neadods: (Default)
neadods ([personal profile] neadods) wrote2012-01-15 10:05 pm
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Sherlock

Before we talk about me, Moffat and Gatiss have tweeted that there WILL be a third season, that it was already commissioned. Huzzah!

Now, tonight.

I've been offline all day so I haven't seen anyone else's reactions yet, and I really want to see this episode (and the previous one again) before I go into lots of detail. But that's not going to stop me from having (quite) a few first impression opinions.

The main one is that watching slow character assassination was actually loads more painful than watching a manhunt for 90 minutes. Especially when it looked like that slow character assassination was going to bring down Lestrade as well as Sherlock. (Anderson, really, do you hate Sherlock SO much that you're going to bring down your governor as well? If so, you deserve every nasty thing Sherlock ever said. And Donovan? Sherlock didn't do it with "just a shoeprint." He did it with a shoeprint, understanding of biology for stride and height, and rather a lot of painstaking chemistry, something that New Scotland Yard is theoretically capable of reproducing. Yes, if Sherlock had planted it then what NSY found would be what he said, BUT the fact remains that NSY detectives should be able to find the same data. It *wasn't* "just a shoeprint.")

I'm assuming that the three years dead will be resurrecting Sherlock's reputation instead of dismantling Moriarty's web. Or both. Mind you, the dismantling shouldn't be that hard, not *really* not with Moriarty himself gone. I watched in the company of a theater manager and a journalist; the theater manager was going on and on about how she'd contact all the theaters and see if "Rich Brook" really did have a part in all of those productions, because it's so unlikely that Moriarty actually acted as part of his cover story. The journalist had plenty to say about her counterpart on screen, and how true investigative journalism involves research, not taking the word and the paperwork of the guy you're boffing. (Hmmm. I suddenly sense an SJA crossover.) We all wanted to know two things:
1) Why was the crown jewel display so obviously, patently fake? Three Americans knew it was all wrong; we assume that all of England was pointing and laughing. And
2) There was incontrovertible evidence that Moriarty broke into the crown jewel display. What judge worth his law degree would put aside the tapes and the eyewitness account of the arresting officers on the say-so of an obviously tampered jury? And if the judge was also tampered with, why was the case not appealed? (Please tell me someone is working on a Law and Order UK crossover. Pers? That would be up your alley.)

How Sherlock managed to commit suicide in front of John and not die is a mystery that I dearly hope will be cleared up in the next season that I dearly hope will happen. Molly has got to have had something to do with it; too much was made of Sherlock soliciting her help.

On the converse, I hope that nothing was faked about Moriarty's suicide. He was such a whackaloon that there really didn't seem to be any other way out, and the idea that the Sherlock Holmes story would be reduced to season after season of the Sherlock-vs-Moriarty story really depressed me. Holmes isn't Batman, forever locked with the Joker. He really did detect crime and did not need a Napoleon of Crime to make his career worth living.

I'm surprised that Mycroft was that blindsided by Moriarty. Isn't My supposed to be the smarter of the two brothers? Because after all that time protecting Sherlock, it's gotta sting to know that you're the reason why Sherlock's nemesis could ruin him.

And I gotta say... after 90 minutes of bleeding for Sherlock and worrying about Lestrade? I'm so glad we got that last shot. I NEEDED that last shot.

Bottom line: I had a lot of angst about this one going in; not just because of the storyline, but because I had no confidence in the writer. However, this? Was way better than I feared it would be.

[identity profile] penfold-x.livejournal.com 2012-01-16 06:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Lestrade, though... I wish we'd seen some reaction from him at the end. He really was between a rock and a hard place, and I don't think he ever really believed that Sherlock was a fraud. He's stood beside him too many times at crime scenes to believe that it was all faked.

Agreed. I'm not opposed to them having NSY come down hard on Lestrade for involving Sherlock. I'm not a criminal lawyer, but AFAIK having a private individual enter the crime scene, handle and process evidence would IRL be a defense attorney's paradise. I accept Sherlock's involvement as part of the set up for the story (like, what would happen in a world where ghost are real, what would happen in a world where a time-traveling alien took companions into space, etc).

However, from what we've seen on screen, I think it would take a lot more than Donovan expressing some doubts for Lestrade to really question whether Sherlock is the real deal. I think what we've seen on-screen is ambiguous and given the fact that he did call Sherlock to warn him, I'm choosing to believe Lestrade hasn't lost his faith. I'd prefer to have had something more direct to back that up, however.

[identity profile] wendymr.livejournal.com 2012-01-17 04:22 am (UTC)(link)
I *cough*might have started a story this evening in which Lestrade manages to tell John a bit about the circumstances behind the arrest (and quite a lot of other stuff)*cough*

There might or might not be over 1000 words so far...

[identity profile] neadods.livejournal.com 2012-01-17 11:24 am (UTC)(link)
Yay! Looking forward to it.

[identity profile] wendymr.livejournal.com 2012-01-19 03:26 am (UTC)(link)
LOL!

I am flattered :)

No further progress as yet, but my beloved and trusted BR (and occasional coauthor) tells me that it is deserving of continuation, so continuation it will receive. Soon.

[identity profile] neadods.livejournal.com 2012-01-19 03:08 am (UTC)(link)
I see you have a link. This is also called "Kermit flail."