westernredcedar (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
westernredcedar) wrote2014-01-21 10:34 pm
westernredcedar) wrote2014-01-21 10:34 pm
Entry tags:
Meanderings and Sherlock
I'm having a weird, emotional night due to various goings-on in RL. All fine, just has me a bit off-kilter and so I'm in the mood to feel some solid footing under me here. How about spouting forth about Sherlock, Season 3? That's all very concrete and fun! Therefore:
Sherlock. For the record again, I cannot interpret the show as anything other than the story of two people finding their perfect life partner and falling in love, and oddly (odd, due to the nature of the plot of this season, what with the marriage and all) my feelings on this matter have not changed.
I loved that there was nothing in this season that veered me off this reading of the show, even Mary. In fact, Mary, who I really enjoyed as a character, seems to understand that she is a third in a previously existing marriage, and she seems okay with that. Which, yeah, made me really appreciate the writing, because that is hard to pull off. And that made me need to go re-read Basingstoke's Yes Yes Yes again for the many-ith time, because a glorious balanced three-person relationship between them all is something I can only like if really handled perfectly, as in that fic. And I liked how it was handled here. Amazing!
I adored the second episode. I may have to watch it again as soon as I finish writing this. It is possible the "Madonna/Sherlock Holmes" game is my favorite scene in any of the episodes ever, because that tension of love and confusion between them is so perfectly present. There is a moment when John falls off the chair and has to use Sherlock's knee to raise himself back up, and it's so lush with love, with that touch that can't go any further. Gah! Honestly, since I've been so into Torchwood lately, I keep imagining Jack Harkness meeting John and Sherlock together and being crazy frustrated by the 21st century repression that keeps them apart. Heh.
I even enjoyed the mystery plot in episode two, an element that I found lacking in the other two episodes, which is actually quite pathetic for a mystery program.
I was pleased with some of the development of Molly's character in episode 2. My favorite moment for her is at the end when she does not leave the wedding and follow Sherlock, when you see her tempted and then have the strength to resist and be her strong self. I really identified with her in that moment, and appreciated how real it was. (versus the rather insulting Sherlock clone boyfriend plot she had to deal with in ep 1. I cringed at that choice.)
Something I have mixed feelings about is Sherlock's drug use. At the start of ep 3 I actually shouted out loud at the TV when I realized that John was about to find Sherlock amongst all the heroin users (which I figured out moments before it happened, I'm slow...), especially after the end of ep 2, when Sherlock was so alone. This was an opportunity for the plot to be intense and fascinating, dealing with Sherlock the addict who has now fallen off the wagon and has no real reason to take care of himself. I was excited to finally see this element of his character being explored. And then...it went nowhere and was never mentioned again. And that made me mad, as if Sherlock is so amazingly brilliant that he can strategically use heroin for a case and be fine, no consequences, even with his history. So, I liked the idea, loved a couple of the scenes, and hated the result.
Elements I did not appreciate were mostly present in Eps 1 and 3.
1. Mystery: I missed the detailed mystery plots. Even the Magnuson plot in ep 3 did not do it for me- too broad and confusing. Just have someone murdered and try to solve it, please. A few things were not even consistent, like Magnuson having Smallwood's "letters" in the beginning, and then having no paperwork whatsoever being the big reveal at the end?? Maybe I missed something, but it seemed poorly thought out.
2. Protesting too much: I was frustrated that after creating such an emotional connection between John and Sherlock in Reichenbach, it was necessary for John to revisit the "I'm not gay," piece again in this season. I had hoped that John's character had grown beyond needing to do that.
3. Character consistency: I liked the John's mustache joke once in ep 1, but felt that Sherlock figured out how deeply he had screwed up during the fake French waiter scene, so repeating the joke over and over made him really look like an ass, and took me out of his character. I felt similarly about how Sherlock handled the end of the bomb on the train scare. I think after John had been so honest, he would be more respectful of his dear friend, not laugh, etc. I did not like these character inconsistencies in that episode. At all.
4. Motorbike chases, etc. I mean, why? And with Mary? And they're supposed to be somehow reading a GPS or something as they go? Like, down a bunch of stairs? Sigh.
There's more to talk about I'm sure...like the awesome Holmes parents! It feels good to do a little bit of a download though, scattered as it may be. Now, back to working on some fic writing. Oh, and sleep. Hurrah!
*hugs*
Sherlock. For the record again, I cannot interpret the show as anything other than the story of two people finding their perfect life partner and falling in love, and oddly (odd, due to the nature of the plot of this season, what with the marriage and all) my feelings on this matter have not changed.
I loved that there was nothing in this season that veered me off this reading of the show, even Mary. In fact, Mary, who I really enjoyed as a character, seems to understand that she is a third in a previously existing marriage, and she seems okay with that. Which, yeah, made me really appreciate the writing, because that is hard to pull off. And that made me need to go re-read Basingstoke's Yes Yes Yes again for the many-ith time, because a glorious balanced three-person relationship between them all is something I can only like if really handled perfectly, as in that fic. And I liked how it was handled here. Amazing!
