#in the original canon Holmes lost his one and only friend and life partner in his old age

[neverquiteeden]

Casebook never fails to make me miserable.

"At this period of my life the good Watson had passed almost beyond my ken. An occasional week-end visit was the most that I ever saw of him. Thus I must act as my own chronicler. Ah! had he but been with me [...]"

-The Lion's Mane

"The good Watson had at that time deserted me for a wife, the only selfish action which I can recall in our association. I was alone."

-The Blanched Soldier (which, incidently, I can easily see as being ripe for a well-delivered queer retelling)

The iconic scene in The Three Garridebs, with "It was worth a wound," just makes the above even more melancholy-inducing to me.

Holmes talking about Watson in The Lion’s Mane.

[princess-of-the-worlds]

So I watched Enola Holmes on Sunday, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how now with Burn in the movie, we’ve seen most of the cast in Victorian-type costumes. 

We have Burn in this movie. 

We have Barrowman in Fragments. (Ignore the sideburns.)

We have Eve Myles in The Unquiet Dead.

And we have Gareth in Warehouse 13. (And also apparently the Sherlock Holmes movie, but I’ve heard things about it, so we’ll ignore it.)

(Forgive, they’re the best gifs I can find right now, but it’s not really the point of this.)

So that just leaves Naoko. If she’s been in a movie or TV show that had her in a Victorian costume, feel free to let me know; I just personally haven’t seen or heard anything.

Anyways, my point is...Victorian Torchwood AU where the entire team is human? (Kudos to @ultraviolet-eucatastrophe​. I worked out most of this talking to her.)

Hear me out? (Keep in mind that I am neither British, well-versed in British history, or was alive in the 1800s. I’ve kept certain headcanons - like Tosh’s backstory - as vague yet historically possible as I can remember from school.)

This is set some time in the mid- to late nineteenth century/Victorian London.

Jack is like a Scottish lord or noble whose family moved to the US when he was young. After his dad and Gray died - and his mother succumbed to hysteria and became incapable of caring for him, he is left on his own as a teen and turns to crime. He becomes a con artist and thief and earns enough to board a ship to London when he is 19. In London, he meets fellow thief - and grifter - John Hart, and they become partners and lovers before falling out a few years later. Perhaps, Jack meets some mysterious leather-coated gentleman and his beautiful blond companion who, after an adventure, disappears but not before prompting Jack to try living on the legal side. He uses his criminal past and knowledge to consult for Scotland Yard.

Gwen is actually Gwyneth, and after the events of The Unquiet Dead, she blacked out instead of dying. The trauma fucked with most of her memories. She still remembers her name and adopts a variant of it - Gwen Cooper - before fleeing Cardiff for London where she works as a maid in many wealthy households. Her ability allows her to make premonitions that are always correct, and she is able to become a finder of lost items and people for which she is paid a small fee. She chalks this ability up to having keen sense rather than anything supernatural or Rift-related.

Tosh is the genius daughter of a wealthy Japanese businessman frequently visiting London. She spends time growing up sheltered between Japan and the British countryside but eventually grows a rebellious streak and runs away to London. Except she’s kidnapped by a band of men who originally want to sell her into prostitution until they realize how intelligent Tosh really is. They keep her captive for several months, forcing her to build them weapons.

Owen is born in the London slums but is ambitious and sharp enough to want to work his way out. He falls for a good woman, Katie, and eventually becomes a doctor, marrying Katie. They live happily for a few years until Katie dies of a seemingly incurable disease - actually an alien parasite. In his grief, Owen takes to drinking, gambling, and fighting and becomes a back alley doctor, growing a certain repute among the London criminals. One day, after one of their men is stabbed fatally in a fight, the same men who kidnapped Tosh kidnap Owen to operate on their man. Owen meets Tosh, and they bond over a few days. Meeting Owen gives Tosh the courage to finally facilitate the escape she had ben planning, and Owen and Tosh escape to freedom and hide in a flat near where Owen grew up, eventually falling in love.

