"A Scandal in Belgravia" -- My Thoughts, in No Particular Order
First, let me get this out of the way: OMGOMGOMGOMGSQUEEEEEEEEEEEOMGOMGOMG
Okay.
::clears throat distinguishedly::
It was just, seriously, I had waited so long for this episode of television, and I was so worried it would be terrible, and I was secretly fretting about it, and then I couldn't watch it until last night so I had to declare an entire INTERNET MORATORIUM so as to not be spoiled after spending FOREVER dodging spoilers about it and then it turned out that OMG I LOVED LIKE EVERY SINGLE SECOND. I kept worrying, watching it for the first time, that it was almost over, and I wasn't ready for it to be over, I wanted it go on forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever. As soon as it was over, we watched it again. Then we watched it again. Then arctacuda went to bed like a responsible person and I watched it again. And every time, we caught new little moments we'd missed previously. It was so much better than I'd dared hope it was going to be. I totally excuse the completely underwhelming Doctor Who Christmas episode Steven Moffat gave me, because he gave me this and I am, frankly, a generous and forgiving soul.
So, here are general thoughts I have managed to corral in my squee-addled head (all opinions, obviously, my own, and therefore possibly make little sense):
- I loved how they did the "Previously" bit. Yes. I EVEN LOVED THAT. I just thought it was so well done and immediately put me back into the tension I was in when I finished Episode 3 all those months ago. And I admit I loved how they resolved it. Because I'd done a ton of speculation over the past 17 months as to how it was going to be resolved, and Moriarty's "Stayin' Alive" ringtone shockingly never occurred to me. Loved Moriarty's mouthed sorry to Sherlock as he spoke and Sherlock's answering gesture. I laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed.
- Another thing I loved: The entire opening bit before the plot really gets underway. "I think my husband might be having an affair." "Yes." Classic. I would say it was one of my favorite moments of the whole episode but they were ALL my favorite moments. Like, for instance, the bit where Sherlock tells the little girls that people are incinerated after they die. Hahahaha! You know what makes it? John's little "Sherlock" sigh right at the end of that. Martin Freeman's understated reaction shots are the secret weapon of this episode. They sneak up on you until you love John Watson so much you can't even stand it. And I'm not a big fan of puns but even I loved "The Speckled Blonde." I also loved how they worked the deerstalker into the story. Hats off there, Steven Moffat. Oh, wait, that was a pun, wasn't it?
- And, with regard to the growing Internet fame of Sherlock and John, it occurs to me that this has kind of become a show about fandom more than anything else. Sherlock and John have fans, they're there on the blogs for you to see. And this episode was virtually a love letter to fans, both the traditional Sherlock Holmes fandom and the newer Sherlock fandom. From all the winks toward the classic stories to the "1895" on the counter (a reference to a fanwork in and of itself), the show acknowledged its background and history without feeling limited by it. And there were so many pieces of it that felt like knowing acknowledgments of the fanon that had grown up: Lestrade's central importance in their lives; Sherlock's overprotectiveness of Mrs. Hudson; Mycroft and John's alliance to protect Sherlock; Sherlock inexplicably (for literally no reason other than to tease fangirls) clad only in a sheet. And then, for an added bonus, being put to bed by John. It's kind of like, if I wrote a list of everything I wanted to see in this episode, I would have had to cross everything off, because it was all there, wrapped up in a package that was just perfect.
- "I'll be Mother." The simplest little line, and yet there was so much wrapped up in Sherlock's reaction to it. This was an episode about Sherlock's relationships more than anything else. And not really his relationship or lack thereof or whatever that was with Irene Adler. I'm not entirely sure what was going on in Sherlock's head with regard to Irene Adler, or in her head with regard to Sherlock, and I like it that way. Was it love? Attraction? Mutual admiration? Respect? Just lack of boredom between two people who are so everlastingly bored? Really, Moriarty had the same alluring tug to Sherlock. But, anyway, I started this bullet point by saying that this wasn't just about Irene Adler. It was about Sherlock's relationships with everyone: Lestrade, Molly, Mrs. Hudson, John, and, last but not least, Mycroft. This is such a meaty, wonderful episode for Mycroft. He spends so much of it furious with his little brother, but he also spends so much of it trying to protect him, and I love those twin sides of him. That little comment about Mycroft's mothering tendencies, coupled with their conversation outside the morgue, makes me wonder just how much influence Mycroft has had on Sherlock, if his lack of close relationships comes from Mycroft's influence, pulling him into line: "Caring is not an advantage." I love Mycroft's lines about Sherlock in that conversation with John at the end, about how initially Sherlock wanted to be a pirate. It makes my heart melt for little-boy Sherlock, caught up in the swashbuckling romanticism of piracy. (Of course, both Holmes boys have that: the flair for the dramatic. So, incidentally, do Moriarty and Irene Adler.)
