Horribly depressed, And it’s not just the champers. Or the Seasonal Affected Disorder. (Are we ever going to have sunshine again?) All the papers are raving about “His Last Vow,” calling it the “perfect” ending for the series. I think the shark has been jumped. I think we’re seeing the Dr. Who plot formula migrating to Sherlock, complete with inchoate plot lines and schizophrenic characters and a general assumption that all the viewers suffer from short-term, and definitely long-term (assuming you consider 4 years long term), memory loss. Weeping angels are a hit. So let’s have more weeping angels. Someone blinked. Alas, I can’t. Am going to finish the bottle of champagne from the Sherlock Party on Sunday and curl up with a good book (perhaps The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes) and try not to think about all the many plot holes, continuity issues, and cheap pandering in “His Last Vow.” Maybe I”ll watch “Sign of Three” or “The Empty Hearse” again. Those were good. Perhaps I can treat “His Last Vow” like the Star Wars Prequels and just ignore it.
I’ll have so more champers and maybe I can kill enough brain cells to watch Vow again without a running commentary of the plot problems… or maybe I could drink enough champers to become a Romanticist and not care about the plot and character problems… No. There’s not enough champers in France and California combined for that.
I just wanted to let you know, you are not alone. And I’m relieved (though not happy) to learn that I’m not alone, either. I definitely found “His Last Vow” to be…well…a bit not good. Maybe more than a bit, in fact. And here I was looking for it to redeem “The Empty Hearse!”
Jenn, thank you for your kind note of support. “A bit not good” is lovely way of phrasing it. I was consoled by finding similar qualms expressed on the Amazon Comments and Reviews for the forthcoming Series/Season 3 DVD pre-orders.
I confess, I quite liked “The Empty Hearse.” I felt that Mr. Gatiss did a charming send-up of all the hysteria of the past two years while giving the fans some delightful sops, and maintaining the spirit of the original stories, where Holmes ruthlessly — dare I say sociopathically? — manipulates and abuses Watson’s affections for him. (I can think of at least two stories in which Holmes feigns near-death illness and then later chuckles with smug self-satisfaction at forcing his friend to express his strong feelings. Frankly, I was always amazed Watson did NOT punch Holmes in the face in the stories!) I admit I am prejudiced since the solution Sherlock gives Anderson so closely matched my own, even to the assumption that there was a Sherlock stand-in for the kidnapping who Moriarty would have had murdered and dumped later.
I am waiting until after “His Last Vow” airs in the U.S. before giving a full review of the Series/Season, including a listing of all of the plot holes, character incontinuities, storyline incontinuities, et al. (Hmm, there appears to be a continence problem. I believe there is medication for that these days.) I have promised a couple of Romanticist friends who enjoyed the episode that I would give them a list, so it will be a lengthy post. I considered doing it in the fashion of the “Honest Trailers” and “Everything Wrong With” video series on YouTube, pausing the scenes to narrate the problems, but fear I’d have to watch the episode multiple times in video editing. As it is I am hoarding the last bottle of wine for re-watching “His Last Vow”(though it might be best to save the drinking until after the viewing since I have to type my notes about the issues while watching).
I’ll also be providing the scientific reason why piling on the emotional manipulation and pandering is not good for us — or for a series of stories. The shorthand evidence is Pirates of the Caribbean, Pirates 2, Pirates 3, and finally — if there is a God — Pirates 4. Or if you prefer, Mr. Moffat, consider the Planet of the Apes series or the Rocky series or even the Harry Potter series. No one can possibly maintain that the writing in the Half-Blood Prince or Deathly Hallows books were as good as the Philosopher’s Stone.
There is such as thing as too much.