I adored the second episode. I may have to watch it again as soon as I finish writing this. It is possible the "Madonna/Sherlock Holmes" game is my favorite scene in any of the episodes ever, because that tension of love and confusion between them is so perfectly present. There is a moment when John falls off the chair and has to use Sherlock's knee to raise himself back up, and it's so lush with love, with that touch that can't go any further. Gah! Honestly, since I've been so into Torchwood lately, I keep imagining Jack Harkness meeting John and Sherlock together and being crazy frustrated by the 21st century repression that keeps them apart. Heh.
I even enjoyed the mystery plot in episode two, an element that I found lacking in the other two episodes, which is actually quite pathetic for a mystery program.
I was pleased with some of the development of Molly's character in episode 2. My favorite moment for her is at the end when she does not leave the wedding and follow Sherlock, when you see her tempted and then have the strength to resist and be her strong self. I really identified with her in that moment, and appreciated how real it was. (versus the rather insulting Sherlock clone boyfriend plot she had to deal with in ep 1. I cringed at that choice.)
Something I have mixed feelings about is Sherlock's drug use. At the start of ep 3 I actually shouted out loud at the TV when I realized that John was about to find Sherlock amongst all the heroin users (which I figured out moments before it happened, I'm slow...), especially after the end of ep 2, when Sherlock was so alone. This was an opportunity for the plot to be intense and fascinating, dealing with Sherlock the addict who has now fallen off the wagon and has no real reason to take care of himself. I was excited to finally see this element of his character being explored. And then...it went nowhere and was never mentioned again. And that made me mad, as if Sherlock is so amazingly brilliant that he can strategically use heroin for a case and be fine, no consequences, even with his history. So, I liked the idea, loved a couple of the scenes, and hated the result.
Elements I did not appreciate were mostly present in Eps 1 and 3.
1. Mystery: I missed the detailed mystery plots. Even the Magnuson plot in ep 3 did not do it for me- too broad and confusing. Just have someone murdered and try to solve it, please. A few things were not even consistent, like Magnuson having Smallwood's "letters" in the beginning, and then having no paperwork whatsoever being the big reveal at the end?? Maybe I missed something, but it seemed poorly thought out.
2. Protesting too much: I was frustrated that after creating such an emotional connection between John and Sherlock in Reichenbach, it was necessary for John to revisit the "I'm not gay," piece again in this season. I had hoped that John's character had grown beyond needing to do that.
3. Character consistency: I liked the John's mustache joke once in ep 1, but felt that Sherlock figured out how deeply he had screwed up during the fake French waiter scene, so repeating the joke over and over made him really look like an ass, and took me out of his character. I felt similarly about how Sherlock handled the end of the bomb on the train scare. I think after John had been so honest, he would be more respectful of his dear friend, not laugh, etc. I did not like these character inconsistencies in that episode. At all.
4. Motorbike chases, etc. I mean, why? And with Mary? And they're supposed to be somehow reading a GPS or something as they go? Like, down a bunch of stairs? Sigh.
There's more to talk about I'm sure...like the awesome Holmes parents! It feels good to do a little bit of a download though, scattered as it may be. Now, back to working on some fic writing. Oh, and sleep. Hurrah!
*hugs*
no subject
I haven't been able to get the music from the shows out of my head. The orchestral stuff is one thing, it repeats themes from previous series like Irene's theme which stands for sexuality, but the pop music with lyrics is another because it has lyrics. And the lyrics are very interesting.
"Oh What A Night" is a great, fun wedding song, yes. But I adore how, when Sherlock is folding up the sheet music for his tender, emotional love waltz, and slipping it into the envelope marked Dr and Mrs Watson, the lyrics we hear are Why'd it take so long to see the light? Seemed so wrong, but now it seems so right.
Ouchie.
What's really been bothering me is the meaning of the music choice used for The Reunion. "Donde Estas Yolanda?" by Pink Martini is not something that blends in tone with Sherlock and John at all being a hot, sultry, passionate Latin dance piece. Although, in keeping with the lonesome dancer theme that is Sherlock dancing alone or not at all throughout ep2 (even though he loves to dance), when John jumps Sherlock he is essentially dancing with him for several steps, walking Sherlock backward (John is leading!) until they fall into a passionate pile of feels on the floor. So, hot and Latin = ersatz sex.
I found a translation of the lyrics and oh, boy. If taken from John's POV (and I think we should given how it cuts in when John jumps Sherlock), it gets very meaningful. Generally, it's about a man who had a passionate moment with a woman and has been searching for her ever since. http://lyricstranslate.com/en/donde-estas-yolanda-where-are-you-yolanda.html Here's the end of the song:
If someday I was to find you
I wouldn't know what to do
and I think I will go crazy
if I never see you again.
Where are you, where are you, Yolanda ?
What happened, What happened, Yolanda ?
I looked for you, I looked for you, Yolanda
and you're not there, you're not there, Yolanda.
And what does Yolanda mean? It's part French (not unlike Sherlock himself) and means Violet. The color of gay men everywhere.
Thank you! I'll be here all week.