Peace 47

Edited because that article above directly says (without having to cite elsewhere) that after concluding his Strange filming, Cumberbatch will then start filming Sherlock S4. (Cue At Last by Etta James in my brain.)

I actually bought a theater ticket when they went on sale on November 6 to see the special on the big screen on January 6. I hope I like it when I watch it on PBS on January 1, so that it's worth it to me to see it again. Anyone else opting for the theater experience? I can't believe it's been another 2 years for 90 minutes of show content. I picked the wrong favorite show. What's everyone's theories about why this is Victorian? Moffat and Gatiss have apparently said some potentially conflicting things in interviews: that this is basically just a one-off au versus that it will explain the mystery of Moriarty's return. I've read theories that this is all a fantasy in Sherlock's mind palace, that it's John's dream after being injured, that it's Mycroft's mind palace, etc. I might be inclined to think that it was something like that one X-files episode that ... I don't remember exactly ... took place simultaneously in the past and the present on a ship (and Scully was like a different character in the past), but this seems to be all-Victorian from the previews

I've gotten into TNG at 3 times in my life: when I was a preteen/tween in the last couple of seasons of first run syndication and watched it with my dad (who is a Trek fan from the original), when I was in college and now another decade plus later (through BBCA reruns and my newly purchased Netflix subscription). It's like I forget for a decade or so how much I like the show and then find my way back. I've tried all the other Treks except the original series, and this is the only one that I flove. Some new thoughts I've had on my third go-around: I think the show was pretty good for its time at putting interesting characters into thought-provoking moral quandaries. I was surprised how nuanced the "Ethics" episode (Worf gets paralyzed and wants to die) was. You had some (like Riker) pointing out the possibility of solid quality of life, but that was at odds with Worf's culture, traditions and values, and I like how Picard recognized the validity of Worf's choice. (I was okay with the deus ex machina ending because I didn't want Worf to kick it). I guess with added life experience, I feel strongly about the right to decline unwanted medical treatment without being put on a guilt trip by family, friends and doctors. Something I never really appreciated before is that I also think Riker's relationship to Captain Picard is very interesting. Riker, an "alpha male" type in general, practically idolizes Picard, and that comes out in subtle ways in a lot of epsiodes. Before "Suddenly Human", I watched "The Best of Both Worlds" this week for the first time in 10+ years, and you really get how much Riker cares about Picard. (This also comes up in that S6 or S7 episode when they thought Picard was dead but he was actually with those mercenaries, and Riker takes it really hard.) When Guinan tells Riker to let Picard go in TBoBW, his guilt wells up with that (well-delivered) line yelled in response, something like, "I don't know if you've heard, but I just tried to kill him yesterday!" Honestly, I come away from the show now thinking that the main thing holding Riker back from accepting captaining another ship was how much he loved his surrogate father figure. Very smart of the show to turn that relationship on its head in "Yesterday's Enterprise," when there was that strong vein of hostility running through their interactions.

