Sherlock 2x01
Jan. 2nd, 2012 01:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penfold_xSo. Much. Squee. Spoilers under the cut. If you've seen spoilers for eps 2 and 3, would you mind not referring to them here? (I'm riding spoiler-free for Sherlock.)
Normally, I like to be neat and organized. Right now I'm struggling for coherency. Apologies.
Things I Loved
* The fierce protectiveness John and Sherlock feel for Mrs. Hudson, and raging anger they exhibit toward anyone who so much as looks sideways at her (even Mycroft!). Like a![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
morganstuart story made canon.
* "We are in Buckingham Palace. The very heart of the British nation. Sherlock Holmes, put some trousers on."
* "And there is a whole childhood in a nutshell."
* The Clue board knifed to the wall (I'm reading Bored Games into canon).
* "It's for you."
* Lestrade spending personal time with Sherlock and John, and smoothing their way with other detectives.
* "I always hear 'punch me in the face' when you speak, but it's usually subtext."
* "You were a doctor!" "I had bad days!"
* Sherlock playing actual music on his violin. Sherlock composes.
* Seeing Sherlock's bedroom.
* John hangs out with Stamford.
* The entire Christmas party (yes, even with the deeply painful Molly bit, because of the payoff).
* Drugged Sherlock being put to bed.
* The entire morgue scene, but especially cigarette and the profile shots. Sherlock permits Mycroft to do what he does; they snipe and snark, but at heart they are each others'. For me, the vibe was entirely Assume the Perpendicular.
* The high adventure: international intrigue, kidnapping, fisticuffs, swooping in to the rescue.
* "I have a long and arduous apology to make to a very old friend."
* So many fun canon references: 243 types of tobacco ash, 5th Northumberland Fusiliers, The Geek Interpreter, The Speckled Blonde, the entire initial attempted takedown of Irene, from parson!Sherlock to fake fire to "Goodnight Mr. Holmes".
* Sherlock's proprietary wandering through Mrs. Hudson's kitchen.
* "Are you sure tonight's a danger night?" Mycroft and John's smooth protective regime.
* Mycroft staring alone into his fire on Christmas. (Break my heart forever, Moftiss)
* "He seems desperate for my attention. Which I'm sure can be arranged."
* Deerstalker!
* John's sweater.
* Mycroft's umbrella.
* "Please."
Things I'm Not Sure About
* Don't look too close at the plot. Like Sherlock and Irene, it's barely got a fig leaf to cover itself.
* Irene is American, Moftiss. For always, forever, this is a fact.
* The resolution of the pool scene; it felt like an all-too-convenient cop out to me. I'm owed at least one life-threatening, self-sacrificing explosion.
* "They all spy on people for money." (I'm going to put this down to plot needs.)
* Oh, widower!Lestrade. You'll always live on in my head!canon. OTOH, imagine the angst if someone kidnapped/murdered his wife? Whom would Lestrade reach out to, to go beyond the law and track down those bastards? Mmmmm, novel plot.
* Mycroft has appalling OPSEC habits, again. (I'm going to put that down to writer!fail)
* Mycroft's pointed remarks about Sherlock's lack of sexual experience, and Sherlock's "I'll be mother" snark. I don't think there's a chance in hell they'd actually say those things in front of other people. IMO, Moffat wanted to get those out to nail home certain points for later in the plot. To handwave canon, I'll say Mycroft was royally pissed regarding Sherlock's nudity and intransigence, and Sherlock was looking to embarass him further.
Personal Interpretations
Disclaimer: You'd probably have to be dead not to notice, but I love Mycroft. Love. Mycroft could burn down 221B, beat John with his umbrella and shuttle Sherlock off to GTMO, and I'd still be working a theory about how it was all to protect his brother. With that stated prejudice...
* Throughout the piece, sex is a metaphor for caring about another person (regardless of whether the relationship is romantic/sexual). In this way, Sherlock's virginity is actual and metaphorical. This is also why Sherlock isn't yet having fully adult friendships/relationships with others; his closest relationships are to Mrs. Hudson (mother substitute), Mycroft (mother substitute!), and John (big brother/babysitter). Sherlock is not yet comfortable with relationships of equals. He's also afraid of dependency and vulnerability, which is why he occasionally lashes out at the people he has let into his emotional world.
* Mycroft and Sherlock are tremendous poseurs. Mycroft is aware of his duality; he acts at every turn to care for his brother, but he does it with a shield over his heart (something anyone who has had a relative in rehab can probably relate to) and other than his brother, will admit no one else to his emotional world. He's consciously choosing not to care for anyone other than Sherlock; he says it's better not to care, because of what he's experienced in permitting himself to care (and continue to care) and possibly as a bit of reverse psychology. Sherlock may be on the autism spectrum, may have suffered some childhood trauma, or may just be isolated because of his intelligence, but unlike Mycroft, something caused him to believe that he doesn't care for other people or that he has the power to shut that off. He's now experimenting with permitting himself those emotions and vulnerabilities, on a very limited basis, but denying he's doing it, even to himself.
