#fucky sets of S4

[feralnumberfive]

In 3x04 the power in the room goes out (besides what I'm assuming are emergency lights) when older Five dies. Does this possibly imply that Five was being used as some sort of power source for The Commission? They haven't explained the technology of the briefcase, but when your founder has time traveling and teleporting abilities that would certainly be put to good use to make a time traveling device....

[garkgatiss]

sigh. gark I miss having hope that this show would actually get another season. but we've passed the really big thing they could have been waiting on (end of Sherlock books copyright), a (beloved) main character's actor has died, the others all seem very busy with other projects that have come along despite Covid-related filming backlogs finally clearing up, and as far as I've heard there hasn't even been a teasing Instagram comment from Moffat in a while. As someone recently pointed out, this show has now been continuously "on hiatus" longer than it was originally on air. I know that one of the theories is that that's kind of the point; they're doing a meta-reichenbach or whatever and if you haven't spent the last six and a half years as faithful as John Watson was for *checks notes* uhhhh, two? you're not a True Believer but like... at what point do we have to accept that despite all the "desperate for more"s and "plot for S5 on the back of a napkin" and "people always give up after three"s in the world it's just not happening and never was?

(Not to be the John Watson allegory in the meta-reichenbach, but I just want to know why... why they would take something that was going so well for them and deliberately steer it into the ground with so many winks and nods and gaping plotholes it can't have been anything but intentional, if they didn't mean to accomplish anything by doing so!?)

The error in your logic is thinking that because S5 hasn't happened, it must not have ever been their plan. For years now I've used the hypothetical of -- not to get grim, and knock on every piece of wood on Earth I am NOT wishing this into being -- what if Ben or Martin died. There's a billion reasons that any given TV show doesn't get an additional season, but the death of a lead actor really puts the nail in the proverbial coffin. That was my high water mark hypothetical scenario at which point I would be like, okay we're really really never getting S5.

And in that scenario, would any of my analysis change? Of course not. It would never be proven right or wrong without S5 being made, but it doesn't change the fact that Moff consulted with John Yorke on Into the Woods, it doesn't change the fact that almost all Moff's DW seasons are structured as 5 acts, it doesn't change the fact that they talked about having ideas for S4 and 5 at the same time. It doesn't change the fact that it sure seems like they were telegraphing as early as S1 that they wanted to make 5 seasons, with the 4th being a Brechtian fucky fakefest. If they had only ever made S1, we probably would never have guessed what they had planned, but it wouldn't have changed the fact that they had planned it.

So while it sucks that realistically they're never going to make S5, the reality is that we have always been one plane crash (KNOCK ON WOOD) away from never having S5, and by plane crash I mean any one of the billlions of things that can stand in the way of a season of television. It doesn't mean they never intended to follow through with what they managed to set up - intent is not the same as result, and that's just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. It is what it is.

[henrysglock]

i love all your theorizing about henry, but how likely do you think it is that it'll actually become canon? bc like, i'd prefer spending time with main group of characters, the party, the teens, joyce and hopper, and seeing their arcs. and i definitely want a satisfactory ending for henry's arc, but i have a hard time picturing a huge twist about multiple henry's and deep diving into the creel family and brenner and time travel, etc in s5. esp bc s5 is supposed to be a lot shorter than s4. idk i'd just love to hear your thoughts!

Oh I’ve been waiting for this one!

Yeah, no, they’re definitely not going to take time to lay out every detail and deep dive into every aspect of characters’ relationships to each other. Are we going to get details on the mechanics of it? Probably not. Are we actually going to return to the fucky NINA sequence? Maybe, maybe not. I don’t know!

However…there are plenty of concrete details they have to explain, many of which point to a canon time travel/alternate universe twist.

They have to explain Henry (?) turning back the clock, because they made a point to show us that. They spent a great deal of time on that specific shot.

They have to address Alice’s death, because they explicitly don’t show it, there’s no way Henry (?) physically could have done it if he was trancing Victor the whole time.

They have to address the discrepancies in facts between Henry’s (?) retelling of the 1959 massacre and Victor’s retelling of the same night.

They’ll likely address the discrepancy between the description of the rabbit scene and what Raphael is portraying on screen.

They’ll likely address the 1979 Massacre weirdness too, because they explicitly don’t show Henry (?) killing anyone but the first set of guards and 002…and we also have an image of a blood-free Henry (?) looking at the dead children in confusion.

To do all this, they’ll most likely address the content of the newspapers re: Henry and Edward Creel, especially with so much twin imagery and the concepts of twinners/alternate timelines.

I think they’ll allude to a lot of the fucked-up bits of the Creel-Brenner relationships the same way they used subtext to tell us the kinds of abuse that were done to Henry and El in Brenner’s lab (i.e. the framing of the electrocution scene, the 3 legged Papa drawing, Brenner’s mannerisms with the children). I don’t think they’ll have the time to actually lay all of it out explicitly, and for some parts…they legally/morally can’t and shouldn’t lay it out explicitly.

So…There are a handful of things the Duffers must address, but they definitely won’t explicitly address every clue and the mechanics of everything/every detail. They simply don’t have time for all that within the structure of the season. However, they don’t have to flesh it all out to make the twist work! They really only need a handful of well placed shots; the whole thing could realistically be wrapped up within the same span of time as the NINA twist sequence…that was a huge twist too, and it took a relatively small amount of time. They had Cali, Hawkins, NINA (not memories), and Russia all happening at the same time as the NINA memories thing, and they made it work. They can definitely do the same for a time loop/alternate universe thing when all we really have going on in ST5 is a) the battle against Vecna, and b) the search for Max.

Hell, they’ve already set us up for it with multiple Chekhov’s Gun details in ST4! They kind of have to address it, at this point.

That said, they definitely won’t flesh out every single relationship with backstory re: Henry within the frame of the TV show…That’s what the play is for ;) The First Shadow my beloved…come home to me…

[strangeswift]

May I ask why do you like S3 overall, is it bc of vibes and all? I am not judging you, I just find S3 to be the most lackluster filler season to ever exist in the season and if you just deleted it, nothing really would make a huge difference. Some stuff were good but you could just add those good things in S3 or S4.

Overall that season destroyed many characters like Mike, Hopper (by making him a largely comedic relief), Jonathan (by adding sexism storyline which was cringe), destroyed several character relationships that were important in the series in the previous two seasons (Mike and Will, Will and the party in general, making Dustin leave the party and no one really caring about it aside from Will etc).

The only good things that happened were Robin and her coming out plus straightbait, and Max and El's friendship. Overall, there is nothing in that season plotwise and it didnt introduce anything new to the story... plus is destroyed the previous good elements like characters, character dynamics and plot. It was lackluster compared to S2's real horror, the meaty MF was trash, most of the new introducations of new plot lines such as Evil!Soviets were very underwhelming and unnecessary that took too much screen time for no reason. And the Duffers obsession with the Russia plot lines both in S3 where it got introduced, and the continuation of it in S4 where it got drageed for so long, honestly felt so unnecessary and reductive. There was no UD. It was heavily fanservice-y and filled with eye candy elements and relied on just vibes (like summer vibes and shit) and big budget action rather than actually telling a good story with a vision and quantity.