Setting aside the sexuality question, I agree with you that Sherlock does believe that emotion compromises the work. (He says as much in ASiB when he notes that if you're sentimental, you lose.) But is he unwilling to expend time and energy on relationships as you suggest? Or is this just a defense mechanism where he purports to be a rock and an island only in an effort to protect himself? (And is he willing to open himself completely to the right people?)Sherlock is over the moon and rendered catatonic by the idea that John considers him a best friend. And Sherlock subsequently throws himself wholesale into wedding planning, even though his inbox is "bursting" with cases (e.g., the incident with the speech wherein he calls on Lestrade for reinforcement in the writing of the thing; the attention to wedding scheduling and the color of the bridesmaid's dresses; Sherlock telling Mycroft that he couldn't refuse John's request to be best man). I actually think he's willing, but he's got miserable self-esteem and has not felt loved enough to give his heart over before. In ASiP, he tells John that people normally tell him to "piss off" when they hear his deductions. In TBB, we learn he apparently was not well-like at university and that this hurts him still. I think there are many stories out there where same-gender friends (men) share love and emotion such that it is not a rarity to see it happen. And it's not as though we automatically think "gay" when we see it: J.D. and Turk; Joey and Chandler; House and Wilson (another Sherlock and John iteration) come to my mind off the bat (though I know that people do see romantic underpinnings to all of these, too). But there are inevitably the in-universe jokes with those relationships, right? There's the comment in the story about being mistaken for gay at least once or twice. The couple either laughs it off or has their moment of gay panic, and then it's business as usual. And that does happen in Sherlock, too, but where it really didn't feel like a joke was at the wedding reception when Sherlock mentioned he had been tutoring John in dancing, and John made the "we're not gay" joke. Sherlock could have laughed there, and it could have been another in the long line of them, but he looked hurt and eventually turned away, left lonely in the middle of the dance floor with no partner. This, after his smile faltered earlier in the conversation too (off of the comment about not being needed) and John then had done a double take at it. And my question is why? Why is the moment there? I know this is random, but there's a great moment from "ER" where Doug jokes with Carol about being relieved that they weren't pregnant after Carol had had a pregnancy scare. And she looks at him simply and says something like, "I don't want to joke about it anymore" (this time, she wanted it to be true) and he nods, and they sit quietly with this new understanding. I honestly thought of that moment when viewing that scene. This wasn't playing the moment for jokes like at the Baskerville inn with the gay innkeepers, or Angelo bringing a candle to Sherlock and John's table, or Mrs. Hudson again mistaking them for gay (which even that one professional S3 reviewer said was an awkward and unneeded joke if they weren't going to do more with the question of Sherlock and John's relationship). This was (only to my eyes) the show kind of saying that all this was not funny anymore. I have no answers to any of this, obviously. I do think it's interesting to talk about the implications.

The special is called "The Abominable Bride" and is airing on New Year's Day in both the UK and U.S. Other news is that it will also be in theaters worldwide that day, with special theater-only extras. That's a big rollout. ETA: Australian cinematic trailer with a new line of dialogue not in the other trailers. ETA: And another trailer with a few more scenes than the very first trailer of a few weeks ago.

Although I still can't help but wish this were instead a continuation of the modern story we last saw nearly 2 years ago, it seems sleekly produced and high-energy: I'm sure it will be entertaining. It's tough to get a sense of actual tone from these promos. I remember the promo for "The Empty Hearse" was super-duper serious with driving music like this, but that episode turned out to be much more sardonically humorous (and meta) than the promo would ever let on. In both clips, John seems kind of gruff and irritated with Sherlock, but this is only a few seconds out of 90 minutes, so who knows.

I just saw that story about Sesame Street on CNN's website. The CNN story explained that the episodes would air on PBS 9 months after airing on HBO. It made me sad (even though I don't have children) because it's too bad that such an educational show that has benefited a wide number of children from all different backgrounds is now going to be available on an "ability to pay" basis, at least in terms of the immediate experience. Maybe it doesn't really make any difference to a 2-year-old whether they see Elmo do something new now or 9 months from now, but I feel suspicious that this is just the first step towards completing monetizing the property. Also, maybe I should take this as my sign that I should be donating to PBS, which I always mean to do, but then forget to follow through on.

I've never seen the Marvel movies with Black Widow, and so I can't speak to the parallels, but I do know that a lot of people see sincerity in Mary, and I guess I just don't personally see it there 100%, but the ambiguity in Sherlock's and John's responses to her does madden me sometimes.Mary shot Sherlock and he flatlined, and he was only saved by his own willpower to save John (from Mary herself!). Sherlock retroactively justifies that Mary could have just shot him in the head and been done with it, which is true. But incapacitating Sherlock and letting him slowly bleed out did keep John occupied while Mary made her escape, and so she may have had reasons in not killing immediately. It's when Mary goes to the empty houses that she loses more points. She threatens to kill Sherlock when she says, "How badly do you want to find out?" and moves to draw her gun. Sherlock only seemingly talks her off shooting "him" (really, John) by saying that Scotland Yard would know that she was responsible if his body was found in a building with her face plastered on the side of it. Then, she kind of threatens Sherlock a third time when she tells Sherlock to understand that there is "nothing" that she wouldn't do to keep John from finding out about all this. And she never apologizes for any of it, ever. But I don't know why Sherlock is determined to have John trust her so soon after the betrayal is discovered, or why John "forgives" her when she offers no apology. Like I've posted before, though, I don't know that saying the "problems of your future are my privilege" is really forgiveness, either.

