beekeeper wrote:

And yet the idea that Mycroft might be gay is the one considered so out there that we're being asked for evidence? Seriously?

I never said it was "out there."  You claimed he said it, I am simply saying that you claiming that doesn't mean he did.  You, yourself, have no idea where you might have heard it.  You might be misremembering.  You might have mis-heard.  You might have read some other person's wishful thinking in some other forum post.

It is, in fact, standard practice on forums where fictional universes are discussed, to make a distinction between what is canon and what is speculation and thereby establish canon. You do that by requiring provenance.  Links or references to the source material.  This is hardly at all unusual.

It's just a rumor at this point.  Which makes it not fact.  Unless someone has something more to go on than, "I think I read someplace that Mark Gatiss said that."

As I have previously stated: I find the issue irrelevant.  But I find fact to always be important. 

We have no facts in evidence here.

Last edited by MysteriaSleuthbedder (May 23, 2013 11:13 pm)

Hey Davina. My feeling is about the "joke" is twofold. First off, its a pretty edgy joke. TBH my feeling is that really, the only way its ok to have a joke like that in a show like this is as character development. Because the only other interpretation is that Sherlock goes around throwing out random homophobic insults. Calling someone a "queen" - ie using the possibility of someone being gay as an insult- is pretty bad, IMO, and the idea of it as a straightforward gibe, Sherlock saying "I want to insult you so I'm calling you gay", that's really not an interpretation I like (and neither is that laddish behaviour actually consistent with his character). 

I think its pretty on the edge, like I say, but I also think that there might not be that many ways for the writers to hint at Mycroft's sexuality other than this banter between the brothers. 

Second, related, the writing in Sherlock is so incredibly tight, so layered, nothing is in there by accident. Its one of the shows you can watch time and time again and notice more things, and the continunity is actually really good, I think. There are not really throwaway lines. The writers are fanboys, all the stuff in there is meant to be picked apart, that's part of the fun IMO. Therefore, even a joke like this will have meaning in terms of the plot. Like I say, my prefered meaning is that Mycroft is gay and Sherlock is being a rude little brother, because the alternative is rather worse in terms of Sherlock's personality.

Like I've said though many times  I think the cleverness of the writing is in part the fact we don't get certain answers that we get the fun of picking it apart and never get a clear answer.

Last edited by beekeeper (May 24, 2013 9:05 am)