I'm leaning towards it being hallucination as well... his own mind being villainised  (is that a word??) Against him...

I'd always love to see more LGBT representation, and it would be sweet to see Molly happy with someone and get her mind off of Sherlock...

I agree - I wouldn't like it to be a case of trying to hit a certain number.  But I don't think the show is in any way over-run.   Irene has only really recurred in the occasional mention or mind palace scene.   And even in her actual episode, the focus is on an opposite sex relationship.  I'm not really counting head canons, because I suppose they just show that the writers have left those characters ambiguous enough for us to do that - ambiguity isn't quite the same as representation (not that it's a bad thing, of course!). 

I don't get the impression that Molly's happy in the pictures and clips we've seen.  Sadly, I think things might get worse for her rather than better. 

And yes, Phantom, I can see that scene being hallucination ... I have a feeling Culverton is going to be the master of the mind feck - that his abuse will be partly psychological (although I presume he's actually going to kill people too).   I think it's the fact that it's so obviously not real, makes me want it to be real - I kind of like the idea of a twisted mind drugging Sherlock (or manipulating him to drug himself) and setting up that scenario to terrify him.  

ewige wrote:

I want it to be a hallucination.

I actually want as many things as possibole to be real in S4. 
 

Last edited by SolarSystem (December 22, 2016 8:58 am)

So far I have not seen MP used as a "lazy cop-out" in the show. IMO it has been used in a clever and creative way. Therefore I do not quite understand this fear. 

What is clear from what we know about S4 is that someone seems to be playing with Sherlock's mind, be it himself or Culverton Smith or someone else. We should, however, distinguish between MP as a deliberate instrument of thinking and hallucinations induced by drugs, medication, hypnosis, or whatever. 

SusiGo wrote:

So far I have not seen MP used as a "lazy cop-out" in the show. IMO it has been used in a clever and creative way. Therefore I do not quite understand this fear. 

What is clear from what we know about S4 is that someone seems to be playing with Sherlock's mind, be it himself or Culverton Smith or someone else. We should, however, distinguish between MP as a deliberate instrument of thinking and hallucinations induced by drugs, medication, hypnosis, or whatever. 

You are right, MP has been a good thing so far. I guess some of us are afraid of it being over used because too much setlock begs for this explanation.

I don't see why we should distinguish between MP and TAB-thingy. Both don't affect others in the real world, only Sherlock who can, admittedly, carry the plot further with his factual (HOB) or emotional (TAB) findings. Being punched by John in MP would be terrible enough for Sherlock but wouldn't affect John at all. I need to see John feeling guilty for his violent outbursts for a change.

In any case, I trust Moftiss to do the right thing. They have never disappointed me thus far.

Last edited by ewige (December 22, 2016 2:02 pm)

Yes, that's my issue, Ewige, that what goes on in Sherlock's mind palace (drug induced or otherwise) doesn't affect the other characters, only his view of them.  That isn't really a problem, but it means I have to make the effort to keep these things separate in my mind.   For instance, we've seen Sherlock develop through TAB, but the other characters are still where we left them, despite us seemingly learning more about them in TAB. 

But as long as they don't go for EMP, I think I'll be OK.   I think it's just that, as you say, we've seen so much that seems obviously MP, and it would just be so unexpected and wonderful if it turned out to be "real". 

To me there certainly is a difference between both versions of MP. The one which helps Sherlock to solve a case is just a way to visualize what's going on in his mind for that particular case. He could just explain it, he could talk to someone and explain what's connected to what and why this and that brings him to a particular conclusion - which would be the usual thing to do and not very innovative. So I applaud Mofftiss for coming up with this version of MP.

The other version however means, as some of you have already mentioned, that we are told certain aspects of Sherlock's character, about his growth, while the other characters in the show don't know anything about it. And furthermore: certain things just don't leave a huge impact on me if they're only MP. I'm thinking about John hitting Sherlock in the trailer here... if this only happens in Sherlock's mind it hurts, of course, it hurts him and also myself... but if this is really happening, then something pretty grave must be going on between John and Sherlock - and that would definitely hurt more. At least that's what I would expect at the moment, with the (limited) knowledge we have about S4 so far.
 

Mothonthemantel wrote:

Interesting that the baby is in a pink rabbit suit in the clip. In ASIP there was a rabbit by the fire place near the dead pink lady. In interview Mr Gatiss said it was representative  of John going down the rabbit hole with Sherlock.
Then we had bluebell the glowing experimental pet rabbit that was replaced in hound.
So I think the *pink rabbit baby* is symbolic of a imaginary happy ever after for John that's not or is never going to happen.

That's interesting, thank you for bringing this up. :-)

Since there is a lot of talk about their friendship being seriously tested this season, I won't be surprised if the punch is real.

Yes the punch the air comment is reassuring.