Hi anon!

Gonna try to respond to everything you said sorry if this is a little scatterbrained!

So firstly. I don't feel as if they destroyed Hopper's character. He's going through it this season, but I actually feel like he has a good amount of depth this season, and he's actually trying to be vulnerable. Sure a lot of it is sort of through a comedic lense, but I don't feel like he's been completely reduced to being comedic relief, and I definitely don't think they ruined his character.

The most certainly did not destroy Jonathan's character by any means, especially not with the sexism plotline because... he isn't the one being sexist? Sure, he doesn't completely Get It. Just like Nancy doesn't completely get where he's coming from with his family's financial situation. I don't think he's apathetic to the sexism, I just think he hasn't considered just how much it must be affecting Nancy. Now, if I were him, would I stay at a job like that? I don't know. I would love to say that I wouldn't, but with his financial situation and the lack of jobs? I'd probably suck it up and stay. Yes, even if they were being demeaning toward my girlfriend. However. It's true that he clearly Doesn't Get It. That's not "ruining his character" though. That's a character having flaws. Just like Nancy has flaws, like not considering Jonathan's situation.

I also don't think the sexism storyline was cringe. I think it was important.

I don't think S3 "destroyed" anything except Mike and El's romantic relationship and depending on how S5 shakes out maybe Mike's character. I mean sure if Mike isn't actually struggling with his sexuality and was just being an asshole then yeah they ruined Mike. So fingers crossed that they didn't ruin Mike.

I'd argue that some important shit happened S3. I mean Billy's death set up Max's entire S4 arc. Mike and Will's conflict is important for Will's arc. Steve had massive amounts of character development. Robin was introduced and incredibly well developed which it takes time to do.

I personally thought the horror elements were cool, although S2 and S4 solo S3 as far as horror elements obviously. But I'm not a horror gal really so if you're really into horror then I get how maybe you'd be disappointed? I mean I thought the building of the army and everything was pretty fucking cool. And the rats and shit. I really liked the whole mystery.

And there was Upside Down!! I mean.. that was the whole plot. The Mindflayer was the villain he's from the UD. The Russians were trying to access the UD. So it's not really accurate to say there was no UD.

As far as Russia plotline. Eh. Idk scoops troops whole storyline from cracking the code to sneaking through the vents and getting drugged and tortured for info all within the mall? I thought it was really cool. Yeah the Duffers Russian obsession is kinda weird and they kinda went ham in S4 but I did actually like it in S3.

I do like the summer vibes but also I really like a lot of other things! I really like the plot. All the scenes of El in the void were SUPER SICK. The beginning of El's independence arc and her having fun for the first time in her life? Priceless to me. She means everything so me oh my god. Hopper and Joyce being badasses and the Jopper will they won't they?? Lumax's banter this season is so important to showing how comfortable and real their relationship is. Will's whole arc is super important and amazing. SUZIE MY BELOVED!!! The Scoops Troop MY BELOVED I adore them. Erica becoming a main character? Also everything to me. Stobin? Everything to me. Robin's coming out remains my favorite scene in the entire show.

^ Sensing a pattern? Females. Women. S3 is more female centric, it brings existing female characters to the forefront. Elmax friendship. Independent El. Introduces Robin a smart and fiercely Independent lesbian. Joyce being a badass as usual. For better or worse, Karen having her arc about being unhappy in her cookie cutter marriage. Nancy confronting sexism in the workplace and coming out stronger the other side. Nancy and Karen's talk.

Also. Honestly? After S2 I needed some fun. S2 is my favorite don't get me wrong, but it's dark. It's depressing. Immaculate vibes, amazing horror elements, amazing storytelling! My favorite! But. Depressing. Needed some fun next season as a chaser.

I mean it's all subjective, but these are just my personal opinions and why I do really like S3. Not my favorite though. I like S2 then S1 then S3 then S4. (That might change after I finish my rewatch though S4 might move up idk)

[beevean]

I don't think people give enough credit to the Metroid timeline and how overall consistent it is, save for some minor retcons here and there, especially when compared to the timelines of other series (Zelda).....of course though then there's Other M....

For me it was like

Sonic: until Sonic 4, it was assumed that every game was in chronological order (and in fact the stretch from SA1 to '06 is very blatantly meant to be a whole narrative arc). But then again, who cares about S4? Mania and Forces are the games that kinda did a fucky wucky with the idea of a split timeline after 3&K. Then there was the CD mess: did it happen before or after S2? Those aside, it's a super linear, easy to understand timeline.

Megaman: not too hard to understand. The fact that Legends, despite being set so far away in the future, was released relatively early on, allowed future games to have slightly more cohesion. It's mostly the development issues in the later X games that cause some problems.

Metroid: the entire Prime series being sandwiched between Metroid 1 and Metroid 2 is kind of odd, and a funny quirk of the very dumb decision of removing the enemies the whole series was named after in the second game of the series. OM, for all its issues, is so self-contained that it really doesn't affect anything plot wise. Since there aren't many games overall, it's another easy to follow series.

Castlevania: good luck memorizing the timeline placement of every game :D and good luck remembering which games are considered not canon :D and hello small retcons like the origin of Dracula's powers and Alucard's nature :D and hello random reboot :D

And then there's LoZ and FNaF, which good luck to whoever wants to bother with them.

[bisexualalienss]

roswell's timeline is so confusing like season 1 is a few months, season 2 is about a year, and season 3 is a month (?)

[clavery111]

Please!  Someone who is going to the con ask him WHY, WTF happened w/ S4?

Arwel Wyn Jones‏Verified account @arwelwjones

7h7 hours ago

MoreReplying to

@SherlockedEvent

I've packed!

[galaxyhanart]

Oh no S4 / the Tournament of Elements would not go well in the Cabinet Man AU would it-

I can see at least two options, possibly more- Jay being very traumatized into participating (feeling as though he's back in Prime Empire &, if this is after Skybound, also Scrap n' Tap), or Jay going much too hard because he defaulted to Entertainer mode because he's good at putting on a show! Right? It wasn't just skills from the game? Maybe he has worth as an entertainer! Maybe he can showcase that he's useful to the team!

Also Master Chen is just a little too obsessed with snakes and oh look what our buddy has-

THIS ASK IS SINGLE-HANDEDLY MAKING ME CHANGE THE TIMELINE AGAIN SO TOURNAMENT OF ELEMENTS CAN HAPPEN BECAUSE OH MY GOD

fun fact! season 4 is one of my FAVORITE seasons in the whole show, I love Kai's struggle with power and his overall characterization this season (it also introduces Skylor my beloved!!) but since it isn't very jay-centric i was gonna let it slide

it'll require a lot of. hmm. fucky timeline stuff given season 3 sets up season 4 which sets up season 5 etc etc so i'll have to actually sit down when i have time and mess with the season order

BUT ANYWAYS YEEHEHEHE Jay is verrry good at putting up an act, but he actually does enjoy the attention of this kind of thing. He's used to being an idol and people cheering for him, and as messed up as his self-esteem is it does give him the occasional ego-boost

season 4 would likely happen before skybound does, since klaus becoming a ghost is what leads him to finding Nadakhan's teapot in the first place

He definitely wants to prove his worth on the team during the Tournament, but more than that he wants to make sure the group stays together. Getting put up against Cole is absolutely gut wrenching since in this AU there isn't any love-triangle BS bc that was a dumb plot point lmao but once everyone starts getting separated from each other is when he REALLY starts freaking out

events would definitely get changed and things would definitely be fun to play with ehehehe gonna have this bouncing around in my brain now thank u thank u

also yes if chen finds out jay has a SNAKE TAIL things would not go well At All

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Weird q..but i really dont understand why most fans hate season 4, especially the last episode. Why? I think it gave us a deeper look on both sherlock and mycroft! I felt it tells a lot about mycroft how he had to step in and take control of things ever since he was a kid himself. Also he is not a robot or a killer. Also redbeard thing. It was an appropriate deep psychological trauma (cause most shows usually disappoint in that area). I am not trying to impose my opinion. Just want to understand

Hey Nonny!

