BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012.
1 of 1- KellyBookworm
- Homeless Network
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- From: United States
- Registered: January 22, 2013
- Posts: 18
"He's just a lunatic and he'll always let you down."
After the police and Sherlock track the pink phone to 221B, Donovan says,"We're wasting out time, all our time. He's just a lunatic and he'll always let you down."
"Let you down"? Has Sherlock failed before? I know he does not solve all of his cases, but from Donovan's words it sounds as though Sherlock tried to help to the police before and did not succeed. But, that would contradict Lestrade's praise to Sherlock ("Sherlock Holmes is a great man..") because Lestrade is the one that needs help with cases.
I like to think that Sherlock is infallible but we know that's not true..
Thoughts?
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- tobeornot221b
- One More Miracle
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- Registered: February 12, 2012
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Re: "He's just a lunatic and he'll always let you down."
Donovan to me: Embittered, resentful, disappointed, jealous - and angry of Lestrade because he appreciates Sherlock more than her.
All her remarks like "psycopath", "gets off on it", "lunatic", "freak", "let you down", "stay away from Sherlock Holmes" serve the purpose to discredit Sherlock in the eyes of John (as the "newbie") and Lestrade and cannot be taken seriously in the substance.
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John: "Have you spoken to Mycroft, Molly, uh, anyone?"
Mrs Hudson: "They don’t matter. You do."
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- dexter.lei
- Homeless Network
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- From: China PR
- Registered: January 9, 2014
- Posts: 20
Re: "He's just a lunatic and he'll always let you down."
In this situation, I think, "let down" means, he would always be a lunatic, never reply them directly, or would never communicate with them in a normal way.
Don't expect Sherlock being nice.
Sentiment is a chemical defect found in the losing side.
-SH
You need me, or you are nothing.
-JM
James Moriarty isn't a man at all. He's a spider. A spider at the center of a web. A criminal web with a thousand threads and he knows precisely how each and every single one of them dances.
-SH
- Willow
- Consulting Criminal
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- Registered: January 14, 2014
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Re: "He's just a lunatic and he'll always let you down."
dexter.lei wrote:
In this situation, I think, "let down" means, he would always be a lunatic, never reply them directly, or would never communicate with them in a normal way.
Don't expect Sherlock being nice.
Conventionally, the statement 'he'll always let you down' is an assertion that he can't be relied on; I can't see any subtext which would undermine the usual meaning of those words. However, she's using future tense; it's a prediction not a statement about what may or may not have happened in the past.
The person speaking them has a lot of mental baggage which means she is far from being an impartial observer; that develops through the series so I won't comment on it on episode 1 
