BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » Why didn't Sherlock recognise his own sister? Discuss!

besleybean · January 9, 2017 8:51 pm

He hadn't met the therapist at that point!

Liberty · January 9, 2017 8:53 pm

He did only meet bus stop lady very, very briefly. And she was in disguise, as was the therapist.

Lis · January 9, 2017 9:02 pm

I think even if Sherlock did know what Eurus looked like as an adult Sherlock was so out of his mind that he didn't even realise that the woman he was talking to was not Faith as when he looked at the photo of Culverton and his daughter on his phone the photo is of his actual daughter and although he did pick up that she looked different he didn't realise they were two different women. Clearly his observational skills in terms of correctly identifying people was not functioning properly. Also I suppose at that point he had no reason to think "Faith" was anyone else so even if he had a vague thought at the back of his mind that she was familiar he might have just dismissed it.

Last edited by Lis (January 9, 2017 9:06 pm)

Lola Red · January 9, 2017 9:27 pm

Preceja wrote:
I understand that Sherlock did not recognized his sister but why John did not recognized his terapist as the bus lady when people from the audience did?

Because he had not rally looked at them. Not at their faces anyway. That is exactly the point Eurus is making

PerfectAngel12 · January 9, 2017 9:29 pm

I'm confused on one point is Eyuros and Sherrinford the same person or are they two different people??

besleybean · January 9, 2017 9:30 pm

They are supposed to be the same person.

Lola Red · January 9, 2017 10:08 pm

Actually, we don't know for sure. We assume it for now, but it has never been stated in the show. We know that Eurus is the secret "brother", but we do not yet know for sure what Sherrinford means. Could be a code name for her, or a place, or an organisation or even yet another sibling, we just don't know anything for sure yet.

Liberty · January 9, 2017 10:34 pm

To confuse things further, I think we've tended to refer to "the other one" as Sherrinford, once we got the name. As in "Is Mary Sherrinford?". So yes, Euros is Sherrinford in the sense that we suspected a secret family member. But Sherrinford might not be the name they're using for her in the show.

Euros deceiving Sherlock at the beginning reminds me a lot of Moriarty as Jim from IT. Sherlock picked up on all the deliberate clues, but missed the main point completely - that it was somebody in disguise, somebody of importance to him.

oldechick · January 9, 2017 10:39 pm

I'm still of the opinion that "Sherrinford" is a place. Maybe where this possibly utterly criminally insane sister has been institutionalized? Maybe she was even the power behind Moriarty? I only know my head nearly exploded from all that went on in that episode!

Preceja · January 10, 2017 12:18 am

He did not recognize her as his sister (probably forgotten) but he still seemed to me somehow happier with her and protective. It was different from normal client. And she was either very good actress (as the sister) or was also enjoying his presence. As if she could not decide if to kill him or love as her brother.

Yitzock · January 10, 2017 12:45 am

Yes, even if he didn't know who she was and she may have been pretending to be someone else, they seemed to "click" or connect. Maybe they used to like each other and get along well but now she's been groomed to be against him or something? And maybe Sherlock was too little to remember her that well, so if she had also changed when she grew up he wouldn't have recognized her. Also, as was already mentioned, Sherlock was high, so that might have affected some of his perception, even if he could still deduce things and be perceptive in that state. And, of course, he wasn't expecting it to be her and she was in disguise. As Sherlock knows, even subtle disguises can be effective.

GreekJ · January 10, 2017 3:48 am

From ASIP, exiting the cab at the crime scene and after Sherlock has explained his initial deductions about John:

Sherlock: Did I get anything wrong?
John:......Harry's short for Harriet.
Sherlock: Harry's your sister. (grimaces) SISss-tah !

kgreen20 · January 10, 2017 4:25 am

Lola Red wrote:
we did see her shooting the gun before he can tell her anything,..

but then again the trailer for next week leads me to suspect that John will not actually end up with a hole in his face

Seeing as he's going to end up trapped in a well in Episode 3, I believe we can safely assume that he won't.=)

Question is, will he also end up in a hospital bed at some point during that episode, as Sherlock did in His Last Vow?

Last edited by kgreen20 (January 10, 2017 4:30 am)

besleybean · January 10, 2017 6:35 am

And in TLD!
Incidentally, yes that's another nice touch...so regarding the third Holmes sibling: we the audience(and John!) are just like Sherlock when he misdiagnosed John had a SISTER!

Liberty · January 10, 2017 8:53 am

Except that we, the audience, have speculated about the other one being a sister!

At the moment, it's still not even clear if Sherlock knows he has a (living) sister. Although sending the mad sister away to an institution and keeping it secret does sound a bit too Gothic for modern day Sherlock. I actually do have some reservations about this twist, and I really, really hope her motivation isn't going to be "she kills people because she's mentally ill". But TST and TLD have been so good, that I have faith!

I imagine Sherlock's recurring dream (the pirate, the singing, etc) might relate to the last time he saw Euros.

Preceja · January 10, 2017 9:23 am

Liberty wrote:
I imagine Sherlock's recurring dream (the pirate, the singing, etc) might relate to the last time he saw Euros.

There might be something with the pirate. It is not only the song, but also the merchant who went to Sumatra and became pirate and in SIB Mycroft mentiones that Sherlock wanted to be a pirate as a kid.

Liberty · January 10, 2017 9:28 am

Yes, and also the Redbeard link, which has been in several episodes.

Preceja · January 10, 2017 9:54 am

Liberty wrote:
Yes, and also the Redbeard link, which has been in several episodes.

Readbeard was also pirate, among others.

Preceja · January 10, 2017 10:47 am

John have not met the terapist before, but he was looking for her at internet. The man terapist had photo there, it is matter of trust I believe, so if John's terapist had it , too, why did he not recognize her. Was Euros so lucky she was much alike her so she decided for this plan? Or really deductions and she hacked her pages inputing her photo?

theo · January 10, 2017 11:05 am

My first thought after revealing Eurus was, that Eurus is a trans girl who was originally their brother. That's why Sherlock would not recognize her because he would not think about sister.
And when little Mycroft was speaking about east wind to little Sherlock he was not referring to Eurus, in the contrary, she chose her new name according to it.
And I know she said how their mother was fond of silly names. But it isn't directly saying that she was named by her mother. Or Eurus might have been a chosen name for her should she be born as a girl.