Sherlock finale

[shapinglight]

I really don't have a lot to say about this.

What I do have to say behind cut, though it isn't spoilery.



God, it was awful! Absolutely bloody awful!

Comments

[shadowkat]

LMAO!

[shadowkat]

Sorry, should say more...but your reaction made me laugh out loud.

As I was telling Your Librarian, I found it far more confusing and convoluted than required. I don't know why the writers felt the need to trick their audience, and use all sorts of gimmicks to show off their cleverness.

Hard to follow, silly in places, and with lots of logistical plot-holes.

The second episode, The Lying Detective was the best. This was rather disappointing after it.

[shapinglight]

Agreed.

Plus the whole 'Eurus can control an entire James Bond villain's lair of armed men just by looking at them' scenario was so preposterous I almost changed the channel.

[shadowkat]

Yep, I got confused during that section. Was she controlling them by what she was saying? By looking at them? And if so, why couldn't she control Watson, Mycroft or Holmes?

I think the writers had intended to build up to the reveal that she programmed Sherlock to kill his best friend when he was a child and this severely traumatized him, but at the last minute changed their minds and decided to leave that ambiguous and open to interpretation.

That was one of my problem with the episode...it was so indecisive. I felt like the writers were throwing things at the wall to see what stuck. It felt like we were watching a writer brain-storming session --"oh wouldn't it be cool to do a creepy ghost story bit -- let's scare Mycroft to death -- then reveal it's Sherlock and Watson doing it to make Mycroft tell them the truth?" or "how about we do a cool rip-off of James Bond and Agatha Christie?". The ghost story bit at the beginning felt a bit out of character for Watson -- I just didn't see Watson coming up with that.

[shapinglight]

Agreed on all points. And I've no idea how Eurus was meant to be controlling the men. It made no sense whatsoever.

[kikimay]

Very disappointing, yeah.

[shapinglight]

I disliked it so much I almost stopped watching - and I'm someone who prefers season 3 and the Christmas special to the earlier seasons. :(

[kikimay]

S1 is my fave, but I adore S3 too! I'm disappointed because this counts as final and it's so ... underwhelming and silly, tbh. The second episode was so much better!

[shapinglight]

Yes, episode 2 was pretty good, and episode 1 was mostly okay. I just didn't like Mary's overblown death scene. It reminded me of an opera, where the person is dying but still has the energy to sing a long aria beforehand. ;(

[kazzy-cee.livejournal.com]

I've just watched all three again and it made more sense on a second viewing which is interesting. I rather enjoyed it but again, I think that's because I know the original stories so well there were about three short stories as a basis for the last one.

[shapinglight]

I just found the whole thing with the secret prison for the seriously deranged and all that James Bond-type stuff really, really irritating - not to mention the woman being able to make people do what she wanted just because (there didn't seem to be any real reason). It was just...ludicrous.

In fact, the only bit I liked was Mrs Hudson doing the hoovering.

[kazzy-cee.livejournal.com]

I assumed she was using an extended form of neurolinguistic programming as she was nodding etc during the time she was talking to the governor in the tapes.

Mrs Hudson has been great during this series. Maybe she should be in a spinoff??

[shapinglight]

Mrs Hudson has been great during this series. Maybe she should be in a spinoff??

I'd watch it. I'm not sure I'd watch any more Sherlock.

[tx-cronopio.livejournal.com]

I agree 100%. They really destroyed the franchise with this season.

[shapinglight]

Well, I didn't mind episode 1 so much, except for Mary's ridiculous death scene, and I thought episode 2 was actually pretty good. But three....

See icon.

[elsaf]

The whole secret prison section of the episode was a ripoff of the "Saw" franchise. Overall, pretty ridiculous.

[shapinglight]

I've never seen any of the Saw movies (not a horror fan), but (supposedly) super-security prisons for criminals so dangerous they threaten humanity's very existence (or whatever) are certainly a staple of super hero movies. I know Sherlock has its fantastical elements, but that was a couple of hundred steps too far for me.

[eac.livejournal.com]

I watched the whole thing last night and turned it off and said to my husband, "Well, that was wholly unacceptable."

