"I was only dreaming--"

I began replying to this review of s3 over at Sherlock Cares, in particular to His Last Vow... and then I realized how long my reply was getting.  So...

S3 SPOILERS.

One thing, yes, I loved the ep, and yet it broke for me in CAM's office.

Because there are too many things that aren't working out.  And sorry, Steven, but even Fridge Logic doesn't save that.

Right now, I won't go into why so many things broke it.  Lots of people are doing that and will do that.  I probably will later on.


This I will say:  This was the script you should've trunked.  Really.  I do get the impulse to keep going -- it's brilliant, it's fun, ohhh, this will rock!

But that's when your beta readers rein you in.  It's not just about jumping the shark.  It's about going batshit crazy.  I love the mind palace, I do, it's lots of fun.

Then... Mary's character just turned into a plot device.  That's all.  As a reader and an editor, I take offense.

That is breaking the contract with the reader/audience.  Don't DO that.

The problem with fiction, even the fiction we love, is that when it destroys all hope of us believing, we quit.  Or we argue.  Some of us try to figure it out, explain it, write up reasoning.

Writing isn't always about reasoning.  Nor is story.

When I tell a kid towel sprites moved the towel, I'm stealing that story from a girl who told it to her sister.  At some point, my niece and nephlet won't believe me.  Not right now, sure, but some day they'll know more, experience more, expect more.

Steven, really, I expect more of you.


Here's the rest of my reply to one particular HLV section:

Molly didn't say, "Yes."  She said "Clean?" in a specific tone, the kind right before someone gets very angry.

I don't think Sherlock was clean.  I think he was high, just as he said later to Mycroft.  (Or near the tail end of being high, YMMV.)  And yes, Sherlock blew his own cover because he wanted to make headlines.  That was the point.

Getting into a fight with John was just gravy.

John was mad at SH, so Sherlock was semi-justified in yelling back.  He probably foolishly thought John would believe him.  And apparently leave him there, instead of shouting--

Forgetting again that John has a short temper and is less inclined to believe SH these days.  (Funny about that.)

Remember, SH's been living for two years with memories of John.  A few months of being around John -- and NOT living with John daily -- will not alter Sherlock's mind-John.


"Willing to do anything." That's our Sherlock.

That was the point of this.  He had a plan, he was willing to do anything, and that's something he proved throughout the ep.

But seriously... how much of the story from then on out [from the office] didn't feel like a dream?  Yeah.  A cop-out.  In fact, I would not be surprised if Sherlock woke up in hospital from this.  [I'm sure he will in a thousand fics; go, fandom, go!]  Because everything going pear-shaped and out of character does feel like a dream.

The kind where everything just spirals out of control.