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Sherlock Series 4 |OT| - Did You Miss Me?

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Well I'm pretty much done with Sherlock. LIKE SERIOUSLY JUST FUCKIN MAKE SHERLOCK PLS.

We got one mediocre episode that should be like the low bar to step over and two wtf episodes. Like what the hell was the point of Moriarty this season?
 

LewieP

Member
"This week on Sherlock, we join our heroes as they investigate the mystery of the TV show disappearing up its own arse."
 
It was the worst in the series unfortunately.
Yeah, it was complete sci-fi gibberish hogwash. Like, that shit is fine for Doctor Who and is half the reason why people are there, but leave it out of Sherlock. Eurus's "reprogramming" abilities are complete nonsense and completely unnecessary to boot. Like, it's so simple what they should have done instead of jumping the shark with that nonsense. Just give her the Holmes-family gift when it comes to deductions, but she uses her deductions to fuck with people and toy with them instead of helping them. Like, have her use her deductions to figure out something about the warden and use that to blackmail him instead of her mind-controlling the entire prison.

But no, they had to go with that. Sorry, being super smart doesn't mean you can literally bend people to your will and get them to do whatever you want. Like, I can accept mind games in particular situations to evoke particular feelings. Like using logic to make people super depressed is one thing that I'm willing to bend on, even though that doesn't really work that way either. But using logic to get people to literally do whatever the hell she wants, just because "she's smart" and that's it, including killing their families just because "she's an earworm and I can't get her out of my head" and the entire prison being at her beck and call somehow because of that same magical reprogramming ability that works for no other reason than "SHE ARE TEH SMARTEST AND YOU ALL DUMB! SHE IS ULTIMATE!!!"? Yeah, no. That's a bridge too far.

And then you have the whole directly lying to the audience with the plane segment stuff instead of finding a way to leave it ambiguous what's going on there. Fuck unreliable narrators.

And then you have stuff like the stupid bomb scene, which really makes no sense at all since Eurus had already given Sherlock and John plenty of reason to seek her out when she put him to sleep, so what exactly was the point of that scene (that obviously wasn't actually going to kill anyone that early in the episode) except to have a terrible CG moment when the two jumped out the window?

And then you have all the terrible Molly stuff, which they just drop completely abruptly and act like nothing happened there for the rest of the episode (and yeah, i know she briefly shows up at the end--that doesn't count and doesn't make up for just treating it like nothing and just leaving people hanging. If you're going to put stupid drama like that in the episode, at least do it right, do it with respect and don't just use it for a stupid 'OMG, THE DRAMA! THE DRAMA!" moment and then go "oh wait, never mind. We good now. Ugh.).

And the whole prison stuff just dragged on way too long in general. Yeah, we get it, Eurus has problems. You don't need to keep dragging this on to show us just how messed up she is. We got it after she killed that guy and his wife, and definitely got it by the time she dropped three guys into the ocean after that. Shit was just exhausting and had no purpose other than "yeah, you know that she's messed up, but you don't know just how messed up she is!!!!!"

Just trash pretty much the whole way through. Very disappointing.
 

takriel

Member
Do I need to watch the first episode? Is there some story set-up for the following ones, or can I safely skip it? It's pretty boring tbh.
 

squid

Member
Fantastic? The premise is filled with holes, had a very stupid "game" plot that ends up being unsatisfying and filled with illogical nonsense.

The Reichenbach Fall was fantastic, The Final Problem is hot steaming shit.

StoplikingthingsIdon'tlike.gif

I can understand people being disappointed with the season though, mostly because we only get a few episodes every few years. When you wait that long, you do kinda expect a lot.

I was satisfied with it though. It tied up a bunch of loose ends, had more Mycroft, had an awesome Episode 2 villain, and it was cool to learn about the Holmes family backstory and what made Sherlock who he is. Also do like how the Sherlock at the end of this series is different and more human than the Season 1 Sherlock. The transition didn't feel forced or really rushed either.

Pretty funny though that the 3 second 'bad cgi' explosion everyone blew out of proportion wasn't even cgi.
 
All I can say about the finale and the season as a whole is that it makes the wait for Series 5 remarkably easy, if there is one. If there isn't, so be it.
 

Davide

Member
Wow, that was shockingly bad. Not just not great or underwhelming, bad. And I've never felt that about any other Sherlock episode. I even liked the premiere. And the LOST finale.

They cannot end here if only because it's a terrible note to end on. Everything about it was off.

All other episodes >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The Final Problem

Ranking for me now:

2/2 The Reichenbach Fall
2/1 A Scandal in Belgravia
1/1 The Great Game
1/1 A Study In Pink
4/2 The Lying Detective
3/2 The Sign of Three
3/3 His Last Vow
3/1 The Empty Hearse
1/2 The Blind Banker
2/2 The Hounds of Baskerville
4/1 The Six Thatchers
4/0 The Abominable Bride
4/3 The Final Problem

A brilliant first series, hit a high point with the Series 2 finale, came back kind of underwhelming with Series 3, the New Years special felt like it was mainly targeted towards the Tumblr crowd, and Series 4 wasn't the Sherlock we wanted except for a great middle episode.
 