I just have a lot to say about this topic now, so bear with me! People have pointed to John being bisexual and closeted, but actually aware of his feelings. John says that he's not gay a couple of times, which is true--bisexual is not gay. To this end of John being bisexual and aware of it, I really don't know how to take the scene from "A Scandal in Belgravia" (where John is facing off with Irene at Battersea) anymore, other than to see it as Irene confronting John with the truth that he is utterly infatuated with Sherlock, and John tacitly admitting it through his little rueful huff. She says "Look at us both" in reference to their both being obsessed with Sherlock, and she is later shown to have fallen for Sherlock, so what does that make John? Irene is repeatedly shown to "know what people like," and there, she is blatantly calling John out on the fact that he likes Sherlock.At the wedding reception, when John is "bouncing around Sholto like a puppy," Mary leans into Sherlock and says, "Neither of us were the first, you know." The first what? If you're looking for a platonic reading, you could say, well, Mary meant that Sherlock isn't the first person that John idolized: there was Sholto before him. But Mary includes herself in that "neither of us were the first," and John's relationship with Mary is not really one of him putting her up on a pedestal like you might assume to be the case in his interactions with Sholto. One common element could be that John had romantic feelings for all 3 (and that Mary feels secure in acknowledging that because she's the one who actually got John in the end). And there are several times when John doesn't really act like a bro with Sherlock: for example, why is he so put off by Sherlock kissing Janine that he has to turn away? He's not congratulating Sherlock on landing a woman: John's brain is so fried by it that he cannot even focus on the case for several minutes afterward (and this after the beginning of the episode when John was supposedly jonesing for a case). To me, it does seem more clear now (moreso than after S2) that Sherlock is gay. When Janine makes a joke at the wedding about having sex with Sherlock, he reacts with bafflement and mild disgust. So you could just say that Sherlock is not in for casual sex. But he then enters into an actual (fake) relationship with Janine, and they never have sex then, either. Janine tells Sherlock that "just once would have been nice," and Sherlock responds a bit defensively that he was waiting until they got married. Is that being a gentleman and not taking advantage of the situation, or is it not being into women? And then Janine says she "knows what kind of man Sherlock is." She even says regretfully at the wedding, pre-relationship, that she wishes Sherlock wasn't "whatever he was" (she doesn't finish the thought with gay, asexual or anything like that) and Sherlock says, "I know," softly right as John appears in the doorway. "Whatever he is" that is keeping Sherlock and Janine from a relationship in TSoT reads to me as "in love with John." Sherlock being infatuated with John also helps me understand one thing that I really disliked about "The Empty Hearse" when I first saw it: I couldn't understand how Sherlock seemingly matured in a lot of ways during his time away--having conversations with Mycroft about lonliness and how it is okay to be different; acting kindly towards Molly (except when calling her "John")--and then turning around and acting like such an emotional disaster with respect to John. If Sherlock is in love and only just realizing it when he's lost John, it makes sense to me that he would act so stupid: like Molly said, love makes us do silly things.

These are really good points. I had no idea about the whole Wyatt/ Maron podcast situation when I watched the show last night. That all went over my head entirely, and I just chuckled about Wyatt being so (to my ignorant eyes) ultra-chill about the sendoff (I thought it was just counterpoint to some of the other over-the-top reactions.)Reading about the whole situation now, what immediately came to mind was "white privilege." In hindsight, Stewart should have listened to the only black writer at the time voicing a legitimate concern about how something might be coming across to a community whose experiences Jon just cannot know, rather than talking over Wyatt and becoming defensive about it. If nothing else, it's a good story for people to read and reflect on.