Ianto belongs to a poor Welsh family and falls in love with Lisa, a local shopkeeper’s adopted ward, but Ianto’s dad disapproves of their interracial relationship and...(well, we know Ianto’s dad’s repute from canon.) To be together, Ianto and Lisa flee to London, but the only place they can find shelter and work is for a crime syndicate run by an imposing woman named Yvonne. Except this syndicate, which is actually a front for Torchwood, which was formed either the same time or a bit earlier depending on when you want to set this AU, and the entirety of the organization burns in a fire of alien-origin. (Only the original base in Scotland and a small outpost in Cardiff remain of Torchwood). Lisa and Ianto barely survive, and Lisa eventually succumbs to her injuries several months later despite Ianto’s best efforts. Ianto, after spending several long months in the London slums, managing to convince a tailor to take him on as an apprentice.

Then one day, a new serial killer begins operating in London. He kills neatly, somehow draining all the bodies of their blood with only a single puncture mark, and his victims are all women, prostitutes and widows and single mothers and the like. Women that no one will notice, that no one will miss.

Except he’s wrong. They are noticed, and they are missed.

Jack, ever so observant, takes notice and starts tracking down this killer. He may not entirely be the Jack Harkness we know and love, but the Doctor and Rose, no matter how brief their acquaintance remained, have inspired him to a good man. He can’t let a monster like this killer stay lurking in the city.

One of the victims is a prostitute who lived in the flat across from Owen and Tosh and never failed to be kind to them, especially Tosh, despite her being Japanese. Tosh and Owen are determined to bring her to justice.

Another of the victims was a runaway from a noble family, and her mother, knowing of Gwen’s repute, begs Gwen to find her.

And finally, poor Ianto happens to be leaving his tailor’s shop too late one night when he spots a struggle in an alley. Ianto, wanting to be wise and live, keeps his head down and walks away, but the next morning, he finds that he had accidentally ignored the killer with his newest victim. The guilt eating away at him, Ianto becomes determined to stop the killer as much as he can.

So all five of them are wandering through the city of London, trying to track down this serial killer. You can imagine they might bump into each other a few times, like Donna and Ten in Partners in Crime. Maybe Ianto grows intrigued of this strange, charming American he keeps meeting and can’t stop thinking about. Tosh and Owen are a bit wary of this quiet Welshwoman who speaks to them as if they’re old friends.

Eventually, Jack, Gwen, Tosh, Owen, and Ianto all corner the killer in a warehouse near the London docks one night except the killer turns out to not be human. The killer is a Plasmavore who has been feeding on all his victim. After a struggle ensues, the Plasmavore is subdued and eventually killed, and the Scotland Yard awards Jack, Ianto, and Owen the reward money for finding the killer.

But this doesn’t sit well with Jack who proposes that the five of them partner to form their own detective team, because they all have unique skills which they bring to the table. And they all realize, putting their heads together, that there exists a form of life that is not entirely human, a form of life beyond this planet. Jack has his Doctor, Gwen has her mysterious past and her ability - which still hasn’t occurred to them to be of similar origins as the creature they encountered yet, and Ianto has Torchwood. 

All five realize that they are better off and more efficient together and that they can be investigators of anything seemingly inhuman and other phantasmagoria. 

Thus, they accidentally become alien crime fighters two centuries too early.

And eventually, they solve enough cases to meet Madam Vastra, Jenny, and Strax and become their allies.

And somehow, they’re always ahead of the other branches of Torchwood to occurrences in London to the point where, on Archie’s suggestion, they actually become the new Torchwood London.

Of course, they have encounters with the Doctor whenever he pops around, and Jack finally gets some answers about his mysterious leather-coated gentleman.

And thus, despite being in a whole different century, and a whole different city, Jack, Ianto, Gwen, Tosh, and Owen still manage to become Torchwood. 

So yeah, there you have it. An entire AU (or at least its origin story) plotted out completely. Now here’s the thing. This idea won’t let me go, but I also can’t do historical AUs. Like, it’s just too much research and plotting involved for me to be satisfying with writing this. That’s why it’s up for grabs. If this sparks your interest and you wanna write, feel free to do so. Just please ask and get my blessing beforehand. (Joking, but please do shoot me a line if you end up writing this.)

Thoughts? 

