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precuredaily · 5 years ago

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Precure Day 151

Episode: Yes! Precure 5 03 - “Who’s the Precure of Effervescence?” Date watched: 3 October 2019 Original air date: 18 February 2007 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/wUrfDcF Project info and master list of posts: http://tinyurl.com/PCDabout

If you like drinking games, watch this episode and take a shot every time they say the word “effervescent” or variations and report back to me. Cure Lemonade’s title and role call describe her as “はじける” (hajikeru) which every translator to ever touch this show has seemed to agree translates best as “effervescent”, an uncommon word which can either mean bubbly (in the context of beverages) or lively and appealing, when talking about people. To reinforce my point, here’s every English sub I could get my hands on:

First off, here is the Arienai fansub from around 2007, the first ones to ever translate this episode to English and thus establish the use of the word “effervescent.”

Following Arienai’s disbandment, in 2009 TV-Nihon took up the task of subbing and I know from talking with him that their translator was very aware of the Areinai sub, and also pretty new to translating, so he probably took heavy inspiration from their choice.

Lastly, here is the version used by Pretty Cure Splash Subs in 2014, although they admit that they took the Arienai scripts for the earlier episodes and just tweaked them a tad.

Amusingly, “bubbly” in the sense of personality is a pretty good synonym. I can only assume that they keep coming back to “effervescent” because within the narrative, Nozomi and Rin are confused when Coco tells them there’s a Precure of “hajikeru” so they chose a less common word to convey that better. It feels a little clunky to read but what can you do. Anyway, enough about one word, what’s this episode about?

The Plot

Urara is auditioning for a show and the interviewers quiz her about her school life, since she seems upbeat. She’s unwilling to admit that she spends most of her time at school alone, and she can’t talk about seeing two upperclassmen turn into Precure, so she lies and says everything is great.

At school, Rin catches a Pinky with Coco, this time using a trumpet. He then explains that the two of them are the cures of hope and passion, and they still need to find the cures of intelligence, tranquility, and effervescence. (1 shot!)

Over in Nightmare Corporate HQ, Bunbee tells Girinma he’s not performing up to standards, so he bring in the next consultant, a portly man named Gamao.

After school, Nozomi takes Coco home with her as a fairy, gives him a cream puff (the signature food of this show) and turns on the television. When her dad sits up from sleeping on the couch she quickly tries to hide Coco and distract her dad by pointing out Urara on the TV, saying she knows her.

The next day during lunch, Nozomi and Rin see Urara sitting alone and goes over to talk to her, saying she can ask them anything. So, Urara comes right out and asks what Precure is, causing the two girls to fumble for an answer before running off when the bell rings for the end of lunch. However, Nozomi comes back to retrieve her left-behind bento and decides to skip class and take Urara on a tour of the school grounds. When Rin and Coco find out about this they’re upset and they run off to find her, but Urara seems to be having a great time with Nozomi.

They get to the auditorium and Urara comments that she will stand on that stage someday! At this point, Nozomi declares that the two of them are good friends and reveals that she is a Pretty Cure, and don’t tell Rin. Well of course who should barge into the theater at that moment than Rin, with Coco on her heels, angry at Nozomi for cutting class and generally being a bad influence on the underclassman. But before Rin and Coco can properly chew her out, Gamao reveals himself and demands that they hand over the Dream Collet. Nozomi and Rin transform, urging Urara to run away, which she hesitates to do. Eventually she gets out, but she trips in the hallway, and after some introspection, decides to turn around and run back to help the two girls who protected her. Her strong feelings summon a yellow butterfly, allowing her to transform into Cure Lemonade! She unleashes her special attack, Precure Lemonade Flash, which takes the form of a flock of butterflies divebombing the Kowaina, freeing Dream and Rouge and allowing them to defeat the monster. Gamao runs off, complaining that he won’t get paid for this, and the auditorium resets to normal.

Outside, the girls remark that Urara is the perfect fit for the Cure of Effervescence, and Coco says he’ll fill her in on all the details after she and Nozomi serve detention for skipping class. However, the episode ends on a happy note, as the three new friends agree to work together from now on.

The Analysis

What I like about these shows with a larger roster of Cures is that it allows each girl to have their own reason for fighting. While all three girls so far have done it to protect someone, the motivation behind that protection has varied. Nozomi wants to help Coco revive his homeland. Rin wants to protect her oldest friend, Nozomi. Urara wants to save her newest friends, especially Nozomi, who saw that she was lonely and made it a point to spend time with her. Becoming a Precure ties directly into a personal problem in each of their lives, and that’s..... magical.

Urara in particular may hit close to home for some people, because achieving your dream can sometimes isolate you. Since Urara was always rehearsing or going to auditions, she didn’t have the time to make friends at school, and she was hurting for it. Nozomi was the first person to take notice of her, beyond simply being a celebrity. Nozomi saw a new student who seemed kinda lonely, and decided to show her a good time. The fact that she’s an aspiring celebrity is a side note for Nozomi, a cool thing to tell her parents, but it’s not why she approached her. They clicked in their first meeting and Nozomi decided she’d make a good friend. Then, when they were friends, Nozomi decided to tell her about Precure and their fight against Nightmare. Sure, it’s partly because Nozomi has little filter, but also she saw someone she could confide in. Unlike the other three members of the team, she didn’t pick out Urara as a good candidate to be a cure, Urara earned her spot purely of her own will. She literally ran away from the fight, but her concern for the others and desire to face her fears brought her back.

There’s a recurring trope in the team-building shows that I don’t like, though, which is that the existing heroines somehow find themselves conveniently disabled or unable to fight, making room for the new girl to swoop in, transform for the first time, and save the day. In the two-girl shows, if both of them got tied up, they had to use their wits to escape. I don’t mind it happening once or twice but it seems to be the only way the writers ever know how to introduce a new character is by making the other ones into jobbers.

