I feel as if I just got mind effed (good), and played (bad) at the same time

As some have already stated, this was basically a mixture of SAW, Shutter Island, Mission Impossible & Bond all jumbled together. There were many good parts and many overall bad parts. It generally provided a sense of "family" which was good. But the whole Sherrinford horror maze was highly impractical, cliche, annoying and nothing more than a cheap copy of SAW. Then the writers basically screwed Molly over and we never heard or saw her again. And Mary with yet another Mission Impossible dvd message and the final narration.....utterly annoying and stupid. However, there were some great emotionally disturbing parts like when Watson found the bones. But the most disturbing part was the scene where Redbeard transitioned to the little boy. That gave me some chills and had me all over the place! It was touching to see the gentle emotional side of Sherlock talking and guiding the little girl (who I figured to be Euros at the beginning, but dismissed later down), and the final part where he showed his brotherly side by comforting adult Euros in her room. It was very heart warming and touching. But all in all, the bad out-weight the good in this one. This was not worth the wait. You know what other hyped up movie I waited 3 years to see, but turned out to be crap? Batman vs Superman.

Its clear that at this point Mofftiss are creating more loose ends while neglecting to tie up the previous ones. Its as if they don't care anymore. Anything is anything now. I'm seeing too many far-fetched and outrageous things all in the name of "surprising the fans".....but its killing the original character and nature of the show which made it successful. Its sad to say, but I think its totally POINTLESS theorizing and reading into this show anymore, as the writers continue to cop-out and cheap out, while not tying up loose ends. This show has gone down the toilet after Series 2.

So, this episode also had red letters at the end of the credits... American only, as far as I know. This is what the red letters/words (?) are:

AN EM IO

My buddies and I searched, and this is what we came up with:
It could be the word "Anemoi," Greek for "winds." 
From Wikipedia on Anemoi- "wind gods who were each ascribed a cardinal direction from which their respective winds came (see Classical compass winds), and were each associated with various seasons and weather conditions."
The Anemoi were the four greek winds: "The four gods were Boreas (North Wind), Notus (South Wind), Zephyrus (West Wind) and Eurus (East Wind)"
Anemoi are also called "Venti," which if I remember right is the Roman word for them.

Another thing could have been the "Anemoi Thuellai"
"They were the spirits of the violent storm-winds, They were kept locked away inside the floating island of "Aiolos (Aeolus)" and released at the command of the gods to wreak their havoc." Sound famaliar? Locked away on an island, let loose to wreak havoc. Also Eurus is one of the winds on the island.
So, yeah. Crazy. My brain is going in circles with the whole episode, my heart is crying over the ending (so beautiful, but so worried!), and I'm pretty sure I have a couple gray hairs from all that. My throat hurts from yelling and screaming in shock so much...


 

Last edited by i'm-so-cHAngeAbLE (January 16, 2017 2:54 am)

Stop wasting your time reading into this show. Its not worth it anymore. The creators care less about answering your questions, so don't waste your time.

WhoIWantToBe wrote:

Stayin Alive wrote:

Stop wasting your time reading into this show. Its not worth it anymore. The creators care less about answering your questions, so don't waste your time.

And, in the (paraphrased) words of Sherlock in TFP, "This isn't torture, its vivisection." The writers and team experimented with their own fanboy/ridiculous fantasies and we as audience pay the price. 

A very VERY dear price I must say....

I liked only a couple of things about this episode: Mrs. Hudson was a hoot throughout, the thing with her $125,000 car (which actually was in the last ep) and the way she vacuumed downstairs with the crazy rock music in her headphones, lol. And I liked when Sherlock snarled at Mycroft that John was staying while they talked, because John IS family. Oh, and I loved seeing Ben's parents in that scene, too. He comes by his acting chops naturally.

Last edited by ancientsgate (January 16, 2017 4:17 am)

So.  ewige, I couldn't agree more, though I haven't re-watched yet. I'm sure I'll love it more.

Can I just say that I'm pretty darn proud of myself for guessing it pretty darn well?  Because I don't know Jack about Canon ACD, and was putting myself in the minds of the storytellers.

Tilly11 wrote:

I'm going to guess that Euros Sherrinford (...needs another middle name here...) Holmes was, like the girl in the play "The Bad Seed", well, a bad seed.  With no sympathy or empathy.  A true Psychopath. Curious about "What will little Sherley (Ha, John!  See!  "Sherlock" IS a girl's name!) do if he sees his dog drown???" she could have done something heartless to cause the death of Redbeard.  He wasn't mercifully "put down" as we were led to believe; he was killed.  Sherlock witnessed it.  Nearly died trying to prevent it.  Probably this wasn't her only twisted act.  I imagine that Mycroft was the oldest, Euros was the middle, and Sherlock the baby.  Mycroft was old enough to be instrumental in having his dangerous sister locked away, hence the statement that he isn't swayed by family ties.  Even with her locked away somewhere, Mycroft sadistically tormented his younger brother with the threat of her, the "East Wind", which "Is coming to get you".

