson asking if Sherlock has sorted it all out, Molly’s willingness to help Sherlock in anyway, SH repeating it’s a trick…a magic trick, the buses and the lorry parked at the foot of the building, the various people gathered in front of Barts, the cyclist, the jostle, people preventing JW to touch SH, the song “Staying alive”.) It’s tremendously appealing to play the detective, too, trying to solve the mystery, and later compare with the solution (it’s a long wait until Season 3 is out!) 

We must remember that what we saw, as the audience, may not be what has just happened before John’s very eyes (and not our eyes, because we have seen things that the character John Watson has not seen, and we know things that John does not know). It has the appearance of what our mind thinks has just happened. Like a magic trick. Our mind fills the gap with what it thinks is the logical curse of vents.

Some elements are more relevant than other, that is…well, obvious.

Truth?    Moriarty tells the truth : he is the storyteller, he not only tells fairy tales, but he also plays the big bad villain. He wants Sherlock’s fall (metaphoric and literal). Sherlock, the pure hero on the “side of the angels”, seems to be the puppet in his hands. Yet Sherlock makes his moves and pulls out magic tricks as well.

The roof scene just after Moriarty’s head shot is a key moment, for John and for the audience, because this is the turning point. Stakes have been raised. We know that Sherlock will jump, because, we know that Sherlock wants to spare his friends’ lives : John, Mrs Hudson, Lestrade.  And a body with Moriarty’s face lies seemingly dead besides SH.

Fairy Tales?  Hansel & Gretel?  A false lead, an appetizer. So… obvious. A lot has been said about Hänsel & Gretel. And yet everyone missed … Snow White.  . 

Ok, so Hänsel & Gretel : The breadcrumbs,  The gingerbread man (St Nicholas magazine, 1875) seems a reference to please the American audience, as well as a reference of the material construction of the Witch’s house (gingerbread). The chocolate  factory, a metaphoric Candy, Sugar-coated and Gingerbread house.

And now, much more subtle and satisfying, the discreet references to Snow White (where Snow White is a metaphor for SH) : the apple left by Jim Moriarty, engraved with the letters I.O.U. The new identity of the wicked queen (JM) transforming her appearance, to deceive Snow White, (just as JM created the identity of Rich Brook to deceive the world and the readers of Kitty Riley’s articles). The false proof of Snow White’s death, produced by someone who cared for her (the gamekeeper and the doe’s heart given  to the queen). The empty grave, (no corpse in either case, Snow White was not dead, just asleep) And paying attention to the journalist’s  flat, Richard Brook/JM’s protector,  letters on the wall spell MAKE BELIEVE , 58’23” in the ep (addendum as of today, always wanted to add it, that’s why I never properly properly the post until today).

(Here a point : why would the kidnapper leave so obvious clues  and why would he have gone to the factory, sampled as many particcules for impossible to mistake identification, and returned to kidnap the kids? To plant the doubt in Donovan and Anderson’s mind and therefore to lead Lestrade stop trusting him and finally getting SH arrested. Jim Moriarty plays his favourite game : deception.)

Facts?    Watson sets off for 221b, alarmed by a phone call, (Probably Molly calling),  in the book, he was sent to the inn. Watson  is needed out of the way, in no possibility to protect Sherlock nor to fire a gun at Moriarty. He had to be delayed.

A song : STAYING ALIVE. States pretty clearly Moriarty’s intentions, I think. Deceiving SH. Staying alive and having the world thinking he’s dead. That is clever.

Moriarty confronts Sherlock,on the roof of Barts, at Sherlock’s request. SH : “I am you” , JM : “You’re me”. They both came to play, they share similarities, they both create identities (whereas in the books, SH disguises more often), they both make tricks. And, against all odds, Moriarty fires a gun. MORIARTY pulls a gun and shoots himself, thus preventing SH from getting anything that could stop the gunmen. With his (apparent) death, Moriarty forces SH to the only remaining solution to stop his friends from being shot. 