If there were a season 5 I'd give them a chance, because I always do, but pulling a madwoman out of the attic and having her run us through Moriarty style puzzles to keep people from dying (and having them all die anyway) was deeply irritating. And that's even after one accepts that the plot is going to be preposterous.

Also, I feel they could have given Mycroft a break here. He could, you know, not be so consistently the cause of death and mayhem

[shapinglight]

Yes, I felt a bit sorry for Mycroft too.

And that's even after one accepts that the plot is going to be preposterous.

I can accept a certain element of preposterousness as well as anyone, I think, but this just went way too far. The idea that this woman could make people do stuff just by looking at them and saying a few nasty things was too ridiculous for words. I just kept hoping Sherlock would say, "O, FFS," and shoot her stone dead. ;(

[ex_peasant441]

Ha ha - I just watched it and I really liked it! Much better than the first two of this season - not a predictable plot, and with a very interesting emotional thread, I thought. I really loved seeing Mycroft and Sherlock reveal their deeply human side and John being all soldiery. The puzzles were getting a bit annoying after a while, but they changed the tempo at just the right point, I felt. And the twist of Euros being the lost little girl in her room really worked for me. I also liked the riffs off the original stories, which were better done and more interestingly twisty than the other two. And the violin duet at the end really tugged my heart strings.

The only thing I found unbelievable was that Sherlock was really rather good at talking to the little girl, which didn't seem likely. Unless you say it was precicely because she was his sister that he could do it.

Oh and the 'one thing to rely on' speech ending with the answer being 'Holmes and Watson' was just ludicrous. This isn't Doctor Who, for heaven's sake!

[shapinglight]

Well, there aren't words to express how profoundly and completely I disagree with you so I won't even try.

[kseenaa.livejournal.com]

Oh no. :-/ My best friend has been a huge fan of the series from start. It'll be interesting to hear what she has to say about it then.

[shapinglight]

Well, some people enjoyed it so she may well do too.

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Both the last few seasons of Dr Who and this final (thank god) season of Sherlock have been a painful exhibit of what happens when clever writers run out of clever ideas and just dress some old clichés up in a lot of smug posturing, thinking people won't notice the emperor's naked.

[shapinglight]

and just dress some old clichés up in a lot of smug posturing, thinking people won't notice the emperor's naked.

That's a really good way of describing it. It was pretty much a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing.

[ningloreth.livejournal.com]

What I don't understand is why 'clever' people always have to be psychopaths and have the ability to control people (whereas, in reality, we'd all just tell them to grow up). If a person really is so brilliant that everyone else is a rat in comparison, why do they have to be lab rats and not beloved pet rats? It's all so boring and done too often.

Watson had a few good lines, as usual, and Mrs Hudson was great, and I always have a soft spot for Molly and her unrequited love but, like you, I much preferred season 3, which played to all the actors' strengths, I thought.

[shapinglight]

What I don't understand is why 'clever' people always have to be psychopaths and have the ability to control people (whereas, in reality, we'd all just tell them to grow up).

Agreed. Plus there was precious little evidence that Eurus really was that clever. We were supposed to believe it, just because everyone said so. Or something.

I much preferred season 3, which played to all the actors' strengths, I thought.

I agree - and I really enjoyed Mary's addition to the cast, until it turned out that she'd been some sort of super-spy. That was just silly, and so bloody typical of Moffatt. My heart sank when they did that.

[snogged.livejournal.com]

I liked it.
It gave me feels.

Yes, there were times when the writers half-assed some explanations, but overall, I still felt caught up in the story.

I wish Euros had her own Arthur Conan Doyle history. I want to read more about her.

[shapinglight]

I'm glad you liked it. Some people do seem to have.

Not me, unfortunately.

[rahirah]

I haven't seen the show yet, but from the sound of the synopses I've seen, it sounds like the writers just went completely batshit nuts. On the other hand, half the people I've seen complaining about how terrible it was are Johnlock Conspiracy types, who are also, so far as I can tell, completely off the deep end. It's one thing to be disappointed that your ship didn't sail, or to be annoyed when showrunners tease a gay relationship and then back off, but this whole business where they believe the actors are sending them secret messages based on the colors of their shirts or the type of beverage they're drinking is, um, well. (Usually that sort of tinhatting only crops up in RPF fandoms, though i suppose the Harry/Hermione shippers came close.)