It’s all good, and I totally respect your opinion and how you enjoyed S4! It’s totally okay! I know that there are quite a few who got a lot of of S4, and who genuinely enjoyed it.

Sadly, I am not one of those people, and I’ll try to be as diplomatic a possible in my response, but PLEASE know that I don’t think you’re “terrible” or “stupid” for liking S4 because I DO get passionate sometimes in my responses, and I’m just merely speaking as someone who studied the series very closely for quite a long time before S4 aired, and as someone who knows Day-One-ers (ie., people who watched Sherlock on its day one airdate) who also are a large majority of the people who did not like S4. This is just me simply stating why I didn’t like it, but it’s different for everyone.

Stating what I DO like: The acting and cinematography of the first two episodes were brilliant for what they had to work with, and I’ve never faulted any of the actors for the flaws of S4. And for TFP, they did the best with what they had to work with.

That’s… pretty much all I really liked about S4.

Now, here’s my problems with S4:

Nothing made a LICK of sense to the narrative that they were telling in Seasons prior. 

This series was always based a bit in reality, and suddenly everything became comic-book rules: X-Men villains, shitty “redemption” arc, destroying favourite characters just for drama, ludicrous physics, explosions that only destroyed one small room in an apt where in previous episodes one explosion destroyed an entire block, etc.

Sherlock was OOC.

Mary was being built up to be a fantastic villain? Ah, nope, here’s the lacklustre twist where tee hee Mary’s just an assassin with a heart of gold that still emotionally abuses Sherlock and John and just won’t fucking stay dead.

And speaking of this, the DVD’s make NO LOGICAL SENSE unless she was planning to kill herself

AND she tries to make her death equatable to Sherlock’s??

Everyone was RIDICULOUSLY out of character in TFP, I’m so sorry: Mycroft is a bumbling coward for the most part, Sherlock disregards John when he gives the Vatican Cameos warning, the Holmes Parents are assholes because Mycroft COULDN’T SOLVE A PROBLEM WHEN HE WAS 12?? ARE YOU SERIOUS???? And that creepy Moriarty / Eurus thing, and LITERALLY they’re implying that EVERYTHING HAPPENED BECAUSE EURUS DIDN’T GET A HUG. Like, I’m so sorry, but that’s lazy writing.

And don’t even get me started on the ridiculousness of the entire character of Eurus. She LITERALLY had X-Men powers, and like… just nothing made sense. Her involvement in the entirety of S4 MADE NO SENSE. Why go back to prison if you can get out?? WHAT IS THE POINT?? AND I repeat: She did all this because she didn’t get a hug. Yes. I’m oversimplifying, but at the base level, that’s what it was, because she wanted Sherlock’s attention. Welcome to the club, kid, stand in line, everyone on the SHOW wants his attention.

The ENTIRE plot of the first 2 seasons got wiped out all because it wasn’t Moriarty who was interested in Sherlock, but Eurus?? What… What about Carl Powers?? Like…. the ENTIRETY of season one and TGG makes no sense now, because of that one 5 minute scene where Eurus “enlists” Moriarty. I… ugh.

The SUDDEN tonal switch from kind-of Sherlock to James Bond, for some fucking reason.

And on that note, how terribly lazy and cheap TFP looks in comparison to the other two episodes. The whole episode looks like it was filmed in a small house with 4 identical rooms.

EVERYTHING that was etablished in 2 episodes prior were COMPLETELY forgotten when Mary was “shot”.

The complete character assassination of one loyal blogger John H Watson in favour of Mary for some fucked up reason, even though AT HIS OWN WEDDING HE COULDN’T STAND BEING AROUND MARY. I’m sorry, but I don’t believe for one damned second that John would EVER forgive Mary for murdering his best friend after seeing what it did to him. That’s not love from her, and that’s NOT John’s character EVER in the ENTIRETY of the series.

And speaking of character assassinations, Molly’s character being devolved to S1E1 Molly, where instead of giving her agency like they were doing with her the ENTIRE series, so much so that Sherlock picked up on her dominance enough to give her a big role in his mind palace in HLV and TAB, only to make her a sad little self-insert Mary Sue pining for the main character, and in turn made Sherlock a TERRIBLE human being for MAKING HER say what she did. It’s gross.

AND speaking of Molly’s character, they’ve been setting up Mollstrade since as early as ASiB, but I guess that plot line got shafted. Look I LOVE Hopkins, and I am ANGRY they didn’t give her more than 3 fucking lines in the entirety of ONE episode after HEAVILY promoting her actress and character, but they essentially reduced her to a piece of ass for Lestrade to chase. AND THAT’S NOT HIS CHARACTER EITHER. EW GROSS.

The constant plot holes being gaped wide open, and the Chekov’s gun moments where they bring up shit but do nothing with it!! 

TD-12? Nope, just a lame reference to a story we like. 

John got shot at the end of TLD with a VERY REAL FUCKING GUN? Nope, it was a dart gun. 

John not suddenly knowing how to be a doctor.

The TGG one I mentioned up above. 

What was in the letter? And who was Anyone??

Moriarty essentially being erased as anything other than a hired thug and had no part whatsoever in Sherlock’s history. 

Eurus… Just all of her character is asinine. 

Everyone in T6T suddenly not knowing John’s the blogger, which is in direct contradiction to literally the entire series. 

The AGRA plotline was ridiculous, in the end.

Baby? What baby? It was only there when convenient.

They dropped whatever plotline they were going to do for Mycroft: He was being set up as either dying, or the villain.

Redbeard. I’m sorry, I disagree with you on that. Mofftiss is trying to tell me that a little boy fell down a well and went missing, and that WASN’T the first place searchers / the police wouldn’t have looked? Sorry, no. And then. AND THEN his parents just… go along with this thing where Sherlock shuts down and they DON’T get him therapy? Yes, I agree the mind is a funny thing, and we can be traumatised into forgetting or dissociating from traumatic events. I GET IT. But… like I don’t believe the Holmes are so heartless as to just never grieve or have memories around about their supposedly dead daughter. It’s another OCC thing for me.

John’s cheating.

Disappearing and reappearing characters, like this scene, and the entirety of the aquarium scene.

Mary and John being terrible parents

OH GOD THIS FUCKING SCENE. That bomb SHOULD HAVE DESTROYED THE ENTIRE BUILDING.