On the villain side of things, we get to see a little more of Nightmare, which is always fun. Their HQ is a giant office building with devil horns!

You kind of have to wonder if this is just in the middle of downtown or if the other buildings are all in some ~evil dimension~. Also, we find out what happens to under-performers at Nightmare.... they get dropped down a shaft. Seems like kind of a hostile work environment but it’s great for setting the tone.

While I’m discussing Nightmare, let’s talk about Gamao in particular. Gama means “toad”, which is why Gamao is a toad. SHOCKING. Anyway, unlike the go-getter Girinma, Gamao is very simple-minded: he wants to get the Dream Collet so he can get paid, and isn’t interested in wasting time laying traps or listening to the girls’ life stories. He’s portrayed as a very portly man, looking kind of sloppy in his human form, not at all up to the normal appearance standards of a corporation. he wears cargo shorts, a t-shirt (it actually has a giant T on it), and an unbuttoned button-down shirt. Everybody else in the company wears a suit. Nightmare must be pretty desperate for employees if they let him work for them. Also, we now have a bee, a mantis, and a wasp, so let’s lay out the motif of Nightmare. All of them are animals that prey on butterflies, which of course are the motif of the cures. It’s a very clever pattern that I hadn’t even noticed until it was pointed out to me the other day.

This episode shows us very clearly what Karen must have seen during the first episode, when the auditorium magically restores itself after the battle. (check the gallery) It’s never explained how this happens in most shows, but it’s a constant so at least they allude to it. Indeed, their battle does not go entirely unnoticed this time, since even though they’re indoors, the commotion of the fight causes the students in Karen and Komachi’s class to turn their heads and wonder what’s going on. Karen is going to check it out, but Komachi stops her because they’re in the middle of class. I really like how proactive they are in trying to solve the mystery and very soon their time will come.

I think that about does it for my thoughts this time. Next time, what’s that minty smell? Look forward to it!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 1 kettei!

#Precure #Pretty Cure #Yes! PreCure 5 #YPC503 #PCD151

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hyperfixatingrn · 8 years ago

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Rewatch & Explanation

TL;DR: I rewatched all of season 4 and took notes on interesting things, themes, and just general things I noticed. I also responded to supposed plot holes and other questions I’ve seen floating around. The extensive notes are, expectedly, in the “keep reading.”

For anyone who cares: Season 4 of Sherlock fucked me up. Not necessarily because I was depressed by it; it was more because the show literally consumed me for almost the entire month of January. The day after TFP, I looked in the mirror and realized that I had forgotten to take care of myself for over a week.

I wasn’t fully satisfied with season 4 on my first watch, but I liked it enough. But having trusted Moftiss almost implicitly when it comes to the writing of this show, I was really surprised when this season didn’t wow me as much as it usually does. The negative attitude that just erupted with the end of the season and the feeling of impending doom concerning the show’s future was a bit too much for me. I felt my opinions of the season were too clouded and influenced by my own anxiety and other people’s frustrations. But this show has really meant so much to me for the past 7 years. So, on the Monday after TFP aired, I did what was most therapeutic and rewatched the whole season while commenting on it/answering any questions or assumed plot holes I have seen floating around, so that I could decide my real, final opinion on the season. At the end of the rewatch I cried tears and tears of joy. I really think this season is worth another shot. It wasn’t the best, but that doesn’t mean it was bad. I am finally posting it.

P.S. A side note... I’ve never really done meta and I’m too fragile/insecure to test my abilities out right now. So sometimes I will point out something or a theme/motif but not go deep into why I think it is that way. Sorry!

1. “Sherlock said he knew exactly what Moriarty was going to do next, but he didn’t.”

At the end of TAB, we see Sherlock say he knows what Moriarty is going to do next. This line is referred to in the beginning of TST. Lady Smallwood says, “...You also say you know what he’s going to do next.” To that, Sherlock responds that Moriarty has, “Planned something, something long-term. Something that would take effect if he never made it off that rooftop alive. Posthumous revenge. No, better than that - posthumous game.” What we see here is that while Sherlock does not know “exactly” the specifics of Moriarty’s return, he has basically hit the nail on the head in terms of a “posthumous game,” which we see in TFP.

side analysis: Sherlock asks if it is his birthday in TST, and then it is his birthday in TLD. Cute little wrap up.

2. In TST, we see Mycroft look at a photo of a baby girl and have no idea what to say about it. He goes on to say that he has never been good with humans. This is indicative of how he could put his sister in a prison for 30 years and tell her parents she was dead and allow her other brother to believe she doesn’t exist.

3. “Eurus’s powers are over the top. She is not a superhero.”

In TST Sherlock says, “The world is woven from billions of lives, every strand crossing every other. What we call premonition is just movement of the web. If you could attenuate to every strand of quivering data, the future would be entirely calculable. As inevitable as mathematics.” This theory is brought up a second time in the season in TLD: “Interesting, isn’t it. I have theorised before that if one could attenuate to every available data stream in the world simultaneously, it would be possible to anticipate and deduce almost anything.” As this is brought up TWICE, we can assume is how Eurus operates. It is a foreshadowing of Eurus’s impressive capabilities. She is able to predict and control the world. She is so clever that she makes herself aware of all the data of the world and can therefore predict the future. It is also worth noting that Mrs. Holmes is a former mathematician. So Eurus’s intelligence/attention to the world’s data is as easy for her as mathematics is for her mother. Ahhh... family.

