I believe, he will rebuild his shield very fast. Especially at work.

But we weren't meant to guess that Redbeard was not a dog at all! I was horrified by this rug pull but it's the only thing I really never saw coming so I enjoyed it too.

Playing the violin was always a comfort for Sherlock [and we didn't see him play at all the first 2 episodes]. It passed the time, and was a comfort, for Euros, in her long imprisonment. it was so fitting to see both she and Sherlock playing together at the end, for their mutual enjoyment , a kind of healing for both. 

Sherli Bakerst wrote:

I think this episode is the perfect way to end "Sherlock."  The postscript by Mary really made it seem like it was the end of the show, to me anyway.  And while I wish the series could go on and on, I really don't see how it can, not after this particular episode.  This wrapped everything up very nicely -- I loved how Lestrade said Sherlock wasn't a great man but he was a good man -- and I think anything that came after this would kind of be a letdown because this episode was so deep, so heart-pounding, so traumatic, so revealing.  As a result of what he experienced in this episode, as well as everything that has happened before, Sherlock is human now (so is Mycroft) and I don't think there's any more character development left to do.  While it would certainly be fun to see Sherlock and John do more detecting, I don't actually need to see it.  I'm satisfied with the series as it is and I think it's completed its story-telling arc.

Thank you Sherli, you are describing exactly how I feel about the end of this episode/series 4/the whole series.

I was terrified that TFP might end in an incomplete way, left things in the open or wouldn't have a proper ending at all. I'm so happy that my fears didn't came true. This was just the end, I hoped for. When the end credits began I was crying but ridiculously grinning at the same time. The end was perfect for me and in a way, I'm able to let the series go now and to acccept that this is it.

Needless to say that I loved the episode. As many have already said, it was a rollercoaster, to whole series was.
But I also understand and feel sorry for those who didn't enjoy it. I had my difficulties with last week's episode so I can comprehend the feeling of being disappointed about certain plot points. I don't know why, but I was able to overlook plot holes or inconsistencies much more as in TLD. Maybe it was because of this overall surreal feeling of the episode.

At the moment I'm still overwhelmed and happy but I might add some more coherent thoughts soon, hopefully after I rewatched the episode in the next few days.

Harobed wrote:

tonnaree wrote:

I have drank an entire bottle of wine and I am having hot flashes.
I am hearbroken and overjoyed at the same time.
We had tragedy and pain but were left with hope.
I can't think straight but after being so nervous and upset before seeing TFP for myself all I can do is keep repeating I LOVED IT!!!!!!

Okay now, people are going to accuse me of not being capable of having an original thought AND plagiarism, haha since, once again, YOU my dear put my same feelings to print also! Including the bottle of wine: (Merlot) ~ what was yours?
 

LOL  No worries dear.  Great minds and all that.  

My beverage of choice was a nice crisp peach moscato.  
 

Liberty wrote:

Mod note: My feeling is that this thread is for first impressions of TFP, which includes both negative and positive first impressions.  Everybody can post their first impression, positive or negative, and shouldn't need to defend it.

I'm aware that there is unpleasantness on other sites, so I think we need to make an effort to not let it seep over here, and to keep this as our safe place.  It's difficult to come here full of enthusiasm for what might be the last episode, to find people tearing it to pieces.  And it's also difficult to have anticipated this episode for years and feel that you should love it, only to be disappointed and feel let down.  It's a divisive episode, and it's easy for both sides to feel hurt because our views don't coincide.  We have to come to terms with that. 

I see that a couple of people have started threads for negative opinions about TFP, and those might be good places to vent for those who were disappointed, after our initial discussion here.

Thank you all for being polite and respectful to each other.

 

Well said Liberty.  Thank you for stepping up with that.   As a mod and a member I too insist that all opinions are valid.  As long as we are polite and kind to each other, as we always have been, that's the important thing.  Right now I have decided to avoid most other discussion sites.  This is my fandom home and I am proud to be a part of it.

I just watched it a second time, this time with subtitles (thank goodness, because this time the stupid neighbour decided on drilling holes in the wall for 30 minutes!)

And I loved it. Absolutely! I always like the first rewatch; cathing the little extra details (not to mention the subtitles...) but really. 