What… who was this girl on the plane? What? Like I know WHO, but if she’s supposed to be Eurus talking to Sherlock, why don’t we see Eurus… talking to Sherlock? I … Ugh.

NORBURY. 

The glass SUPER SECRET GOVERNMENT ROOM THAT NO ONE SHOULD SEE INTO in T6T.

Sloppy camera work that some believe was intentional, but if it wasn’t, jesus c’mon.

The RIDICULOUS amount of 4th Wall Breaking. Like… even the actors didn’t give a shit.

Essentially, everything on this list here and in this blog tag here.

And everything mentioned on these three posts:

T6T: 10 Revealing Things That Haunt You Late at Night 

TLD: 10 Revealing Things That Haunt You Late at Night

TFP: 10 Revealing Things That Haunt You Late at Night

There’s SO much more I can go into, but please go through my “something’s fucky” tag in that last link.

Notice how probably 90% of that has NOTHING to do with “johnlock not becoming canon” because the Johnlockers get MONSTROUS accusations as to THAT being why we didn’t like S4, even though it was, like critically panned by the GENERAL AUDIENCE who have NO investment in the series other than “I liked it in the past”.

Two of my fave YouTubers have interesting (not perfect, but still good) takes coming at the series as casual viewers:

‘The Day Sherlock Died’ by The Closer Look

‘Sherlock is Garbage, and Here’s Why’ by hbomberguy

So it’s NOT just Johnlockers. I’ve talked to Sher1011ies at 221B con who didn’t like S4 either, because most of them realized how shitty Molly was treated in the last episode. So yeah, a big middle finger to those who think I dislike S4 because of  “no Johnlock”. No, I disliked it because I need my stories to make logical narrative sense. I disliked it because I love John and they ruined his character all for the sake of drama and because Moffat has a “hurting Ben” kink. I disliked it because Mary should NOT have been “redeemed” because she was an abuser. I disliked it because Moriarty was turned into a cartoon villain, even though he was already overused in the series. I disliked it because the core of the show – the FRIENDSHIP of Sherlock and John, and their solving mysteries together – did not exist at all. I disliked it because John got sidelined. I disliked it because TFP was a ridiculous episode that, if you replace ANY of the characters, it wouldn’t make a difference, because it didn’t feel like an episode of Sherlock. I disliked it because everyone was OOC.

Anyway. Sorry. One too many accusations my way over the past 1100+ days LOL.

As for your assessment of TFP, I’m going to have to respectfully disagree with you. There was no growth and actually it implies something far more sinister: That the Holmes are and were terrible parents that gave no shits about their daughter, their traumatized son, and expected their eldest to essentially be a parent. It implies that Mycroft, at 12 years old, orchestrated the ENTIRE Sherrinford thing… Look I can suspend my disbelief, but there’s limits, and this is one of them. A LITERAL CHILD. Perhaps Uncle Rudy had a hand in it somehow, but then why not shit on Uncle Rudy? Why is Mycroft blamed for it all?

Look, I don’t doubt Sherlock had a traumatic experience regarding “Redbeard”. But then why play into the fact that he was a dog? Why bring another character into the series just to have a gotcha moment? Because Mofftiss wanted a “Shyamalan twist”, that’s why. They threw EVERYTHING away for a twist ending either because they GENUINELY thought it was good, or they got tired of doing Sherlock. ALL of TFP is LITERALLY a really bad plot twist because reasons. TFP makes no sense to the ENTIRE narrative structure of the previous 12 episodes. It erased EVERYTHING from the previous episodes, and coated it with a gross closing by a character no one wanted in the series, and then tried to convince us that it’s a new beginning – “a journey they had to go through” – but it SOLVED NOTHING.

Anyway. I have big feels about S4, and the only way I can enjoy it is to watch it subtextually, but even then, I cannot sit through TFP without cringing. 

That said, Lovelies, please do not attack Nonny for enjoying S4! I know you guys won’t, but Nonny came out with an olive branch and they just want to understand why the fandom is passionate about S4′s… whatever it was. We can have a civil discussion about it, and point out – without attacking – why S4 is universally panned. It’s okay to like things no one else does, and Nonny was respectful to me in this ask! 

So with that, feel free, lovelies, to express why YOU didn’t enjoy the series, or why you did! I’m interested in both “sides” / pov’s whatever :)

[therealsaintscully]

Hi Saintskully! About your Turned [ILoveItSoMuch!] : why you choose to start the AU deviation at the Tarmac? Also, assuming the Tarmac scene is in the EMP, your Turned could also be a construct of Sherlok's mind. When you write it, do you think about this possibility? Love you! ByKettyKika78

Hi KK! Nice to get another question about Turned!

The idea to write Turned came from a few places: I wanted to write a story inspired by X-Files episode ‘The Pine Bluff Variant’ but it didn’t hold enough meat on its own. At the same time I read an article about The 30 Best International TV Shows of the Decade, which lists ‘Sherlock’ as #2 and ‘Prisoners of War’ (the show that inspired ‘Homeland’) as #1. Having watched both Prisoners of War and Sherlock, I think it’s a wild exaggeration to list ‘Prisoners of War’ as #1 ahead of Sherlock, specifically when talking about the acting, the writing, the production value etc. Hey, I didn’t make the list, but that’s how the idea came to be - a Homeland/PoW AU set in the Sherlock universe.

I wanted to write something tarmac related for a while at that point. I had a problem understanding what I was seeing there. The goodbye was so anti-climatic. It didn’t make sense that Mary was there, John was completely emotionless about seeing Sherlock leave which was weird considering how he reacted to Sherlock’s fall. I had to read a lot of meta (most of it was @ivyblossom‘s, with whom I actually had Twitter discussions on the topic) to try and wrap my head around it.

At some point everything came together:

1 - Mycroft mentions there’s a mission he’d like Sherlock to refuse before Sherlock had even shot Magnussen - I thought it to be a weird detail. Why would Mycroft suggest something like that, unless maybe Sherlock wanted to leave for some reason?

2 - MI6 sending Sherlock to find a missing soldier makes a lot of sense, or at least - it doesn’t NOT make sense. John’s history in Afghanistan war meant a lot can be done with that too - it meant John could bring a lot to the table in terms of insight an experience. ‘PoW’, an Israeli show, exposes the social problem of bringing home a PoW in Israel - the cost for that is the release of terrorists in exchange for those who were taken as prisoners. I needed to adjust this conflict/commentary a bit for Turned because the UK doesn’t negotiate and will never agree to such a cost. The social commentary became - why were the British soldiers sent there in the first place, and is the UK ready to pay the price of bringing the war back home.

3 - I saw a lot of potential in mirroring Sherlock and John’s relationship after the Sherlock’s return through the rescued soldier and his wife. Yes, mirroring. Took a note about that from the show. I knew that would allow/force John and Sherlock to look back at everything that happened from the moment Sherlock stepped into that restaurant.

4 - I was sold on the idea when I thought about Mary’s reaction to Sherlock’s return. Knowing what I know about upcoming chapters, I find Mary’s future interactions with John very exciting as a comment on the show’s/Moftiss’ choices as a whole, specifically about what Sherlock did when he was away, why he came back when he did and why he shot Magnussen.

