My thoughts on Season 3 of Sherlock so far

[clevermanka]

No spoilers. Although there might be spoilers in the comments*, so be aware.

I liked The Empty Hearse (TEH). I thought it was beautifully done and an appropriate and affectionate nod to the fandom who has waited for two years. I think it was not a great episode for people who are being introduced to the show and I think it's borderline for people who know the show but who just watch it and aren't in fandom.

Everything I said about TEH applies to The Sign of Three (TSoT), too. This morning, though, I am dissatisfied with TSoT and it took a couple emails with pennswoods for me to figure out why. I'm tired of every episode being a cliffhanger. Story arcs are fine, but I prefer shows that are more episodic. Having so many open ends at the end of every episode (we haven't had what I feel to be a closed storyline since HoB) is exhausting for me and it makes me enjoy the show less. It's possible that I'm reading my own cliffhangers into the plot because of my (admittedly) Extreme Emotional Involvement with the show. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm having problems enjoying it as much as I did the previous seasons because I don't enjoy feeling emotionally wrung-out.

I am generally an emotionally stable person. I generally coast along with a sense of general satisfaction/happiness/overall feeling of being pleased with life. It takes a lot to make me angry or sad or any other negative emotion. I simply don't attach emotion to many things in my life. And I don't appreciate it when someone/something forces me to EMOTION OVER THIS NOW. I don't like it. And I have a tendency to remove myself from the things that force me to negative emotional reactions.

So I don't know what to do with this. I love Sherlock, but I don't love how it's making me feel these feels with no time to breathe and no expectation of relief in sight.

* If anyone comments. Is anyone even here these days?

Comments

[etcet.livejournal.com]

I will gleefully blame Moffat for being a manipulative douchesocket.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I'm tempted to do that, too, because I kind of despise him as a person, but 1. I think that generally, it was a beautifully done episode, and 2. I'm not sure how much of my own needs I'm projecting here.

Spoiler free due to lack of knowledge

[redheadfae.livejournal.com]

No spoilers from me since I haven't seen any of the episodes, and from what you've said, I'd definitely go and catch up before even worrying about seeing them.

* If anyone comments. Is anyone even here these days?

Um. MTE. I just went to tumblr for about half an hour to make sure that you were still around and okay. (Isn't that silly? Why not just text you!)

Anyway, I'm with you, cliffhangers too often on a series actually annoy me and make me *less* likely to keep watching. One of my favorite network shows has been doing this to an extent of "Who Shot JR?" every damned week.

Re: Spoiler free due to lack of knowledge

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Yeah, if you're not 100% up on Exactly What's Happening, it won't be as powerful an experience for you.

I just went to tumblr for about half an hour to make sure that you were still around and okay

Ha! Yeah, Tumblr is great for "I have ten minutes to be online and no time for a post but definitely time for pictures!"

Re: Spoiler free due to lack of knowledge

[redheadfae.livejournal.com]

Tumblr is also great for "don't have time to watch this, but I can see what would otherwise be a trailer in RL".

I doubt it would ever be as powerful an experience since it's Not My Fandom. Hm.. I'm not sure I even qualify for *any* fandom, I'm rather boring that way.

Anyway, glad to see you and hope the deluge subsides someday so we can reconnect a bit. MWAH.

[pointoforigin.livejournal.com]

I'm still here--dinosaurz R us. Or R me. And I agree with your reaction to TOO MUCH FEELS. When I was a kid and read Dickens for the first time, I felt the same way. "Stop trying to make me cry!" It is kind of exhausting. I like an exciting story as much as the next person, but sometimes I just want to be able to enjoy the characters and setting without exhaustion. Especially if there's already too much stress in real life.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

EXACTLY.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Yeeesssss. I enjoyed Sherlock (the BBC one) right up until Moriarty showed up, and then I was all UGH NEVERMIND. Mindfuckery is not my preferred form of entertainment.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Oh, see, I loved Moriarty. Honestly, I wanted to see that strung out for more than just a season.

[chronovore.livejournal.com]

Yes, I would liked to have Moriarty dangling around for more than a season. Hell, I would liked to have Mycroft been revealed as himself, and not a villain, much later than he was.

I'm also in agreement that The Empty Hearse works better as a little hug for the fans than it does as standalone entertainment, and I'm fine with that.

