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Sherlock Series 3 |OT| - THE Source for Fiction’s Cheekbone Fetish

K

kazebyaka

Banned
Episode was ok, but i'm not sure i like where this show is going. All detective work seems to be shoe-horned and put there in the last moment. I want real mysteries and detective stuff, not some random small puzzles for Sherlock to solve. Also, as much as i like Watson, this show is called Sherlock.
 
NekoFever

NekoFever

Member
Crab said:
No, because this was actually good and Love and Monsters was chronically horrendous with absolutely no redeeming features apart from ELO references.
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Also deserves credit for generating complaints to the BBC about references to sex with a paving slab in a family show.
 
F

FryHole

Member
Zeppu said:
I can fully understand that from a narration point of view. It's just that for the last two episodes we have had the enormous coincidence where random clients just separately ask about stuff which happens to be directly related to the 'big' mystery in the episode. It just looks like he's solving the mysteries by being incredibly lucky rather than his amazing detective skills.
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That's a fair point. I seem to remember them doing that in a previous series (might be wrong) and it's a neat enough way of doing things once, but it should really only be once.
 
W

War Peaceman

You're a big guy.
One thing I will criticise about this episode is that at times it reminded me of Dr. Who. That seems to constantly harp on about how brilliant and wonderful the doctor is. This did the same with Sherlock and to some extent, John.

Also, to people complaining that this is filler: we haven't seen the last episode so we don't know how it connects to anything yet. Personally I would have preferred one 'regular' episode in between these two because right now it is so sudden how Sherlock is back into John's life and we have barely seen Mary.
 
N

nOoblet16

Member
kazebyaka said:
Episode was ok, but i'm not sure i like where this show is going. All detective work seems to be shoe-horned and put there in the last moment. I want real mysteries and detective stuff, not some random small puzzles for Sherlock to solve. Also, as much as i like Watson, this show is called Sherlock.
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These are my thoughts too, there's no suspense or thrill..no proper build up for the villain., the narrative structure is very uneven. And they've only got one more episode and then we've got to wait like 2 more years again, they've wasted too much time on mundane stuff considering they only have 3 episodes to show.
 
B

Beaniedude

Member
I really enjoyed the episode.

Really really enjoyed it.

I thought it was touching.

Though the stag night scene went on for a while. But other than that I loved it.
 
G

glaurung

Member
I think it was a good balance of suspense versus frivolous life stories.

If I want hard-hitting investigations without too much drama, I watch Midsomer Murders or something.

I suppose I'd watch Cobra 11 for action, but unfortunately I am not a retarded coma patient.
 
R

Ragnarsson

Member
Loving this season so far. And I can only guess that the finale will be much darker in tone - these two episodes built up perfectly for that. I hope we don't have to wait until 2016 for season 4.
 
F

fireside

Member
Zen said:
I also really disliked how they seemingly threw things into the story only so they could subvert preconceptions from Series 1 and 2.
Making Mycroft 'smarter' than Sherlock is one thing, making him 'smart(er)' in apparently exactly the same way as Sherlock is quite silly and serves no purpose to the plot or characters except to undermine the core worth of our protagonist. Mycroft may be lazy, but it takes away from Sherlock if he is 'anything you can do I can do better- I just choose not to'
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This is exactly how Mycroft was written in the original stories.
 
U

User 100115

Banned
fireside said:
This is exactly how Mycroft was written in the original stories.
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Yep.

Also, people who are hating on the character focus of this season...Sherlock was dead for two years. He went through a lot during that time. If he had just seamlessly integrated back into his previous life, it would be unrealistic. They have to show how hard this is for him. Everyone has moved on. He paused, and they all moved forward. Which really sucks for him since he changed emotionally so much.
 
H

Hyun Sai

Member
After a somewhat weak season 3 debut, this episode was by the end the best thing I saw for ages.

It put it second just after "A scandal in Belgravia".

Very well written, very emotional.

Perfect.
 
N

nOoblet16

Member
Fiction said:
Yep.

Also, people who are hating on the character focus of this season...Sherlock was dead for two years. He went through a lot during that time. If he had just seamlessly integrated back into his previous life, it would be unrealistic. They have to show how hard this is for him. Everyone has moved on. He paused, and they all moved forward. Which really sucks for him since he changed emotionally so much.
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Yes but you have to realise that they only have three episodes and it's another break for maybe two years after this, so having that storyline about Sherlock having to deal with everyone moving on for more than 50% of the duration of the season is kind of a drag.
 