I said this about Stephen's last show, but just to repeat myself, seeing Jon's last show made me nostalgic on a personal level because my mom (who died a few years ago), and I used to watch (and laugh over) these shows together. My mom had great taste in TV. It was great to see all the correspondents together and really appreciate the influence that the show's talent has had on modern comedy. It's also amazing that the show is as relevant today as it was 5, 10, 15 years ago.

So this particular thread is not super-active (and there is not a lot of activity here for the show in general, which is completely understandable, considering that the show's last new episode aired in January 2014), but I'm going to drop a grenade in the character thread here and ask if anyone wants to discuss the theory that Sherlock is head-over-heels in love with John (which kind of goes along with the theory that John is a closeted bisexual in love with Sherlock and that this is actually a romantic story we're watching unfold). On Tumblr, there remains a sizable, active contingent devoted to Sherlock that has maintained this reading of the show, which admittedly is way controversial to the extent that the writers and actors from time to time have outright denied that they are driving toward "Johnlock". The Tumblr contingent, though, has some persuasive counter-arguments for why the production team should possibly not be believed (e.g., citing Chris Carter's change of heart in coupling Mulder and Scully after years of denials; contradictory quotes out of Moffat's and Gatiss's own mouths where they have explicitly and alternatively said things to the effect that Sherlock was asexual, celibate by choice and not asexual, not gay, "finds no woman [romantically] interesting", etc.; quotes from the creators where they have effusively said that a significant inspiration for this adaptation is "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes," a movie of questionable critical quality where the director has said that he wished he had been able to state explicitly in the film that which was heavily implied--that Holmes was gay and in love with Watson. Over at TWoP, though, which had a very active show thread for the two year hiatus between S2 and S3, this topic rarely if ever came up (maybe just a bit when the show first came on and people speculated about the odd Angelo's conversation in ASiP where Sherlock said that girlfriends were most decidedly not his area, but offered just a simple "no" to the question of whether he had a boyfriend). Or if it did come up, it was never embraced by more than a few. I remember there was one poster in the halcyon days of the immediate post-S2 aftermath who hinted that this was their interpretation, and I definitely didn't buy it at the time. But reading lots of stuff about the show right before and right after S3 has personally brought me around to the fact that it's there subtextually, even if the writers don't play it out (which I now understand is problematic in teasing the idea of representation of oppressed groups only to deny it in payoff). So is Sherlock gay? Just the S3 evidence starts to stack up. Magnussen said to Sherlock in HLV with some disdainful wonderment, "Look how you care about John Watson." John is Sherlock's singular pressure point. Although we learned that pressure points are not solely romantic interests (see the jury forewoman in TRF and Mycroft in HLV), we also learned that Sherlock was about to die from the gunshot wound until the thought of John in danger made him restart his own heart. When he was shot, Sherlock had a vision of Mary shooting him in her wedding dress (a symbolic gesture that his heart was broken by John's marriage, given that he could have envisioned her in any manner of attire, but no, we saw the wedding dress). On the tarmac in HLV, Sherlock teases that "there is something that he should say but had never said," and many in the thread that I read immediately post-episode maintained that Sherlock was always going for the punchline that he ultimately uttered, or else was just going to tell John that he (platonically) loved him. But Sherlock had already announced to a roomful of people that he loved John (platonically) and that John had saved his life in so many ways, and so if there was something serious coming on the tarmac, what could it have been? "I am in love with you" becomes a candidate that's hard to dismiss. John got a little handsy with Sherlock when they were drunk, and people say John just lost his balance, but why is that action there at all? Why have John say, "I don't mind," and Sherlock say something in response like, "Anytime"? In the TEH reunion scene, there is a song playing in the background as John tackles Sherlock, and it's a song about the return of a lost romantic love. Sherlock's parents are dressed like John and Sherlock when we meet them. I mean, this stuff really starts to stack up. I will say that there is some way far-out analysis that goes a lot deeper than any of these preliminary points that I can never believe the writers remotely intended, but I do think this works as a love story, and I would love to see it confirmed in the show (whenever it comes back in earnest).

