Sherlock - Series 4

[BestGirl]

I liked it well enough. It was better than The Abominable Bride, at any rate.

Spoiler

John attempting to cheat on Mary with a younger, prettier woman made sense to me. No one needs a reason to cheat beyond boredom, really.

I've never liked Mary much so I don't mind that she's gone. I enjoyed it better when it was just John and Sherlock, but it looks now like we'll get some contrived drama between the two.

I'm so so glad that Moriarty is still dead. Let him stay that way, show.

 

[antsman41]

Eh, some of you have had at least once or twice a slight flirtation while in a relationship.

It happens, I was in the middle of a 3 year relationship when an old High School friend made a pass at me and I was far from 'unhappy' but my mind sure wandered for a while, contemplating things.

There are very few saints in this world.

 

[BestGirl]

Some criticisms of the episode:

Spoiler

- It made no sense for Mary to jump in front of Sherlock because she's the mother of a baby.

- Why did Sherlock even ask John and Mary to come to the aquarium anyway? I don't think they were needed.

- It was incredibly dumb for the AGRA team to carry around their memory sticks on their persons during a mission.

- Ajay's memory stick should have fallen out of the bust when he shoved it up there.

 

[jihado86]

^^
yeah, so many BS non-sense in the episode, but it's still enjoyable.

 

[Silvermoon]

I had a few minor quibbles about the episode, but ultimately I enjoyed it. As a side note, I've seen some people (not necessarily here, more on other message boards) complain about (remainder will be in spoiler tags as it deals with the end of the episode)...

Spoiler

John's guttural groaning at Mary's death... saying it was silly and that it's proof that he's a bad actor. I disagree. Any actor worth their salt should be able to do the standard 'crying' at the loss of a loved one... but for an actor do go to that very raw place to create the type of groaning anguish? It's not easy, and if not done well it can come across wrong. I thought it was right for a character like John to react that way and to me he did pull it off. The only thing I think didn't work with it was the camera work on it. The angle of the camera had us just seeing the top of his head. I think it might have worked a bit better had we seen him (perhaps) in profile).

Also, regarding how it's stupid for John to blame Sherlock.... it is stupid, but it's also in someways understandable when you think about it. You had Sherlock constantly touting his vow to protect them... and he didn't. But more importantly, I don't think John's blaming Sherlock is necessarily all about Sherlock's blame. I think John is taking some of the blame he feels towards himself (what with the almost affair...but most of all, considering he told Mary to go on ahead and meet Sherlock while he tried to find someone to watch Rosie). He wasn't there when he should have been... so, again, I think a lot of the blame he's placing on Sherlock is really him trying to transfer the blame/guilt away from himself.

Just my take on those couple points during the episode. Can't wait till the next ep.

 

[chamber-music]

The whole repressed rage/anguish thing is something Martin Freeman has done often in his dramatic acting career. I don't have a problem with it. Paul Aaron cries and rubs his face often in emotionally charged scenes. Every actor has their own emotional expression moveset.

 

[The Caped Knight]

Well that was slightly unexpected I didn't think they'd have balls to do that in the first episode.

 

[TheVileOne]

Spoiler

So Moriarty never had any plan? Why did Sherlock even misunderstand it had something to do with the black pearl?

 

[Silvermoon]

Spoiler

So Moriarty never had any plan? Why did Sherlock even misunderstand it had something to do with the black pearl?

Spoiler

I think there's still something with Moriarty (or something he left behind)... it just wasn't necessarily *this* (though it still could be, Ms. Norbury did use the "Why does anyone do anything?" line that was used back in "The Great Game" by one of the people parroting Moriarty's words (as a bomb was strapped to them).

As for the black/Borgia pearl, I admit I need to do a rewatch (and so I could be wrong on this), but I thought it was something about realizing that the busts of Thatcher were cast around the same time that the Pearl went missing? Again, I could be wrong on that.

Ultimately, though, the idea that one of the busts could be hiding the pearl was a nod to the Doyle novel that this ep was somewhat inspired by in which there are six busts of Napoleon, inside one of which is the hidden treasure of the Borgia pearl)

 

[Nick Morton]

Im guessing what happened in the first episode is simply a case of the show picking one over the other because of the real life divorce once they started having issues ? Or maybe they started having issues because that one person found out about being killed off ? But now the added drama we are stuck with is gonna suck especially since that one dude is an ass now

 

[antsman41]

Black Pearl was merely a nod to the original story, The Adventure of the Six Napoleons... as a slight joke.