MaKTaiL

Member
I thought the second episode was just as bad as the rest. The whole premise of Sherlock having to put himself in danger just to go back being friends with Watson is utterly stupid and most of the episode was a huge acid trip just like the third episode. The villain was kinda cool but it made Sherlock dumb which is totally out of character. Worst season I've ever watched and I will probably stop watching from now on. Can't stand Moffat anymore. I'll be so glad when he finally leaves Doctor Who next year, I can't say the same for Sherlock though. His hands will still be all over it.

I miss Sherlock solving mysteries and crimes, we started to have less of that after Moriarty showed up and now there is none whatsoever.
 
So as far as I understood it, there was no plane or girl right? It was just euros voice?

So why show the audience a plane with a girl if she did not exist? They could have just had the voice and at the end it would have made sense as we never saw the girl.
 

Siegcram

Member
So as far as I understood it, there was no plane or girl right? It was just euros voice?

So why show the audience a plane with a girl if she did not exist? They could have just had the voice and at the end it would have made sense as we never saw the girl.
Why bother with writing competently when you can just lie to the audience instead.
 

Pastulio

Banned
StoplikingthingsIdon'tlike.gif

I can understand people being disappointed with the season though, mostly because we only get a few episodes every few years. When you wait that long, you do kinda expect a lot. .

I don't agree with this because I believe people here weren't asking for a lot, they're asking for more of what they've already done. It seems like Moffit tried creating a complex, deep, story that he thinks his audience wanted (and jumbled it) when in reality we just wanted 3 really good mysteries and one memorable villian. Like past seasons.
 
Well, that was thoroughly unsatisfying.

Moffat can't keep things simple. He's constantly got to try and 'better' himself by escalating the narrative threat. It happened in Dr Who, and Sherlock went the same way. I imagine if there was going to be a series 5 it would have to be Sherlock vs Thanos and the Legion of Doom.

The series never recaptured the magic for series 1 for me. The Christmas special was nice fan service for the most part.



Can we now get just a modern version of the Holmes stories that stay faithful to the originals, and doesn't disappear up its own arse?
 

Alienous

Member
I thought the second episode was just as bad as the rest. The whole premise of Sherlock having to put himself in danger just to go back being friends with Watson is utterly stupid and most of the episode was a huge acid trip just like the third episode. The villain was kinda cool but it made Sherlock dumb which is totally out of character. Worst season I've ever watched and I will probably stop watching from now on. Can't stand Moffat anymore. I'll be so glad when he finally leaves Doctor Who next year, I can't say the same for Sherlock though. His hands will still be all over it.

I miss Sherlock solving mysteries and crimes, we started to have less of that after Moriarty showed up and now there is none whatsoever.

Episode 2 gave me what I look for in a Sherlock episode - they set up a mystery at the beginning of the episode and provided convincing answers to said mystery by the conclusion. Sherlock putting himself in danger was pretty stupid, but that was residual damage from the first episode of the series, which required that Sherlock and Watson be reconnected. And the convoluted daughter thing was a set up for the third episode. So I consider it a good episode dragged down by its neighbouring episodes.
 
I hope there will be one last season where all 3 episodes focus on just one big case with 0 character drama between the main characters. Just good ol crime solving.
 

V1ctIm

Neo Member
Just watched the 3rd episode of S4. Absolute garbage. Me and the missus had to turn the volume down and complain. The plot is so laughable, but it makes me sad for what started out as such an amazing show. Incredible disappointment is all we feel. So so sad.
 

Joqu

Member
All the episodes are good. Some are better than others but there are no bad episodes in sherlock.
Agreed. People are free to dislike whatever they want but I can't really understand truly hating episodes of a show with the quality of sherlock
 
Thought it was a fantastic season and I'd be happy if the series ended here. Hounds still ranks as the worst episode for me.

S2 > S4 > S1 > S3 for me but all excellent.

Best wishes.
 

John Harker

Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
Why do people dislike S4E1?

I thought 1 and especially 2 were great.
3 was pretty weird and I thought a miss
 

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
Why do people dislike S4E1?

I thought 1 and especially 2 were great.
3 was pretty weird and I thought a miss

Personally I thought Mary's death scene was pretty ridiculous. It's an important moment and they use a bullet time effect. It's just trying to be way too stylish instead of letting the scene just happen and actually carry some emotional weight.

I like Mary but I didn't want anymore on her secret agent back story. The last episode of Season 3 featured that prominently enough. John decided to move on and that her past didn't matter...until they decided to have the central mystery in that episode be about Mary's past.

Looking back, the basic premise is extremely contrived as well. The family had their son die under mysterious circumstances. That's mystery #1. That family, out of everyone in England also so happened to own 1 of 6 statues (mystery #2) that so happen to contain a flash drive with Mary's past on it. All those things happening without having someone steer them that way is absolutely ridiculous. But those three big elements are all just a coincidence.

