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June 26, 2014 2:41 pm  #1


Was it too much fan service?

I am new to this forum and let me say for a start if i happen to post this in the wrong section i kindly ask the admins to move it, thanks. 
I don't even know how to start and i had a hard time naming my post. I have just read only a few of the suggestions and ideas for series 3 from way back. And i was a bit gobsmacked, really. Like people wondering about the re-union of Sherlock and John will look like and many wrote that John will most likely punch Sherlock ... it happened. Then people were discussing a possible stag night .. it happened. People were kinda suggesting Sherlock consulting the net for advice to prepare a stag night/wedding .. happened. He youtubed .. I actually haven't gotten much further. So i was wondering (because i personally just got that impression) if the writers have paid a bit too much attention to what is out there and what people actually wanna see? I personally have my issues with season 3 but i must say i have not really watched it several times yet as i did with the other 2 seasons. My opinion/impression might change after re-watching it (but for now i don't even really feel the urge to see it again) To make it clear, i liked season 3 but i was not really loving it. 
So my question is for your opinions ~ did they pay too much attention to what is out there in the fan world? Were they slightly too influenced by all the expectations/ideas? Or is it just me?

 

June 26, 2014 3:54 pm  #2


Re: Was it too much fan service?

I think the writers did what they, not the viewers, wanted to see. They said several times they've been wondering how Sherlock's speech would be like when they realised he must have been Watson's best man and that they didn't like John's reaction to Sherlock's return in canon... I believe it was in their heads even before the series started. And apparently some fans' expectations and wishes were the same. It's not hard to deduce there must have been a stag night before the wedding and that BBC John wouldn't have fainted after seeing Sherlock etc.
Personally, I had different expectations for season 3 than the ones you mentioned; I wanted a brilliant explanation of the fall, three big cases and more Sherlock and Mycroft scenes. I got only the last one (not that I'm unhappy, I just wanted to point out that we as fans don't want the same things). Were they influenced? I think the Sheriarty kiss scene came out from fanfiction and Sherlock ruffling his hair was a pure fanservice but that's all. I don't think it's too much. 


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June 26, 2014 4:50 pm  #3


Re: Was it too much fan service?

Thanks for your thoughts, Marta! Hmm, there must have been a stag night ? Says who? (says the man at the door, haha). Yeah, but really? Cause our Sherlock is ever so conventional? No wait, is he? 
The writers said it would very stupid if Sherlock wouldn't evolve and i fully subscribe to this. Yet it was quite a step away from the character they had been so painstakingly portrayed in the first two seasons. And in several ways. Not only was he more emotional (don't get me any wrong, i love that, personally) but he is kinda losing his game. He cannot figure out Mary (maybe didn't have the time but isn't he always so fast? Moriarty trial scene!) and he is completely wrong about CAM and his "archive" and he "solves" it by "just" shooting him? Okay, i drifting off my original issue, sorry about that. So yeah, i am not entirely sure if the writers aren't somehow influenced by all what is out there. That's why it is interesting to me how others see it. 
Btw, i didn't really have any expectations or wishes but maybe i am the odd one out.

     Thread Starter
 

June 26, 2014 5:26 pm  #4


Re: Was it too much fan service?

I agree with Marta. Some things were of course in the heads of Mofftiss AND the fandom.
Just think of all those scenes in S1 which we truly love - and they had no idea then what we might expect from them.
Although in Season 3 I don't think many of the fans wanted to see Sherlock "die" again or fail.
The stag night, the speech and a lot of other things showed Sherlock's emotional development, which was the aim of the authors.
And somewhere I read that they claimed not to read on tumblr and twitter or any kind of fanfiction. One can believe it or not.
But of course some things must have come through to them and they could have been affected unconsciously. Everything else would be not very professional - what I believe they are.

Last edited by Mattlocked (June 26, 2014 5:26 pm)


__________________________________

"After all this time?" "Always."
Good bye, Lord Rickman of the Alan
 

June 26, 2014 6:09 pm  #5


Re: Was it too much fan service?

I think it is all part of the storytelling arc. We meet a young Sherlock Holmes who is intellectually brilliant but suppresses his feelings. In series 2 this is slowly changing and in series 3 he finally gives in to his emotions. Because he is not accustomed to dealing with feelings he is sometimes overwhelmed and distracted and therefore makes mistakes. I think they will go on to show how he finally manages to reconcile both sides of his personality without comprising one or the other. 


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"To fake the death of one sibling may be regarded as a misfortune; to fake the death of both looks like carelessness." Oscar Wilde about Mycroft Holmes

"It is what it is says love." (Erich Fried)

“Enjoy the journey of life and not just the endgame. I’m also a great believer in treating others as you would like to be treated.” (Benedict Cumberbatch)



 
 

June 26, 2014 6:18 pm  #6


Re: Was it too much fan service?

I personally think they are aware what's out there. I don't doubt their professionalism and i highly admire their writing. They have surprised me so many times by creating an arc as SusiGo has said. Maybe it boils down to "everyone's a critic" ;) have to point out again that i really love that show and even when i wasn't (yet) entirely comfortable with season 3 (will re-watch) it is still a fact that i am really totally captivated by that show, otherwise i wouldn't wreck my brain about this and that. It is a good sign. I was just wondering. 