Sherlock apologizes to Watson, confines him in a location where Watson cannot see the lower part of Barts, and gives him a clue : “it’s a magic trick”. Then, he JUMPS.

Minutes later (how long later, though?), Sherlock is lying on the pavement, motionless, with his head and face covered in blood.

A grave bearing SH’s name.

A newspaper’s headlines about the Death of a FAKE GENIUS. But not a line about Moriarty’s death, “the most dangerous criminal mind”. Wouldn’t MYCROFT and the world not celebrate this fact? Hence, the confirmation that Moriarty’s alive and hiding, just like Sherlock.

Possible explanation : 

Moriarty IS ALIVE, and not dead, he FAKED his own death too, thus forcing SH to jump (if not dead, a possibility remains to make him change his orders to the hitmen).

Sherlock JUMPS, in a net spread below by his “irregulars” (7 persons are seen in the vicinity of his possible landing).

John is jostled by a cyclist and stumbles on the asphalt. How long does he stays knocked out? We have NO IDEA at all (no indication of time, nor close up on his wristwatch). This is the magic of camera and film editing, time elapses and for the audience, it just takes 5 seconds, but in real time, it could be : one minute? 5, 10 minutes, one hour? Watson  is probably watched over by an “irregular,” to be sure he’s blurred/ passed out, but still ok.

During that time, unbeknownst to John, and concealed by the building between them, the irregulars get rid o the net (in the truck?), arrange SH on the pavement, make his head up as if smashed on the pavement, spill the blood (SH’s own?) prepared/provided/taken out of SH’s body by Molly. With the small bouncing ball tucked under his armpit, SH might have slowed down his pulse, to trick Watson in thinking it has stopped.

Irregulars prevent John from approaching too close and staying near SH, making it unable for him to provide  his doctor knowledge/practices.

Moriarty thinks he’s dead, Watson thinks he’s dead. The papers think he’s dead….so it must be true!

Now we have to wait till (thanks film editing) more than 2 years have passed, until SH RETURNS!!!! Ta-Da!!!

 

(I’ll post about Sherlock, season 4 once I have recovered from the disappointment, stay tuned)

So long, folks.

 

Flo

 

Sherlock and me

03 Wednesday Oct 2012

Posted by in Creating, TV Series, Writing

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Sherlock.

 What? (now, really…)

It’s obvious. Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock and you. Sherlock and us. Sherlock and the industry. Sherlock and me. We like Sherlock & the industry LOVES him.

As for me, I confess, I am a fan. I am a great fan, though I never enrolled in any Holmesian club (maybe one day?).

In 2010 BBC produced a new theme on an old classic. The modern take on the  TV series,  conceived by Steven  Moffat and Mark Gatiss on a train while en route to a filming location in Cardiff, was bound to gain the affection of fans as well as neophytes. Sherlock, the much beloved sleuth that popped out of Sir Arthur Connan Doyle’s industrious mind got a dab of freshness and a makeover that left the audience astounded by the quality achieved.

The narrative is not news, of course (I refer to Moffat’s 2007 previous piece of art, “Jekyll” which I recommend you watch), the construction is rigorous, the script is perfectly written (I read one, it’s just what we oddjobbers dream to write), and the style is as immortal as Conan Doyle’s. Narrative finds please the modern watcher who has already experienced high photography quality, graphic novelties and inlays of modernity in the screen (remember, for instance, how Matrix had opened the path to perfectly trimmed slow motioned scenes). And the actors’ performances please our sense of comparison as they are as equally good/perfect/wonderful/impossibly amazing (choose) as Jeremy Brett and David Burke & later Edward Hardwicke. Benedict Cumberbatch is a unique & definitive Modern Sherlock, just as Brett was the ultimate period Sherlock. And Martin Freeman is just above all the Dr Watsons we’ve seen . Rupert Graves is this admiring Lestrade Sir Arthur described  in the books and Andrew Scott is good news as Moriarty, pleasantly mad.

