TLD

[Amy Benson]

Про "The Lying Detective" всякое из обсуждений
(а ссылки канули в небытие):


That moment when you realise this and "Dark Water" had more or less the same cliff-hanger


And I was mislead by the fact that the daughter was a hallucination - right up until it was revealed that she had been a hallucination, when I realised that she couldn't be.

I thought she must've killed herself in/near the flat and Sherlock only imagined the walk around London with her (all he did was tell her how he worked it out rather than learn anything new from her - I think).

As I was watching it I thought the reveal would be that the daughter had actually shot herself after Sherlock had dismissed her case, and much of what we saw as he walked round London had been a guilt-ridden hallucination. That's one reason Mary's a constant presence in this one - a red herring to make us think that John's not the only person talking to ghosts of women who they failed to save.

It's so brilliantly television literate - it's shot entirely so smug bastards like me call that she's a hallucination immediately, get it CONFIRMED BY THE SHOW so when the real twist roles around, no one sees it coming.


-I could tell they were setting her up to be a hallucination but figured that would be a feint and she wouldn't be
-Then they revealed the 'real' Faith Smith, suggesting the whole thing had been a trap by Culverton Smith to frame Sherlock as mad since his real daughter would have a perfect alibi
-Then they DIDN'T go there, and had the somewhat unsatisfying idea of 'his unconscious giving him fake clues rather than the real ones deep inside his head'
-Then they reveal the truth at the last second


Yes, it wasn't that 'she' moved on when he admitted the affair, but that John was able to move on when he was able to admit it about himself. Thematically, the whole episode is about the value of confession. Smith is moved to confess to his closest friends, but makes them forget everything afterward*, John's therapist wants him to admit he's not all right, the repeated clashes between Smith and Sherlock focus on each trying to get the other to 'admit' something, Smith ultimately finds that confessing all to the police feels good, and it's all heading to underlining the importance of John admitting the affair to Sherlock so as to be able to let go of his guilt about it.

In fact, the only person in the episode who's offered an opportunity to confess a truth, but sticks rigidly to their story, is Mycroft. And by the end of the episode that lie's landed everyone in the ¤¤¤¤, when confessing the truth to John might - just might - have made a difference.


It's also a nice addressing/inversion of a standard TV trope. How often do people complain about how TV characters would have to be rich to afford where they live? But here they actually go themselves, "Of course Mrs. Hudson's rich - she owns a four story building in central London (five counting the basement flat) and her own business!"
Another point, actually, tying together previous comments about the TV literate nature of the sсript and the sense of relief at his 'only' being a serial killer...

It's on purpose, isn't it? I mean, at the opening when they establish the Savile parallels in all the news footage and then have Jones repeatedly about to say his "horrible secret", and how awful and disgusting it is, and how nobody will ever look at him the same again once they know, and how he keeps being about to say it, and then doesn't... with Jones all but smirking down the lens at the viewer. Moffat actually very deliberately tailored it for the viewer at home to be on the edge of their seat thinking "Don't say 'I rape children', don't say 'I rape children', don't say 'I rape children'..."


The one Moffat Who sсript I keep thinking of from last night's episode is actually Curse of Fatal Death, thanks to all the "you thought you had me but three weeks ago I swapped this for that" reveals like the walking stick and where everyone was due to keep meeting. Only without the time travel, obvs.


So about two weeks ago, Steven Moffat gave us a story that underlined the apparent absurdity of how simply putting on a pair of glasses is enough to disguise the fact that Superman and Clark Kent are the same person from everyone in the world of the comic book.
Over the last two weeks, he went and did it himself for real in "Sherlock" and we, the audience, all fell for it hook, line, and sinker.


Reluctant to get into this, but actually, that could have been a much cooler way of doing the "revelation" than what we got. Either shoot "flashback Euros" in obscuring ways until you're ready, and then have her turn around at a crucial moment in flashback to reveal that it's the girl on the plane (so the audience spends the next few minutes trying to figure out why/how before you show them) or, as I think someone else suggested, shoot the whole plane sequence first-person with only the little girl's voice, and have your big moment when Sherlock walks through the door - and from her point of view, arrives on the plane.

@темы: Sherlock, Meta