SHERLOCK.

[kaydeefalls]

I was going to watch this the whole way through, but no, I need to stop and flail at you all while it's in progress.


-Not gonna lie, the pool resolution was a wee bit anticlimactic, but the funny made it work.
-NNGK IRENE. YES MISTRESS.
-Of course Sherlock is an internet phenomenon. OF COURSE.
-Love all the snarky references to the ACD stories in John's blog posts.
-I love that the smiley face is still on the wall.
-Oh, Mrs. Hudson. Don't you know better than to go poking about in that fridge by now?
-"Are you wearing any pants?" "No." *long pause* *GIGGLES*
Oh, my god, BOYS. COULD I LOVE YOU ANY MORE. NO I THINK NOT.
-"Are we going to see the Queen?" *Mycroft enters.* "Oh, god, yes." SNERK.
-Mycroft and Sherlock squabbling over the sheet. Oh my god. The fanfiction just writes itself.
-"Sex doesn't alarm me." "How would you know?" Ouch. That barb looks like it actually landed, Mycroft. I fully support the asexual!Sherlock reading of canon, although I still personally read him as coded queer. And, y'know, I am not subtle about my shipping preferences. But still, ouch. Especially if you take Sherlock as ace, the contempt in Mycroft's tone there is biting.
...although given that Irene is pretty much the closest thing to a canon love interest Sherlock ever has in any incarnation (apart from John), I expect the episode will go there to some extent.
-"I always hear 'punch me in the face' when you're speaking, but it's usually subtext." ♥ John.
-I like how Sherlock is completely unable to read Irene, and the contrast with John.
-And Irene has John's number from the fucking start. Yes, we all know you're in love with Sherlock, honey, it's cool.
-I feel like I should be ashamed of how much I enjoy the way Sherlock panics the second someone threatens John, but what the hell. Ugh, they love each other so much, I can't stand it. ♥
-Okay, clearly someone's been watching the Ritchie films. That slow-mo disarming sequence felt VERY Ritchie!Holmes.
-"We should call the police." "Yes." *fires gun in air multiple times* "On their way." I love Sherlock's pragmatic streak.
-Not sure how much I like this incarnation of Irene yet. Like her getting one up on Sherlock, not sure I like the way the script tries to make it into a domination kink. I mean, I'm not saying that reading isn't perfectly valid, but I see Irene as someone who enjoys the game of wits as much as Sherlock; they're equals much as Sherlock and Moriarty are. (I think John is also his equal, but in a different sense.) It shouldn't be about winning for Irene as much as it is love for the game itself. But we're like a third of the way through the episode, I'll wait and see how she plays out.
-One for the fangirls: John manhandling Sherlock into bed. Like you weren't thinking it.
-Sherlock has the Periodic Table of Elements poster on his bedroom wall. That's adorable.
-Oh wow, Mycroft, you really should know better than to snap at Mrs. Hudson. Wow. He's really catty in this episode.
-OH MY GOD THEY CHRISTMASIZED 221B. JOHN WHAT ARE YOU WEARING, LEAVE THAT JUMPER ON SHERLOCK'S FLOOR IMMEDIATELY. I do love that they basically chillax with Mrs. Hudson and Lestrade all the time now.
-HI MOLLY. Lestrade, pick your jaw up of the floor, please.
-Sherlock, stop talking. Everyone but you has already figured out that your name is on that gift. Christ.
-Yes, John, why exactly have you been counting all of Irene's texts to Sherlock?
-I'm assuming Irene isn't actually dead. Because what's the fun in that? (This is also an assumption I make for the Ritchie films, incidentally. And in general, really -- I was raised on X-Files, okay? No one's really dead until Scully does the autopsy, dammit.) And Sherlock definitely lied when he IDed that body.
-Good god, the Holmes brothers are so fucking dysfunctional. And bleak.
-On the other hand, the Mycroft&John&Mrs Hudson conspiracy makes my heart grow three sizes. ♥
-Poor whatsername. She's right. John's an awesome boyfriend. GUYS JUST MAKE OUT ALREADY WILL YOU.
-Okay seriously John has been wearing this jumper for like half the episode now please make it go away, augh, it HURTS.
-How did it take me this long to notice that the skull is wearing a Santa hat. Oh my god.
-"Look, has he ever had any kind of girlfriend, boyfriend, relationship, ever?" It's such a small thing, but I really do love how easily girlfriend/boyfriend are given equal possible weight, and how it obviously doesn't make the slightest difference to John.