U

User 100115

Banned
nOoblet16 said:
Yes but you have to realise that they only have three episodes and it's another break for maybe two years after this, so having that storyline about Sherlock having to deal with everyone moving on for more than 50% of the duration of the season is kind of a drag.
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I thought they were balancing it out rather well :/ I am sorry.

I mean, they did weave a lot of cases into this last episode (which is fleshed out further by the blog), when they could have focused entirely on the character development.

Maybe it's because I've been waiting so long for Sherlock to come back, and Elementary has A LOT of 'monster/case of week' episodes and I really dislike those types of shows. (I need to catch up on Elementary, so don't spoil me if they've changed this recently )
 
G

ganon

Member
After last week's disappointing season opener, this week is pretty okay I think.

Fiction said:
Maybe it's because I've been waiting so long for Sherlock to come back, and Elementary has A LOT of 'monster/case of week' episodes and I really dislike those types of shows. (I need to catch up on Elementary, so don't spoil me if they've changed this recently )
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Sherlock's cases in the previous seasons are more like mysteries to me, they're intriguing. Elementary's cases on the other hand are more normal police cases, which can be fun but are not what I would call a mystery. Anyway, you should catch up on Elementary, there's a huge development on the characters on the latest episodes :)
 
U

User 100115

Banned
ganon said:
After last week's disappointing season opener, this week is pretty okay I think.



Sherlock's cases in the previous seasons are more like mysteries to me, they're intriguing. Elementary's cases on the other hand are more normal police cases, which can be fun but are not what I would call a mystery. Anyway, you should catch up on Elementary, there's a huge development on the characters on the latest episodes :)
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I hate procedurals, so the fact that Elementary hooked me at all speaks volumes for how decent a show it is :p. Or my love for all things Sherlock has scaled my eyes. Whatever! Hee.

Yeah I am going to catch up, just been a bit lazy.
 
B

bodyofanamerican

Member
Fiction said:
I thought they were balancing it out rather well :/ I am sorry.

I mean, they did weave a lot of cases into this last episode (which is fleshed out further by the blog), when they could have focused entirely on the character development.

Maybe it's because I've been waiting so long for Sherlock to come back, and Elementary has A LOT of 'monster/case of week' episodes and I really dislike those types of shows. (I need to catch up on Elementary, so don't spoil me if they've changed this recently )
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I read about who played/what they did with Moriarty in season one of Elementary, and I sort of cringed. Was it handled better in execution?
 
C

Cornballer

Member
- Deadline: ‘Sherlock’ Episode 2 Down Slightly, Still UK’s Most-Watched Program On Sunday
While U.S. audiences were treated to the Season 4 premiere of Downton Abbey on PBS Sunday night, folks in the UK were tuned in to the second installment of the latest season of Sherlock. The 90-minute episode, titled The Sign Of Three, pulled in 8.84M viewers for BBC One and a 31.9% share. That was down slightly from the Season 3 debut on New Year’s Day which was the show’s most-watched episode ever at 9.2M. Still, The Sign Of Three was Sunday’s most-watched program of the day by a large margin. The final episode of Sherlock airs next Sunday in the UK while S3 starts on PBS on January 19th.
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N

nomis

Member
Blake'sGrave said:
woah, no need to be patronising just because you disagree with my opinion.

I'm a member of the audience, and the levity cheapened the experience for me. I dislike the direction the show's taking and feel like the comedy is going way too far in order to please the existing fan base, is that not a legitimate opinion?

And the only reason I tune in to the show, or indeed read the original stories, is specifically for the "plotty plotty mcbadguy" stuff, it's a detective show, I'm not here for the increasingly soppy characterisation which has taken up the vast majority of these last two episodes. You can have levity and character development without sacrificing the integrity of the experience, and I really feel like that's what's happening. Also the directing has been only intermittently decent, that first episode was shot like a goddam student film.
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If I was being patronizing its because I was addressing the general sentiment of "its shit" "its fan fiction" "its for the internet" "its masturbatory" being "the direction the show is taking now". As though future seasons are just going to be them sitting around drinking tea, cracking jokes, and jerking each other off.

I have a feeling that by the time season 5 and 6 come and go, "the wedding episode where Sherlock makes drunk deductions" will feel like just a brief respite from the seriousness of Reichenbach and (I presume) this season's finale.