So this memory of an awful event has been locked away by Sherlock.  He is, in truth, the only normal Holmes child.  He thinks of himself as a "high functioning sociopath" because he's been made to supress all emotion, all vulnerability, by the abuse of his sister and brother.  He was actually a brilliant, sensitive child, who suffered at the hands of his siblings, with parents blissfully unaware. The real story of the TV show is Sherlock Holmes discovering his lost humanity. 

And he'll figure it all out in the next episode.  Confront his brother.  Maybe kill him? Or hit him really really hard?  And run off with John to the Bahamas

 

Yeah, I wasn't QUITE RIGHT on all of it, LOL, but I think I was pretty darn close.

What I missed, what was the biggest twist, was of course that Redbeard was a PERSON!!!
Wow, what a smart and logical twist!!!!  And what a FABULOUS shocker!!!

I'm in the U.S. Mountain Time.  Everyone across the pond is fast asleep, and my mind is full. I can't even begin to read the previous SEVEN pages (God love ya), so apologies if I say the same things others have said.

One viewing so far.  With my daughter (She) and son in law (He), both physicians, painfully smart. Not given to re-watching, but with an appreciation for goddamm good tv and movies. They've seen each episode once, I've lost count of my viewings.  Champagne all around, in honor of the occasion.  Hardly speaking during the episode, but sometime it couldn't be helped.

What's not to love?  We're not canon ACD folk; although He has read them, and has them on the bookshelves, neither She nor I have read a single one.  We see the show for itself. I'm lucky to be consumed enough to be here, and see the show through the eyes of those of you who know the canon. That being said, this episode had us all riveted! 

What glorious Sherlockian joy that our Sherlock tormented his brother, thus confirming Euros' existence!  I love Mycroft, (ok, I love everyone. I'm an equal opportunity Sherlock-character-lover), and I love that his human frailty was revealed like the layers of an onion.  He's afraid of clowns! (You go, Sherlock! for knowing that one!) He's trained with the sword, but not unlike Indiana Jones and his whip, will wisely pull out the gun when over-matched. I loved seeing him fearful, repulsed and sickened by death and violence. He's always been so superior and haughty, I must admit it was lovely to see how the mighty fell, and were forgiven as we saw with the touch of his mother's hand. His story is wrapped up with a bow, and he is redeemed.

Beautiful pained Molly, confessing her love to Sherlock, and demanding the same. And getting it. Up for debate whether he truly meant it; I think Sherlock Holmes is every bit as good an actor as Benedict Cumberbatch.  It was a beautiful scene, performed delicately enough to let us want to question it. So beautiful.

I could honestly go through the episode scene by scene, with screams  and many question marks and "holy crap!"s...  Maybe I will later.  There were things I missed, like Sherlock being the one allowed to leave the room when John and disguised Mycroft were being held, although She knew it at once. I was weary of the rats maze and the torments that Euros devised. I adored Sherlock's empathy and compasson for his broken murderess sister. She was surely as horrible as, or worse than, Moriarty or CAM or CS.

Haha!!! the drone!!! We had one as a guest this Christmas!  Awesome fun, even without a grenade attached!  Excuse me.. ESPECIALLY without a grenade. Great scene. Figuring out how to maximize survival, including the awesome rockin' Mrs. Hudson. (My Spirit Animal. Spirit Animals can be human. Humans are animals...)

Question: is it supposed to be 5 years since Study In Pink?  5 minutes with Moriarty, and Euros orchestrated the rest? Dang.

In my previous fandom, the showrunner admitted that from the beginning he knew how he wanted the series to end.  And that's how he ended it.  Did Moftiss have an idea from the beginning where they wanted this story to lead? Did they have Euros in mind as the secret catalyst?

It was beautiful that Mary spoke to Sherlock and John, and us, at the end.  I'm sorry for those that expend energy disliking the character; she's been in more than half of the episodes, and although she's the newest, her story is beautifully entwined with her men.  And she has a greater purpose.

MARY IS US. She is the Audience.  She is speaking our words. She knows and loves her boys for who they are, what they have been and what they will do.  It was perfect.

I'm watching Study in Pink now, and noticed that after the "Wrong!" trilogy, his next text was "You know where to find me. SH" Full circle there. Also full circle with the statement that he is not only a great man, he is a good man. Another of many bows, wrapping from the first episode to the last! I loved it!

Series 4 was difficult to watch.  Like the final season of my last Favorite Show, I don't know if I'll re-watch it.

It did feel final, and as such, was perfect. 

 

Reading through the thread now.

This!
(my emphasis added!)