- Irene Adler. I have no deep feminist thoughts on Irene Adler. I'm not good at those. I almost always have problems spotting that stuff (I should have taken a women's studies course in college, probably). Anyway, I liked Irene Adler. I liked that she was known professionally as The Woman, I thought that was a cute touch. I liked her ambiguity as a character, that I never really knew what her motivations were or how she was thinking. I liked the way she flummoxed Sherlock, and everyone else around her. I don't get why John trusted her so immediately and left her alone in the flat with Sherlock (who, incidentally, she had just drugged, like, the last time she'd seen him), but I liked how insightful she seemed to be about everyone's weaknesses. I loved how she knew immediately that John and Sherlock are a couple, sexuality-labels be damned, and that that was his weakness to exploit. I also loved how she had Mycroft's number in the end, taunting him about his leak being his little brother. Regardless of how much they decidedly do not discuss it, Mycroft loves Sherlock and vice versa. And caring is not an advantage.
- Oh, Benedict Cumberbatch and your pretend violin-playing. Work on that, love. Other than that, you were very hot brooding and composing music, so it's all good there.
- I want Jack Harkness to show up on this show and be like, "Gay? Straight? Who cares? Let's all make out!"
- I loved the Christmas scene. First of all, I loved Lestrade being there, because I love Lestrade. I was so happy there was so much Lestrade in this episode, I was so worried there wouldn't be. I loved John's "Christmas is canceled" line, mostly because of the delivery (love you, Martin Freeman!). The thing with Molly made me squirm terribly, and I felt so awful, and I was like, "Please shut up, Sherlock," but of course he didn't, and then...he apologized. He apologized, sincerely, and he kissed her cheek. Awwwwwwww! (Again, loved John's reaction shot there.) I feel like it literally never occurred to Sherlock that Molly might feel passionately about him. It's like Sherlock is an expert in how to read how people interact, but fails at including himself in the category of "people." (It's like he says later, love isn't unfamiliar to him, he knows all about the chemistry of it.) He drew all the right conclusions, except the obvious one that everyone in the room (and every viewer) had drawn immediately. Molly has a new boyfriend. It never occurred to Sherlock that he could be cast in such a role. I almost think that's why he apologized. I mean, he's probably growing as a person, too, with John's influence, but I also think he realized that he was wrong in his conclusion, and therefore it entered into his mind that he was possibly wrong, all around. Maybe Molly can marry Lestrade and they can have a happy ending, because I feel sad for them. Back to the Christmas scene: And then I also loved that John had counted how many inappropriate texts Sherlock had received. And I loved his girlfriend's tart assessment that he's a great boyfriend...to Sherlock Holmes. Yes. Give it up, John.
- Mrs. Hudson. Oh, Mrs. Hudson. I love that my reaction when Mycroft snapped at Mrs. Hudson mirrored John and Sherlock's reaction of shocked indignation. We the audience gasped in unison with the characters. GO, SHERLOCK. (And then, of course, how perfect it was that Sherlock followed it up by telling Mrs. Hudson to shut up.) And then, Sherlock finding Mrs. Hudson in peril. OMG. How brilliant was that scene? How awesome was Benedict Cumberbatch in that scene? It was fabulous. And then his "England would fall" line. Oh, Sherlock. Look at your heart showing.
- The direction was beautiful in this episode but I especially loved it in the scene between Mycroft and Sherlock in the morgue. (I wish I didn't think Sherlock was so hot when he was smoking cigarettes.)
- I AM SHERLOCKED. Okay, this is the sort of thing, I admit, that I love. Because when Sherlock typed it in, I was like, "OMG THAT MAKES SUCH PERFECT SENSE," and yet I never, ever guessed it. I AM SHERLOCKED. I love it, love it, love it. And I loved Sherlock getting the best of Irene Adler in the end. I know, I know, he wasn't supposed to, but I don't care, I was happy, because poor Sherlock and Mycroft were so sad, you guys. I cannot take my Holmes boys being sad!
- I loved way too many of the lines to quote. If you would like to leave your favorites in the comments, I welcome you to!