The writers are using their economy of screentime by laying the foundation for these character's relationships and giving us a time when they "had it good". Versus "John sees Sherlock is alive and gets over it" and "John and Mary meet and get married" being plot points that are over with in 5 minutes each.
 
M

mclem

Member
So, here's something that strikes me as interesting, from the blog:

Sabrina had been married to her husband, Chris, for about five years but it clearly wasn't a happy marriage. She told us that he'd been having an affair and she needed to find proof. Sherlock, again, wasn't hugely interested, describing her marriage as being of 'zero importance in the grand scheme of things'. But then something happened. Mary arrived. And suddenly he changed his mind. He decided there and then that he'd find the proof she needed so she could divorce Chris. Naturally, I assumed it was because he saw me and Mary together and just wanted to make someone else happy.
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Now, maybe Watson's right (and there's further exploration of the motivation later in the entry)... or maybe Sherlock is doing research into marital loopholes to... ensure they're too damn scared to stray? :)
 
N

Night Hunter

Banned
With all the Sherlock is about to be lonely themes in this episode do you think that maybe Irene Adler will come back for episode 3? Or was it just a cameo like Moriarty in episode 1?
 
M

metalslimer

Member
Wait are they really skipping another 2 years between series? I realize they are busy but it cant be that much time for filming these episodes..
 
E

Exterminieren

Banned
metalslimer said:
Wait are they really skipping another 2 years between series? I realize they are busy but it cant be that much time for filming these episodes..
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We don't know exact dates, but it's probably going to be a while. Freeman's the face of a billion-dollar movie franchise, and Cumberbatch is getting cast in every bit of Oscar-bait going. They'll clear time in their schedules, but getting everyone synchronised will take months, if not years.
 
B

bodyofanamerican

Member
Exterminieren said:
We don't know exact dates, but it's probably going to be a while. Freeman's the face of a billion-dollar movie franchise, and Cumberbatch is getting cast in every bit of Oscar-bait going. They'll clear time in their schedules, but getting everyone synchronised will take months, if not years.
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What was the lapse between Season 2 and 3? S2 filmed in late 2011, aired in early 2012, no? So maybe they come back in 2015...ahh shit. Yeah, it's gonna be a while. :(
 
N

NotTheGuyYouKill

Member
Irene should come back for a booty call.

Come on guys, it's gonna happen.

Sherlock: The Sitcom

Sherlock's ex-girlfriend blows back into town and throws everything into a tizzy!
 
N

Night Hunter

Banned
NotTheGuyYouKill said:
Irene should come back for a booty call.

Come on guys, it's gonna happen.

Sherlock: The Sitcom

Sherlock's ex-girlfriend blows back into town and throws everything into a tizzy!
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Well, if she does come back then I would think as Magnussens henchwoman. He likes secrets, she is good at, lets call it "extracting" secrets. Perfect match ...
 
W

Wes

venison crêpe
Notrollious said:
"Do you always carry handcuffs around with you?"
"Down girl"

i lol'd hard at that one.
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Me too. Definitely line of the episode.

I enjoyed this more than last week's for sure. Great to see a bit of Irene too. I do hope she comes back at some point.
 
K

Kelpie

Member
Finally watched the show and caught up in the thread. I didn't like the episode at first. It felt rushed and disjointed. But I watched it a second time and really enjoyed it.

Does anyone know what Mycroft meant when he asked Sherlock if he remembered Redbeard? The only thing I found through searching online is a blogger theorizing that it could be a childhood pet which was my first guess too but I was just wondering if Redbeard was some obscure figure from British history.
 
S

Slowdive

Banned
Kelpie said:
Does anyone know what Mycroft meant when he asked Sherlock if he remembered Redbeard? The only thing I found through searching online is a blogger theorizing that it could be a childhood pet which was my first guess too but I was just wondering if Redbeard was some obscure figure from British history.
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In another episode, can't remember which, Mycroft said when he was younger Sherlock wanted to be a pirate.
 
P

PhoncipleBone

Banned
If anyone is going to die next episode, I am thinking Mycroft. It would be awful for Watson to just finish grieving for Sherlock and then lose Mary. Sherlock needs a loss, and Mycroft would be it.
 
