BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » The Abominable Bride (for those who have seen it)

JP · January 2, 2016 1:34 am

Don't worry, someone will solve it, some time.

Feeling a bit overdosed myself. Too tired to watch it again, to adrenaline-d to go to sleep.
Loved it, even if the fat Mycroft was a bit... too much. The thin Mycroft though... he was so great that actually I start to be a bit suspicious.

Vhanja · January 2, 2016 1:36 am

I don't think he was high throughout the episode. There was a clear difference in level of function in HLV and in this episode. Some time must have passed between the shooting and the Tarmac scene, and Sherlock being Sherlock, I think he would be able to get a hold of drugs almost anywhere. (I reckon he was hold in detention jail, and those places are ripe with drugs, aren't they?)

Sherlock Holmes · January 2, 2016 1:44 am

Bibliophile10 wrote:
I loved the scenes with Mycroft, but I didn't like that the script seems to be foreshadowing his death in S4. With the Victorian Mycroft constantly predicting his own death in a specific number of years and modern Mycroft asking John to take care of Sherlock, the foreshadowing was as light as an anvil.

Yes, as well as the fact that the final prediction was 2 years 11 months. Is that the amount of time we'll have to wait until Series 4? Ah, hope not (and don't think so). It could be referring to the END of Series 4, if that length of time passes during the three episode arc...or it could be hinting at a possible Series 5 death.

Sherlock Holmes · January 2, 2016 1:45 am

Lilythiell wrote:
About the fact that Sherlock was high in HLV...well, I rather think that he must have been throughout the episode. He would hardly have had time, I think (though I'm not an expert) to get that much (he had a list, for Christ's sake!) into his blood stream between the moment he blew Magnussen's brains off (Merry Christmas!) and the Tarmac scene.
So HLV opens with high Sherlock (quite obviously) who then proceeds to continue being high because he misses John. What may have had stopped him was his "stay" in the hospital, but the fact that...well, John didn't settle back in 221b for good ("months of silence, and we're doing this now") must have made him throw everything away...
So, he was high at Christmas. No wonder Wiggins is his protégé, no matter his deductive abilities which he shows off at the beginning of HLV. That's just a bonus.
Furthermore, him being high at Christmas explains pretty well why he didn't think of the Appeldore Vaults being Magnussen's Mind Palace -and the look on his face as he realises it has another perspective. Distraught, and sick, I should think.

That would actually kinda make sense as to why Sherlock was always slightly "off" throughout the whole episode.

Lilythiell · January 2, 2016 1:47 am

Why would Mycroft die in series 4, though? Seems pretty rash.
Mark Gatiss writing his own character off? No way. Is there? I'm panicking, now, I think I like Mycroft too much ("there's no such thing as too much").

I agree, though, the heavy, precise prediction of is own death is a bit..."whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth"...
*carries on panicking*

Lilythiell · January 2, 2016 1:53 am

a_maze wrote:
Could somebody explain this?

I shall ask my colleagues who teach physics whether they could make sense of that and get back to you guys. Doing it right now.

tonnaree · January 2, 2016 1:53 am

About to watch the American broadcast.

Bibliophile10 · January 2, 2016 1:58 am

Sherlock Holmes wrote:
Bibliophile10 wrote:
I loved the scenes with Mycroft, but I didn't like that the script seems to be foreshadowing his death in S4. With the Victorian Mycroft constantly predicting his own death in a specific number of years and modern Mycroft asking John to take care of Sherlock, the foreshadowing was as light as an anvil.
Yes, as well as the fact that the final prediction was 2 years 11 months. Is that the amount of time we'll have to wait until Series 4? Ah, hope not (and don't think so). It could be referring to the END of Series 4, if that length of time passes during the three episode arc...or it could be hinting at a possible Series 5 death.

I think your guess of the end of S4 is the most likely. I'd hate to see them kill off Mycroft, he is my favorite character and I think the show would lose some of it's spark.