As for extended mind palace - I wasn’t as involved and preoccupied with EMP/John’s alibi meta when I started writing this story. The Turned universe isn’t set in a Mind Palace. It *is* weird to write it now, though, given how convinced I am that something’s fucky in HLV and S4 (which, by the way, takes me back to not understanding the emotional context of the tarmac). But hey, I can always write about that in the future.

Thanks for the question! 😘 

-S

[iamjohnlocked4life]

John and Sherlock have been in love for over a century and will continue to love each other for centuries to come. And you are personally a part of that.

LOVELY ANON!!! Thank you so much for this! I am sure this is ages old (probably from right after TFP aired?) but I haven’t been on desktop for a really, really long time and so haven’t actually checked my inbox (0_o) This was such a wonderful surprise to receive! I agree completely, johnlock always has been and always will be real, and nothing that happened in s4 will change that for me. 

[garkgatiss]

i applaud your ability to find evidence, and it really is very thorough, but don't you think it's a bit optimistic to call it "cold, hard" when a good portion of it is circumstantial? before season 4 came out we thought for sure we had it all figured out, but a lot of the theories got revised if not entirely debunked. just as an example, apple tree yard sounded ridiculously fake to the fandom until it turned out to be real, and dracula could be much the same.

a few points of clarification:

a) when i talk about cold hard evidence, i’m strictly talking about the scripts and the structures of the show itself. obviously we as a fandom incorporate way more than that into all kinds of speculations, but (at least for me) the bedrock of tjlc comes from the aspects of the show that are controlled most directly by mofftiss: the action, the setting, the dialogue, the subtext, the themes, the shape of the story, etc. my belief in tjlc lives easily on that alone.

b) probably not surprisingly, i don’t consider anything to do with shows that aren’t sherlock as cold hard evidence, so in terms of your example, i’d agree with you

c) the fabulous thing about the scientific method is that it’s iterative. if your hypothesis fails a test, and can’t explain what’s going on, you collect more data, update your hypothesis, and test it again. s4 was written by the same people who wrote s1-3, and it contains just as much information about what the show is about and what it’s trying to do. we have MORE information now than we did before s4, it’s completely natural that we change and refine our hypotheses as we get closer to the ending! there’s a hundred little things in s1-3 that i didn’t fully grasp the significance of until i had the information from s4, and i KNOW there’s a hundred more that i won’t get until after i’ve seen s5.

i don’t know what other theories you had in mind that were debunked by s4, but tjlc at its most generalized core definitely survived s4.* frankly, tjlc was reinforced by s4, because as fucky as s4 was, it was absolutely speaking the same language as s1-s3. s4 blindsided us and added a whole new dimension to what we can understand about the show’s goal, but it didn’t contradict the essentials of what we already knew about the show before s4.

*there IS cold hard evidence that s4 is fake

[heartduct]

RE the argument that TPTB didn’t realise people expected Johnlock and tanked their show as a result of the expectation and their lack of a plan. That TPLOSH was their favourite movie alongside Rathbone because Mark got unresolved gay pining and Moff got sexy Irene Ashdown character.

Mark admires TPLOSH for "desperately unspoken" pining, yes, but he commends The Boys in the Band for revolutionary deviation from subtext into text. Would he, a gay fanboy, want to make his adaptation of the canon a colossal queerbait ‘because he didn’t want anybody else to do it first’?

Why not do happy worstan lmao? The J/S romantic set-up is mutual. If it was one-sided it would emotionally rub salt in the wound for the audience, which is a positive if that’s what you’re going for, but instead there is a sense of tension because John is unhappy too. A  build-up.

I was gonna go on but honestly it just appears to me that S4 enforces every TJLC reason prior to it. There are so many ways they would avoid this mess. The glitches, the fucky plot premises; these breed skepticism. If they really wanted to tank the show they could’ve had Moffat wake up at the end of TFP and curse the cheese sandwiches that caused that crazy dream he just had. By doing this,though, they’ve ruined the entire show: they’ve rewritten the story. To tank the show, they should’ve made S4 irrelevant but instead they tied the two intrinsically.

[impossibleleaf]

Why there HAS to be a 4th episode or A quick reminder of everything that is fucky

I know that lately it has become difficult to keep believing in the existence of a fourth episode, one the fandom has decided to call the Lost Special. So this post has nothing but the goal to lay down the hard facts that prove not only the existence of that episode but also the necessity of it.

This is a collection of reasons why we believe in a Lost Special, all at the same place. No Arg, no speculations, no hard meta, just the irrefutable evidence we’ve gathered that shows how something is terribly wrong at the moment within the show itself. If someone starts doubting, this is supposed to remind them why we’re still in the expectative.

Tighten your belt, we’re going deep inside the show. It’s going to be long, and frankly not everything will make sense but that’s the point: nothing make sense otherwise.

So many unfired Chekov’s gun, so many loose threads

We were told to read Chekov. The problem is, we have no time if we need to address every Chekov’s guns they haven’t fired. It is very telling that I’m certain the list I’m going to make is very incomplete but here we go:

1. You should put that on a T-Shirt

What was the point of it? We knew by that point that CAM and Mary were connected. Giving both characters the same line implies an intimacy that was never shown, a connection that goes beyond blackmail. This is either a Chekov’s gun or very lazy writing. Can’t Moffat imagine a better line to show CAM’s contempt? We still need to see the depth of these two’s relationship, we need to see how Mary could have heard that line. The little joke Mary has said in the intimacy of their bedroom is outright contempt in CAM’s and was most certainly meant to be one from the beginning.

2. How is your wound, Sherlock?

This is a recurring theme even if it’s not obvious. When Sherlock thinks about Mary, he grimaces and touches his wound. This happened already in TAB where he literally fell in pain right after mentioning Mary to Watson.

Mary’s past is going to come back to haunt her? Why in that line does Sherlock need to touch his wound then? I thought all was nice and forgiven? No hard feeling?

3. Romantic entanglement, while fulfilling for other people would complete Sherlock as a human being

Seriously, what was the point of this? This is firing the canon and realizing after the fact there is nothing inside. When it comes to Sherlock and John’s romantic arc, it’s the hot potato game.

“Do you have a girlfriend? Not my area. Boyfriend? No.” “I’m sure you’d be very happy together. Sorry, what?” “Did he ever have, I don’t know, girlfriend, boyfriend a romantic relationship?” “You’re a great boyfriend, and Sherlock Holmes is a very lucky man.”

I’m not going to finish this one or even develop it. That would take dozens of pages. The point is, TLD finally addressed the elephant in the room. It did for no apparent reason but that was this episode’s advertising point: the whole episode was marketed as Sherlock being in love, John broke down and showed how terribly human he is, Sherlock proved how far he’d go for him. The elephant isn’t in the room anymore, it’s grown so much there is no house left. But TFP? Never. Talks. About. This. If like they’re pretending, they want to end the show there, they never will. This is a black hole inside the show, it sucks everything out of it.

4. So what was inside that letter?

Nobody knows, nobody ever will. The same way, we don’t know what Sherlock’s recurring dream is.

5. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen to The Final Problem of horrors

Within the same episode, many Chekov’s gun where loaded, none got fired, a rifle being of one them.

The bloodied wall? Pointless. Molly’s confession? Like I said, romantic arcs are hot potatoes and this one got dropped with the Garridebs.

Ah, the Three Garridebs. That one moment in Sherlock Holmes everyone agrees is vital. It explains Holmes and Watson’s relationship and it was worth a wound to finally have the confirmation Holmes cares. This is that one moment Moffat swore he adores and yet has reduced to nothing. This is the biggest warning we need. A true fan wouldn’t just do that if that wasn’t part of a plan.

I’m going to stop there. I don’t have the patience to search further but, I think I’ve proved my point anyway.

So many words unsaid. So many plots unsolved. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera

1. So, what was the point of S4 again?

Each season has an arc: S1 is Sherlock and John finding their footing, the discovery of Moriarty, S2 is the relative peace of the show that hides Moriarty’s “Final Problem”, S3 is about Mary and CAM.

S4? This is a season that needs to be seen with the three episodes at the same time but, and that’s where it hurts, the Eurus revelation destroys whatever deduction you could have made. That’s like when you play rock-paper-scissor and someone screams ‘Bomb! I win!’ What’s the point of the game if you rewrite the rules at the last second?

2. Who was the villain of S4 in the end? Eurus who? Oh, you mean that harpie! Nope, not a worthy final boss for the show

What was the point of TFP? This is an episode long mystery. Eurus can survive being a villain among another but she doesn’t have Moriarty’s presence. We’re told she’s the cleverest person in the universe and yes, she’s barmy, but Jim by far is more chilling. He is the spider in the middle of the web, Magnussen is the blackmailer, the white collar villain who will pee in your fireplace as a power play. Mary is the unknown card, the enemy inside the house and who can serve you a poisoned tea with a sweet smile.

Eurus? She’s grotesque, a joke and while she’s dangerous she can’t compare to these two. Culverton Smith froze my heart and made me throw up but her? Nothing. We’re missing a villain.

The abandon of Sherlock’s main arc:   Your life is not your own, keep your hands off it! Off! It!

One of the show’s main theme is that Sherlock and John are suicidal before meeting each other. Their meeting literally saved them. Life is a constant theme inside the show, it is addressed among every episode to varying degrees.

Season 1? John and Sherlock start being suicidal but manage to survive their depression. The bullet John saved for his suicide is used to save Sherlock’s life. they keep saving each other but even then the series ends with both of them seemingly about to kill themselves in order to stop Moriarty. They are better but their lives still have little value.

Season 2 is easy: Ultimately, he fakes his death, he is clever enough to avoid genuinely committing suicide even though we get the feeling he would have, had Moriarty’s plan worked.

Season 3? Sherlock is a mess but this time he fights. HLV’s greatest moment is when Sherlock while flat lining is told how much he’s going to enjoy being dead. And yet, the second he knows John is in danger, he makes the conscious choice of living. He punches the ground and forces his heart to start again. He would enjoy death but he won’t let himself, not as long as John is in danger.

The end of TLD is Sherlock finally realizing he doesn’t want to die. He says that life has a value, it is a currency he doesn’t know how to pay back but he’s not going to risk his life anymore.

So, of course, Sherlock attempts to shoot himself in TFP. There is some logic I won’t explain there but! When will Sherlock enjoy living? When will John stop thinking his death is justifiable? When Mycroft explains why John must die, he’s in. There are still in that mind set at the end of TFP!

So far, we’ve got: I want to die, let’s pretend I’m dead, I can’t die, not yet, you’re not allowed to die and I don’t want to die. Fire that gun and finally say it! Say how this arc must necessarily end: I want to live.

You want to pretend Johnlock is never happening? Fine, let’s play that game. You’re not going to convince me that one arc was always going to end the way it did. You want to try another approach to justify a fourth episode? Use this, the love and the life arcs are intimately connected: sherlocklives means Johnwatsonlives, they’re the reason they’re still alive. You can’t resolve one without the other. By cutting short johnlock, you’re also refusing to let them enjoy life.

The Abominable Bride, a colossal waste of time?

We know the story: a league of furies has decided to fight the statu quo of Vitorian’s values. They fight for the best of causes, they’re being ignored, disregarded even though they are right. They tend to our homes and are vital, we mustn’t take them for granted or abuse their love. Rather that the villains, they’re the victims who’ve decided to fight back. This isn’t the story of a murderous rampage, this was a suicide mission necessary to raise the army needed.

They are the heroes. Watson, the two Holmes, they are the obstacles to overcome. They all agree to this: the fight must go on and they must lose to the conspiracy.

Along the way Sherlock also learns vital lessons: you cannot use women on your whims. Janine, Molly, they are important, they have sentiments and you mustn’t play with them. Stop being a misogynist asshole and ask for their help. They’re not the enemy. At the same time, in the deepest part of his Victorian madness, he goes back to the source: they’re always two of them. John and Sherlock, they’re a set. Alone, he is powerless. Together? They can win and get their happy ending. Why would he need a list? He says as he tears it. He’s got the real thing now.

We even see a passing the torch moment. Mycroft asks for John to look after his brother, the same way one would ask his future brother-in-law to take good care of his baby sibling.

This is a heart-warming message. Sherlock shows such growth in what ultimately was a couple seconds in-universe.

Now read this again: Sherlock has just done the complete opposite all thorough S4.

John and Sherlock, the two of them against the rest of the world? It’s even a miracle when these two are TALKING.

Women fighting for their agency? Molly has been humiliated, even Moffat refuses to give her any depth even though her character development has always lead her to move on from her love for Sherlock. The only woman who raises the standard is Mrs Hudson, one who doesn’t officially belong to the conspiracy and even then she does this despite Sherlock.

Sherlock swearing off drugs? His flat has become a living meth lab.

John looking after Sherlock? He refuses to listen to Mycroft’s plea and Sherlock almost didn’t survive TLD.

As it stands, TAB aka the conspiracy’s decoder ring is useless. Nothing was achieved, no character development for Sherlock, he even makes a point in doing the exact same mistakes TAB calls him out.

This isn’t just a weak episode among a season. This was supposed to be the crowning jewel of this show, the link between the past and the present. The irrefutable proof that modern times are better because Sherlock always was a man out of his time.

As it is? This is a waste of money and time for the actors: nothing was achieved. It is a hindrance, the show is even better if we ignore it. Sherlock was out of his time? TAB is out of this series if S4 stands. TAB and S4 cannot coexist. Why did Mofftiss even bother linking it to the series? It would have been better if that had been an episode with no relevance to the plot. They made a 1h30 long episode outside a series for nothing.

If this is the end, why are they still so tight-lipped?

We have survived enough hiatus to know that’s not their modus operandi. Normally, this is the point they tell us how hard it was to keep the secret, how much they enjoyed watching us dance and lying to our face.

Except they aren’t. They’re still dismissive of us, they’re still acting as if our theories are ridiculous and that’s not how they act after a season, that’s how they are during it while they’re trying not to reveal too much. Even when you look at them during Sherlock events, you notice they’re still stressed. Why? I thought you wanted to end the series? It’s over, right?

