Sorry, do we already have a discussion in one of these threads for Ben feeling that Sherlock might end with S4? That it "feels like an end of en era" and that the ending is such that it wil be hard to continue?

I will have to say that I'm partly relieved by the statement. If the end of S4 has an air of finality to it - meaning that a lot of the issues have been resolved - that would make me happy, and I would be able to relax with the fact that there might not be any more seasons. 

Well, they do always lie, don't they?

Ben said if they returned, it would be several years down the line. Which is what we would have expected anyway. I just would prefer a proper ending now than unresolved issues and cliffhangers that may or may not be dealt with if they ever maybe happen to make another season five years from now. 

SusiGo wrote:

This is my opinion:

http://gosherlocked.tumblr.com/post/151482739931/series-5-to-be-or-not-to-be

I must concur.

I don't think he is spoiling anything. I don't think that what he says reflects anything but his own opinion. But being the main lead, his opinion does weigh quite a lot, I think.

Well, Steven Moffat recently said that he would be very surprised if they didn't make a fifth series and then there were lots of stories saying that the fourth was the last!  

I think the trouble is that in the interview I read, we weren't given the question - we don't really know what Benedict is answering there.   But given that this is the S4 spoiler thread, it's maybe interesting to look at it from the angle of whether he's giving anything away about S4?  Not a spoiler, but the comment about it being difficult to follow on immediately from that is very interesting, and could indicate something about the plot.  I would tend to think that it means that it's not a cliffhanger, but that S4 ends with some change in their lives.  

We've also talked about how they seem to be going backwards in time in S4, and if S4 ends at some point in the past (i.e. before HLV/TAB), then again, it might be difficult to follow on directly from that. 

That's not a problem - it was the case between S2 and S3, that S3 did not follow on immediately - the whole hiatus was missed, and the story picked up a couple of years later. 

Making it very complete as it is, suggests to me that there might not be a cliffhanger.   Things will be resolved within the series. I would like that.   However, I'm sure Moftiss have said that they already have S5 planned out, and suggested that there is a continuing story arc.   I gather from Mark's comment after TAB, about almost giving away a a spoiler to Benedict, that Benedict wouldn't necessarily be aware of the plans for S5.   So it could be that the end of S4 feels "complete", or like "the end of an era" to him, but that's only because he doesn't know what S5 has in store.  For instance, the end of an era could mean Sherlock going off to the country to keep bees, and us leaving him there (and that would feel like the end).  But then S5 could start with him being called back to London.   Just as a not very good example! 

Yes, I like that idea too.  I would like some resolution.  I'm really curious about the "end of an era", if he means it the way it sounds.  It does seem to imply a major, permanent change.    We have been told it's going to be surprising, shocking, devastating, etc.  I'm speculating wildly, of course! 

I have wondered about how they're going to manage time.  They have got a bit "behind" timewise, and we now have a series that seems to be set in the recent past rather than the current time.  TAB, and it looks like S4 (although we don't know yet), seem to follow on directly from HLV, which I believe finished after Christmas 2014 (possibly January 2015 - I'm not entirely clear on the date of the plane scenes).   Series 5 presumable won't air until January 2019 at the very earliest - maybe 2020 is more realistic.  So unless S4 moves things forward, the show will be becoming a period piece (which might be a nice reference to other adaptations becoming Victorian period pieces!).   There is so much time to cover, that I wonder if Benedict's comment might imply another hiatus, a bit like the one between S2 and S3, where we don't see the characters at all. 

Along with that is that they are also going to do something "groundbreaking", something they hope they can "pull off".  So again, maybe something that's the end of an era.   I'm hoping it's not as straightforward as major character death, but something exciting and unexpected.

Last edited by Liberty (October 9, 2016 10:33 am)

The latest interview is very clear and seems to reiterate exactly what I've been saying.
Nobody wants it to end.
But for the foreseeable future, Benedict and Martin are just too busy.

I think both boys enjoy making Sherlock, though will it hold the same attraction for Martin if Amanda is no longer in it?
But as top, professional actors, they have the right to pick and choose their projects and for when it suits them.

Well, as you know I regard the show as a love story. And once two people have found each other and you think everything is going to be fine after they have finally overcome their personal obstacles, you hope this will be the end. But if course it is not. And tearing apart two people after such a long way will be devastating. I see something like that happening.
Of course there will be cases and MI6 and MI5 agents, and hostage takings in embassies, and car chases, but in the end it boils down to the story about a detective and his doctor. 

What I definitely do NOT see is the show ending on a dark, devastating, and hopeless note. Moftiss love Sherlock Holmes far too much to go down that road. As a cliffhanger, yes. As an ending, no. 

And Steven talked about "insane wish fulfillment", I think it was in connection with episode 3. I really do not see them sitting there and going: "Well, we always wanted to kill Mycroft. Or blow up 221b. Or kill John in front of Sherlock's eyes. That is what he have been dreaming about for years.This is our dream come true." Some of these things might happen, at least the first or second. But ending the show in a dark place after all those years and all the love they put into it, nope. Not ever. 

And one last point. They said something similar about their TAB Reichenbach version. Which was neither dark nor hopeless but the fulfillment of the "insane" wish to have John Watson being the saviour, Sherlock Holmes not facing his death alone, but both of them overcoming the enemy together. This is what I would call "wish fulfillment."