[englandsgray]

Sherlolly Self-Interviews 2020

Well hi 👋

Ignoring the internal image of Gilderoy Lockheart smiling smugly while flashbulbs pop and saying ‘In my autobiography, Magical Me...’ 🙈😆 I shall take the opportunity of this lovely event to introduce myself as a writer of Sherlolly fanfiction on AO3...

I am English and somewhere over 30.  I watched the show as it aired, and lost my heart as quickly to Molly Hooper as to Sherlock Holmes.  The kiss is British television history.  Series 4 is my favourite.  Moriarty on the beach is life.  The Holmes brothers break my heart every time.

I am extremely lucky to have been provided some questions to answer here by @ohaine and @mybrainrots - huge, huge love and thanks to these two lovelies, and not just for this.  I admire you both so much as writers, and your support means the world to me ❤️ Thanks too, to @sherlollyappreciationweek!

Where did you begin to write, and have you written for other fandoms?  I wrote my first fanfic when I was eleven years old - a 100 page ramble about The Monkees.  Oh yes.  Then in 2018, I fell for the characters of the Disney Pixar film Cars and began writing and publishing.  So far so random!  Writing in this fandom sprang from binge-watching all four series of Sherlock during lockdown.  I remembered reading Louise Brealey talking about being disappointed Molly didn’t get chance to ‘roundly kick Sherlock’s arse’ and agreeing with her wholeheartedly.  That, over a few weeks, turned into my first fic - Who You Really Are.  

You’re a recent (and welcome!) arrival to the Sherlolly ship, and I was wondering if writing in an established, less active than it used to be fandom has been a challenge?   Thank you, firstly.  My experience of this fandom has been incredibly positive - the sense of welcome has been wonderful.  I will admit I was terrified posting the first fic - there are hundreds of times more stories posted daily in the Sherlock fandom as in the one I had some experience of.  But I needn’t have worried, it’s been a blast.  I will also admit, that it’s no small thing to be surrounded by such brilliant writing and the long-standing passion which goes with it.  But I find that inspiring in itself, and I’m very glad to be here - how supportive the fandom are makes me feel like I always have been!       

What’s your favourite place and way to write?  My aesthetic is Lin-Manuel Miranda in his in-law’s laundry room 🤣 I wrote my first ten-thousand words on the notes app on my phone before my other half told me to stop being ridiculous!  I switch between the laptop, my phone and longhand (I’m a sucker for a nice notepad and a Uni-Ball Eye) and, more often than not, not sat up properly at a table.   

Since you’ve (done something I’ve never managed successfully and) written a novella length fic... how did you organise/keep track of all the details and where you wanted the story to go?  Did you outline/plot in advance?  First of all - I would love to see a novella length fic from you @mybrainrots!  The final scene of Who You Really Are came to me very early on and I knew I wanted the fic to fit within TFP - a lot of it takes place in the timeframe of the final montage.  At first, it was going to be much more about Sherlock’s relationship with the ideas of sentiment and love (the phrase ‘I’m not sentimental about you, I love you,’ haunted me for a while) and I spent some time researching the psychology and playing with scenes from throughout the series - one of my favourites I didn’t go on to use was inspired by the final scene of THoB.  Using scenes from the canon gave an automatic structure, and I was always aiming for the final one I wrote early on - the two of them on the beach (everything is about the beach, with me!)  As I went along and started, inevitably, to slow down, I mapped out the chapters with a short note of what I wanted to be in each, then would add notes or phrases as they came to me - often emailed from my phone!  I had to force myself through a tricky section set in Baker Street at one point, but it came together in the end.  I did plot The Pathologist’s Skeletons on paper first, as I found with a casefic which remains a WIP, that I can get confused and lose focus when it comes to details and how to reveal them in a way which stays paced and interesting.  I’ll certainly do that from now on with longer stories and cases.  How did you keep up enthusiasm for the work?  I want to write an original novel, so I am forcing myself to work through the knotty bits and blocks as a learning experience.  Not everything is destined to be finished or finessed, of course, but I’m finding this process is building my confidence that I can overcome problems and slow periods.  I also find I know when I need some external inspiration - some of my favourite scenes have come to me while out walking the dog or sitting on the beach.  I’ve also been inspired by books or other series or things going on in the world, as we all are, and sometimes that’s pushed me on.  Plus, of course, I’m a newbie - I’m very much in the honeymoon period of my writing, even though I’ve loved Sherlock for ten years! (Ten years! Bonkers.) 