I had one or two TJLC people on my Tumblr feed, and they'd occasionally post these elaborate screeds about how Watson drinking tea PROVED that he and Sherlock were going to bone on-screen in the finale, and I wanted to just say "Oh, honey, no. It ain't gonna happen." But I didn't, because people who have committed that deeply to a Crazy Fannish Conspiracy tend to react badly when you try to point out that it's, well, crazy.

[kikimay]

Did you see those theories too? OMG.

I was puzzled at some point, because there were people literally talking about calling suicide hotlines over a show and it's just ... I don't even know what kind of adjective I can use for this. If you even consider the idea of ending your life over a tv show, I think you should REALLY talk to a therapist and reconsider your life and your relationships. You're not a healthy individual. (And, I mean, coming from a person with a massive anxiety disorder and agoraphobia like me it's kinda hilarious, but still)

[shapinglight]

You are not wrong. They seem like deeply worrying people - in the sense that you're worried for them, as much as anything.

[eac.livejournal.com]

I really, really don't understand the TJLC people. I'm sympathetic about WANTING the show to deliver your ship, but my assumption was always that Johnlock would remain strictly off-screen...

[shapinglight]

Well, according to Mark Gatiss it never existed and was always in the eye of the beholder. He said as much last year. So I really don't know where they were getting their certainty from.

[eac.livejournal.com]

These are the same kind of people who believe that Paul McCartney died and was replaced by an imposter in the 60s...

[shapinglight]

but from the sound of the synopses I've seen, it sounds like the writers just went completely batshit nuts.

I'm not any kind of JohnLock 'shipper but I'd agree with that assessment. Either that, or they got bored and thought any old shit would do.

But I didn't, because people who have committed that deeply to a Crazy Fannish Conspiracy tend to react badly when you try to point out that it's, well, crazy.

You're very wise, as always.

[thismaz.livejournal.com]

I actually enjoyed all three episodes of this series of Sherlock.
I wasn't sure about the first one, but I re-watched it and am glad I did, because I liked it better second time around.
The second was the strongest, but this last one was good too. Seeing the Holmes brothers stripped bare and John pulling out his last resources to bolster them, was a good dynamic. I was also glad to see an explanation at last for why Moriarty killed himself, because that has always bothered me. I would have to watch them again to catch all the references to the original stories, but those I did catch were good.

[shapinglight]

I'm glad you enjoyed it Maz. I wish I had, but I afraid I thought it was abysmal. I was fine with the other two episodes - except for Mary's death scene, which was stupid - but this...

[tx-cronopio.livejournal.com]

Yep. Abysmal is a good word for it, and it has nothing to do with Johnlock, at least not for me. It had to do with really lazy writing.

[lyr]

I find it super annoying when writers who are not geniuses try to write genius characters, and default to just repeatedly telling us how brilliant these characters are because they can't figure out how to give us any plausible examples of that brilliance. That said, I kind of enjoyed some parts of it once I accepted it as kind of like an Impressionist painting sort of a story - you have to stand back and not look too closely at the details, and think of it more as having the logic of a dream. The closer you examine it, the less it looks like anything.

[shapinglight]

I find it super annoying when writers who are not geniuses try to write genius characters, and default to just repeatedly telling us how brilliant these characters are because they can't figure out how to give us any plausible examples of that brilliance.

I think this is my main gripe with it, actually. Thanks for articulating it so clearly.

[thedothatgirl.livejournal.com]

I loved it.

[shapinglight]

I'm glad.

[tinny]

I stopped watching Sherlock after 301, and I am happy I did. Nobody I know still likes it. What a pity. (But then, I stopped watching Doctor Who because of Moffat as well, so I am not surprised he ruined Sherlock, too.)

(ETA: duh, I meant to say Sherlock! Going to comment on your Lucifer posts in a minute.)

[shapinglight]

I actually really liked season 3. It's probably my favourite. And this season wasn't too bad. It was this last episode I didn't like. I thought it was ridiculous overblown nonsense.

But I agree it's high time Moffatt went. Many TV writers have particular tropes they go back to again and again. Some you like, some you don't. And I find I don't like Moffatt's at all (in fact, one of his tropes was the one thing I really disliked in season 3 of Sherlock).