4. In TST, Mycroft reveals that Sherlock wrote his own version of “Appointment in Samarra” as a child because he didn’t like that the man had to die. He writes “Appointment in Sumatra” instead where the man actually outruns death and becomes a pirate. (Sherlock is the softest.) In TFP, Moriarty reveals TO Mycroft (five years in the past) that he wrote his own version of the Nativity as a child called “The Hungry Donkey.” He says that putting a baby in a manger is just asking for it. Sherlock and Moriarty’s fan fictions give insight to the inherent emotional differences between Sherlock and Moriarty. Sherlock is highly emotional and afraid of death, while Moriarty welcomes it. Much like how Sherlock fakes his death, but Moriarty shoots himself in the mouth just to win the argument.

5. “TFP was just a bunch of horror movies in one episode.”

Well, while I lack the knowledge to actually dispute this (I don’t watch horror movies) the horror movie trend was already set in TST. While John and Mary discuss Rosie’s destruction of the front room, they mention a couple of horror movies, The Exorcist and The Omen, and then speak about how Rosie cannot be both the devil and the antichrist.

side analysis: Napoleon is mentioned twice in the series. Once by Craig in TST: “Thatcher’s like, I dunno, Napoleon now.” And once by Sherlock in TLD: “Napoleon Bonaparte... Actually, just Napoleon would do.”

6. A theme of daughters.

I was suspicious of this, but I believe my theory has been confirmed. There is at least one daughter in every episode. TST: Rosie and also the daughter of Jack Sandeford, the owner of the last Thatcher bust. TLD: Culverton’s daughter Faith. TFP: Eurus. In TST, Sandeford’s daughter is swimming in the pool. This is most likely a foreshadow for the deep water nightmares and Eurus’s relation to it. Faith is the daughter of a psychopath, while Eurus is a real psychopath, and Eurus disguises herself as Faith. This obviously isn’t a proper analysis... but the fact is there.

7. Sherlock is off his game is TST, but the revealing part is why.

Sherlock is trying very hard in TST to be Season 1′s “high functioning sociopath.” He wants to be unemotional and focused on only work. He texts during his best friend’s important life events and doesn’t seriously engage with anyone in a manner that is unrelated to work. He is assumes his strategies have succeeded and that he knows exactly what is happening. He assumes Moriarty is behind the busts because Mycroft mentioned that Jim had, “latterly shown some interest in tracking down the Black Pearl of the Borgias.” Which is why Sherlock breaks the Thatcher bust with such arrogance saying, “Let me present Interpol’s number one case. Too tough for them, too boring for me.” He is wrong about what is in the bust, obviously. He misses what is “right in front of him.” Sherlock also loses his cool and goes off on deduction temper tantrums twice in the episode. First, he fake-deduces that a man’s wife is a spy, just because the man thought he had “done something clever,” but it’s actually quite “simple.” In this moment, we see that Sherlock still has a lot of growing up to do. We see it again in his interaction with Mrs. Norbury as he degrades her again and again, even as Mary warns him not to. He ends it with a kicker: “Vivian Norbury, who outsmarted them all. All except Sherlock Holmes.” The second fit proves fatal to his best friend’s wife. In the end, Sherlock must realize that it is not his detached, callous, emotionless manner that gets him to solve the cases AND save the life. It is his heart. That is what is so important about this episode and really why it starts the journey of Season 4.

8. “Families fall out.” - Sherlock

Sherlock says this in TST in response to Mary. Clearly foreshadowing Eurus. What is even more damning is the game he plays with the boy in Morocco.

Sherlock: Mr. Baker. Well, that completes the set.

Boy: No, it does not.

Sherlock: Well, who else am I missing?

Boy: Master Bun. It’s not a set without him.

Sherlock: I suppose I’m not familiar with the concept... happy families.

This is so clearly a reference to the fact that Sherlock is unaware his family is incomplete, yet still completely aware that his family is unhappy. Also Mr. Baker? Baker Street? Mr. Baker is probably a symbol for Sherlock. Sherlock saying that Mr. Baker completes the set shows that he believes he is the youngest child and the end of the Holmes family. The boy then says Sherlock is missing “Master Bun,” who is apparently a “him” in this game, but I think that the metaphor still holds.

9. “There was no indication that Sherlock dreamt of water. Also how could Sherlock dream of water if he had no idea about the well?”

Well first of all, it is clearly stated that Eurus called him “Drowned Redbeard,” but never told them where he was. So it is perfectly reasonable to believe that Sherlock would be haunted by water as his “dog” drowned in it. We also see that Sherlock’s memories are coming back to him even before he is aware of Eurus. When Mary knocks Sherlock out with the drugged letter he has a dream of Redbeard, playing pirate, and Eurus’s song. Then as the dream fades out you see Sherlock running off in the distance, with another boy. Who we know is not Mycroft, because Mycroft was pretty overweight as a child and also much taller than Sherlock. So this is clearly a hazy memory of Victor coming back to Sherlock. As Sherlock wakes up you hear the crashing of the waves, which again emphasizes the importance of water. When the bullet starts towards Sherlock he instantly has a look of fear as a reflection of water dances across his face and loud sounds of water splash all around him. Here we see another example of how Eurus was right and it is true that Sherlock has nightmares of deep water. In Sherlock’s session with Ella, she asks him, “You’ve been having dreams. A recurring dream?” SO we must assume this is a dream about water as it is a reoccurring motif. Sherlock AGAIN hears Eurus’s song in TLD when he is on the bank after Eurus, disguised as Faith, says, “Anyone.”

10. “Not on my watch.”

This phrase is said three times in season 4. It is said by both Sherlock and Mycroft. Mycroft says it in TST, “I don’t like loose ends, not on my watch.” Sherlock says it in TST and TFP. He says it in TST in response to Mycroft suggesting Mary would be “retired in a pretty permanent way.” And he says it in TFP in response to Eurus. “Five minutes. It took her just five minutes to do all of this to us. Well, not on my watch.” I feel as though the implication of actual minutes gives a deeper meaning to the phrase “not on my watch” in TFP. Like, perhaps it wasn’t actually five minutes, it was much longer or much shorter... Just a thought. Fucky.

