I was thinking of this (and, ha, I'm trying to translate this into French, I keep forgetting I don't have to XD) but I couldn't remember which story it was in. It's definitely a very horrific passage!

I think I read somewhere (screw it, I'll just get the book!) that the position on drugs was generally favorable. Freud actually recommended it to his patients, and began treating himself with it in 1884. He even wrote a monograph, Uber Coca, singing its praises, but by 1887 he backed off. He still maintained that it had medical uses after that.

Physicians believed that alternating use of morphine and cocaine would lessen the addictive and physical effects of each, and that's probably why Sherlock does this.

In the introduction to the Bantam Classic editions of the canon, Loren Estleman notes:

In his objection to this habit Watson was ahead of his time, for with the drug only six years on the market the advertising industry stressed widely the curative properties of a substance then obtainable over the counter...Watson anticipates later findings concerning its effect on brain tissue and threat of addiction...

So, yes, Conan Doyle was being a bit cautionary with the beginning of Four. He wasn't wrong, though, as we know very well now!

To Moderator/Big Mouth.

If you recall in episode 1 series 1, Sherlock is covered with nicotine patches. Says they help him think. Probably by taking his mind off severe craving cigarettes. Some people are really hooked. Some people need self-medication. 

Doyle's Sherlock he used cocaine.

There was a slight mention by John of Sherlock having had a druggie background. "You? Of all people?"

Sherlock is borderline 'mental' and manic behavior is exaggerated in people with bipolar or OCD.

BTW, S's only beginning to act "human" because John is helping him with socially acceptable behavior...'say thank you', 'just put the hat on'...

WIthout cigerettes and nicotine patches Sherlock is also displaying his emotions. I.E., caring about people, asking for help, feeling sad or afraid before he jumps (relying on people?) and most of all anger.

So no I don't think he was over doing it in that scene... the director told him to too.

I find some scenes like the bloody spear scene and the scene where he tries on a yellow slicker to be comedy elements. Funny wrapped up in crazy, intelligence vs. emotions. I like ironic humor. Most people don't get it. Oops. Feeling superior to ordinary people like S. and M. 

HmmmI never caught that...S (sherlock) and M (moriarty).  S & M.

Now that you put it back up here I can tell you my opinion about this "over-done" scene.
I'm (unfortunately still) a smoker and I really can get nervous when I don't find cigarettes because I forgot to buy some.
Well, I never reacted as Sherlock did, though.
But still I liked this scene and didn't think it was too much. IMO it's the combination of "I NEED A CASE!" and "GIVE ME SOME (cigarettes)!"
Extremely bored, no new good (!) case + lack of nicotine = for Sherlock a normal reaction.

If you watch the video of him trying to solve puzzles in real life he does the same. I'll try to find the link, if I can.

And there are those crinkles over the nose again.....  1:22- 

I guess that cocaine probably wasn't as strong in Victorian times as it is now so it probably wasn't as addictive. He seemed to only take it when he was bored and had no mental stimulation so obviously wasn't a proper addict, otherwise he'd be doing it all the time even when he was on cases and wouldn't be able to just stop.

As to cocaine addiction in general...it's not physically addictive in the same way that something like heroin is. The addiction is more a mental one. You get addicted to the feeling it gives you and want more of that feeling. But that's why it is possible for people to have casual cocaine habits eg. just having some at the weekends when they go out. Of course that doesn't work for everyone, it depends on your  personality type whether you let it become a main feature in your life.

Just want to say: Thanks, Morton, for the link to the video.  I really enjoyed it, and hearing Benedict discuss his other roles in addition to seeing the finger-tapping and nose-crinkling.  His insistence that the globe represented To the Ends of the Earth was quite funny.  He must be very proud of that series (as well he should be)!

The Doctor wrote:

"For years I had gradually weaned him from that drug mania which had threatened once to check his remarkable career. Now I knew that under ordinary conditions he no longer craved for this artificial stimulus, but I was well aware that the fiend was not dead, but sleeping"

(Watson in Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter)

Reading this quote, I couldn't help but instantly replacing "fiend" by "Moriarty"...
At least, Sherlock was kind of addicted to him, wasn't he?

As is Moriarty's addiction to the presence of Sherlock.

kazza474 wrote:

I thought I would mention this. Nothing wrong with it and no clues to anything in it.
Let me remind you of what I am talking about, it is after he comes in all covered in pig blood with his harpoon.
He looks for smokes, can't find them etc.

*oh BTW* Do you realise this scene proves Sherlock to be a liar in 'Scadal'?

He begged John for some smokes .......... TWICE!!!!!


Anyway, back on track here.
When Sherlock sits down and starts stamping his feet, twiddling his thumbs, did anyone else find that a bit 'over the top'?
I know, as an on again/off again quitting smoker, I can be pretty on edge when I can'y have a smoke and I probably could carry on that way a bit. But for Sherlock I just thought it was a bit 'over the top'. Whenever I rewatch it, I try to skip that part because it just REALLY annoys me.

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Just caught this! The begging twice is hilarious, especially if one is a smoker. I paused and came straight here to see if anyone else saw it. Yes, the twitching is OTT; not tearing the flat apart, I've done that, but there was something wrong with the spastic bit, more Three Stooges than Sherlock. The begging twice sort of makes up for it, though.