Can I Just Say: I Know We Get A Lot Of Flack Around Here From People On The Outside, Claiming That Were

Can I just say: I know we get a lot of flack around here from people on the outside, claiming that we’re biased against both Mary and Amanda, that we just want her written off the show as quickly as possible to get out of the way of our ship.

Let me tell you something.

What I’m looking forward to the most in series 4 is the johnlock love confession, that’s true. The next thing I’m most looking forward to is cheering on Amanda Abbington as she works her acting chops and turns in the performance of her fucking career. She gets to be the big baddie, the most important antagonist, on one of the biggest shows in the world, a role that VERY rarely goes to a woman. Particularly a role that is so fully fleshed out, nuanced, complex, surprising, and unafraid to not only completely throw off the traditional stereotypes of womanhood and motherhood, but to force the audience to confront those stereotypes for themselves.

I mean. Just fucking LOOK at what she did with a look in the promo clip we got today.

I hope they milk Mary’s character and Amanda’s talent for all it’s worth. I hope she wins Emmys. Bring it on.

Ben Mendelsohn & Mads Mikkelsen - together we are the death star

Quick, man, if you love me!

We’re all familiar with this moment in the Dying Detective, right? In case you’re not, Holmes is “ill” and has sent Watson to fetch Culverton Smith. When Smith is set to arrive, Holmes insists that Watson hide behind the head of his bed and eavesdrop on what Smith has to say:

“I fear there is no alternative, Watson. The room does not lend itself to concealment, which is as well, as it is the less likely to arouse suspicion. But just there, Watson, I fancy that it could be done.” Suddenly he sat up with a rigid intentness upon his haggard face. “There are the wheels, Watson. Quick, man, if you love me! And don’t budge, whatever happens—whatever happens, do you hear? Don’t speak! Don’t move! Just listen with all your ears.”

Quick, man, if you love me is something I know a lot of people have been excited about the possibility of hearing in some way, ever since it was revealed that ep 2 would be an adaptation of this story. And I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about how this could play out in TLD (as one does). Our Sherlock isn’t the type to casually be like, John, if you love me, you should definitely hide in that cupboard over there… So how might it go instead?

Let me start with a bit of other TLD related speculation. My guess is that Sherlock is actually ill, not pretending, and that he knowingly allowed this, letting Smith poison him or do whatever it is that’s causing the illness in order to bring him down. So he has a plan, but that plan involves him actually getting sick, not merely pretending like in ACD canon. 

Running with that idea, in the second trailer we get this bit of Sherlock saying You know why I’m here, and Culverton Smith responding I’d like to hear you say it. (We don’t actually see Sherlock say his line, so I can’t be 100% certain they go together, but let’s run with it anyway.) My impression of this scene is that it’s taking place in Sherlock’s hospital room. Sherlock says that Smith knows why he’s in hospital (because Smith has poisoned him or whatever), but Smith wants to hear Sherlock admit it first. 

However, Smith isn’t asking Sherlock to admit he knows Smith poisoned him–what does Sherlock admitting that really do for anyone? He’s asking Sherlock to admit the real reason he’s there, the real reason he’s done all of this. And what is the reason Sherlock ever does anything stupid and dangerous? He does it for John. In some way, this connects back to him trying to save John from something. Just like with Moriarty. Just like with Magnussen. Yet again, Sherlock is putting his own health and well-being at risk for John’s benefit, and Smith is asking him to just say it already, to just admit that he loves John. We know from elsewhere in the trailer that Smith is interested in the revelation of people’s secrets, and here he wants a fair trade. You admit your secret, and then I’ll admit that I poisoned you. A confession for a confession.

And if Smith is going to confess, we of course need a witness to that, and like in ACD canon it would be easy for Sherlock to ask John to hide somewhere for this conversation. So we get John hiding somewhere in the room. We get him as a witness to Smith pressing Sherlock into confessing his “darkest secret.” And ultimately that means we don’t need a quick, man, if you love me. 

Because instead we get an I did it because I love him. 

There’s stuff that you wanted to say… but didn’t say it.

Say it now.

I've stared at that first gif for like an hour now, and it is genuinely scary. They're not trying to hide that something is wrong here, and yet no one but us is questioning it. I really don't understand why. I am constantly astounded by the casual viewers' acceptance of everything at face value. It's been said a thousand times, but I'm saying it again. It isn't true simply because Moftiss says it is! Allow me to paraphrase, "The Abominable Bride is a stand alone episode, completely separate from anything happening in the major plotline." Remember that? Remember how much they insisted on it? How'd that work out again? "Mary" literally killed Sherlock, and no one is worried about this creepy look? This awkward dialogue? This over the top acting? The legitimate fear in John's voice as he sees his psychopathic wife casually carrying his infant daughter into what could definitely turn into a very dangerous situation? This is not a happy family excited to hang out with Uncle Sherlock. WTF is wrong with people? Seriously. What's happening here isn't cute or funny or normal. It's heartbreaking, and you don't even see it.

I’m sorry (not sorry) but Mary’s facial expressions in this little clip freaked me out

She’s hardly even pretending anymore. I can see the assassin clearly, she’s hardly holding up the act, she doesn’t care anymore. That first gif is like ‘come on now, Sherlock, say what you’re supposed to say.’ There’s NO reason for her face to change like that. When she was first introduced, she beamed whenever she smiled. Now, she does…that. The ‘I’m taking something away from you and I’m happy about it’ smile. The ‘I’m planning and I’m always 5 steps ahead of you, you should be terrified’ smile. Whatever that is.

And the way she patronizes John, it’s like she’s talking to the freaking baby.

thank god they put some eye candy in s4 for us lesbians and bi women 😍👭