You’ve got a knack for writing Sherlock’s thoughts and capturing his voice.  That said, which character do you find easiest to write?  Which is the hardest?  Thank you so much.  I absolutely love writing Sherlock and Mycroft, and I’m sure that’s because they suit my somewhat over-the-top writing style!  I find Molly and her POV really difficult.  I want the scenes I write from her perspective to sound completely different to Sherlock, but that means writing in a style which doesn’t come as naturally to me.  I’m a long way off happy with that at the moment, but I’m enjoying the challenge.

Is there a scene or character that specifically inspired you to start writing Sherlolly?  The whole of TFP, but especially from the moment Sherlock arrives at Musgrave onwards.  I am desperate to see what a Sherlock Holmes who has been reacquainted with his own heart would look like.  I find his emotionality in those final scenes hugely compelling (Mycroft’s office is one of my favourite moments from across all four series) and, as I have always believed in him and Molly, I practically jumped up back in May after watching it and said ‘right, where’s my notebook?!’.

There’s a lovely peaceful, quiet feeling to your fic ‘We’re All Right At The Moment’.  Can you tell us what inspired it and if you’ve thought of doing the backstory that goes with it?  Thank you!  Like everyone, I would go back to January of this year and start again in a heartbeat, but I am hugely fortunate to be able to say that I have a lot to be grateful to the UK lockdowns for.  I might never have begun writing in this fandom otherwise, for one, and I have had a brilliant time so far and met some lovely people. Honestly, I don’t feel able to do any sort of justice in my writing to what has happened in the world in any broader sense than drawing on my own experiences of staying at home and enjoying my family.  This particular super-short fic sees Molly cutting Sherlock’s hair at home in Baker Street.  I wrote it in the evening after I had cut my other half’s hair and had been reminding myself that despite how horribly worried I was - and still am - about everything, we were all right in that moment, and to focus on that as much as possible.  I wanted to try to capture that, if for no reason other than to look back on this entire experience and remember something lovely, so I am so pleased to hear you felt the fic did that.  It was only after I finished it and reread it, that I realised it is ambiguous as to whether Molly is worried about Sherlock contracting the virus, or whether she is remembering him being treated for it... As I say, I don’t think I could write more about these extraordinary circumstances - perhaps it’s just too close at the moment - so I don’t plan on extending it.  But you know how it is, the plot bunnies hop where they will... 

Do you have a Sherlolly music playlist?  What are your top five favs from the list? Here’s a run down of (6 🙊) songs I have been getting emotional over in the last little while, leading my brain to assign their significance to my favourite couple...

Kissing You - Des’Ree - It’s so 90′s, it’s a bit cheesy, it’s oddly disturbing.  It helped me write A Request, Made Properly, and that gave me an excuse to have Sherlock kiss Molly in the snow.

How Long Will I Love You? - Ellie Goulding - part of the playlist, but also in remembrance of a friend who passed away recently.  Life is very short, love is forever.

High and Dry - Jamie Cullum - It’s made me emotional for a very long time.  The original is my partner’s version of choice, this is mine.  

Think About You - Delta Goodrem - Okay, this one isn’t emotional, and it’s not my usual vibe!  Blame the zoom exercise class I do!  But oh my goodness, it’s Molly.  Bless her.

Blinded By Your Grace (P.T.2. F.T. MNEK) - Stormzy - One of the best ever, I reckon.  Spent an awful lot of time thinking about angels and demons, grace and what it takes to save someone, while writing my latest - The Pathologist’s Skeletons.  This has been in my head most of the (blimmin’) time!

Love Me Like You Do - Ellie Goulding - I didn’t know I was a fan of Ellie until I wrote this list... I don’t subscribe to the theory that the love Molly wants or that which Sherlock has to offer is any lesser because it isn’t ‘normal’ or expected. I don’t think romantic entanglement would come easy to either of them. But it’s still love and it would be beautiful.

Thank you so much for reading.  Thanks and love to @ohaine and @mybrainrots. And thank you @sherlollyappreciationweek for the event and for everything you do ❤️

Feel like I should sign off with a quote from the show...