-Is it bad that I kind of wanted John to punch Irene in the face? Although -- "Tell him you're alive." "He'll come after me." "I'll come after you if you don't." -- oh, John. He just cares so much, it kind of breaks my heart.
-Okay, I really love the exchange between Irene and John. I don't know why, I just do.
-"We're not a couple." "Yes, you are."
-"I'm not actually gay." "Well, I am. Look at us both." Oh, wow. I love this show. I really do. And I'm liking Irene more and more.
-People who were totally 100% not even a little bit surprised by Sherlock's phone gasping in that warehouse: this chick. Of course Sherlock follows you everywhere, John, stop kidding yourself.
-Oh, my god, the naked love/longing/what have you on John's face when he starts to go after Sherlock. I cannot take this. I may even start shipping Sherlock/John/Irene. What the hell.
-WHAT MRS HUDSON NO. Okay, that I did not see coming.
-"CRIME IN PROGRESS. PLEASE DISTURB." ♥
-The nasty little half-smirk John gives the Asshole when he goes downstairs with Mrs. Hudson. Yeah, seriously, man, there is no one coming to stop Sherlock from hurting you, you fuckhead.
-Aaaand Sherlock's call to Lestrade. A+++.
-"And exactly how many times did he fall out of the window?" "Well, it's all a bit of a blur, Detective Inspector. I lost count." LOVE YOU.
-OH MY GOD MRS HUDSON YOU ARE SO MUCH MORE BADASS THAN EVEN I HAD GIVEN YOU CREDIT FOR. YOU WIN AT EVERYTHING ALWAYS.
-"Hamish!" Aaaand non sequitur of the year goes to...
-I kind of want to know how many takes Cumberbatch needed to get out that entire airplane monologue more or less in one breath.
-John definitely wants to watch Irene make Sherlock beg for mercy. (Twice.)
-I'm really not surprised that Irene is in cahoots with Moriarty. Disappointed, but not surprised. (I mean, obviously they set that up in the first three minutes of the episode, but I hadn't thought about it again since.) Ritchie did the same damn thing. Why, I ask you? Part of what's so glorious about ACD's Irene is that she really is her own woman. She plays for no team but her own.
-Okay, is 007 supposed to mean something OTHER than James Bond? Seriously.
-...and now am I supposed to think that Mycroft is James Bond? OR IS HE M. OMG IF THE SHOW DOESN'T GO THERE, FANFICTION MUST.
-And suddenly we're in nightmare fuel territory inside that airplane. Thanks, Moffat.
-...okay. Back to the domination kink. And this is where this Irene rubs me all wrong. Urg. Again, not saying it's not a totally valid interpretation of her character. I just don't like it. It makes her...petty.
-Seriously, stop with the virgin shaming. Not cool.
-Also not entirely okay with the way Sherlock shames Irene in turn, deserve it though she may. I just don't like shame/humiliation in general, okay, my squick, let me show you it. Making the dominatrix beg. Ugh.
-The bit with Sherlock only referring to Irene as 'The Woman', and Mycroft's observations about that -- that's straight out of ACD. Nice.
-"Initially, he wanted to be a pirate." BRING ON THE BB!SHERLOCK PIRATE FIC.
-You know, I don't actually believe that anything Mycroft says is ever not a lie. And I don't believe either story he gave John about Irene.
-Sherlock says please. ♥
-...seriously. SERIOUSLY? Oh, Sherlock.

So, some quibbles, but overall? OH SHOW WELCOME BACK NEVER LEAVE ME AGAIN MORE NOW PLEASE.

Comments

[woldy]

I'm not sure how I feel about the Irene as a dom thing either. On the one hand it's a degrading and over-simplistic slur for powerful women that reduces them to sex objects, and therefore a way of belittling Irene's character. It's also an outdated Mata Hari image of how to get secret intelligence, which doesn't fit with the contemporary setting of the series, or really with the original Victorian setting. On the other hand, it *is* very sexy, and successful as fan service.

I love the portrayal of Irene as queer, though. Now we just need more female characters in the series so that there's someone to ship her with. Maybe Molly? *ponders*

[kaydeefalls]

I don't mind portraying Irene as a domme in her career choice -- or personal tastes, for that matter -- but yeah, it's overly simplistic in terms of her motivations.

Irene/Sally Donovan? Hmmm.