Normally, I like to be neat and organized. Right now I'm struggling for coherency. Apologies.
Things I Loved
* The fierce protectiveness John and Sherlock feel for Mrs. Hudson, and raging anger they exhibit toward anyone who so much as looks sideways at her (even Mycroft!). Like a
morganstuart story made canon. * "We are in Buckingham Palace. The very heart of the British nation. Sherlock Holmes, put some trousers on."
* "And there is a whole childhood in a nutshell."
* The Clue board knifed to the wall (I'm reading Bored Games into canon).
* "It's for you."
* Lestrade spending personal time with Sherlock and John, and smoothing their way with other detectives.
* "I always hear 'punch me in the face' when you speak, but it's usually subtext."
* "You were a doctor!" "I had bad days!"
* Sherlock playing actual music on his violin. Sherlock composes.
* Seeing Sherlock's bedroom.
* John hangs out with Stamford.
* The entire Christmas party (yes, even with the deeply painful Molly bit, because of the payoff).
* Drugged Sherlock being put to bed.
* The entire morgue scene, but especially cigarette and the profile shots. Sherlock permits Mycroft to do what he does; they snipe and snark, but at heart they are each others'. For me, the vibe was entirely Assume the Perpendicular.
* The high adventure: international intrigue, kidnapping, fisticuffs, swooping in to the rescue.
* "I have a long and arduous apology to make to a very old friend."
* So many fun canon references: 243 types of tobacco ash, 5th Northumberland Fusiliers, The Geek Interpreter, The Speckled Blonde, the entire initial attempted takedown of Irene, from parson!Sherlock to fake fire to "Goodnight Mr. Holmes".
* Sherlock's proprietary wandering through Mrs. Hudson's kitchen.
* "Are you sure tonight's a danger night?" Mycroft and John's smooth protective regime.
* Mycroft staring alone into his fire on Christmas. (Break my heart forever, Moftiss)
* "He seems desperate for my attention. Which I'm sure can be arranged."
* Deerstalker!
* John's sweater.
* Mycroft's umbrella.
* "Please."
Things I'm Not Sure About
* Don't look too close at the plot. Like Sherlock and Irene, it's barely got a fig leaf to cover itself.
* Irene is American, Moftiss. For always, forever, this is a fact.
* The resolution of the pool scene; it felt like an all-too-convenient cop out to me. I'm owed at least one life-threatening, self-sacrificing explosion.
* "They all spy on people for money." (I'm going to put this down to plot needs.)
* Oh, widower!Lestrade. You'll always live on in my head!canon. OTOH, imagine the angst if someone kidnapped/murdered his wife? Whom would Lestrade reach out to, to go beyond the law and track down those bastards? Mmmmm, novel plot.
* Mycroft has appalling OPSEC habits, again. (I'm going to put that down to writer!fail)
* Mycroft's pointed remarks about Sherlock's lack of sexual experience, and Sherlock's "I'll be mother" snark. I don't think there's a chance in hell they'd actually say those things in front of other people. IMO, Moffat wanted to get those out to nail home certain points for later in the plot. To handwave canon, I'll say Mycroft was royally pissed regarding Sherlock's nudity and intransigence, and Sherlock was looking to embarass him further.
Personal Interpretations
Disclaimer: You'd probably have to be dead not to notice, but I love Mycroft. Love. Mycroft could burn down 221B, beat John with his umbrella and shuttle Sherlock off to GTMO, and I'd still be working a theory about how it was all to protect his brother. With that stated prejudice...
* Throughout the piece, sex is a metaphor for caring about another person (regardless of whether the relationship is romantic/sexual). In this way, Sherlock's virginity is actual and metaphorical. This is also why Sherlock isn't yet having fully adult friendships/relationships with others; his closest relationships are to Mrs. Hudson (mother substitute), Mycroft (mother substitute!), and John (big brother/babysitter). Sherlock is not yet comfortable with relationships of equals. He's also afraid of dependency and vulnerability, which is why he occasionally lashes out at the people he has let into his emotional world.
* Mycroft and Sherlock are tremendous poseurs. Mycroft is aware of his duality; he acts at every turn to care for his brother, but he does it with a shield over his heart (something anyone who has had a relative in rehab can probably relate to) and other than his brother, will admit no one else to his emotional world. He's consciously choosing not to care for anyone other than Sherlock; he says it's better not to care, because of what he's experienced in permitting himself to care (and continue to care) and possibly as a bit of reverse psychology. Sherlock may be on the autism spectrum, may have suffered some childhood trauma, or may just be isolated because of his intelligence, but unlike Mycroft, something caused him to believe that he doesn't care for other people or that he has the power to shut that off. He's now experimenting with permitting himself those emotions and vulnerabilities, on a very limited basis, but denying he's doing it, even to himself.