Vhanja wrote:

I'm the kind of person who, when I first really fall in love with something and become a huge fan of it, I am very loyal. I don't have too many preconceived notions of where I want the show/series/books to go, because I know that the chance of the writers happen to write what I have in my head is extremly slim (that's what I have fanfics for!)

So instead, I am on board with their ride, wherever that takes me. No, it's not what I expected. But that was awesome too - seeing them in a situation I never, ever thought I would see.

Yes, it would've been great if there were more breathing room and more of the "old days". But if I that is what I want to see, I can go back and rewatch S1 and s2.

I think this is what keeps Ben and Martin coming back - the fact that it's NOT the same. If the seasons kept being "case of the week" and banter at 221b over and over, they would probably both grow tired and leave the show. 

This is Moftiss' vision. It's not ACD canon. I don't need that - I have ACD books for that. It's not ACD canon on screen - I have Brett for that. This is a thing of it's own, and I love it.

ewige wrote:

Tilly11 wrote:

I'm in the U.S. Mountain Time.  Everyone across the pond is fast asleep, and my mind is full. 

Nope, not everybody. Some crazies over here are still awake

Tilly11 wrote:

Question: is it supposed to be 5 years since Study In Pink?  5 minutes with Moriarty, and Euros orchestrated the rest? Dang. 

I don't think so. Moriarty wasn't merely aware of Sherlock (would have been after the Carl Powers case anyway), he's also asking Mycroft whether he's about to be incarcerated again. So I figure it's TRF + 5 years at least.

Tilly11 wrote:

MARY IS US. She is the Audience.  She is speaking our words. She knows and loves her boys for who they are, what they have been and what they will do.  It was perfect. 

I also think that Mary if Moftiss who's finally found a way to tell us that John and Sherlock would not ravish each other on screen, it's just not that kind of the show

Tilly11 wrote:

I'm watching Study in Pink now, and noticed that after the "Wrong!" trilogy, his next text was "You know where to find me. SH" Full circle there. Also full circle with the statement that he is not only a great man, he is a good man. Another of many bows, wrapping from the first episode to the last! I loved it!

 

THANK YOU. I've totally forgotten about this text!
I get it that one of the possible romantic interests of Sherlock is supposed to be Irene here but this text really bothered me somehow. I knew it didn't have to go to Irene but now it seems even less likely.
 

LOL! Hello, Sleepless in Austria!

What's the Carl Powers case? Yes, I caught the "incarcerated again" line, but didn't think about it further. We don't really know how many times he's been imprisoned by Mycroft, do we? More than once, maybe? I guess that's what I thought, in the side of my brain, and went on watching.

Kind of sorry not to see any ravishing on screen. That would be nice.

You're welcome!


 

Tilly11 wrote:

What's the Carl Powers case? Yes, I caught the "incarcerated again" line, but didn't think about it further. We don't really know how many times he's been imprisoned by Mycroft, do we? More than once, maybe? I guess that's what I thought, in the side of my brain, and went on watching.
 

The boy who drowned in the pool, remember?
We know only of one instant when Moriarty was in Mycroft's facility/prison. Altho TRF + 5 years is way in the future, actually.

gently69 wrote:

Swanpride wrote:

To me more than half of the episode was filler.....those little games seem to be only there to fill time. It didn't feel like we learned anything new or profound about any of the characters during it.

Sadly I have to agree. There were maybe a handful of scenes that touched me in one way or another. But is that enough for the so it seems final episode ever? Not for me.
After TLD I had hope. Now after Mary (why???) having the (very) last words I'm just sad and mostly disappointed.

Happy to respectfully disagree.

We learned a LOT about Sherlock, John, and Mycroft during those "little games"!!!

Each room was a trial for the trio of Sherlock, Watson and Mycroft.  Evil Euros was testing them, and in her warped twisted perverted way deriving pleasure and information by watching their dynamics, their interactions. It was painful to watch, and just as it became too tedious to bear, it changed, and Sherlock understood it.

We learned about each of them.  John was brave, compassionate, and *almost* able to kill a man. (who, frankly, was not innocent. He got what he deserved when he killed himself ((I know that sounds harsh)) for defying orders regarding contact with Euros. He wrought his own, and his wife's, desruction) Mycroft couldn't do it. He was physically ill as a result of the suicide. That weakness in itself was SO enlightening!  These trials showed Sherlock and John to be MUCH stronger men than Mycroft!

Sherlock proved willing to kill himself rather than kill his brother or John.

Mycroft tried to provoke Sherlock to kill HIM rather than John.  Sherlock knew his brother well enough to see through him.

The trio's compassion for the girl on the plane compelled them to comply with Euros. Otherwise she had no power over them. This was a powerful act of compassion on their part. They put the needs of the one ahead of the needs of themselves.

Mary was us, the audience,  in the final words of the episode. She spoke what we would say to and about the two men she loves, and who she knows love each other.