Good idea for a thread, Tobe: 

The warmth is missing. But for me this started earlier. Before TST air I wrote something about the continuous desecration of 221b as a parallel to the changes in the relationship of Sherlock and John: 

http://stillgosherlocked.tumblr.com/post/147397614523/221b-as-a-johnlock-mirror

Many of these changes came from the dialogue or the actions of the characters whereas now they have also become visual. Think of the glowing skull painting which is indeed a completely different one than before. Arwel has confirmed this. 

The most important thing to me, however, lies in the fact that we have not seen Sherlock and John alone in 221b since the Janine scene. This is the last time we see them alone in 221b and everything is overshadowed by Sherlock's alleged relationship with Janine. In TST we see him there with John and Mary, the baby, Greg, Mrs Hudson, clients, but the domesticity is gone because John is gone. 

In my opinion all those changes have two functions:
- to underline the changes in the relationship of Sherlock and John
- Sherlock's inner journey/development

221b was never just a flat, it was a mirror of their friendship and of Sherlock's mind and personality. For me it is clever and heartbreaking to see how the flat reflects all that has happened since the fall. 
 

Last edited by SusiGo (January 3, 2017 7:41 am)

SusiGo wrote:

221b was never just a flat, it was a mirror of their friendship and of Sherlock's mind and personality. For me it is clever and heartbreaking to see how the flat reflects all that has happened since the fall.

Very true. And since there doesn't seem to be a way back, I suppose 221B has to collapse completely before there can be a new start and a rebuild of 221B and the relationship between Sherlock and John.
 

I just feel they are integral to the Sherlock experience and testament to Paul McGuigan.

I've been wondering that too.  Although I think that in the pictures, the charred timber is from Mycroft's house, rather than 221B.  I'm wondering if the flooded 221B was a premonition.  It's a bit high up to actually get flooded, though!  But I'm thinking of that water theme. 

mrshouse wrote:

SolarSystem wrote:

SusiGo wrote:

221b was never just a flat, it was a mirror of their friendship and of Sherlock's mind and personality. For me it is clever and heartbreaking to see how the flat reflects all that has happened since the fall.

Very true. And since there doesn't seem to be a way back, I suppose 221B has to collapse completely before there can be a new start and a rebuild of 221B and the relationship between Sherlock and John.
 

 
That makes me think of the promo pics with the crumbled wallpapers behind the actors..
I don't know if I'm reading too much into it but could an destroyed Baker Street and maybe a new flat, hopefully for the two boys together, be what both Martin and Ben talked about? It would not be exactly an end to the series but would most definetly feel like a major new start that needs his time?
Plus,just vaguely plotting in my head here, maybe even without Mrs. Hudson? I think of this tweet about her having maybe left and the sinister picture....
Maybe the time for this very flat will be over at the end of S4?

Very interesting thoughts.
In the universe of Sherlock Holmes this could be quite groundbreaking... Holmes and Watson without 221B (and maybe even Hudders), I suppose this hasn't been done before. And looking at the show and how things have developed, it would make sense to start all over again - and a new home could be the symbol for that. 

But I would miss 221b very much. And to be honest a Sherlock Holmes story without that address? Hardly to imagine.

I agree. No matter what they go through, the story really, really needs to end with Sherlock and John in 221b. Nothing else will work.

I like the idea of 221b representing the relationship between Sherlock and John. At the moment, it feels strange. So does the flat.

My thoughts (copied from my posts on reddit):Now having seen the first episode of season 4, one of the main things that stood out to me was the change in how the show looked and sounded, from previous seasons. It was especially noticeable since I just did a re-watch this week of all the past episodes.Differences I noticed:

• The music felt like it was done by completely different people. I'm used to music in Sherlock being quirky (Staying Alive, dub-step during stag night, "Yolanda" for Sherlock and John reunion scene) or having an emotional/dramatic flair. Something about it is distinctive. But in this episode, some scenes were weirdly quiet (like there should have been music, but there wasn't) or the music was weirdly generic. Like it could have played behind any show/soap opera. And there wasn't a "signature" song for any dramatic scene, to make them stick in the mind. It didn't even seem like they were playing the signature "deduction" music when Sherlock went into his high speed deduction mode (the little string melody).
• The screen felt weirdly cluttered at times with visual extras (ex. fancy transitions, floating video screens, text, etc.). Much more than usually appear.
• Lots of different camera angles, that we usually don't see (or that were done much more frequently). Overly zoomed in on faces (so only part of a face is visible), or shots filmed from far back, shots filmed from very high looking down over the actors, or from very low angles looking up at the actors, etc.
• Quick jumps from scene to scene. Non-linear progression. Lots of back and forth storytelling. Repeat flashbacks to the same scenes at various intervals.
• And someone else pointed out in a different thread that this was shot at a high frame rate. So that's changed the look of things. Even the color saturation seemed very changed (ex. the end scene with Sherlock and Mrs. Hudson seemed very saturated, esp. with red).
• (edited to add): Narration voice overs to include short stories or moral tidbits. I was surprised at the "merchant" story voice over at the beginning and the one Sherlock does at the end (the first one esp. felt like Benedict Cumberbatch reading an audiobook). This choice suited in the Victorian Special, where Watson introduced the story, but felt weird in a "regular" episode. When Watson did it in the special it felt like he was addressing The Strand readership. When Sherlock did it in this episode it felt like breaking the 4th wall. Like Sherlock knew he was a character giving setup or summary.

BBC Sherlock, for me, has always had an iconic look and sound. I don't mind them changing things up, but it somehow feels "off."The bus scene with John is a perfect example. It doesn't have much dialogue and if someone had shown it to me out of context, before seeing the episode, and said it was for a romantic comedy Martin Freeman was starring in, I'd have believed them.Did anyone else find the change to the look and feel of the show to be jarring? I'm trying to separate this critique from the rest of the episode (ex. story, characters, etc.).

-------Yeah, I think if they had just changed one of the major elements it wouldn't have been so noticeable or weird. But the entire look and feel of the show felt re-worked. Like every single feature had to scream, "this isn't your average Sherlock episode."And I hope you're right, that having different directors on the other episodes will set things back closer to normal.And as far as the music is concerned, I think it's absence in a lot of scenes (or it playing almost too low to be heard) is the most startling or different. In past episodes, the music helped you interpret the feel of the scene. Was it quirky or campy (ex. Sherlock bobbing around the office during the blind banker banker), creepy and foreboding (ex. scenes involving Moriarty's influence) or emotional and sad (ex. John sitting with his therapist after Sherlock "died")?In this new episode, the music seemed to completely lack those clues. So it felt harder to interpret what the scenes were supposed to be conveying. For example, the scene where Sherlock confronts Mary with the new memory stick. What were we supposed to feel? There was minimal music or low playing generic music. Were we supposed to get a sense that this was a bombshell revelation to Mary? That Sherlock was suspicious of Mary? That Mary was lying? Musical cues would have helped, but they didn't bother.And I can't believe that the people who do they music on this show don't know how to do this. So then it makes me wonder if they're using the music to keep things purposely opaque to the audience for some later revelation. Either way, it keeps the audience at arm's length. Or it did for me. Made it that much hard to latch onto the episode and engage with it.