Also, John's guttural noises were great. Real raw heartache, instead of the typical-cheesy "noooooo" or merely a typical tear shedding.

 

[Enriquespy]

Spoiler

- It made no sense for Mary to jump in front of Sherlock because she's the mother of a baby.

- Why did Sherlock even ask John and Mary to come to the aquarium anyway? I don't think they were needed.

The first criticism is on point IMO.

In the second case, Sherlock is braggy,[BLACKOUT] and always wants someone to see him reveal the culprit. He got confident to the point of putting John and Mary in risk just so they can see him take down the bad guy.
That's why he asks Microft in the end if he has become too confident and cocky.
[/BLACKOUT]

That's my take on that point.

 

[TheVileOne]

Spoiler

I think there's still something with Moriarty (or something he left behind)... it just wasn't necessarily *this* (though it still could be, Ms. Norbury did use the "Why does anyone do anything?" line that was used back in "The Great Game" by one of the people parroting Moriarty's words (as a bomb was strapped to them).

As for the black/Borgia pearl, I admit I need to do a rewatch (and so I could be wrong on this), but I thought it was something about realizing that the busts of Thatcher were cast around the same time that the Pearl went missing? Again, I could be wrong on that.

Ultimately, though, the idea that one of the busts could be hiding the pearl was a nod to the Doyle novel that this ep was somewhat inspired by in which there are six busts of Napoleon, inside one of which is the hidden treasure of the Borgia pearl)

Spoiler

Yeah but Sherlock thought that Ajay was hired by Moriarty to steal it from the busts he was breaking and killing people to find? Just seems like a major mis-deduction on his part.

 

[Boom]

The episode was alright. Martin Freeman really sells it at the end.

I'm looking forward to next week with Toby Jones, and I'm especially looking forward to learning more about Moriarty's plot. I've come to really love Andrew Scott's take on the character, despite the rocky introduction in season one.

 

[KillerMcQueen]

Only just remembered a few hours ago that this had started, good start to the season for me, stoked to see what Toby Jones will bring in the next ep. and eager to see just what Moriarty's got planned from the grave.

 

[The Shape]

I thought it was a solid start, although I can't wait to get to the meat of the Moriarty plot -- whatever it may be.

 

[scarlet-witch]

Some criticisms of the episode:

Spoiler

- It made no sense for Mary to jump in front of Sherlock because she's the mother of a baby.

- Why did Sherlock even ask John and Mary to come to the aquarium anyway? I don't think they were needed.

- It was incredibly dumb for the AGRA team to carry around their memory sticks on their persons during a mission.

- Ajay's memory stick should have fallen out of the bust when he shoved it up there.

The last one particularly bothered me.

I get that Mary had to jump in front of him for plot reasons, but pushing him out of the way should've sufficed.

 

[Enriquespy]

The last one particularly bothered me.

I get that Mary had to jump in front of him for plot reasons, but pushing him out of the way should've sufficed.

He could've [BLACKOUT]just fall on his back, that saved him last time. [/BLACKOUT]

 

[scarlet-witch]

I'm just glad Mary's gone tbh, I never liked her stories.

 

[Ozbridge]

The second episode is great, even though I barely understand what happens in the first half. The second half is just perfect.

So pumped for the last episode (ever)!

 

[tanita_mors]

I loved this episode - miles and miles better then the premier. The premise was fantastic, I loved all the twist and little nods to my favorite dominatrix on tv - she is neck and neck with Lady Heather.


Culverton just NEEDED to confess his brilliance to others and found a perfect way to make that confession short term. The man's glee at the thought of eternal infamy was just infectious. Jones was fantastic in this part - I was so not looking forward to this episode, the preview was boring but it delivered big time.


So, the bro is a sis. I wonder if she knew and worked with Moriarty or just used him to confuse and blind Sherlock/Mycroft for her great game.

 

[Enriquespy]

Yes, I also liked this one better than the first one.

The next one will be a nail-biter for sure.

Oddly enough I didn't found Jones to be very menacing.

 

[NotNickFury]

To be honest, I expected Moriarty to pull a reverse Mrs. Doubtfire and reveal he was the sister in disguise.

 

[tanita_mors]

In that moment, so was I. It would have been very Jane the Virgin last season finale.

 

[Brian Braddock]

Culverton was creepy AF. Definitely more than a whiff of Jimmy Saville there.