#this is for all series even tho i used tfp for the images

[antenanotaic3]

[yilinglaozuhot]

Sherlock S4 = Act 4? Falling Action

I’ve briefly explained my idea how Sherlock can fit into the Shakespearian 5 Act Play Structure in this post and now I’m going to ramble a bit a lot about Series 4 in detail while I’ll try to keep in mind what I want to write about.

I must mention that all the following potato rambling under the cut is my reading of the events and my mere attempt to make some sense of S4. 

Any coincidences with other metas show that we are all Anderson.  If you know any metas about the topics below, please let me know and I’ll read them and credit them here.

First of all, it’s hard to decide where we  can draw the line between Act 3 and Act 4 because in between there is TAB. We have to decide where to put it. Now, we have two three theories:

Sherlock’s journey in his Mind Palace started back in HLV, after Mary shot him (and at this point, opinions seem to differ - again)?

Sherlock goes into his MP after he got on the plane in HLV??

we are in Sherlock’s MP since TRF??? 

Guys, this EMP theory gets weirder and weirder, and I needed to step back and give it a go for myself to decide where I should draw the lines. I was thinking about it a lot after wiriting my starting analysis (or meta or how should I call it) and I got more confused the more I was thinking about it. It’s totally nuts.

So, I decided that I’m going to be basic and S4 = Act 4. That simple it is. Because it is what it is. Or is it?

Of course it’s not. I’m using the basic EMP theory that some time ago Sherlock dived into his Mind Palace and he’s still sinking (or falling, as you like it).

I created a shitty explanation image how I imagine the place of TAB and S4 in the structure of 5 Act Plays. I hope it helps.

(Did I mention how I hate that my dashboard stretches pictures that aren’t wide enough?)

I collected some definitions around the web that helps to understand the meaning of Falling Action.

Wikipedia:  During the falling action, the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist unravels, with the protagonist winning or losing against the antagonist. The falling action may contain a moment of final suspense, in which the final outcome of the conflict is in doubt.

Storyborad That:   The opposite of Rising Action, in the Falling Action the story is coming to an end, and any unknown details or plot twists are revealed and wrapped up. (I used that description in my previous analysis.)

Letterpile: During the Falling Action, the conflict between the protagonist and antagonist finally comes to a head, and a clear winner and loser are determined. The main character often experiences a 'False Victory' or 'False Defeat'. As you may have deduced, a 'False Victory' is punished with a final defeat, while the 'False Defeat' is rewarded with a true victory. This is readily apparent in tragedies, action, horror, and romantic films. This  Falling Action may also contain a final moment of suspense, in which one or more possible outcomes are in doubt until the Resolution.

My favourite is the description that Letterpile gives for Act 4 because it’s more detailed that the others. So, let’s examine it!

I’m explaining things with the help of EMP theory so I assume that we are still in Sherlock’s head.

“The main character often experiences a 'False Victory' or 'False Defeat'”

In Sherlock, it seems like the main character got a victory. He learns throughout S4 that emotions are not a disadvantage, they make him a better man, and with embracing his emotional side he can defeat his enemy who this time is himself his own sister, Eurus who was lurking in the shadow all in his life, apparently. 

I believe (and many other people who are cleverer than me) that Eurus symbolises Sherlock’s dark, cold, rational, emotionless, logical side so she doesn’t really exist outside Sherlock’s head. Eurus is the side of Sherlock that he would have become if he hadn’t met John. It’s pretty obvious from the parallels and mirrorings... with a big fucking glass that reflects as a mirror and it suddenly disappears when Sherlock meets Eurus and their hands merge together ASDASDFF. Could they be more subtle? We don’t have to think hard about symbolism while watching TFP to understand all of this. And I assume we’re still in Sherlock’s head so it makes more sense reading S4 this way.

But why this victory is false?

Look at the picture above. That’s why. We can’t count how many loose ends we have, and what did Mycroft say about them? “Not on my watch.”

We have more loose ends after S4 than before, and the loose ends we’ve already had before S4 aired aren’t explained. (*coughs* The Reichenbach Fall *coughs* That still bugs John. *coughs* For example. *coughs*)

“I will burn the heart out of you.” resolution. We were pretty close to this during the whole S4 to see Sherlock’s heart burn out, maybe closer than any time. But Sherlock defeats himself Eurus with his emotional side, and it seems in the final minutes that everyone has got a happy ending in the surface.