There's a lot of filler in there too. Like Mary's extremely long travel montage that just sets up a "Oh Sherlock's so clever!" Moment. We knew the moment was coming but why go with a long montage? It's just there to waste time.
 

Qvoth

Member
s4e1 reminded me of suicide squad a bit with its bad editing or some shit
the episode just doesn't flow well if i remember correctly
 

Mariolee

Member
So I was looking at BTS photoz and it occured to me: so are we supposed to believe the Moriarty "Miss Me?" was recorded on Sherrinford during his 5 min with Euros? If so, then why are his clothes different? He's wearing a white shirt in the Miss Me clip but a black shirt in the flashback. Not a big deal, but I feel like it's such an easy thing to get right continuity wise.
 
The Final Problem had an interesting premise at its core, but they totally didn't earn what they ended up going for. The whole idea of "omg she is so super intelligent that she can literally reprogram people!!" just didn't work because they didn't show it or explain it. What they needed was her giving a big monologue directly into the camera in such a way that even the viewer is like "maybe she's right" but it just didn't happen. And then the whole game scenario was stupid.

It felt like they knew this was the last episode of the show and had to cram as much as possible into it, even plot lines and emotional arcs that we've already been subject to a dozen times already.
 

Joni

Member
Cause he recorded all those other mini messages during the time with Euros. Or did she give him a list of things to say in those 5 min and he recorded them elsewhere?
They are both smart enough to ensure he could come back, like she is smart enough to escape. That would at least explain that gap
 

OnPoint

Member
It did feel like it got a bit away from what made Sherlock fun to watch in that last episode. It was definitely one of the biggest letdowns when they finally pulled the ripcord. I was hoping for something grander. There was the potential for a real mindfuck with her, and they just kind of... didn't follow through.

They really haven't said if they're doing a Season 5 or not, have they? I kind of wish they'd confirm it one way or the other.
 
Cause he recorded all those other mini messages during the time with Euros. Or did she give him a list of things to say in those 5 min and he recorded them elsewhere?

Or they made contact again at a later date. Moriarty may have assisted in her takeover of the facility (by hacking their systems or inserting his own people into the staff).
 

Crispy75

Member
I have now finished watching Season 4 of Sherlock and I think it is shit shit shit.

Agonisingly, there were two short montages in this season, showing Holmes & Watson solving weird and intersting crimes, all imaginative seeds for an entire story in and of themselves. A ventriloquist's dummy was sat in The Chair ffs.

But no, we get fanfic from the mind of a hyperactive 14 year-old.

At least we still have the first 6 episodes.
 

TDLink

Member
Just finished the last episode. This entire series was incredibly disappointing. Frankly I think it was outright terrible. Huge step down from the prior three series. I feel like the entire series has completely lost the plot, resorting to ass pulls at every turn instead of providing genuinely fun and clever mysteries like it once did. In the past three series I liked at least 2 of the episodes, this one I didn't like any.

It's a real shame.
 

Croyles

Member
Just finished watching the season. Wow that was incredibly bad...

Episode two had some good bits but man did episode 1 and especially 3 let me down.
 

Neoweee

Member
Echoing everyone else, second episode was genuinely one of the best, and the finale was the single worst.

I have now finished watching Season 4 of Sherlock and I think it is shit shit shit.

Agonisingly, there were two short montages in this season, showing Holmes & Watson solving weird and intersting crimes, all imaginative seeds for an entire story in and of themselves. A ventriloquist's dummy was sat in The Chair ffs.

A bunch of those are just references to them solving a bunch of the original stories' cases, as are almost all of the references to off-screen mysteries via John's blog. The stories in the original tales are represented as True Crime reports that Watson has submitted to The Strand.

Read the books. They're good.
 
I don't even understand what the point of Moriarty was in this season. He was just teased at the end of Season 3 and "brought back" just to provide the stupid, annoying clips that constantly played throughout the final episode on little TV screens? Maybe I missed or forgot some details. I was too busy trying to figure out what the hell I was watching to really absorb any information.
 

Croyles

Member
They should have just done away with any overarching plot and kept the series as short one off mysteries. Sort of like the short stories most of this is supposed to be based on.
 

Farmboy

Member
Ranking for me now:

2/2 The Reichenbach Fall
2/1 A Scandal in Belgravia
1/1 The Great Game
1/1 A Study In Pink
4/2 The Lying Detective
3/2 The Sign of Three
3/3 His Last Vow
3/1 The Empty Hearse
1/2 The Blind Banker
2/2 The Hounds of Baskerville
4/1 The Six Thatchers
4/0 The Abominable Bride
4/3 The Final Problem

Mostly agree with these rankings, except:

- I think Scandal is the best episode.
- The Empty Hearse annoyed me a bit more than it did you. Turning point where the show really started believing its own hype.
- I really, really enjoyed Abominable Bride. I'm apparently alone in this.
 
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