“You’re not a puzzle-solver, you never have been. You’re a drama queen!” Dr John Watson (Moffat & Gatiss) 2014 😜

X

A fav fic of mine by @mybrainrots

https://archiveofourown.org/works/7563193

A fav fic of mine by @ohaine

https://archiveofourown.org/works/10562904

My stuff:

https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnglandsGray/works

[albusdumbles]

My Head Canon for Sherlock and Molly is a mixture of what Sir Doyle's stories tell us and the Moftiss version :

After Sherrinford, Sherlock returns to crime solving in 221B as a more mature, humbled man, better attuned to his and others emotions. He now understands and acknowledges the power of emotions and does not actively discount them as he used to before, but accepts them and most importantly respects them.

John and Rosie remain a huge presence in Sherlock's life. John retains his position as Sherlock's best friend and partner in crime solving. John continues to live in 221B for some time but as Rosie grows up and her safety becomes an issue, he shifts to another more homely location, and balances time between Rosie, his clinic and case solving.

The situation is now brought to the one that was canonically established in the Sherlock Holmes books, where in the later stories Dr. Watson would generally come to visit Baker Street and find Sherlock amidst an interesting case or would get a call from Sherlock for help in a certain case. The original stories mostly start off from this point. However since we have Rosie to consider as well I am guessing John's involvement is lesser. In the original books too there were times when Holmes solved entire cases and only then told Watson how they happened or would mostly do the legwork himself. Adhering to that in this version Rosie and the clinic are the factors for John's lesser involvement, though it is only relatively lesser as John really can't stay away that much.

Sherlock's relationship with Molly is however not this simple. It is complex on various levels. After Sherrinford, Sherlock does explain everything to Molly, and it is a moment between them that neither can I describe nor can they both themselves as to give complete justification. What words are exchanged, what is said is between them is not known, but there is an assurance that Molly being Molly does forgive him. She has always seen right through him and even now can see his pain, his remorse, his vulnerability which shines through stating the deep emotional trauma that he has suffered. He doesn't tell her whether he meant that I love you or not. Neither does she mention it again. But John, Mrs Hudson and even Lestrade if ever asked about it will certainly tell you that something had started to change around that point of time. No Sherlock and Molly are however not in a relationship. But when Molly's other friends and colleagues try to set her up with dates, Molly's doesn't really seem interested. They chastise her for not trying and soon give up one by one, though there are some close friends who know the actual reason and don't say anything, merely shake their heads and go away. Once a relative of Molly's asks her that doesn't she want to have children of her own? To which she replies that she already does have a child.

Molly's description of that relative's face on her answer keeps John and Sherlock laughing all night when she tells them. She has come at that time for dinner as she sometimes does with them. Both John and Sherlock look at her fondly as she makes some more bad jokes and plays with Rosie. Eventually though John goes home as its Rosie's bedtime and Sherlock and Molly are left alone. He suggests a walk and she agrees. They walk around in the quiet of the London night, not saying much, but as hands brush and soft smiles are exchanged a lot more is said then words could express.

Life goes on at 221B, John eventually finds another woman, and proceeds to settle down again. His involvement becomes lesser now though and updates from 221B aren't that regular. However one day he gets a shocking message that Mrs. Hudson is very ill. He rushes to Baker Street along with Rosie and his wife. Sherlock looks a bit haggard, and for the first time John's new wife sees some emotion on Sherlock's face. John's always told her that he is a deeply emotional man and while she has not doubted his affection for Rosie, she hasn't seen him anything other than stoic and practical in the time she has known him.

Molly comes in moments later, hand in hand with another man, and Mrs. Watson can swear that this time she can feel a palpable change in the air. A tension that was not there before even with the sadness about Mrs. Hudson's situation has suddenly seeped in.

She may not be perceptive like Sherlock but she knows in the way that Molly and Sherlock avoid looking at each other and how Molly has not paid much attention to her boyfriend while she has been in the house that there is something here.

Later she asks about this to John who says that he himself doesn't understand it much and that they are not what you could call a couple, nor are they exes and he also doesn't know what exactly does Sherlock feel for her.