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June 26, 2014 6:37 pm  #7


Re: Was it too much fan service?

They are aware, I agree, but I think they don't care much about it when it comes to story writing.
And there have been so many ideas around in the fandom it would have been impossible to write a script with no such things in it.


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June 26, 2014 6:45 pm  #8


Re: Was it too much fan service?

I agree with Marta that probably the only one "fandom" scene was scene with Moriarty and Sherlock on the roof (but I think it was not to satisfy fans who wanted to see Sheriarty but rather it was mocking with them like "You wanted to see Johnlock, we give you Sheriarty" ). And I agree with Mattlocked too, Moffat and Gattis many times in their interviews said that they weren't looking for ideas on the Internet but what we see in the show is their own concept. I know that they are the biggest trolls ever but I trust them in that matter (but only in that xD ). But I have to say, after I've watched series 3 and got familiar with all fandom's ideas I have similar concerns as you Lilith. But after watching few interviews with producers I quickly got rid of those thoughts


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June 26, 2014 6:51 pm  #9


Re: Was it too much fan service?

Oh don't get me any wrong here, i loooved how they incoporated the different "how did he fake his death" theories which were flying around, that was superfun! It was tongue-in-cheek, a nod to the fandom, it was really really well done. And heaven's no, i am not saying they go and look around for ideas on the net! Totally not my point, that would mean i am saying they run out of ideas and take suggestions from fans. Nope, really not what i was thinking. Yet, that show is so popular and i am not entirely convinced that they can easily write without being influenced? I don't know? *thinking in progress* 

     Thread Starter
 

June 26, 2014 7:01 pm  #10


Re: Was it too much fan service?

Lilith wrote:

Hmm, there must have been a stag night ? Says who? (says the man at the door, haha). Yeah, but really? Cause our Sherlock is ever so conventional? No wait, is he? 

Sherlock isn't. John is. John wanted a stag night, Sherlock organised one.

SusiGo wrote:

I think it is all part of the storytelling arc. We meet a young Sherlock Holmes who is intellectually brilliant but suppresses his feelings. In series 2 this is slowly changing and in series 3 he finally gives in to his emotions. Because he is not accustomed to dealing with feelings he is sometimes overwhelmed and distracted and therefore makes mistakes. I think they will go on to show how he finally manages to reconcile both sides of his personality without comprising one or the other. 

I agree absolutely. It's all part of his journey as a character.

Let me just say that I am 100% for character development and I believe season 3 would be much worse if it was like I imagined it to be. Moftiss clearly know what they are doing and I trust them like I never trusted any other writers. But it's hard not to speculate when you have to wait two years. How did you manage to do it, Lilith?


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Quidquid Latine dictum sit, altum videtur.
 

June 26, 2014 7:09 pm  #11


Re: Was it too much fan service?

Thing is i don't buy so easily into Sherlock organizing a stag night only cause John wanted one (did he??) but this is just me. 
Ha, seriously i don't know how i managed that. And i have no idea really just how i managed to wait for the German tv broadcast of season three. But i did  Yet, admittedly, from the moment on i knew when it would be on telly finally, it was hell. Until then i was miraculously fine. 

     Thread Starter
 

June 26, 2014 7:43 pm  #12


Re: Was it too much fan service?

It was a stag night with just the two of them. Which is different to a bucks party with a lot of guests and stuff.


__________________________________

"After all this time?" "Always."
Good bye, Lord Rickman of the Alan
 

June 26, 2014 7:57 pm  #13


Re: Was it too much fan service?

I had no idea there was a difference.
But then I consider both to be vile concepts.


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June 26, 2014 8:35 pm  #14


Re: Was it too much fan service?

Mattlocked, that is interesting trivia (i also didn't know there is a difference), yet it was not quite my point. I didn't actually say i missed more guests to that night out  Having said that, i did enjoy that scene to a degree, it was well played and it was funny. It is just not really "my" Sherlock! *lament lament* Even though i loved the notion how he thought he can actually conduct the state of drunkeness but even the best laid plans can (and usually do!) fail. 

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June 26, 2014 8:37 pm  #15


Re: Was it too much fan service?

Mainly because of John!


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June 26, 2014 8:40 pm  #16


Re: Was it too much fan service?

Well, basically only because of John, no? That human factor, you can always rely that this is what makes things go horribly wrong! The human factor. Or .. make things really splendid, depends on perspective 

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June 26, 2014 8:41 pm  #17


Re: Was it too much fan service?

John mixed up the drinks!


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June 26, 2014 8:44 pm  #18


Re: Was it too much fan service?

Yes, i know. He had a shot at the bar and spiked the beer with some hard liquor (is spiked the correct word??) 

     Thread Starter
 

June 26, 2014 8:46 pm  #19


Re: Was it too much fan service?

Yes it is and he was a very naughty boy.

Last edited by besleybean (June 26, 2014 8:46 pm)


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June 26, 2014 8:51 pm  #20


Re: Was it too much fan service?

Very much so. And sure enough it ended in superduper-hangover disaster complete with being really sick. He tried to spice things up a bit, i guess. But the message can only be ~ stay with one beverage! or something like that. (sorry for being hilariously off topic!) 

     Thread Starter
 

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