11. Planes

This is a weak thought, but again the facts are there... There’s never been a season with more than one plane and in season 4 there are three. The one Mary is on disguised as an American, the one all three of them are on, and the one Eurus is on. And John daydreams Eurus (disguised as the girl on the bus) while on the plane, which is coincidental considering Eurus’s main dream/hallucination is that she is on a plane.

12. Culverton poster in TST foreshadowing (I just honestly didn’t notice the tagline)

“It’s murder in...”

13. In TST, in between the shots of Norbury being escorted out of the aquarium and John in the cemetery, we see a visual of a casket burning. This cannot be Mary because she would either be cremated without a casket or put in a casket (I’m not an expert, but I’m pretty sure that’s how it works?) After watching TFP for the second time, I can confirm that the casket is either pratically identical or is the Molly Hooper casket in TFP. So the question is: Why? Honestly I don’t know. I’ll get back to you.

14. I wish this was #13, but it didn’t work out that way. So the question is WHAT is 13th? It is on a post-it note on Mycroft’s fridge and he sees it and immediately calls Sherrinford. What does it all mean? That doesn’t mean it’s a plot hole, it just means it’s something that hasn’t been explained explicitly. There is a difference.

15. “Your kitchen window faces east.”

Sherlock says this in TLD in his explanation to “Faith” about how he knew her kitchen was tiny. “Faith” is Eurus. Eurus is the east wind. EAST WIND IS COMING. Obviously a foreshadow that this woman is Eurus and the east wind.

16. Development: Mycroft

In TLD, when Lady Smallwood defends Sherlock’s grief over Mary, Mycroft says, “Everybody dies. It’s the one thing human beings can be relied upon to do. How can it still come as a surprise to people?” He is so callous he almost sounds like Moriarty. However, in TFP, he refuses to take a man’s life, “I can’t do this. It’s murder.” He is the one at Sherrinford who cannot take the violence or death. He is constantly shocked by death in TFP. This is clear human development on Mycroft’s part. He is learning and growing and becoming more human.

17. “Is he with someone?” “Not sure. We keep losing visual.”

I think this part has been vastly overlooked. At the time I believe some assumed (though not me because I know a Sian Brooke when I see one) that this little interaction between Mycroft and the man watching the video feed suggested that Sherlock was hallucinating Faith, but after it was confirmed that she was real, the interaction was glassed over. The interaction signifies, to me, that Eurus has power in the government as well or at least that Sherrinford kept keeping Mycroft from seeing her.

18. Game of chess.

Remember in TEH, we think we see Sherlock and Mycroft enraptured in a game of chess, but it actually turns out to be a simple game of operation. In season 4, there were many visuals of a chess table. The hostages in TST play chess and say, “Chess palls after three months.” In TLD, as Sherlock falls onto his couch after his swirling hallucination, we see a chess table underneath the couch. It also in the last shot of the flat before the scene in which Eurus is revealed. In the promotional photos of TFP, Mycroft and Sherlock are actually playing chess, as opposed to in TEH. This probably suggests that season 3 was easier and more child’s play, and that the struggles the boys are up against in season 4 are much more serious and complicated.

19. Once More Unto the Breach

EASILY my favorite scene in the entire seires, besides the hug and Sherlock/baby scenes. Drugged out Sherlock/Ben reciting Shakespeare is something I thought I could have only imagined in my wildest fantasies. This speech itself is usually pretty tame in comparison, though, in context, it is King Henry V RILING his troops up to try to once again attack a weak spot in the enemy’s walls. What is worth noting is that this is the speech when Mrs. Hudson becomes part of the plan to save John Watson. She watched the video, so she might be aware of what Sherlock is doing, but she decides to speed him up. She becomes one of his troops. Also, at the end of his speech he shoots a picture of Culverton with a quote that says, “You wouldn’t believe the things they let me get away with!” Nice detail.

20. Eurus answers John’s phone

WOAHH. Something I totally missed first time watching. Eurus answers John’s phone while he’s dealing with Sherlock and the person on the other end is Culverton Smith. So... that’s worth noting. Especially considering later that she says that Culverton Smith “gave” her the letter. Also like... John is polite to women and also distracted so he doesn’t call her out on this, but like that ISN’T chill. That’s his first session and she answers his phone? Something was off right away.

21. “Get me a fresh glass of water, please, this one’s filthy.”

VERY funny. I laughed, we all laughed. BUT Eurus actually gets him a new glass of water. A metaphor possibly? We all know that he is haunted by her song and water... sooo.... idk just an idea

22. “It’s gone downhill a bit, hasn’t it?”

Everyone assumed that this scene was an indication that this was a dream. No one really knew who John was. It was off, but maybe for a different reason. Let’s consider the fact that John probably hasn’t really been with Sherlock for a significant time. It’s been over three months since Mary died (because it had been three months from when Sherlock had the drug hallucination after Faith to when he and John met Culverton) and also it has been over half a year since the baby was born. John hasn’t gone out with Sherlock in, I’d say at least four months. And before that he was going out with him less and less because of the baby and maybe his last blogs were rushed or spotty BECAUSE he was multitasking and he had a lot on his mind. So, what we can assume is that the blog HAS gone downhill and people are maybe even starting to forget John Watson, which is frankly John’s worst nightmare and sets off his temper. It also makes me wonder if this is related to why John was looking at an image of his blog in TST.