Let’s take Gatiss for example. The same man who wrote to a journal dismissive of TST refuses to communicate with his fans and automatically blocks them.

You look at the actor’s face and you see they can’t sell what’s they’re saying. Martin explains that John and Mary loved each other very much? He looks dead, as if even uttering these words is killing him. Rather than a fun recap of the series, this seems like a weak defence no one believes in. Mary loves the boys so much she is rather protective of them? She shot Sherlock in a heartbeat and threatened to do it again. Each explanation they give sounds like excuses, very weak excuses.

Actors are complaining about the hell they’re living but Benedict and Martin are not in the Sherlock event, Benedict told us that love is going to conquer all, each actor revealed a part of the show we didn’t see. Everything they know will be tested? We are in hell, true, but if we take Season 4 at face value? There’s nothing that warranted this warning.

I remember seeing a post where Arwel explained that their travel to the Niagara falls was for Sherlock but? There’s nothing? They wasted so much money for nothing? And he can’t tell us anything? Why? Isn’t the season over?

The attitude of the BBC in front of our complaints are dismissive, even to those who weren’t talking about TJLC. The advertising was plainly terrible: it teased a relationship that never appeared and now that we call on their bullshit they act as if they’re the victims? They’re the ones pouring fire on this mess! They had many chances to end this but took none.

And finally, the mentions they make about The Lost Special. They are the ones that started them by making that joke. The Lost Special, the Accidental Special, they use the same vocabulary each time it is mentioned. They joke, they laugh but so did they when they said Moriarty couldn’t have faked his death, when they lied and lied to our faces so many times when we were always absolutely right but they couldn’t afford us to know. They have lied to our face so many times, every time saying they weren’t, not this time. Moffat and Gatiss are compulsive liars. Why on earth would that change today?

The game is not over. Not yet.

[may-shepard]

s4, breaking the fourth wall, the arg, and gaslighting as literary device

And if the pretentious title didn’t frighten you away, or cause you to immediately unfollow / block me, I offer some thoughts:

Following the cues left by the hot mess s4, it’s reasonable to assert the following (which has been asserted just about non-stop since each of the episodes aired; I am not pretending to be original here):

s4 is fucky in a way that seems to call attention to its own fuckyness, especially if you take events and themes of the previous series as guidelines for what to expect / how things work in the world of Sherlock. (A ton of people have done a ton of work on this, but thanks to @antisocial-otaku​ for making it clear how frickin obvious this pattern is, here.)

The subtext is richer / more coherent than the text, especially in The Final Problem. (Links # 2 and 3 to videos by @marcespot​--shameless self-promo in #1 and #4)

Breaking the fourth wall is a major theme. This includes s4 references to Twitter, and the #sherlocklive event, as well as the numerous and sometimes literal references to breaking the fourth wall. (post by @inevitably-johnlocked​) 

As much as recent arg developments have been A Ride, I really think we’ve missed the obvious, because it wasn’t nearly as much of a challenge as people were looking for / as the fandom genius hive brain is capable of meeting. I think we’ve been looking too hard.

The puzzle, the thing we are supposed to figure out, is s4 itself. The game is simply this: we are invited to have discernment with regard to what is and what is not possible in the world of BBC Sherlock, and to conclude, as most people did, that much of s4 is, indeed, not compatible with the world of Sherlock. The truth of the narrative is in the subtext, as almost everyone here has argued.

The narrative of s4 is, for the most part, really hard to get hold of, and full of content that blatantly works against everything the show has tried to set up so far. As much as I appreciate attempts to make sense of s4 as is, my mind, like a lot of people’s, recoils when asked to consider (for example) that the people who wrote this:

.

Also wrote this:

.

You’ve all seen the evidence. You’ve all watched The Final Problem and thought--what the hell is this? 

People in this fandom were crying foul from the moment TST ended. I think we were already playing the arg then (if such a thing exists), and we kept playing it all through s4, because we were thinking critically about the episodes, and questioning the reality status of the story with which we were presented.

Up until recently, I would have said, meh, maybe this apparent lack of skill on the part of the showrunners was deliberate, maybe it wasn’t. Maybe they just threw in a ton of excess detail (like Mr. Glowy Skull) because why not? I am not very big on writerly intention. The text I’m presented with, I feel free to interpret however I wish, and this, to me, is the point of s4. It undoes itself. It undoes the text of series 1-3. It invites critique in a whole new way. Regardless of what does or does not happen next, I will always choose to question this narrative, to read against the text, because that reading is more interesting and less infuriating. s4, like mofftiss, lies. 

But.

The part that makes me think the arg is happening right in front of us, and it’s still live: 

This fucking thing.

This “John and Mary really love each other” barf festival video, released on 28 February. (Savage and efficient crit here, by @smoljohnlock​) 

WHY NOW?

I could see, maybe, that video flying as an s4 preview, but we have it released here, now, after...all that, when we know that the picture being presented in it is nowhere near the reality that we got in the narrative.

I don’t want to say it’s a sign. I don’t know, man. I’m tired. We’re all tired. But that video certainly did invite a renewal of the wtf-was-that outrage of s4, didn’t it?

The fourth wall, in my opinion, has already been broken. 

The show has been teaching us how to observe, and not just see, to think critically, and to look for solutions to puzzles, since the beginning. Now it’s turning the function of detective over to us. 

Just like the #sherlocklive game was designed to allow us to practice our puzzle solving on a small scale, so is s4. The entire narrative invites us to sit up, take notice, and say, come on, that can’t be how it really happened.

I’m still not going to predict the future here. The show has broken the fourth wall before, and paid off careful observation, via the “1895″ clues. It might be doing that with the “March 8″ billboard thing. It might not. When I say that the narrative is unfinished, I mean exactly that--it lacks an ending (much like my languishing WiPs...sorry about those, btw). What will happen next? Who knows? None of us. Signs (that’s literal, billboard-type signs) point to something more. 

BUT IS IT ART?

So: we have been presented with not one, but two false narratives. If mofftiss finish their damn story, and offer some sort of explanation for all the fuckery of s4, then we’ll have been told a bunch of lies in-story, about “what happened” to John and Sherlock, and a bunch of extratextual lies, about s4 being finished after three episodes. 

I will always assert, regardless of what happens next, that the in-story lies are there, and believing the textual level of the narrative makes less sense / is less happy making than believing that the story lies. As for the bigger lie, about the length of s4 / the end of this narrative--we’ll see. 

It’s a peculiar choice, this, as modern storytelling goes. Rather than just, you know, tell the story they wanted to tell, about a detective and his blogger, they’re really going the long way round. If the “s4 is fake” reading is confirmed, and there is a plan in place, it’s show-offy. It’s audacious. It’s gaslighting the audience to make a point. It’s putting us through an experience--the textual level content of s4--and asking us to believe something contrary to that experience. 

It’s not...enjoyable? Like with everything else, I think I’ll be left questioning why this way, and not some other way. It is, potentially, fascinating. 

If this is what we think it is, we’ve been playing all along, without even trying.

Tags under the cut.

