#macphail

[no-side-us]

Letters From Watson Liveblog - Dec. 22

The Creeping Man, Part 3 of 3

I don't think it's intentional but I'm going to count Holmes and Watson being in the bushes here as a reference to the earlier stories, like say The Speckled Band, just to create for myself a sense of finality. After all, this is the last case we have before Holmes' retirement! And with everything they've been through, they're still just two guys solving a mystery by hiding in some bushes.

For a story ostensibly set right before Holmes' retirement, I think this is the first reference we've gotten from Holmes himself that he's going to retire. It's an offhand comment too, though him saying "of my dreams" would suggest he's been thinking about this for a while now.

Woah, why would he do that? Not only is it just plain mean, but provoking an angry dog that's been chained up is just asking for it to get loose and attack you. I think that's a pretty common trope actually.

Well, I won't say the Professor deserves it, but it is comeuppance. This also isn't the first angry dog we've seen, so in my head I'm going to see this as another reference to all those previous dogs that have attacked people in these stories.

Remember that other time that guy got his throat ripped out? Doyle's really bringing it home.

Ah yes, the monkey drug case. I had forgotten what this was until now. One of Sherlock Holmes' last cases! One of his last great adventures! The last mystery of the great detective Sherlock Holmes! And it's about a monkey drug.

Jokes aside, I do think it's funny to think that this case is the reason Holmes retired. Like it was either too weird for Holmes or too nonsensical, and he just couldn't deal with it anymore. Bees make more sense than this.

And the Professor did it so he could be younger and marry his coworker's daughter. I thought they were already engaged but whatever, I guess not.

That last line from Holmes though sounds like one of those quotes which are profound on its own but in context is being applied to a very strange situation.

I'm going to assume Holmes doesn't really understand how the drug worked and is thus explaining this through his understanding of the case, not the weird science behind it. Still, a very funny line.

As for my final thoughts, I think ultimately there was a lot of missed potential in this story to establish more parallels between Holmes and Professor Presbury. You have this older, intelligent, learned man, respected by his peers and colleagues with a well-established reputation trying to turn back time and make himself younger. And you have a story set right before Holmes is about to retire! That feels like a great set up for him to see himself in the Professor, reflect about his age, or his legacy, or at least talk more about his retirement plans. Instead it's kind of a standard, interesting mystery.

But also, all that's just my imagination pulling ahead of the way Doyle wrote these stories. Honestly, I don't mind that it's a standard, if not a little stranger, mystery. I don't think Holmes would be the type to think about his age like it was a burden or something holding him back. I think he'd simply wake up one day and go, "I ought to retire," and he would simply leave to play with his bees.

So while I wish this story was a bit more, I'm glad to enjoy it the way it is.

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

[mxrisacoulter]

meanwhile her mother

insp (x)

[three-atoms]

HIS DARK MATERIALS S3E05: No Way Out

[iressails]

His dark materials 0303 | The intention craft

[plainlo-inthemorning]

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10

[thesunsetsea]

"You doubt me?" "Sometimes your devotion is hard to read, Marisa."

1x07│3x04

[inthefaceofadaffodil]

fucking love it when Marisa and Father MacPhail get scenes together because it’s literally just Marisa on her usual psychologically manipulative bullshit meanwhile MacPhail is positively possessed by the heebie jeebies whilst looking at her like this the entire time

[iamdangerace]

Shop Assistants at the Room At The Top Club, Chalk Farm London, 1985.

[maltrunners]

Speyburn 11 Year (2010), Gordon & MacPhail Cask 431 for Broken Barrel Club

Review by: Whiskery Turnip Distillery: Speyburn. Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail. Region: Scotland/Speyside Single Malt. ABV: 65.7%. Age: 11 Years. Distilled in 2010. Bottled on 12 September 2022. Cask type: First Fill Oloroso Sherry Hogshead. Nose: Massive waves of sherry fruits, brown sugar, and caramel; peppercorns, currants, prunes, brown sugar cakes, subtle lacquered wood and burning…

[courseyoulovemeyoudontknowme]

Spellbound (1945, Alfred Hitchcock)

07/09/2024

[mxrisacoulter]

my mutuals as soon as they see i’ve started milf!posting again

[disarmluna]

[historicalreusedcostumes]

This red coat with broderi in front is worn two times in Murdoch Mysteries, First worn on Zoe Fraser as Agnes Macphail in Election Day (2015) and later worn on Jeni Ross as Vicky Parsons in Once Upon a Murdoch Christmas (2016)

[plainlo-inthemorning]

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10

[dragonsareawesome123]

Father President MacPhail telling Father Gomez about Marisa Coulter:

[rubivana]

"the girl is with her mother." / "of course she is."