23. The sheep in the waiting room

This visual IMMEDIATELY reminded me of “The Story of Sir Boast-a-lot” in TRF. I actually thought it WAS the exact same visual at first. The sheep are jumping over a fence which is suggestive of “counting sheep to get to sleep.” SO, it is understandable that some people believed this was a dream. I tend to think that instead it was just a hypnotizing, drug-affected scene. Sherlock isn’t totally there. He feels “psychedelic,” as he just topped up in the bathroom. He’s awake, but he isn’t totally there.

24. “Why did John beat up Sherlock? Why didn’t he trust the evidence in front of him instead of listening to Culverton?”

Well, from what we’ve learned from TFP, Eurus can reprogram people’s minds. Eurus was John’s therapist. Whether Eurus made John more susceptible to insecurity or the death of his wife did, I’m not sure. But what we do know is that in the scene in the mortuary Culverton mocks John’s intelligence many times. He really drives home the point that John’s an idiot and not a real doctor for listening to Sherlock who is too high to know what’s real anymore. These attacks really shake John, whereas I argue they would not have in the past. He is usually rather confident in himself and his abilities. But this insecurity in him is rather noticeable. It is also pretty valid. John is nearing rock bottom already and it takes one more nudge from Culverton to get him to the bottom of the barrel. Whether it was Eurus or Mary’s death that made him so fragile, is up for debate. As for John attacking Sherlock, we can speculate whether Euros programmed John to beat up Sherlock. However, I would like to imagine that John just loses his mind in that mortuary. He is not himself. He hasn’t spent time with the man who keeps him grounded, Sherlock, in maybe over 4 months. His wife is dead. He doesn’t spend time with his daughter. He is losing himself. He takes it out on Sherlock, which is not healthy or good, I agree. I cannot explain this away. I would like to quote John Watson on this one, “Why can’t some things be unacceptable and we just accept that?”

25. “Why did Mrs. Hudson call Mycroft a reptile? A bit overboard?”

Well, right before Mrs. Hudson calls Mycroft a reptile she tells everyone to get out because they’re about to watch John’s deceased wife’s video. She says that “Anyone who stays here a minute longer is admitting to me personally they do not have a single spark of human decency.” And then everyone leaves, except Mycroft, who stays with his eyes fixed on the screen ready to watch. So she calls him a reptile because he has just proved that he doesn’t have a “single spark of human decency.” She is such a BAMF. She is the ideal grandma.

26. “I don’t want to die.”

This is profound for me. Sherlock has always been incredibly careless with his life. In ASIP, he was willing to risk the 50/50 chance of death, just to prove he was clever. In TGG, he anxiously scratches the back of his head with a GUN. He doesn’t appear to value his life. He risks death, or great harm, more times than I can count, just for the high or just to prove he’s clever. BUT, this episode we finally see the turn. We see Sherlock understand that when you die you’re not losing your own life, your friends and family are losing you. “Your life is not your own. Keep your hands off it. Off it.” And now as he faces death, he cries and admits that he doesn’t want to die. This man is not Season 1 Sherlock Holmes.

27. “How did Eurus get the original note??? Why?”

This one is tricky, not a plot hole, just challenging (as Gatiss said). But I do have some theories. Eurus says that, “Culverton gave me the original note. A mutual friend put us in touch.” We must assume, or at least I did, that this mutual friend is Moriarty, unless Eurus made other “friends�� on Sherrinford. We can also assume this because Eurus says that Sherlock didn’t get the “big one” (one as in deduction that she added to the note), which WAS “Miss Me?” Now what she says about who gave it to her causes me to come up with three possible theories all of which start which the fact that I assume Culverton is friends or at least in touch with Moriarty as they are both legendary criminals. These are the theories: 1. Culverton decided he wanted to finally be free and confess to everyone permanently (why else would he keep the note after all that time?) and gave Moriarty the note to give to someone to help him out. BUT based off of Culverton’s face when he finds out that Sherlock had a recording device in John’s walking cane, this theory seems unlikely. 2. Culverton gave it as a present to Moriarty because Moriarty is weird and twisted like that and would probably love a present like that. THEN Moriarty gave it to Eurus. And finally... 3. Culverton told Moriarty about the note, Moriarty told Eurus about the note, then Eurus drugged Culverton (with TD-12???) and stole the note herself. So perhaps when she says that Culverton gave her the original note, she’s more being ironic and doesn’t mean it as precisely as it comes off.

28. The gun. “A tranquilizer gun is not the same as a real gun...”

I thought that I was going to have a very difficult time analyzing this or even proving this wrong until I actually rewatched the scene. The focus is never put on the gun. The gun is actually never in focus. Then we hear a gun shot and we look down the barrel of a gun. When you look down the barrel of the gun in the end and the screen turns red, I believe that meant to be a literal red herring because quite honestly, to me, the barrel we stare down in that final moment does not look the same as the gun in the rest of the scene. The gun she is flailing around (out of focus, mind you) seems to have two separate barrels, which is what appears to be the requirement of a tranquilizer gun. And I did some research on tranquilizer guns and what they can look like, and they can look quite similar to a regular gun, not exactly alike, but similar. And then the plot hole question becomes “John is a soldier, shouldn’t he have known the difference?” Well, as capable as John is, I’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt in this situation, because I’ve been to therapy and I know what it’s like to have your guard down and then suddenly realize your therapist isn’t trustworthy. It’s very intense. So a woman he trusted suddenly started locking him in and revealed she was the crazy secret sister of his best friend who he had also vaguely had an affair with and then she pointed a gun to his face. No matter his training, he was not prepared to be in battle mode and check out whether her gun was real. If it looks like a psychopath and talks like a psychopath, assume she’s pointing a real gun at you, was probably his instinct.

29. “So you’re telling me Eurus was just going to “tranquilize” John so he could just run and tell Sherlock??”

