The Abominable Bride
Sherlock
BBCTV
January 1, 2016
"Dr John Watson, meet Mr Sherlock Holmes."
We've been here before - but what if this wasn't the modern day but the late Victorian period? What if the world's most famous consulting detective and his best friend lived in a Baker Street of steam trains, hansom cabs, top hats and frock coats? Welcome to Sherlock in 1895!
Some things, though, remain reassuringly the same. Friendship, adventure and especially, murder...
Why is Thomas Ricoletti a little surprised to see his wife dressed in her old wedding gown? Because, just a few hours before, she took her own life...
Mrs Ricoletti's ghost now appears to be prowling the streets with an unslakable thirst for revenge. From fog-shrouded Limehouse to the bowels of a ruined church, Holmes, Watson and their friends must use all their cunning to combat an enemy seemingly from beyond the grave, and the final, shocking truth about... the Abominable Bride!
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Ok ... so how many of you noticed Mycroft's note pad ... ?
"Redbeard", "611174", "Vernet?", "Scarlet Roll…" What does it all mean? Got any guesses?
I believe I have the answers for all four, but i shall remain silent for a while to allow others to express opinions or solutions ....
BTW - anyone not knowing the significance of "Vernet" should be banished from the group. :>)
BUMP
Who'd a thunk it?
'Sherlock' beats 'Star Wars' at South Korean box office.
'Abominable Bride' festive special attracted more viewers than 'The Force Awakens'
Thanks for posting.
Thomas
Hmmm ... I seem to be in a minority here ...
I saw this episode as being created in Sherlock's "mind palace," allowing him to examine his relationships with various people in his life. I liked the mix of Canonical and modern elements, which were true to the nature of the world's "creation" in the mind of Holmes. I loved the exaggeration of the corpulent, sedentary Mycroft in contrast to his modern self and the "instant fast-forward" from Watson's return to England to the publication of BLUE - exactly as a mind might shrink time.
I agree that there were myriad imperfections but overall I think it was a moderate success.
Den Of Geek and Lyndsay Faye are two reviews I've read Bob, and both of them (with caveats) were very very positive about. I posted words to the effect of it being rubbish as a throwaway comment on the actual Sherlock page and I thought I was gonna get lynched! Beware the angry Cumberbatchers :)
I've read many many glowing comments about it since it was on, so many infact that I'm going to have to watch it again (which I'd do anyway) to see if I'm the problem - but at the moment I've zero inclination to go back and watch. I've absolutely loved Sherlock - it's been a great take on the greatest detective of all to my mind- but this just didn't do it for me.
Posting negative comments on the "Sherlock" fan page is tantamount to Internet suicide. :>)
As a plot device, the "mind palace" is a bit thin, but for a one-off, "keep the fans pacified" story, it was interesting.
When you do re-watch it, ignore all the plot devices. Ignore the dialogue except to see it as "inside Sherlock's mind." These are not the words of the characters, but the words that Sherlock thinks/wishes/expects that they would say. For example, Sherlock fails to see Molly as the morgue doctor, but his mind palace has Watson recognize her at once. Now, for Watson to recognize her in this created world, the creator (Sherlock) had to put her there, and create the recognition in his "John character." What does that say about Sherlock?
Remember also that the resemblances between the suicide of Mrs. Ricoletti in the mind palace world and that of Moriarty in the 21st century real world are only there because Holmes created them. Perhaps he did so in order to examine the (unlikely) possibility that Moriarty faked his death. Perhaps the entire sequence is a Moffatt/Gatiss red herring ...
Bob
Apparently. I am not alone ...
Bob
Jake, thanks for posting. I have tickets to see this in the cinema Tuesday night. I really want to see it BEFORE that so I'm not sitting in the theatre swearing in front of the other Sherlockians. The few seconds I saw of the acting in one of the trailers has me gritting my teeth--looks like they were directed to be "oh so clever" & not very sincere, like much of GatFat's writing. I agree with the earlier post that dream sequences are a total writer's cop-out, & am disappointed, if not surprised that GatFat didn't have the courage to write a stand-alone. *takes deep breath* Ok, cuing up the file, & go....
PS But, as I said, thanks for making this available.
I thought this was awful. I've loved Sherlock up to now, but I didn't like this at all ;(
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