So is there never any way of ever knowing anything for certain?

Yes I get that...and obviously there are over arching links, even from S1E1...we can also be very wrong with things...well at least I have been and have to apologise(to Sally Donovan mainly!).
Also, somthings we are interested in, the team just aren't. Altho they do say they don't like anybody to feel cheated.
But they are not over keen on too much backstory, for instance...or at least things like: he behaves the way he does now becasue of what happened when he wa 2- that kind of thing!

Last edited by besleybean (January 3, 2015 1:15 pm)

The overarching links are definitely there, a thing a really love about the show. Foreshadowings are used quite often. And if Moriarty is still alive some people will feel cheated, whether they like it or not. 

As for the commentaries that are often quoted - I always think that they are mainly a sort of bonus, the creators having fun and letting the fans a bit in on how it was done. Anecdotes, jokes. But there is a glaring contrast between their "professional" joking manner and what we see as an audience. I am sure nobody was laughing during the mind palace scene in HLV or Leinster Gardens and all the others. 
For me it is a bit like open house, a look behind the scenes but not an interpretation of the show itself. This has to be done by us, not by them. You do not expect a novelist to explain their book to you but read it and come to your own conclusions. This also applies to the overarching hints and things. We are the ones to find them, they do not have to be pointed out by the writers. 
 

Well, this time I do believe in what the writers say 

besleybean wrote:

And people reaching different conclusions?

Of course. Happens all the time. Just think of all the different Hamlet interpretations. There are facts - someone demands revenge, is killed, murders someone - but the important thing is what we make of them. Is Hamlet a weakling, a victim, a philosopher, a murderer, a rebel, or all at the same time?
The same goes for "Sherlock". For example we have a man and a woman who get married. But it is for us to interpret what we make of it. 

Last edited by SusiGo (January 3, 2015 5:33 pm)

The topic was "different conclusions", not "marriage", dear.

You asked about different conclusions and ignored all the replies. Did you realise that?

Well, some rarely do, that's true. They ask something and then don't even bother.

No, we don't. It's not the same.

SusiGo wrote:

besleybean wrote:

And people reaching different conclusions?

Of course. Happens all the time. Just think of all the different Hamlet interpretations. There are facts - someone demands revenge, is killed, murders someone - but the important thing is what we make of them. Is Hamlet a weakling, a victim, a philosopher, a murderer, a rebel, or all at the same time?
The same goes for "Sherlock". For example we have a man and a woman who get married. But it is for us to interpret what we make of it. 

To get back on topic. I get that. People have different interpretations of the same work. What I don't get is people who insist that their interpretation is just as valid as the creator's. I mean if I write something, and something interprets it differently than I intend, I'd say a mistake was made, either by me, the recipient or both of us. I don't say: oh, your interpretation is just as valid as mine. No one operates that way. Why would it be different in art?