Yes... literally that is what I am telling you. She planned a massive, intense, dark game for Sherlock at Sherrinford. Are you telling me she was just going to kill John and risk Sherlock never showing up to her murder island? Of course she wants him to find out who she is. But also she’s a HOLMES. She wants credit for her cleverness. THEN ALSO people are saying, “Yeah ok, but then why did she send a grenade to their house.” As we’ve already discussed Eurus can accurately predict people’s actions almost perfectly. She probably predicted how they would react to the grenade and how they would try and save themselves from the grenade. A point I will make later is that the aftermath of the blast does not seem that devastating. All of the walls are fine. Sherlock and John’s chairs are fine. Papers and stuff are burnt but there is no structural damage. I believe Mycroft overestimated how awful the grenade would be. I don’t even think it would have killed them. They all survived. She wanted them to come. She didn’t plan for five years for nothing. She just wanted to play with their heads.

30. “Why would Mycroft’s first instinct be to smile when he saw his family film rather than the movie he was watching? Rather than wondering what was wrong?”

Well as they (they as in Mycroft and Sherlock) say, “Sentiment is a chemical defect found in the losing side.” Mycroft is clever, but as Mrs. Hudson points out... he’s an idiot and he’s becoming more human every episode. So when he sees himself as an overweight child eating cake next to his “brother mine” of course he smiles. Of course, he’s confused. But of course he smiles.

31. If TFP was going for the horror movie theme, this opening scene really sets it up very nicely. It gave me chills the first and second time watching.

32. “How could Redbeard have been a child? If he was, how could Mycroft talk about it as if it was nothing?”

Well, I believe there are a couple things of note here. Mycroft, while cold, cares about Sherlock a lot. This is made clear from the very first episode. We see in the TFP that even when Sherlock felt he was bullying him by bringing up Redbeard or the “east wind,” Mycroft was trying to analyze Sherlock and see if his memories had resurfaced, if at all. He’s very sensitive about it. He worries. In the scene in the flat, Mycroft is delicately telling Sherlock about his sister that he forgot existed and I think it would have been a bad idea for him to suddenly drop the bomb that his beloved dog was actually his best friend. Mycroft lies to protect Sherlock. When Sherlock accusing Mycroft of lying, he admits it and says, “It is also a kindness.” Another moment that is revealing is:

John: You don’t lock up a child because a dog goes missing.

Mycroft: Quite so.

So Mycroft is actually hinting that Eurus wasn’t locked up because a dog went missing, but for a much bigger reason: Victor Trevor’s death. He continues to go into depth on why they had to send her away, which reveals a scene in which she draws Sherlock’s death a number of times while her parents talk in the background. Daddy Holmes says, “She knows where he is!” To which Mommy Holmes responds, “We can’t make her tell us. We can’t make her do anything.” This already indicates that it is a much bigger issue than a dog, though I admit I missed it at first glance. If Eurus had drowned a dog, they wouldn’t still be worrying about where the body is. Only a human body would still be necessary for a funeral and also the family. Another side point is that, a dog is usually a family thing, but Sherlock has always described it as “his dog.” At first I thought this was endearing, but then I realized it was because Victor was HIS best friend and that’s how he remembered it.

33. “John knows what grenades are & Mycroft knew what that specific grenade was and could have mentioned it before the motion sensor turned on!”

In terms of Mycroft, he’s not used to field work. You hear him say the second he sees it, “Keep back! Keep as still as you can!” His reflexes are not as sharp as John’s or Sherlock’s because he’s a behind the scenes man. If Sherlock had known what it was he would have formulated a plan in seconds. He’s the “dragon slayer,” he lives for the action. Mycroft however is always on the other side. He panicked, I believe. He knew what he was seeing and tried to warn them, but it wasn’t good enough. He is not perfect or great in the field and we see especially in TFP. As Sherlock points out, “I’m beginning to think you’re not [clever].” In terms of John, this is very clearly not a regular grenade, or one John is used to, because someone would have to pull the plug and throw it, while this is resting on a drone. If John had seen a grenade thrown in a room his response time would be immediate. Again, when called to battle his reflexes are immediate. His question also comes immediately after he hears Mycroft say, “Keep as still as you can!” This I guess begs the question exactly what KIND of grenade are we dealing with? So he IMMEDIATELY, literally immediately after Mycroft says that, asks “What is it?” I think he was asking very specifically what kind of grenade it was rather than being like, “oi doi, what’s that? I’ve never seen one of these before.” He was responding to Mycroft’s fierce reaction. He wanted the specifics based on the reaction.

34. “How are Sherlock, John, and Mycroft not scathed at all after enduring a blast of a grenade?”

To be fair, I think Mycroft vastly overestimated its powers. I don’t actually think it was that deadly. If they had stood in the same spot, sure. BUT, the entire flat was mostly salvageable after the burst, so the bomb couldn’t have been that bad. There was absolutely no structural damage and all of the furniture was fine. I think it was a fire that burned hot but burned quick. It wasn’t that deadly. Eurus wanted them to get to her, so she wasn’t trying to kill them. Think of it like TGG when Sherlock endures the blast of the bomb from across the street, but is not in the bomb, so he doesn’t really get hurt. A second story window is honestly not that high. Yes broken glass, but their backs endured most of the damage. Their arms/elbows went through the glass first so as not to damage their beautiful faces. Who knows if they have scratches on their backs and arms. They were covered for the entirety of the episode. Anything that happened to them would probably be bruises or cuts beneath their clothes. The jump is a bit fantastical, yes. But Sherlock has always been that way. Always. We’ve just always forgiven it or accepted it as part of the world.

35. “How did they get on the boat?”