I made this episode must-see TV for myself because even though I am not an every-episode-watcher of this program, I did used to travel to Budapest for work from time to time. I got to know the city in a small way as a result (I love it there) and was just really excited to see it get the work up on this show. I have to say that I've actually enjoyed other episodes of this show more, though. It felt a little unfocused at the beginning--introing with the cinematographer, then jumping to the beauty of the city in kind of a fragmented way before diving into some food. Were there even any night shots? It's hard to talk about how beautiful the city is without showing the beautiful illumination of the sites at night. Of course then it had a very strong focus at the end on the cinematographer. Budapest (well, all of Hungary) has a very tragic 20th century history, and the show did a good job of highlighting all that. I'm not a cinephile, though, so worshipping at the cinematographer's altar for so long didn't move me to the full version extent that it moved Bourdain, although I certainly appreciate that gentleman's bravery in documenting the uprising. As if not being a cinephile weren't enough to make Bourdain hate me, though, I'm also a vegetarian. One thing that was beyond the scope of the show is that Budapest is actually a very cosmopolitan city with a lot of great restaurants with cuisine from around the world. It's definitely not all meat and marrow flavored with paprika.

I was wondering (worrying) about them, too, even though it's completely none of my business. My mom died of cancer at a relatively youngish age a few years ago, and so I was quite emotional during the monologue and feeling empathy for anyone whose mom wasn't mentioned. The monologue was very sweet, though, and it was a really nice tribute.I missed some bits and pieces of the show, but I have to say that I'm not feeling Florence's new music (though I *love* her old stuff), which is exactly how I felt about Mumford on the show a few weeks ago. Maybe I'm just--gasp--getting old.

I tend to agree. The sketch setups and performances all showed a lot promise, but the writing, other than Sesame Street, was a little weak overall (though admittedly I missed a couple of the sketches).Like, it's brilliant that they have and can use Hammond again, and I definitely smiled during the cold open, but it wasn't at the level of being a memorable season highlight. Or that Hollywood Game Night sketch: the impressions were all on-point, but I didn't think the writing was as sharp as it could have been. All that said, the only true disappointment was Mumford & Sons. I remember when they were last on to promote a new album, and I instantly fell in love with the songs--it became my favorite album in--and for--years. But I really am not digging their new sound at all, and they didn't sound that great doing it last night. Big bummer.

Sorry, guys. I lost my head. Must have been a side effect of my brain liquefying during those torturous seconds. I thought Wayne's World was strong, as was Jeopardy! (loved seeing Turd Ferguson again, and loved appreciating how Farrell's reaction shots are what saved that sketch with the audience a couple of times, whom i don't think were feeling either Bieber or Waltz). The Californians needed some significant tightening up, though, I thought.

What do you all think is up with this woman shooting herself in a manner nearly identical to how Moriarty did? Since she's apparently walking around with blood on her, she survives the shooting, I guess? It is disturbing and weird, whatever is going on.

I thought it was pretty strong, all things considered, and I at least had a blast watching it. My favorite part was Bill Murray singing the "love theme from Jaws" (with Paul Schaffer on keyboards!). The shark gnawing on the boat while he sang that ballad really cracked me up. Martin Short and Maya Rudolph were really great together, too. I had the same thought about Short that I did when I saw him host an episode in a recent season: what a consummate pro--timing, delivery, etc. Mike Myers's Lorne impression ("It got a laugh, but was it the right kind of laugh?") was great, and he and Dana Carvey really captured their old chemistry. The regrettable: It was too bad that Julia Louis-Dreyfus couldn't have been there to riff with Seinfeld and Larry David. I don't know what was up with Chevy Chase, but he came across as senile. Was a little disappointed that Eddie Murphy didn't do a sketch or even a joke after Chris Rock's buildup, but it is what it is. And why oh why did they have to do Garth and Kat? I would have rather seen Gilly.

I loved that! I saw his first show and his last. I missed a lot in between, but I sure was crying tonight. My mom (who died a few years ago) was a huge fan: we even went together to the rally to restore sanity and/or fear (as I lived in DC at the time). Really the end of an era. Thanks for the memories, Stephen.Anyone know the song playing over the credits?