I think that's a big part of my love for the show. The details... thinking to yourself "How did I miss that!! I'm supposed to be clever" lol. 

Okay I have only just got to a point where I can actually start through other peoples posts and responding to them...though I am hoping for a second view tonight.
-yes the whole season has been fast and furious.  They had a lot to fit in.  But I disagree about their being no breathers, there were some fabulous moments of humour...apart from the beautiful touching scenes.
-CS was a fine baddie for S 4.  But they had to round off the Moriarty story.  At least he was dead.
-I didn't want Irene again, either.  But she is obviously important to Sherlock and we just have to accept that.
-Yes Mary appeared strongly, too.  But she was important to both John and Sherlock and at the end of the day this is Mark and Steven's vision. Whether we like it or not.  Well John and Sherlock are obviously happy being Mary's boys.  It's all about them and not us.
-ok I confess I have missed Sherlock's text or didn't realise it's significance...but he will not be propositioning John, that's for sure.
- I don't understand the issue with Molly?  That was a beautiful scene.
- I actually don't understand the issue with Euros, either.  She wasn't behind everything, as in all of the crimes.
-I think some of it was meant to be ridiculous:  like the jump out of the window...have people had humour bypasses?!
-John still has his wedding ring on?  Of course, he still loves Mary
-on the horror thing:  I don't watch them as I don't like them.  But I loved this, so it worked for me.
- parentlock.  Very cute.  But it's not parentlock.  It's Daddy and his best friend. John still seems to have his own house.
-How the feck did I MISS Paul Weller? I love him!
-Mystrade?  Where.  Sherlock asks Greg to take care of Mycroft, I was actually a bit concerned for Mycroft's health after this.
-Mark and Steven love Molly, that's why they keep giving her lovely scenes.  But Sherlock is not in love with her, simple as.  She is a good friend.  She got off lightly!
-Well I thought the Euros game was brilliantly clever and very nearly succeeded in doing what she desired: break Sherlock.
- I have to speak up for Sian.  I thought she made  a fantastic job of a complex character. I thought the mind control thing was great. She was seriously disturbed and sadly that often involves sexual offences.
- Moriarty was dead and buried at the end of S 2, I certainly did not object to all of the fabulous flashbacks.
-I loved S 3, but this was better.
- I didn't ever see Sherlock being shown as the most stupid in the room.
-Well all the loose ends were tied up for me and I haven't seen any new ones!
-it's TV for goodness sake...of course it's fantastical.
-Can I remind people:  Mark and Steven owe us nothing.  This is their show which they make for themselves.  I love it.
-That's all for now, I've caught up to where I posted this morning  at least...more later.
-Oh and I still think it's all over.
-I don't know if I'm in the minority for loving this episode or not and frankly I don't care. I've spent the whole of my Sherlock life in the minority, as a non-John;ocker.  Welcome to my world!
-I like my fora to be both engaging and wacky!
-

Last edited by besleybean (January 16, 2017 8:25 pm)

besleybean wrote:

Okay I have only just got to a point where I can actually start through other peoples posts and responding to them...though I am hoping for a second view tonight.
-yes the whole season has been fast and furious.  They had a lot to fit in.  But I disagree about their being no breathers, there were some fabulous moments of humour...apart from the beautiful touching scenes.
-CS was a fine baddie for S 4.  But they had to round off the Moriarty story.  At least he was dead.
-I didn't want Irene again, either.  But she is obviously important to Sherlock and we just have to accept that.
-Yes Mary appeared strongly, too.  But she was important to both John and Sherlock and at the end of the day this is Mark and Steven's vision. Whether we like it or not.  Well John and Sherlock are obviously happy being Mary's boys.  It's all about them and not us.
-ok I confess I have missed Sherlock's text or didn't realise it's significance...but he will not be propositioning John, that's for sure.
- I don't understand the issue with Molly?  That was a beautiful scene.
- I actually don't understand the issue with Euros, either.  She wasn't behind everything, as in all of the crimes.
-I think some of it was meant to be ridiculous:  like the jump out of the window...have people had humour bypasses?!
-John still has his wedding ring on?  Of course, he still loves Mary
-on the horror thing:  I don't watch them as I don't like them.  But I loved this, so it worked for me.
- parentlock.  Very cute.  But it's not parentlock.  It's Daddy and his best friend. John still seems to have his own house.
-How the feck did I MISS Paul Weller? I love him!
-Mystrade?  Where.  Sherlock asks Greg to take care of Mycroft, I was actually a bit concerned for Mycroft's health after this.
-Mark and Steven love Molly, that's why they keep giving her lovely scenes.  But Sherlock is not in love with her, simple as.  She is a good friend.  She got off lightly!
-Well I thought the Euros game was brilliantly clever and very nearly succeeded in doing what she desired: break Sherlock.
- I have to speak up for Sian.  I thought she made  a fantastic job of a complex character. I thought the mind control thing was great. She was seriously disturbed and sadly that often involves sexual offences.
- Moriarty was dead and buried at the end of S 2, I certainly did not object to all of the fabulous flashbacks.
-I loved S 3, but this was better.
- I didn't ever see Sherlock being shown as the most stupid in the room.
-Well all the loose ends were tied up for me and I haven't seen any new ones!
-it's TV for goodness sake...of course it's fantastical.
-Can I remind people:  Mark and Steven owe us nothing.  This is their show which they make for themselves.  I love it.
-That's all for now, I've caught up to where I posted this morning  at least...more later.
-Oh and I still think it's all over.
-I don't know if I'm in the minority for loving this episode or not and frankly I don't care. I've spent the whole of my Sherlock life in the minority, as a non-John;ocker.  Welcome to my world!
-I like my fora to be both engaging and wacky!
-

Couldn't agree more in so many aspects of this! I overall loved the episode and don't see many of the problems others have pointed out.

In the end, we all love Sherlock (that is why we are here) and we are all part of the fandom, arguing with each other is pointless.

Nearly 24 hours later, I'm stil quite shocked. As Rache said, I had an uneasy sleep yesterday night too. I felt mind-blowed, every image kept showing behind my eyelids and didn't allow me to sleep well. I still need a rewatch (I usually watch the episodes in English first, then dubbed into Spanish to fully understand every plot and then again in English with subtitles, to take in all the details). I'm afraid of watching it in Spanish, because I know I'm going to understand and see so many new things that will break my heart completely. I'm a bit like Sherlock and Mycroft here: I'm afraid of emotions. 

I understood this last episode as a metaphor (yes, metaphors and I). I think everthing they wrote is kind of real and mindpalace at the same time. It's real, because we haven't been said it isn't, but it's mindpalace because all the puzzles, riddles and decisions are so full of twists, memories, and faintings that the fight might very well be a mind thing (in the last Harry Potter, Harry asks Dumbledore whether a conversation they're keeping inside Harry's mind is real or not, and Dumbledore says mind conversations doesn't mean they aren't real). That room outside the Holmes' house, the whole plane thing... look pretty mindpalace as well as reality. So I want to see the episode as an allegory of what's happening inside the characters' hearts.

Regarding to Moriarty, it was nice to see him again. What a glorious entrance! 'I want to break free', haha. What a diva he is. However, I expected something else. I would like to think that the whole Moriarty thing isn't over yet, because I think Mofftiss cheated a little. When they orchestrated TAB, they showed us that people could sacrifice themselves for a cause. Poor Emelia Ricoletti used her death as a blow of effect, because she and her fellow fighters (women) had a strong idea to stand for. Then all the women kept disguising as brides to go on with the idea of an existing avenger for mistreated women. YOU CAN'T KILL AN IDEA. After watching this, I thought maybe Mofftiss were trying to make us see that Moriarty was actually an idea, the idea of evil, of criminality, as if Moriarty was some sort of organization. I might have read too much into it, but I was convinced. The fact of Moriarty being Eurus' "puppet" disturbed me a little.

Then, though this episode wasn't really my favourite ever, I must say I mostly liked it, and I would like to see more of the Baker Street Boys. I'm very grateful for the show, I've spent a lot of time thinking and loving it, and I give all the credit for it to Sue Vertue, Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss, the whole crew and the cast, Benedict, Martin... all of them. I can say this TV show has been my favourite one ever, and I will always be in love with it. This last episode might be a little non 'Sherlock', but, as time passes, I think we'll remember the general idea of it and it will always be great, amazing and affectionate in the end.

Last edited by NicoleCollard (January 16, 2017 11:09 pm)