Helicopter. The new boy on the boat asks if he hears a helicopter, but the older man passes it off as just the weather. But this is the helicopter that helps Sherlock and John get on the boat. Helicopters have drop down ladders or ropes. Not that difficult really. They do it in the military all the time. John is a soldier and Sherlock is clearly very trained in many forms of things so, not that far fetched.

36. “It’s totally ooc for Sherlock to ignore Vatican Cameos.”

Well, yeah. That’s 100% the point. Eurus is intoxicating for almost everyone. Sherlock is so distracted by her psychotic nature that he doesn’t notice that there is NO GLASS. He admits the scheme is so easy “its transparent” (haha pun). But seriously, this moment was supposed to make you feel uneasy. None of them are safe, none of them are in their element. This whole EPISODE is meant to make you feel uneasy.

37. “The Molly scene was sexist and unnecessary.”

Okay, but like... of course it’s unnecessary. Murder Island is unnecessary. Unnecessary is a very subjective word. The whole point is that Eurus is psychotic and an ACTUAL psychopath who doesn’t understand the benefit of emotions or sentiment. She is analyzing Sherlock for his emotions. She is using people to experiment with his emotions. It’s awful. Molly will survive, her entire life will not be defined by this moment. AND if it is it will be for the best reason. She will finally move on or she will figure out who she is. I’m not saying that this scene was good, but in the worst situations come the best recoveries. To me she is not “throw away” and never was, and I disagree greatly with anyone that says that “this scene proved she is.” I think that Molly is inCREDIBLY strong. It’s like John said in TLD, Molly “see’s through [Sherlock’s] bullshit.” And I really feel like we see that in this scene. She isn’t weak. She is a woman in love, but she isn’t weak. She almost hangs up on him and tells him to stop making fun of her. That is a very brave thing to do. And then, the best part for me, she makes him tell her he loves her first. He must embarrass himself too. She won’t allow herself to be the sole prisoner of this game. THEN after he says it, she almost hangs up. Molly is a bad ass ok? This scene isn’t fun. But Molly is a great character. Just since season 1, she has proved time and time again that she survives and every time you think she’s been broken she comes back better. In that scene, Molly was crying and having a bad day so, I assumed that she had broken up with her fiancee Tom. I should have done some engagement ring analysis from the rest of the season, BUT in TFP she is definitely not wearing an engagement ring. So by this analysis this is honestly just an awful time for her and why she’s crying so much. And as to her still loving Sherlock, I still love people I shouldn’t and have never even been with and they have broken my heart. It’s just that until you find the right person, you’re in love with the person you were in love with before. She is not destined to be the girl that never gets over Sherlock Holmes, she just hasn’t found the right man yet. It is not sexist or anti-feminist to be in love with someone for a long time. Loo even tweeted that herself. The really important part about this scene is what it does to Sherlock. When Sherlock finds out that he did that to Molly for NOTHING? He breaks a fucking coffin. He is DEVASTATED. He hates that he has to embarrass her like that. Which is soooo different from Season 1 Sherlock who embarrassed Molly all the time without even realizing it. For me this scene is beautifully dark. After murder island Sherlock definitely came back and was like, “Molly I’m so so sorry. I thought your flat was going to explode and that was the code word.” And she would be like, “Oh. You’re a bastard, but okay.” Long live Molly Hooper.

38. “Why is Molly talking to her home screen?”

On smart phones this is actually completely possible. You can have a call and do a million things at one time. You can click the home button and still be on the call. I’m sorry, but this question is really lazy. This might have actually been a mistake while making the show, but even if it wasn’t like... we all know that it is possible to still be talking on the phone while your phone is on it’s home screen. Maybe she accidentally clicked the home button.

39. “How did Sherlock destroy a coffin without hurting himself?”

Because it was a cheap ass coffin. Couldn’t we all tell the second we saw it that it was a cheap ass coffin? It’s tiny and flimsy. He also, when he starts actually grabbing at pieces and destroying it, pretty clearly grabbed it by the fabric (so it was soft on his hands) and flung it around.

40. A big moment for me in this episode was watching Mycroft watch John and Sherlock, like anytime they did anything. He realized how crucial John was. Especially after Sherlock destroys the coffin, John just goes over and tells him he has to get it together and helps him up and Mycroft clearly analyzes this. And in the next scene he is calculatedly callous to help Sherlock decide to shoot him instead of John. Sherlock reads into it immediately. It made me cry.

Sherlock: Even your Lady Bracknell was more convincing.

Mycroft: You said you liked my Lady Bracknell.

41. “It’s out of character that John didn’t react when Sherlock had a gun to his head.”

John trusts Sherlock and this was Sherlock taking control of the situation. This is what John knows. In that moment, EURUS actually starts freaking out and you realize that Sherlock is now in charge. I don’t know if John believed that Sherlock would actually end up shooting himself. I know Sherlock believed it; he was willing to die for Mycroft and John, but I think John was perhaps in shock, maybe also not wanting to startle a man with a gun to his chin, but I also firmly believe that he finally had some hope.

42. “How did she get them from Sherrinford to Musgrave so quickly?”

Who said it was quickly? We have to assume they were out for hours. It was daytime when they were at Sherrinford and it’s the middle of the night at Musgrave. Sherlock even asks the “little girl” how long he’s been gone and she says, “hours. Hours and hours.”

43. “John is a doctor. He should know what kind of bones they are.”

This comment actually makes me laugh really hard hahaha. Look, it’s pitch black so he can’t see, he’s wet so his sense of touch is off, and also it’s been .05 seconds. He’s a doctor identifying bones with no eyes, not an archeologist. Give him a minute. He gets it eventually.

44. “Why does Victor eat out of a dog’s bowl?”

He doesn’t. This comment also makes me laugh REALLY hard ahahhahah. Eurus put it there for dramatic effect. Holmes siblings can’t resist a flair for the dramatic.