The monologue totally flummoxed me because he didn't mention what has to be his second best-known role in the U.S. It seemed like the joke was that Americans aren't familiar with him, but The Hobbit commercials (which admittedly don't prominently feature him but he's in there) have been on my TV every 5 minutes for a month and also frequently during the 2 years prior, so ....??? And lots of Americans love the British Office because I always have to hear about how the U.S. version was inferior. And then he doesn't mention Sherlock at all, which just won a boatload (more than any other show) of American Emmys (including one for him)? Is he unhappy doing Sherlock or something? In a fight with the producers or his costar? The whole thing was weird. I've thought too much about it.I agree with everyone's assessment of the show. The Office, Christmas Mass and Girl from a Male-Centered Comedy were all on-point; everything else experienced varying degrees of success (and failure).

There was an OJ joke. In 2014. How edgy. The basic plot lines veer into such ridiculousness, that they become completely unrelatable. Mulaney is going to rob a grave rather than sit down, as the professional comedian he is, and write some actual jokes? Is that how this episode came about? No one wanted to write jokes, and so they robbed a grave? And how does Nasim get access to the dead guy's apartment? Maybe Friends did something similarly far-fetched with a dead neighbor plotline back in the day, but you didn't really notice any implausibility because at least there were some jokes to pass the time. This show is dreadful.

I wish I was Sipowicz. If you like to watch your TV, and I mean really watch it, you want the Carnivale. It features two-pronged wall plug, pre-molded hand grip well, durable outer casing to prevent fall-apart ....

That moment in "Lisa the Simpson" got to me when Lisa goes on the local news under the false pretense of arguing against Proposition 305 ("you're against discount bus fares for war widows?"). I mean, at the end of the day, what makes us ourselves is all we really have left, and to think you're losing even that .... it's so sad. But she makes the best of it and shares all the wonderful things to appreciate about being smart and inquisitive, including a book recommendation for "possibly the best book about the art of turtle-stacking," Yertle the Turtle. It was just very sweet. When Bart shoplifts in that one episode and then thinks Marge doesn't love him anymore. It breaks my heart when he asks Mrs. Van Houten if he can watch her do "Mom stuff." (My mom died a few years ago, and sometimes even as an adult, I wish I could ask that question of someone.) I like that Bart makes it up to Marge at the end with the photo.

I missed the pilot, and so this was my first exposure. It was ... not good. I wanted to like it because of John and Nasim, but the writing is not very sharp, the performances are stilted and the cast has negative chemistry. And haha, the Martin Short character is a lecherous sexual harasser--that's so charming! I'd love to spend another 20 episodes getting to know him. I was trying to think of something positive to say but was coming up blank. I guess the woman playing the doula was pretty good? The episode lost me entirely when the Martin Short character showed up at the birth. Not funny in the slightest.

I love "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer": it's got "the Merciless Peppers of Quetzlzacatenango" [thanks for the spelling assist, Wikipedia!] (grown deep in the jungle primeval by the inmates of a Guatemalan insane asylum), Marge's soulmate-worthy deduction of Homer's location, Bart eyeing Homer's silhouette and noting that it was either Homer, "or Batman had really let himself go," chilli boots, hot pants--I could go on all day. Plus, I stan for Johnny Cash, and his space coyote, er, I mean spirit guide, was hilarious. "What should I do? Should I get rid of all of my possessions? // If anything, you should get more possessions! You don't even have a computer!" Also, "Duffless." I talk about the scene where Marge gives Homer the alcoholism quiz from the pamphlet all the time, but I swear it took me at least 5 watches of that episode before I could watch that scene without laughing so hard that I cried. "Do you hide beer around the house? // Do I!!" [fishes beer out of toilet tank]. Plus, the Kennedy-Nixon Duff commercial, Lisa's "That'll teach 'im to bust my tomat'r" and Bart going catatonic when Marge asks him to fetch the cupcakes. Comedy gold.