Lilythiell · January 2, 2016 2:02 am

tonnaree wrote:
About to watch the American broadcast.

Oh, what a night you're having dear!

This Is The Phantom Lady · January 2, 2016 3:06 am

Oh my you haven't been idle while I managed to get a tiny bit of sleep... heavily laced with feverish dreaming about what I witnessed in this special.

I did think the overly fat Mycroft was a bit too much too... but when you buy into the whole thing being in Sherlocks head that becomes comical. It's his 'grip' on hos big brother isn't it?

The sign language made me laugh like I was torturing an owl! I need to ask my friend tomorrow if she recognised anything... though I think Danish and English sign language has its differences...

And I'd also like to say... I really felt like this was written for us, for the fans... I know the show is, but it really felt like it had been made just for us. I feel spoiled!

Okay... I need to see if I can get another hour and a half of sleep now before getting up at 6 to cosplay, get a train at 7.30 and be at the cinema in time for the 10 am screening...

But it's going to be worth it. I know it!

tonnaree · January 2, 2016 3:53 am

I have now watched it twice and there is still so much to absorb! We have loads of stuff to discuss and dissect. Gonna be a fun time in the forum for the next while..

kgreen20 · January 2, 2016 4:04 am

I'm afraid I've missed the episode. Any chance someone'll post it to YouTube?

CarlPowers · January 2, 2016 4:08 am

Wow.   Loved this.   So very happy.    Must rewatch.   often.

This was more than I expected.   I love the fluidity of the dreams/mind palace/
modern times/old times as the episode progressed. Not an easy thing to pull off.
Hilarious sign language, and Mycroft-as-Jabba-the-Hut, and Molly.      Gorgeous gorgeous
look to it all.   Actual Reichenbach Falls was absolutely riveting.

Touching and sad that the drugs drove this episode, and loved the heart rending performance by
Marc Gatiss toward the end, with his concern for little brother.   Great to see Andrew Scott crazy
again,   and glad to finally determine Moriarty's still dead.

ancientsgate · January 2, 2016 4:27 am

Confusing but utterly clever. Time travel stuff makes my head ache, lol. I need to watch 2 or 3 more times in order to "get it" a bit better.

Just a few thoughts:

What I liked-- Sherlock's costumes. Gorgeous, That green and black plaid suit? The dark blue wool dressing gown with the white piping along the collar? But to see him striding through the cemetery looking like OUR Sherlock, what a relief, to see him back with his curls and his coat.

"Why don't you two just elope?" Good old Moriarty-- even in Sherlock's mind palace, he had to make some Johnlock rumbles, which I loved. But licking the gun, talking with his mouth full of gun, what a nasty weasel.

Why was this released at Christmas? It was a Halloween tale.

ancientsgate · January 2, 2016 4:29 am

James Norrington wrote:
So I assume I'm not the only one completely clueless of what is going on?
Because that happened to me too when I first watched HLV and I thought it was because my English's not very good.
WHAT THE HELL HAVE WE BEEN JUST WATCHING?!?!

I dunno, beats me. Mofftiss does enjoy being clever.

Do you watch with the English subtitles on? Doing that really, really helps. I'm a native speaker, and I still like the subtitles the first couple of times I see an episode-- all that rapid Britspeak goes by me in large part otherwise.

ancientsgate · January 2, 2016 4:30 am

SusiGo wrote:
Why don't you two just elope, for God's sake?

Indeed.

ancientsgate · January 2, 2016 4:32 am

This Is The Phantom Lady wrote:
That elope line killed me. I'm officially a real johnlocker now.

Definitely a bone thrown directly at the johnlocker fans. Not only did they include a line in the episode about them being a couple, IT CAME DIRECTLY OUT OF SHERLOCK'S MIND PALACE. Love it, love the cleverness of it.

ancientsgate · January 2, 2016 4:34 am

This Is The Phantom Lady wrote:
Molly! It took me a few moments to recognise her!

