BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » Sherlock's Mind Palace

sj4iy · January 14, 2014 4:30 am

So, I wanted to discuss what people thought about the visual imagery in Sherlock's Mind Palace. It was so complex and beautifully layered that it just begs for deeper analysis.

I saw Molly (and to a lesser extent, Anderson) as representing the forensic side of his thinking, and Mycroft the rational side. They aren't leading him, as such...they are him. Avatars, if you will...given form to organize his thoughts in those moments. One part of him is panicking, and his more rational thoughts are telling him to get a grip and think about it. Moriarty, to me, was the stuff he keeps locked away, deep down inside. I know some people think he represents death, but it's clearly Sherlock still thinking, so that doesn't quite make sense to me. More like his primal nature, I would suppose. The very basic instincts. "Just die, it's easier"...is what your very core would say when the pain is too much. Hence the visualization of him going down, down the staircase as he loses consciousness, then fighting his way back up when he realizes that John is in danger.

Molly was the forensic side, dissecting every bit of information and making analyses about them. That he would make her the representation of those thoughts in those moments shows the high regard in which he holds her. Mycroft, as always, is rational, cold unfeeling logic; and, unsurprisingly, makes Sherlock feel like an inadequate child in comparison. Moriarty represents all of those subconscious thoughts and feelings, chained away and beaten to keep from ever coming out.

He starts out deducing everything about his situation, only to go down further into fear, pain and shock. The use of color (blinding white light in panic situations to blues, greens and reds representing different feelings at the time) as well as imagery (the staircase, the hallway full of doors, the padded cell) just make this an absolutely amazing sequence that probably has done more for illuminating Sherlock's character than anything before it, and probably anything to come after.

What are your thoughts?

Last edited by sj4iy (January 14, 2014 4:33 am)

Wholocked · January 14, 2014 4:43 am

I absolutely thought this whole sequence was stunning; and yes we can go into deeper and deeper analysis of it for the remainder of the hiatus. I don't think any choices in this were random; they were coming up with a representation of Sherlock's mind.

The symbolism, the use of known characters to represent different facets of his thinking & knowledge, the cinematography. ALL OF IT was brilliant. Just blew me away.

sj4iy · January 14, 2014 4:57 am

The best part...IT WASN'T A HOLLYWOOD STYLE SHOOTING. God, how I've hated that crap- with the blood spurt, being blown backwards and then you're fine in a few days with a bandage. I was so, SO happy that they actually did something realistic and STILL made it more dramatic than anything Hollywood could conjure up.

Last edited by sj4iy (January 14, 2014 4:57 am)

Wholocked · January 14, 2014 5:15 am

YES! And they even said that - Molly's line was exactly that "It's not like in a Hollywood movie"

siya · January 14, 2014 6:12 am

I loved the representation. It was amazing.But i also feel it might be related to his previous 'death' scene during TRF. May be its just me.. but seeing molly there makes me think that way

Fefster01 · January 14, 2014 6:21 am

It was amazing. Classic BBC drama.
Moriarty to me was a construct of his mind in his most desperate place. By this time, he was so close to death but in his mind, he knew he needed to save John. He needed his 'mind Moriarty' to remind him of this.

sj4iy · January 14, 2014 1:23 pm

Fefster01 wrote:
It was amazing. Classic BBC drama.
Moriarty to me was a construct of his mind in his most desperate place. By this time, he was so close to death but in his mind, he knew he needed to save John. He needed his 'mind Moriarty' to remind him of this.

Also a good interpretation.

tonnaree · January 14, 2014 1:51 pm

I can't get to the pictures right now but I saw something on tumblr last night that struck me.
They did a side by side comparison of the staircase in Sherlock's mind palace and the one in ASiP. Extremely similar. Telling that the staircase is from his first case with John.

tonnaree · January 14, 2014 1:52 pm

PS. It's amazing fun to have so much new stuff to talk about!

shezza · January 14, 2014 1:57 pm

Swanpride wrote:
I think Moriarty was literally his "inner Moriarty" - the part of him which truly doesn't care, about anything and anyone. The part if unchained would turn Sherlock in a similiar monster.

Either that, or it is Sherlock's inner dead wish.

I agree and think it's both.

SusiGo · January 14, 2014 2:24 pm

So many insightful thoughts, thank you all. I absolutely love the scene. I was totally fascinated and watched it with bated breath.

Hera · January 14, 2014 2:29 pm

My favorite scene(s) of the whole series, actually.

silverblaze · January 14, 2014 3:20 pm

Yep, you all said what I felt too. Amazing piece of filming. And they do seem to have a thing about avoiding film cliches.

SolarSystem · January 14, 2014 9:25 pm

I agree, this sequence most definitely is a highlight of the whole show so far, I absolutely love it!
When Sherlock falls back, I was reminded of scenes in "Inception", but I never had the feeling I was watching a cheap rip-off or as if they were trying to copy it in any way. It's definitely a sequence that's worth watching over and over again - and imagine watching this on a big screen...! Mind-blowing!
I really love how they visualized something that's certainly not easy to visualize... finding images for the things that are going on in Sherlock's mind... fascinating.

Whisky · January 14, 2014 10:32 pm

tonnaree wrote:
I can't get to the pictures right now but I saw something on tumblr last night that struck me.
They did a side by side comparison of the staircase in Sherlock's mind palace and the one in ASiP. Extremely similar. Telling that the staircase is from his first case with John.

Yes In ASiP, he leaves John standing upstairs, and leaves without him. This time, he remembers him, and climbs back up, for him. That comparison is really beautiful

silverblaze · January 14, 2014 11:50 pm

Oh, wow, that's a really cool metaphor, the staircase. I saw the resemblance witn ASIP but I didn't think of giving it that meaning. Love it even more now.

Swanpride wrote:
I think Moriarty was literally his "inner Moriarty" - the part of him which truly doesn't care, about anything and anyone. The part if unchained would turn Sherlock in a similiar monster.

Either that, or it is Sherlock's inner dead wish.

I had a slightly different interpretation; I thought Moriarty represented all the pain that he would rather not feel, that's why he was chained. However, his barriers broke down and how he had to feel all those things at once, which is a bit overwhelming and not very good for survival purposes. Only the thought of John made him snap out of it.

Ozma · January 15, 2014 12:01 am

I also agree that this scene was absolutely breathtaking. As well as everything you've mentioned already, Benedict's acting...just the cherry on top of the cake. I think I stopped breathing for the whole duration of it. I found it scary, thrilling, interesting, and so deeply deeply moving. I was actually crying the first time I watched it.

Why do you guys think John wasn't in his mind palace?

Last edited by Ozma (January 15, 2014 12:02 am)

sj4iy · January 15, 2014 12:25 am

Swanpride wrote:
Because he is in his heart. ;-P

Basically this.

Ozma · January 15, 2014 12:25 am

awww I literally have tears in my eyes.

Last edited by Ozma (January 15, 2014 12:25 am)

Tetrisash · January 15, 2014 12:28 am

That entire scene was done beautifully. I teared up during the whole thing, especially with the music in the background. They really outdid themselves with the soundtrack this series.