"He doesn't love like us and I can't always understand him or what he is exactly feeling. But know this, that Molly can, she is vital to him and while Sherlock can deduce the whole world to the T, the only person who can deduce him back is Molly. However Sherlock and Molly are an unsolvable case which I gave up ages ago". The topic is halted as the Watsons go to sleep too tired and drained to try to make sense of what they saw today.

Mrs. Hudson's death follows a few days later from this event and after the funeral the new Mrs. Watson again observes Sherlock and Molly. Again she sees the rare occasion of Sherlock showing emotion and as her heart wrenches a bit for the man who looks like he has lost a long battle, her gaze shifts to Molly who has incidentally come alone and not left Sherlock's side. Her hand on his arm the whole time, him slightly leaning into her as he addresses the guests that have come.

Mrs. Watson files that image away for later analysis. But the evidence and sources for these two people to clearly define whatever is going on between them is so confusing and so rare that soon, she like her husband comes to discover as to why its an 'unsolvable case' and gives up as well, eventually just accepting Sherlock and Molly as they are.

Rosie on the other hand suffers no such problem as her parents and when asked quite happily tells them about her Godfather and Godmother and how they are in fact a couple. She is the Watson who sees and observes; perceptive like her Mother she sees what others miss and hence is the only one not surprised when, a few years later as she is going off to college she hears that Uncle Sherlock who had shifted just last year to Sussex Downs, to pursue his passion for beekeeping has now been joined by Aunt Molly, who has given her resignation from Bart's and sold her flat.

Sherlock and Molly never married. They did not appear to be a couple to anyone and no one apart from Sherlock's closest and nearest circle of people knew about the relationship that they shared.

As Sherlock Holmes became a legend immortalized through Dr. Watson's blogs, now talked about in past tense, no one ever associated the name of Molly Hooper with him. She wasn't ever mentioned in the blogs and not seen with him often enough by the press who came to the conclusion that she was just a colleague. Hence the stories, movies and series that were inspired from it later never acknowledged her.

It only had once come to the attention of Molly, Rosie's grandchild who had scoffed while watching a movie about the great Holmes and his supposed private life thinking that if only they had observed the subtle hints in her great grandfather's old blog and not merely skimmed through, they could have known better about the actual private life of Sherlock Holmes. For though she hadn't ever met Sherlock Holmes, she knew his stories well. Her grandmother had read the blogs to her in her childhood and had filled in a lot of blanks about Holmes life that Dr.John Watson had deliberately left in his writing as a tribute to a certain pathologist. However she had most of all remembered a photo of him which had been in her grandmother's old touchscreen cell phone. Seriously who even used touchscreen anymore?! The photo had been of the said detective smiling down with all the love in his eyes at a woman with brown hair tied in a ponytail, flecks of grey here and there, a wrinkled face but sparkly brown eyes that crinkled as she smiled back at him with her arms around him. Molly had wished that someone looked at her as Sherlock Holmes had once looked at her namesake.

Sherlock and Molly's tale was one which was forgotten through time, kept away from the world; in the beginning by Mycroft Holmes' zealous efforts to keep that part of Sherlock's life well hidden and then eventually through the natural course of fading memory. For Mycroft, the fear of old enemies discovering about Molly and using her in some unscrupulous manner was unacceptable. He had seen how vulnerable a pressure point Molly was to Sherlock and he never wanted to see his brother go through the anguish and pain he had witnessed in the room with the coffin again.

Hence while throughout history Sherlock Holmes' name was taken with a lot of people, primarily with Doctor Watson, his best friend, confidante and blogger; Irene Adler and James Moriarty his rivals and enemies, both great in their own regard; Mrs. Hudson his landlady and not his housekeeper; Lestrade his first colleague and friend and even with Rosie who never stopped boasting about the fact that he was her Godfather, his name was never ever taken with the one person that mattered the most.

Molly Hooper.

[lionsandowls]

Link

Translated REVIEW of Sherlock

in Sueddeutsche Zeitung (one of the biggest in Germany)

Writer: Kathleen Hildebrand

„Sherlock“ is now arrogant like Sherlock

The fourth season of the detective series shows, that there shouldn't be a fifth one.

