Whisky wrote:

I personally think that this is a new development. With series 1 and 2, I felt like we were all on the same page. That's what I thought was the brilliance of these series, that they worked for nearly everyone (the hardcore canon fans, the fans of crime series, Cumberbatch/Freeman fans, occasional viewers, ...)

With series 3, I think this doesn't work anymore.

Indeed, that is the impression I am getting. Anyone else having any ideas if and how this could be the case?

The Doctor wrote:

Whisky wrote:

I personally think that this is a new development. With series 1 and 2, I felt like we were all on the same page. That's what I thought was the brilliance of these series, that they worked for nearly everyone (the hardcore canon fans, the fans of crime series, Cumberbatch/Freeman fans, occasional viewers, ...)

With series 3, I think this doesn't work anymore.

Indeed, that is the impression I am getting. Anyone else having any ideas if and how this could be the case?

Well, they changed a few things and since people watch the show for different reasons it's inevitable that some will react well to it and others won't. They are also dealing with incredibly high expectations, people expect to be surprised by them and also expect more of the same, impossible. Furthermore, Mary has always been a difficult character, for everyone, at least that's what they said somewhere in some interview. 

I think it's a risk they had to take, IMHO, otherwise it might have become stale and repetitive. If they had made another ASIP, or TBB, people would have been really disappointed. They had to change, develop the characters, increase the stake etcetera. 

It's hard to say from here whether that worked or not because we don't have numbers on how many people liked it and how many people didn't. The viewing figures are still good, though, so it obviously didn't destroy them. IMO, they did the right thing by changing, it worked for me and to me it shows that they are making the right creative decisions. 

Wow, that must be such a shame.
HLV is my all time favourite episode and I'm really excited about series 4.

Last edited by besleybean (June 29, 2014 6:17 pm)

But MartaSt, he doesn't only "figure out" his enemies, does he? He sees things others can't see! He must have wondered about her knowing a skip code? 
Besleybean, i can cope 

as I have written before: his greatest mistake was the overlooking Mary´s relation with Janine - and thus with Magnussen..

besleybean wrote:

I guess that could be his downfall of trying to be clever again...
.

but but but, if he cannot be clever anymore, what's the point?!?! 

As I have written before I think there is a definite storytelling arc. We start with a Sherlock who has completely suppressed his feelings in order to fully concentrate on his brainwork. After his return he cannot control his feelings any longer when trying to cope with finding back into his old life and coming to terms with losing John (in a way). I am quite sure that the creators will go on to show us how he matures and finally manages how to unite intellect and emotion. 

Last edited by SusiGo (June 29, 2014 9:17 pm)

I adore this episode. It was like a pleasant punch in the solar plexus, left me gasping and very satisfied.

We have to remember that we've seen Sherlock 'slow' many times before. It took him ages to figure out he was looking for a taxi driver in SIP; he was so eager to try to be clever in following Van Coon's last day that John got the answers before Sherlock did; he underestimated Irene in their initial encounter (lost the phone and got his arse whooped); he got Moriarty's motives completely wrong in TGG (thought Moriarty wanted the plans when they were a red herring); he was fixated on the sugar in THOB; and I'm convinced that he was about ten steps behind Moriarty in TRBF. Need I go on?

Mary and CAM played him the way Moriarty played him. Because Moriarty always got the best of Sherlock, I have no doubt that there are others who could pull a fast one like that over him. Irene confounded Sherlock by not giving him any information/distracting him with her nudity. Mary confounded Sherlock by flooding him with information and being very masterful in drawing him and John back together. CAM got the best of Sherlock because Sherlock thinks he's so clever and underestimated his enemy again. Really, we've seen all of this before but, frankly, I think it was done better this time around.

In this series, Sherlock is trying to fit back into his world and come to terms with his two years away. He cannot possibly be the same person he was before. The single biggest realisation he has in this series is how much he matters to the people who matter to him and how much his behaviour affects their lives. Series three is very much about Sherlock growing up.

Mary

Wonderfully said, KP. 

maryagrawatson, you cut right to the heart of the matter when you said:

“In this series, Sherlock is trying to fit back into his world and come to terms with his two years away. He cannot possibly be the same person he was before. The single biggest realisation he has in this series is how much he matters to the people who matter to him and how much his behaviour affects their lives. Series three is very much about Sherlock growing up.”

Ditto for KeepersPrice’s comment:

“He is becoming that "good man" Lestrade predicted he might become all the way back in the first episode.”

I’m a 65 year-old teenaged boy (so to speak), and I’ve watched myself change in both good and bad ways for the last six decades.  Some of the good things about myself have tried to slip away, and some of the bad things have tried to creep up from behind.  It’s a constant struggle to pat my soul back into shape each year.

Despite all the ways Sherlock is above average, he’s still a human being, and what human beings do is start out life one way and then constantly change, whether they like it not.

What Sherlock is doing is the same thing we all do – evaluate our personal priorities each day and then make compromises every time we realize we can’t have that damn cake and eat it too. Life is comprised of choosing the best option from the good ones, or the lesser of two evils from the bad ones.

Fans tend to want a beloved characters to stay just the way they were when they fell in love with them. Sadly that just doesn’t work if the series last long enough to include a sizable chunk of the characters’ lives.  Stuff happens, people are affected by it, life goes on, and nobody looks exactly the same in the mirror as they did last year.

So, we all know Sherlock will learn hard and valuable lessons from life, love, and everyone around him, and he’ll change because of this.  And we should remember that sometimes people go off in wrong directions, realize they’re lost, and come back.

Sherlock seems to be changing just like real people do. The changes are interesting – but for everything new you acquire, something old goes on the yard sale table out front.  We’ll just have to wait and see if each episode's “new” Sherlock has added something we like, without selling off something we miss too much.

Does any of this make sense?  I recently gave up drinking, and I think it’s impairing my judgment. 
 

Last edited by Bruce Cook (July 1, 2014 3:28 am)