Not me. They were in the morgue, so Molly would naturally be there. I kept waiting for her to show up, wondering how they were going to do that, since in 1895, no woman would ever have been seen in such a place.

I loved that John knew that "Hooper" was a woman, while it escaped Sherlock.

Sherli Bakerst · January 2, 2016 4:36 am

Yeah, I definitely need to see it again! Just finished watching the US broadcast and reading this entire thread for the first time. I'm slightly annoyed because I tried to stream it from my computer to my TV, as I don't have a cable TV subscription, and it kept buffering so I discontinued that and then in the first half, the live stream on my computer winked out a few times. So I missed short bits of dialog here and there. SO ANNOYING! Fortunately, I am going to watch the movie screening on January 5th, which ought to be really cool and give a different perspective from watching it on a laptop. And I'll watch it when it's rebroadcast and someone DVR'ed it for me and I can't wait to see it again!

Anyway, the first time the setting shifted into the present time, all I could think was: Oh, Moftiss, you did it again and fooled us all! But I really liked how the episode kept on time-shifting back and forth. As for Moftiss saying this special was a one-off occurrence, I'm thinking what that means is that they will only do one show with this kind of time travel in it.

I totally didn't get the purpose of "the list" until reading the comments here. I don't think Sherlock was high all throughout HLV; it just doesn't realistic to me, for some reason. Someone mentioned that Sherlock was high when he got on the plane on the tarmac, though, which seems more plausible. But I wouldn't have known because I certainly couldn't tell (not that I have any experience in that kind of thing, however) and I'm kind of wondering why many if not all of you are so sure he was high when he was saying good-bye to John. I can see that it makes sense but I'm just wondering what clues make you so sure.

On the other hand, I did recognize Dr. Hooper as Molly right away. The voice was the giveaway: It was too high-pitched to be a man's voice, in my opinion.

I thought Mycroft's fat suit was hilarious. That it was all in Sherlock's MP, meaning it was even more exaggerated, is all the more funny. I also thought Mary's one-upsmanship of Mycroft, in that she always retrieved the data they needed/wanted before he'd barely even started, was also great. Another way for Sherlock to put his brother down; at least in his own mind.

I really really liked all the nods and connections to scenes in the previous episodes. They were a tribute to the history of the show and a successful plot device for this episode.

For a while, I thought the "YOU" in blood was a connection to "IOU" in TRF. Speaking of The Fall, everything to do with that scene on the ledge was terrific! I especially liked the lighting and John being the deus ex machina. I guess I could psychoanalyze and say that just shows how dependent Sherlock really is on John.

The elopement comment was priceless.

The saddest part for me came when Watson asked Holmes what made him the way he was and Sherlock replied that he made himself that way. I'm probably reading too much into it but perhaps there was the tiniest bit of regret. I don't really think Sherlock was sorry, just that he recognized that he would always be alone, whether he liked it or not, wanted to be or not. That that was the price he had to pay for being the man he'd become.

A lot of times, there were what seemed like throwaway comments or asides, and they seemed very arch. As if the fourth wall was almost but not quite being broken. As if Moftiss were being too cute for their own good. While I enjoyed them immensely, sometimes they seemed...oh...over the top, or just too many, and hence they began to stand out too much. But they sure were fun!

All in all, a fantastic episode that was well worth the wait! I just wish we didn't have to wait such a long time for the next one!

Last edited by Sherli Bakerst (January 2, 2016 4:41 am)

ancientsgate · January 2, 2016 4:42 am

tonnaree wrote:
But, the graveyard scene was also part of the MP so it was a representation of Sherlock thinking John will leave him for good.

It was? He went striding into the graveyard in his curls and his long Sherlock coat, accompanied by Lestrade and some of the Yard's finest. It was only when that skeleton horror in the grave started rising up and grabbed him that he went directly back to his mind palace, lying on his side in the water from the Falls with Moriarty standing there.

Was there a different graveyard scene? I need to watch this a few more times! lol