The cinematic world of Sherlock was like enchanted, then in 2010, as the thin man with a strange face entered the screen a first time. He saw everything in milli-seconds and understood, what to see and to know and what to deduce. This pale guy, always in the same coat, who intentionally forgot the series of planets in the sun system, because he needed his hard drive of a brain for cases. And he was so clever, so somnambulistic successful and so unbelievably blind for all human emotions, that you wanted to protect him like a puppy.

For two season, „Sherlock“ was a special treat that freed your brain. It was so up to date, witty and exciting like nothing else available in European television. However, regarding the fourth season, that is over. The serious is drunken on its own success. It has become arrogant, like Sherlock at his worst moments. Every one of its three new episodes gets lost in enervating self-referencing.

That this happened, has many reasons. It is because of the main actors. It is because of the writers, who leave story lines abandoned, and neglect main characters. It is because of the over sized hype regarding the series, but also a little bit because of its original script.

Unfortunately Benedict Cumberbatch has become a superstar in the meantime. He is no longer sleepwalking, but knows exactly what he is doing. He is doing it with slight variation in every blockbuster main role: Being Julian Assange, Alan Turin or Doctor Strange. Cumberbatch has a subscription on the role as arrogant super brain, that every repeat is a little bit more empty.

Empty is also the new season. Episode number one „The six Thatchers“, swings like Tarzan on drugs from Story-liana  to the next. The case of a missing diplomat's son is solved soon enough. It gets so inconsequential, that you can't trust the next story line. Also Sherlock's quest for six Thatcher busts could go up in a whiff of unsatisfying logical nothingness.

A lot of it just doesn't make any sense

Like the run/escape of Mary, Watson's wife, over the complete world, where she carefully takes care not to leave any traces, that Sherlock and Watson can't find her. When she finally wants to drink some mint tea in a oriental hostel, there they are. Sherlock and Watson. They planted a GPS-Tracker in a USB-Stick in her luggage. Haha.

A lot of it just doesn't make any sense. The role of Mary Watson most of all: The excellent trained and experienced assassin, who just built a family with Sherlock's partner and best friend, trusts with a disbelieving naivety Sherlock's vow, to protect her for ever. The hackles of the viewers are not only raised by the missing Feminism, but also the fury rises, because the supposedly genius writers of the series (Marc Gatiss and Steven Moffat) expect seriously, that the inconsistencies are getting graciously overlooked.

Supposedly, supposedly, supposedly. Nothing can be taken seriously anymore, no emotion, no character. Because nothing seems to have any consequences. When Sherlock at the end of „The six Thatchers“ makes the mistake of his life because of his overflowing arrogance, everyone suspects: At the end of the second episode, everything will be the same than before. Sherlock and Watson nurse their Bromance, solve some cases and nothing has any meaning.

Especially because of this, nothing is like its used to be, then, in season one or two; when the very big showdowns were waiting to happen and you were happy about charming and absurd cases, where every case happened in another setting, that the writers made some easy going fun about.

Then, the point of no return happened; „The Reichenbach Fall“, the episode, in which Sherlock dies. Everyone, who knows Arthur Canon Doyle's books or has seen the movie „Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows“ from 2011 with Robert Downey Junior, knows: Sherlock is not dead. And when a death has no consequences in a narrative universe, what happens then?

A desperate third try

This problem was probably known to the writers. Otherwise, they would have proceeded with the same mode after Sherlock's faked death. Gatiss and Moffatt tried since then to find an always bigger bang, a stronger enemy for their hero.

When Sherlock talks in the second episode of the new season „The lying detective“ about his current opponent Culverton Smith as „the most dangerous, vile human being“ he ever met, then it sounds like a desperate third  try for the then ultimate nemeses Moriarty and Magnusson.

What could save Sherlock then? It is to fear, there is nothing. The actors Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, who plays Watson, became world famous in the last seven years, since the first fantastic episode. They don't need the series anymore, they barely find time for the shooting. And the love of the writer for the stories and characters turned into an irreversible fanboy-hood. Anyway, you can't deny it entirely, that a fifth season, that only shows three nice cases might get you again in the front of the television. The early years just were too good.

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Translation and all mistakes are done my me.

Tagging for some interested parties:

@alexxphoenix42

@inevitably-johnlocked

@addignisherlock

@johnnlocked

@tjlc

@teapotsubtext

@teaandqueerbaiting