we-start-with-the-riding-crop:
I’m seeing quite a few comments today about the destructive effects of long hiatuses on the fandom’s enthusiasm and commitment, as well as some fairly witty ones (like this one). And to some degree I’m sympathetic to what they’re spelling out: a fandom that either goes crazy or departs and a production that falters because they’ve lost the core fandom that sustained enthusiasm between series.
I feel some schadenfreude at the latter, because I do think that the Hartswood crowd began to see the peril of this even before we did, and that probably explains the turnaround between when fanbashing was their major attitude and now, where there’s a cautious, at least verbal acceptance that the fans are creative/supportive and, tacitly, damned important to them continuing to rack up the all-important revenue even though they’re still flailing around on how to use fan engagement effectively.
But on the former point, I am wondering how much of this we bring on ourselves because of the way we define Sherlock as a “tv show” with all of the rapid-release and continuity that this entails. TV is supposed to operate this way, and Sherlock, although it’s unaired pilot was originally meant to fit this model, really is a outlier so far beyond the bounds of typical that it’s slipped into a near-alternate universe.
And yet, that universe may in fact be a better fit for what the show really is. By which I mean the universe of cinema-released movies. Aside from its release mode, prime time tv broadcast, Sherlock has much more in common with a big-scale movie ‘verse like the Ritchie Holmes movies or even the MCU. These kinds of multi-episode properties do sustain fannish enthusiasm, do have a lot of ep-to-ep continuity, but they also have production time hiatuses of years.
Okay, yeah, cinematic movies typically pay more, especially for the big stars, which may be at the heart of why there is a constant negotiation underway for each next series of Sherlock. For all that BC and MF owe a lot to Sherlock, their careers also require a lot of work to make sure that audiences don’t see them as defined by those roles. Really, that’s as far as one needs to look, without inventing some personal fallings-out, to explain the careful separation from Sherlock that these actors practice in their interviews. This is critical to their careers and they’re big enough players now that in order to stay in the game, they’ve got to stay fresh and available for new roles; typecasting, a struggle anyway for two such distinctive men, will be the death of their future role options. Add to that that they’re not either of them yet in the position to turn down high-paying, career-building new work and you have two actors who can only commit to more Sherlock when, really, they’ve got nothing else good on. And that’s a hard metric to force everyone else to, including such things as corporate budgets and network scheduling.
But by not really appreciating that and getting our feathers rumpled in taking each hiatus as a personal/fandom slight, I think that we’re (damagingly to ourselves) over-investing in the tv show model and refusing to see the show as what it is. Moffat has said this before: the 90-minute, limited-series model is cinematic and that’s more the framework they’re operating within. I wonder if fandom would be healthier and happier if it could endorse this model and weather the hiatuses with less trauma.
I think the creators of the series are the ones who are responsible for managing expectations when they call their creation a “TV Series”, or “Mini-Series”. It’s listed that way, it won awards in the categories for TV. It’s not big screen.
So, I don’t think the fans are to blame for just wishing for more. In fact, it’s high compliment– and when that stops– Mofftisson will have a real problem.
Call it what you like, they really did leave lots of loose ends after His Last Vow. A Marvel movie will leave maybe one or two loose ends but have each movie be a complete story. With the pool you knew at least what the cliffhanger was. It was a classic cliffhanger with a single point of focus. And with the fall – well the fall has been done before so there was a well understood separation between the fall and the return. But we don’t even know which plot threads of His Last Vow are loose ends and which plot threads were already resolved as well as they are going to be. And by the way which threads are being picked up in the special and which threads are to be picked up in season 4? I can’t imagine a movie hiatus to be all over the place like this is. Here is what I think. I think HLV was written like part 1 of a 2 part TV episode. Sometimes in a TV show a 2 parter will span seasons, but in that case, the 2 parts are only 6 months apart. But with HLV there are maybe 4 important plot threads, not just themes but critical plot threads, that are going to remain open for 2-3 years.
That thing about them leaving lots of loose ends is entirely subjective. If you accept that John forgave Mary and the goodbyes were real, the only plot thread that’s there is Moriary possibly not being dead.
It may very well turn out that HLV was just as shitty as it seems and the things that don’t make sense remain so. Then let’s talk about the state of fandom. But yes, I don’t think it’s as much about the long wait as it is about how nobody seems to be interested in creating theories about how Moriarty may have survived.
too noticed that it was a lot more exciting coming up with theories how Sherlock could have survived, cliffhanger S03… After TEH I felt like being ridiculed for this enthusiasm, because they literally employed it in E01. Ridiculous overweight Sherlockians in deerstalkers engaging in even more ridiculous theories involving ludicrous shipping. It was like a slap in the face, it wasn’t done gracefully or appreciative. They were simply making fun of us. They never reached the Supernatural level of incorporating the show within the show. The real solution was not presented ever, it was simply dropped and Mary was introduced to distract. Now it’s all revolving around her. John has become the little angry terrier always snapping and snarling at Sherlock, who himself is reduced to a Sheldon-style comic relief of an Asperger patient. Still no laughs for me. The eyeball in the tea. The origami opera houses. The best man speech. WTF? Why? What does this have to do with Sherlock Holmes? Could you have imagined this nonsense in S01? Would the ratings have been the same?
Now they tried to use exactly the same cliffhanger again for S04. How did MORIARTY do it? Are they even wondering why it’s not working? Do they even care? I know for sure the fandom doesn’t care how Moriarty did it. We already spent two years wasting our free-time on theories & speculations about Sherlock’s fall, we were ridiculed and left wondering after S03 opened while getting heteronormativity shoved down our throats. After all I’ve seen from Setlock, they will continue the Mary storyline. They added a pink bunny-eared baby. Can this series scream any more NO HOMO? Still Johnlockers expect a gay coming out. Now the theory is that Moftiss toy with us to hide the gay. Are we getting desparate?
No one cares how M did it cause this cliffhanger will be dropped as soon as the Watsons introduce little Sherlotta. If we indulge in theory-spinning the chubby deerstalker Sherlockian will make us appear like tinfoil hatters in no time. I am tired of BBC Sherlock. I kinda want it to be over. And they haven’t even finished filming.We-start-with-the-riding-crop, you described the problem with Sherlock so clearly and to the point. The authors leave the audience at such a climactic cliffhanger – but never give us the “release” they were building. And then the audience is ridiculed for it in the first episode of Season 3. That is problem #1, which could have been alright if they continued with the same people (Sherlock and John), but they gave us imposters that act completely different than they did in the first two seasons. I realize things change with time/circumstances, but not a person’s inherent character.
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