@221bloodnun @devoursjohnlock @marcespot @theelephantglassintheroom @swimmingfeelsinajohnlockianpool

please feel free to forward to any arg-ers / tinhatters

[mara-the-cactupus]

The effect of John's blog on EMP

This is all pretty interesting because I believe in EMP, but I also really like the idea that series 4 follows the style of John's blog. I guess that sort of makes sense; the end of HLV had a touch of that, but was still an immediate continuation of the real narrative, so Sherlock was able to imagine it realistically. Then he passed over to the next dream level for TAB (he probably has John's blog entries catalogued in his Mind Palace, which is how he could remember A Strange Meeting through John's eyes, and which later contributed to the fuckiness of series 4); the Victorian setting worked well as a metaphor for his suppressed feelings, but also aided in distinguishing dreams from reality, although we saw in the graveyard scene that you can't trust all "modern" scenes to be real.

BUT - here's the weird part: we thought that Sherlock woke up for real at the end of TAB, right? Well, there are two reasons why this might not be the case:

According to EMP, none of the tarmac was real, so unless he wakes up in the hospital bed, that isn't very convincing.

We get the very last scene with Holmes and Watson in front of the fire AFTER the tarmac. This shows that he is still in his Mind Palace, and also that (as the camera pulls back) this dream can bleed into the "real" world setting.

Does Sherlock know that he's not awake yet? Maybe he's been submerged too long to remember that he's dreaming (and he's probably being given drugs in the hospital, inspiring the tarmac-level overdose, and the Victorian-level cocaine use. This is why he's acting so manic and citing a "natural high" at the start of TST; in his mind, he hasn't taken any drugs lately, but the reality is that his body is still hooked up to the morphine, along with anything that Mary might have given him), or maybe the weird haircuts for John and Mary are a way for him to keep track of reality. Either way, he's slipping.

Upon "waking up" for TST, he begins solving cases very very rapidly, completely throwing himself into the Work. Maybe this has to do with feeling unable to confront his feelings for John directly... OR it's because he feels like John only wants him for the exciting cases, and he's worried about letting John slip away. Just think – he'd come back from the dead, used cases to distract from the impending wedding but then watched the wedding go through anyway, and then John disappeared for a whole month and he relapsed on drugs. He managed to rope John back in for the Magnussen case, but that went spectacularly wrong. John forgave Mary. (But only in Sherlock's head; in real life, he still doesn't know who shot Sherlock.) So now, Sherlock is trying to be exactly what he thinks John wants him to be. That's why there's such a huge fixation on the blog. We get Sherlock analyzing the blog content, trying to see things through John's eyes. He's looking for the elements of the cases that John likes, but inevitably begins to pick up on the negatives, which is why we get Sherlock The Semi-Sociopath again (not paying attention to John, always on his phone – versus series 3 Sherlock, which was from his own POV) and John's feelings that he's nothing more than a sidekick.

Sherlock is using the blog entries that he's catalogued as a template for TST, but also trying to resolve the Mary storyline that he set up in HLV. (Remember, we still don't know the truth about Mary; these are all predictions by Sherlock.) He gets the A.G.R.A storyline from H.O.U.N.D. and from his own torture experiences (which is why Ajay is a Sherlock mirror), and the Thatcher busts from The Six Thatchers blog entry, and never quite figures out if Mary is a villain (she shot Sherlock) or a hero (John loves her). So he writes her more action scenes (remember what he imagined her telling John in TAB: "it's not your going that bothers me, it's your leaving me behind!" based on how she rushed after them at the wedding reception, and how she insisted on coming along for the Happily Ever After case on John's blog), and gives her a heroic death, trying to figure out how John would react once she's out of the picture.

He imagines that John would not react well at all. He is probably thinking about how greatly he underestimated John's grief at this own fake death, and mentally combines that with all the times John has ever been angry at him and blamed him for things (especially the Fall). So Sherlock imagines that not only is John taking Mary's death very hard, but he is blaming Sherlock for it. Sherlock tries to figure this out by imagining John's therapy sessions, although he changes the therapist because it would take to much effort to also imagine Ella, who he doesn't know too well (and he had tried imagining her in TST). Remember, Ella was the one who made John set up his blog in the first place. Maybe Sherlock consulted her to get a better idea of how to structure the narrative.

Meanwhile, someone must have just given him another dose in real life, because in TLD, he's absolutely losing it. He points out his ability to predict people's behavior up to two weeks in advance; this is proof of the possibility of EMP, since he could easily imagine those situations in his head. (But this also shows that Sherlock thinks he always gets these predictions right... but we know that some of these characters seem to be acting a little off, so we know that he hasn't gotten it completely accurate.) He pictures Bill Wiggins keeping him company... is this how he acted when he only had Billy the skull? We clearly see that Faith was inspired by John, specifically by their first meeting in ASIP. In the hospital, a number of people bring up John’s blog, stating that it’s gone a bit downhill (rather like this show has, now that Sherlock’s spiraling into blog-style characterizations instead of realistic depictions), and he gives a speech to the kids about how logic and reasoning is the most important aspect of crime-solving, not John, because he thinks that’s how John sees him.

He imagines a plot line with a memory drug, because he's starting to forget what the purpose of this whole exercise was, or whether or not he's still dreaming... and a killer... there was murder somewhere, wasn't there? And a hospital? He remembers a hospital, and a sinister blonde person threatening to kill him if he spills the secret of their murderous tendencies... but he's got it wrong, all wrong, and Mary has told him to do something, and John is in the dark, and he's really dying this time. (Is someone trying to smother him in real life?)

But then – John saves him. Because of course he does. John, who saved his life in ASIP and who has always followed and protected him. "There's always two of us." But he remembers how much Mary's death must be affecting John, and he imagines that John would still be angry with him. He saw John speak to him at his gravestone, and so he personifies Mary, to try to guess how John would act with her shadow still over him. (Also, a part of him remembers that John is still in danger from Mary, hence the sinister ambiguity of her first scene in TLD.) Rosie is off somewhere – who knows, who cares. Sherlock remembers the wedding, which was supposed to be perfect but which featured an attempted murder anyway.

Perhaps the TLD hug reminds him of the Stag Night, when he thought they were headed for something big but weren't quite able to reach it. That was the Mayfly Man case... he thought is was unrelated, but it turned out to be tied to John and his wedding, and his previous romantic interest... and so we get Eurus, the unexpected danger. Because Sherlock can't actually imagine anything past that hug; he's still unsure of how John would react.

TFP could be a number of things:

Sherlock's imagining of what John's Mind Palace would look like after he gets shot (because they can't have a happy ending; John is in danger and Sherlock has been stupid and now he might lose John forever).

Sherlock has fallen down another dream layer, like the waterfall scene in TAB.

Sherlock is on so many drugs and/or he's been in the Mind Palace so long that everything is getting reeeeeeally weird.

Someone has the TV on and is watching horror movies and Bond, and/or Sherlock has taken the blog influence too seriously, and now things really are written in the style of John's blog: romantic and clipped and half unbelievable.

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TL;DR: Assuming that S4 is all EMP, Sherlock is using John's blog as reference when creating the narratives for the three episodes. We saw him read the entry about their first meeting in TAB; this shows that Sherlock likely has some (if not all) of John's blog entries stored in his Mind Palace, and he is now drawing from them.