Netflix uploaded the Sherlock Season 2 recently, and last week I indulged in watching the 3 episodes in a single row. You think I am addicted? Well, ahem…

You see the show and you tell me if the whole thing isn’t anything but brilliant.

(Who else can say : “Uh. Breathing. Breathing’s boring.”, and makes you feel he really thinks it? Sherlock cum – Berbatch)

I’m hooked, I’ve turned the last scene in my mind hundred of times (in my sleep, thank whoever is to be thanked, because I have no time in daytime for such amusement, pages need to be inked and written, job must get done , contests participated in and publisher provided publishing with material!). I WANT TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!!!

The script writers have fulfilled their duties. The cliffhanger is teasing, audience skyrocketed, and we crave for more episodes.

This is currently one of the best shows to learn from, when you are a screenwriter, a director of the photography, a credits designer, and SFX creator (unless you care for BIG, BOLD, UNNECESSARY, or UNSUBTLE SFX). Not in order to duplicate, of course. To fuel creation and align to such excellency standards.

I had to divert my attention from Sherlock to reinvest my own projects and current works.

Sunday evening, I discovered Miranda Hart’s show ( I had a good laugh), and I liked it so much I ordered the DVD on the spot. (now, talk of a British TV series addiction). Very visual and known slapsticks, but who cares? Old tricks, you know… etc…etc…Have a look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTf17cmPl0I

Pleasant day to you, dear readers. The 1st page of that short-film script awaits me…

Floreva

A nice cuppa and a British series episode

09 Sunday Sep 2012

Posted by in Entertainemt, TV Series

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It’s been awhile since I last posted, as a fellow blogger & follower told me recently. Sorry, sorry, dear readers, it’s been a busy time, back on tracks and back to work. Plus I had to find something worth writing about & sharing with you.

And, no wonder, it’s TV series “addiction” I’ll write about today… Let me grab my preferred teabag, kettle is whistling…There… So…

…While discovering the much acclaimed (and being mesmerized by) Sherlock on Netflix  last month, I reflected on my TV & movie enthusiasm. And I came to the conclusion that I decidedly have a thing for most British stuff .

Particularly when it comes to TV series.

I loved them then ( 60’s & 70’s, 90’s), I love them now.

No doubt I’ll love them tomorrow.

Especially if the future series blend inventive narrative tricks with caustic characters and brilliant writing, and neat subtext (as Sherlock does, for instance).

And on whatever angle I approach them, I am never disappointed. Comedy, drama,  law, children ( remember Paddington, and Here comes the double decker ? ),  detective, period and history, they’re always a perfect match for me.

An complete list would prove annoying for you to read and useless (if not preposterous) for me to write down, so in respect for your time, I’ve shortlisted them to the 10  I would carry the DVD’s with me, should I be sent to the farthest corner on Earth (provided there’s a TV set, of course ;-p )

Mind you, choosing among all them has been difficult.

So the winners are :

The Avengers (from Honor Blackman’s time to Linda Thorson’s time), The Prisoner, Blackadder, Sherlock, Yes Minister, Wish me Luck, Foyle’s War, Absolutely fabulous (which comes “ex aequo” with French and Saunders and a Bit of Fry and Laurie, I’m afraid), Wire in the Blood, and The Last Enemy.

Now, I just can’t wait to watch A touch of Cloth, a spoof crime-police series airing on Sky 1. With John Hannah (who starred in McCallum and New street order, btw).

Interview in the Guardian here : http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/aug/26/charlie-brooker-spoof-crime-drama-sky1

Trailer there : http://sky1.sky.com/sky1hd-shows/a-touch-of-cloth
http://on.fb.me/jXJXk5 (Like on Facebook)
http://bit.ly/mn7faJ (Follow on Twitter)

I’d be glad to read what your fave British series is, drop me a line!

I think I need a second cuppa now, cheers and good night.

F.