I'll watch TSoT shortly, when my wife has a moment in her schedule to enjoy it with me.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

We agree on pretty much everything, here. Yep.

[msmitti.livejournal.com]

"Mindfuckery" is a great word.

[hdsqrl.livejournal.com]

Chris and I are through the first 3 episodes now, and have a face for Moriarty. I've already prepped him with the knowledge that the last ep in season 2 is apparently devastating on some level (I've seen your gif many times), so we're prepared for SOMETHING, but we don't yet know what. I'm resisting the urge to Google for the details, as I want to experience it fully, for good or bad.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I would love to experience the first two seasons again, unspoiled, and new. They were AMAZING.

[kazoogrrl.livejournal.com]

Your posts definitely make me want to finally check this show out, I'll try to keep this in mind when I get to it.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

It's a good show, even if you're not a fangirl.

[msmitti.livejournal.com]

It was a amazing. You definitely don't want it spoiled.

[ms-danson.livejournal.com]

Not dead.

I've seen S3E1 but not S3E2 yet. I find that the episodic vs cliff-hanger does give it a different feel. Given it is only 3 episodes though I treat it as a trilogy (more or less).

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE.

[ms-danson.livejournal.com]

Hee hee hee

[siro-gravity.livejournal.com]

I don't watch Sherlock, though i do have it on my Netflix list. Maybe one day.

I HATE cliffhangers, and it's not just because they suck. but because my schedule isn't predictable, so I end up with huge holes and unfinished business. Best thing for my viewing style has been Netflix where I can watch when I want to, binge style.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Well, luckily, Sherlock isn't a huge time investment since there's only three ninety minute episodes per season. And right now we're in season three. Sooooooooo....

[stuology.livejournal.com]

I don't like 2 year cliffhangers, but ... I prefer the cliffhanger story arcs within a season. I like questions that linger through the entire season.

And with episode 2 of season 3, I didn't see it. Of course, I watched it with a child that was asking questions constantly through the episode, so perhaps I missed the hints that eluded to questions from episode one. I need to watch it again in silence, but I'll be disappointed if they aren't there. I wanted more insight into "Who did that thing?" and "Why did he do that thing?"

(See, no spoilers in my entire comment.)

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I don't remember much tying ep2 to season one, either...was there supposed to be stuff?

[athenaartemis.livejournal.com]

I am really enjoying Season 3. But I am so nervous. Because Mary is awesome and wonderful (although I wish she didn't like Sherlock so much, because *every woman* that Moffat writes is in awe of the main dude), and this is Moffat, and what is going to happen? Especially with the revelation at the end of the last episode, I am forseeing a fridging in her future, and I do not want that.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Fridging is inevitable. Hell, ACD fridged her, sooooo......

just please kill me if I ever start referring to them as "my stories"

[the-lucky-nun.livejournal.com]

I'm dealing the best I can, but I had practice with Fringe ripping my heart out and feeding it back to me in bite-size pieces over the last few years. I never used to give a good goddamned shit about tv/movie characters. I don't know where all of these characters worthy of emotional investment have come from in the past few years. I can't tell if writers are getting better, or I'm getting softer.

Re: just please kill me if I ever start referring to them as "my stories"

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

kill me if I ever start referring to them as "my stories"

AH HA HA HA HA HA God I haven't heard that phrase in so long. ::love::

Pretty sure the main reason I'm so emotionally invested is I read ALL THE FIC.

[the-themiscyran.livejournal.com]

I'm conflicted because I'm enjoying the episodes, but so far the season just feels like a long "thank you and goodbye" for the fans, with actual adventures in guest spots. And I don't want goodbye yet. I want more adventures. Ideally, I would have preferred another series between the 1st and 2nd, before they resolved Moriarty.

I'm crossing my fingers that Cumberbatch's "slip" where he mentioned that he and Freeman are signed for a fourth series wasn't just a ploy on his part, since I haven't seen it confirmed by the BBC anywhere.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I'm conflicted because I'm enjoying the episodes, but so far the season just feels like a long "thank you and goodbye" for the fans, with actual adventures in guest spots. And I don't want goodbye yet. I want more adventures. Ideally, I would have preferred another series between the 1st and 2nd, before they resolved Moriarty.

With you 100% on this. One Hundred Percent.