45. “Sherlock’s reaction to John in the well is so ooc. Remember how he reacted when John was in the bonfire?”

Okay, these are two ENTIRELY different events and reactions for MANY reasons. In the bonfire incident, Sherlock had no reason to believe John was in danger before Mary received the texts. Sherlock was enjoying his chips (well, to a certain extent... “You’re suicidal. you’re allowed chips.”) when Mary interrupted his evening. In TFP, John and Sherlock have been tested throughout the entire episode, so Sherlock was bound to already assume that John was in some kind of cell or dark, dingy place when they awoke. In TEH, Sherlock and John were not on speaking terms at the moment and Sherlock hadn’t truly spent time with him in two years. The idea of losing him just like that was, imaginably, very rattling. It prompted the first “Oh my God,” that we have ever heard out of the mouth of Sherlock Holmes. We can assume it is unnerving for Sherlock to ever think of losing John, but in that moment he was just not even close to ready, okay? In TFP, Sherlock and John are back to normal. They shared that lovely, tender hug, released all of their tension and are now basically as good as new. Their banter in the beginning of the episode was very classic. Sherlock has nothing to prove to John right now in terms of his loyalty to him and their friendship. ALSO John in TEH was literally unconscious, underneath a soon-to-be blazing bonfire that was miles awake from Baker Street. The response time in terms of saving John’s life needed to be much quicker in TEH. In TFP, John is fully conscious and aware in a flooding well that’s on the property Sherlock is standing on. He is also chained to the bottom of this well. Sherlock has no idea where this well is and there is also a little girl who he believes is about to die. He knows John is a very capable man who, at least in this instance (unlike TEH), is conscious and vaguely able to try and fend for himself while Sherlock tries to not only save his life but a child’s. We see the same sort of heat and fear in Sherlock when he insists, “I AM FINDING YOU!” but it is just a different situation. John is not burning and he can try to survive a bit longer while Sherlock buys them time. These are the same married men in a different scenario.

46. “Okay but a CHILD? You wouldn’t stop looking for a CHILD!”

They probably didn’t! Remember, Mycroft has been lying to them! There was no dog and they definitely didn’t stop looking after a short amount of time. Remember Daddy & Mommy Holmes talking about how Eurus knew where Victor was? Well, that was them TRYING to find him. Trying to figure it out. Still searching for the body. If they they did stop looking, it’s only because they looked for so long. Child gone missing is a common report and many cases don’t get solved. And you also certainly don’t think to first look in a well because your son’s best friend’s sister just might have pushed him down there.

47. After Sherlock solves the song’s puzzle he stands on the beach in his mind palace and young Eurus runs around him playing with a toy plane as she asks Sherlock to play with her. Maybe I was overstimulated the first time through, but I did not notice this. It gave me goose bumps.

48. “How could Sherlock forgive her? After she did all those things?”

Because he’s her brother. When he ran into the room after realizing who she is and says, “But I’m not a stranger am I? I’m your brother,” I instantly got emotional. Because in that moment it’s not about the psychopath, it’s about the terrified girl who never got to grow up or have a family. Eurus has been in a holding cell, alone, since she was a child. To me that is inhumane no matter how seemingly insane the child is. Children are children. She was never taught how to behave because she was never given a chance. She’s a psychopath, but she craves love. Yes, people died because of her; she’s a villain. But, he’s Sherlock Holmes. She is his family and he’s going to save her. Sherlock understands what Mycroft didn’t. Like Daddy Holmes says, “Whatever she did. Whatever she became. She remains our daughter.” Family is family, man. There’s not much else too it.

49. “They saved John with a ROPE? HIS FEET ARE CHAINED.”

I originally agreed with this argument/plot hole until I realized... really, in what universe would a legitimate fire department or police department carry around a plain ass rope to save people with? They probably threw down the well’s rope (don’t wells usually have ropes to like pull up buckets of water?) to give John something to hold himself up and continue to “try as long as possible not to drown” (his feet weren’t chained right to the bottom. They had about a feet of chain on them) to give the rescue teams time to actually get down there and... rescue him. We didn’t see the rescue and John grabbed at the rope pretty anxiously (because he was dying), so we all just assumed that it was how he got out. But it’s also a pretty bad plan to pull a fully grown man (lol. even considering how short this man is) up a very deep, rough and stony edged well with a thin rope. So yeah... let’s not assume that he was saved with a rope just because that’s all we saw.

50. “You were always the grown up.”

There are some people complaining about this line and saying it is inconsistent. I actually find it completely consistent with a parent’s view of what a grown up is. A grown up is intelligent and emotional and able to make the correct decision. Yes, we see Mycroft taking care of a Sherlock’s most childish self a lot of the time, but when it comes to decision making, Sherlock has him beat by a lot. Sherlock is emotional and intelligent. He is able to make a more informed, adult decision.

51. She just wanted to play with him. And now they’re doing violin duets together as she’s in solitary confinement. My heart swells.

52. The commentary on “Who you really are? It doesn’t matter.”

That quote itself, alone, is definitely not great. Who you are does matter. Always. But lets look at the context of the quote. “I know who you really are. A junky who solves crimes to get high. And the doctor who never came home from the war... Who you really are, it doesn’t matter. It’s all about the legend.” This quote is to say, you two, as individuals, are messes. But that doesn’t matter. Together you are one unstoppable legend. You are two halves of a whole. John Watson showed Sherlock where his heart is and if that’s not a love story...

Soo THAT’S IT. I hope you enjoyed...

@huglocked, @sherlock-addict

#Sherlock #Sherlock Holmes #John Watson #Season 4 #The Final Problem #The Six Thatchers #The Lying Detective #Molly Hooper #Johnlock #Mary Watson #Steven Moffat #Mark Gatiss #BBC Sherlock

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