G

GentlemanCrow

Member
kazebyaka said:
Episode was ok, but i'm not sure i like where this show is going. All detective work seems to be shoe-horned and put there in the last moment. I want real mysteries and detective stuff, not some random small puzzles for Sherlock to solve. Also, as much as i like Watson, this show is called Sherlock.
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If you replace "shoe-horned" with "integral to the plot". The whole thing was a massive puzzle. There were at least three threads that came together to inform the deduction - each one seemingly unrelated until they are scrutinized. If you ask me that is a sign a damn good Sherlock episode.

I'm starting to think that people aren't so much bothered by the deductions and are more bothered that there wasn't any London-porn in this episode. It doesn't look/feel like the previous episodes and is therefore wrong. Which is of course ridiculous.

They are trying some knew stuff, they got us to care about these characters over the last few series and now they are making use of that. The last season went to pretty bleak places and this more character focus series feels right to me. It's not like it compromises the past, that stuff is still there and they are going to do more series after this one. Shaking up the formula is what confident, competant shows do well.

The deductions and mysteries don't feel at all compromised by the episodes to my mind. In fact I think this was one of the better mysteries they have had. If people want a straight detective show there are plenty of generic alternatives.
 
G

Gambit

Member
You know, something awful has happened to this thread. Instead of people happily getting along and expressing differing opinions, the thread has developed into an unpleasant experience where anyone who dares criticise the show "clearly isn't fan enough" or "should just watch a different show if they prefer straight-up detective shows".

Practically everyone in this thread is a Sherlock fan, so clearly they are perfectly aware that it's not CSI or whatever other suggestions have been offered.

All those that loved the last episode should be happy and not question the "fan-ness" of those that didn't enjoy it for whatever reasons.
 
S

suzu

Member
It's too bad there is only 3 episodes a season, but I still really enjoyed this episode. Mary is delightful.
 
Z

Zen

Banned
GRW810 said:
No, it really isn't. It's getting record viewing figures and still generating critical acclaim.
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Ratings and such are always behind the curve of the trajectory of the show itself. Don't be surprised if we get another season, if ratings drop because of the current season. 'Still generating critical acclaim' is a big of a generalization, people aren't starting to complain out of nowhere for no reason.

Not aimed at you specifically but It's pretty childish of people to chastise others for not enjoying the current direction when everyone in this thread is at least a fan of the show.

fireside said:
This is exactly how Mycroft was written in the original stories.
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This doesn't mean that I enjoyed it any more in the books either. It seemed as if they were going a bit of a different direction with this show, and I would have applauded them for that as it wasn't a good idea in the first place to make Sherlock the lesser of the two brothers instead of making them brilliant in different ways.
 
T

tomato shrub

Member
GentlemanCrow said:
If people want a straight detective show there are plenty of generic alternatives.
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If you want generic sitcoms theres even more alternatives, no need to pretend this was a good series of Sherlock.
Actual great episodes had more chara development and still all the funny stuff alongside mysteries and more. These last 3 hours were nothing but tiresome ,,lighthearted fun'' which can be funny but is in no way good enough to fill that much time. They now even ruined some jokes (forgetting Greg) Even worse when only one proper ep is left.
 
I

Ithil

Member
metalslimer said:
Wait are they really skipping another 2 years between series? I realize they are busy but it cant be that much time for filming these episodes..
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I doubt that big of a gap, seeing as Freeman is now done most of his filming for the Hobbit trilogy, which was the thing that got in the way last time.
Probably just a year gap like the first to second series, unless Cumberbatch's schedule (seeing as he's in so many things now) interferes.
 
N

nomis

Member
Gambit said:
You know, something awful has happened to this thread. Instead of people happily getting along and expressing differing opinions, the thread has developed into an unpleasant experience where anyone who dares criticise the show "clearly isn't fan enough" or "should just watch a different show if they prefer straight-up detective shows".

Practically everyone in this thread is a Sherlock fan, so clearly they are perfectly aware that it's not CSI or whatever other suggestions have been offered.

All those that loved the last episode should be happy and not question the "fan-ness" of those that didn't enjoy it for whatever reasons.
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You misunderstand. I dont think people dismiss any and all criticism of this show out of hand.

Thats because what's happening in this thread isn't criticism of the writing or performances (there WAS actual dismissal of the directing), its whining about "the direction the show is taking" "going downhill" etc. All because they dont have the patience to sit through 90 minutes with NO MURDERS! That damn Watson prevented both of them! Almost as if the theme of the episode was "Sherlock Holmes will solve your case but John Watson will save your life". God forbid Watson get a character driven episode mostly to himself, being that he's half of the show.
 
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