According to the EMP theory, Sherlock tries to burn his own heart out but he fails and accepts his emotional side? I’m conused here a little bit. He doesn’t even need Moriarty, he wants to do the work for himself. I’m still more conused.

[Nice revisiting of the climbing-out-of-MP scene in TFP, Mofftiss. Well done.]

The lamp in Sherlock’s hand symbolises his heart, I believe. In all the darkness that is surrounding him, it’s the only light that’s flickering, the beacon light of hope. It has to burn to give light and life, and defeat Eurus the darkness.

We see how Sherlock’s MP lights up after Moriarty mentions that “John Watson is definitely in danger” in HLV, and in TFP suddenly a lamp appears when it comes to saving John Watson. Coincidence? I think not. Sherlock’s darkening MP lights up again when he thinks that he can save John again. He’s not falling anymore, he’s ascending, lighting up again the rooms of his MP which explains the brighter lighting of the final montage of the series.

He literally lets the light into his rooms that suggests a bright, happy end. But it’s a false end if we believe the description that “a 'False Victory' is punished with a final defeat” in Act 5. I really hope that this part of the description won’t fit in, and Mofftiss will turn Sherlock into a Shakespearian comedy and we’ll see marriages everywhere because our boys deserve happiness! *goes in the corner to sob for 5 mins*

But first, shit has to hit the fan... again. But that will be the problem of Act 5.

Correction, or other explanation of ‘False Victory’ or ‘False Defeat’: As @ebaeschnbliah and @isitandwonder pointed out, if we assume that Eurus is Sherlock’s cold, pure brain side he cannot really defeat her. It’s a False Defeat because he needs his brains to still be Sherlock Holmes. Yes, the defeat of Eurus is not real. He embraces her = he embraces his darker, only-brain side. We can see in the montage that Sherlock visits Eurus from time to time to play a duet, to communicate through music, which means synchronization between the two sides of him. They are playing in harmony. This ambiguity of the terms ‘False Victory’ and ‘False Defeat’ are very interesting, and I can only blame my pessimistic brain that I didn’t recognize this sooner. Thanks so much for the clarification!

Sidenote: Maybe we see the bottom of Sherlock’s MP in the mortuary in TLD when he looks like he wants to find something in his head but he cannot reach it? That bright white light flashes up, then everything falls back into these blue-grey shadows. And we can’t see any more deductions like we are in Sherlock’s head until he solves Eurus’ poem. And the contrast between cold colours and warm colours in this series means the struggle between brains and heart? But that’s colour theory.

“This is readily apparent in tragedies, action, horror, and romantic films”

Tragedy? Check.

And it looks pretty framed, huh? In every meaning.

Action? Check.

Horror? Check.

(That clown, tho... I wish Mycroft would have shot him.)

Romance? Check.

And here is Sherlock, the fairytale prince, dashing through the night, with light in his hand = hope in his heart.

Of course we can apply this to every series more or less because Sherlock operates with all of the genres above.

“A final moment of suspense “

Thank you, that’s all I wanted to show here.

                             They. Fucking. Freeze. Before. They. Jump.

* Also, I’ve found a cool prezi about the structure of the 5 Act Plays and guess how is it called there? NIGHTMARE STAGE! FUCKING. NIGHTMARE. STAGE. And I’m not sorry for the swearing because my mind’s just blown away by this. Because by applying this description of Act 4 to S4, all of the fuckiness makes much more sense. IT’S ALL A FUCKING LONG NIGHTMARE! Can you believe it? Because I can’t... It must be just a coincidence.

**I did some research in this particular phrase and no other sources mention Act 4 as nightmare stage. But it’s fun to play with the idea around.

P.S.: I’m a lazy ass for not explaining in more detail how the genres apply to Sherlock but it’s obvious enough with the pictures, I think...?

If you haven’t read it yet, @gosherlocked found some evidence that this idea of Sherlock being a 5 Act Play is not a theory anymore. IT’S HAPPENING!

How does exactly S4 fit into this “play within a play within a play” thing?

Phase 1:

That’s how I originally imagined the layers of The Play but I’m starting to realize it’s much more complicated than I first thought.

Phase 2: If we assume that S4 takes place within the realm of TAB and we draw parallels, we realize that they leak into each other by replicating scenes and characters, and it sometimes feels like that our characters still hold some characteristics of their Victorian selves. Just some things out of the top of my head

Though Sherlock and John call each other Sherlock and John, the distance between them is more obvious then in TAB.

Sherlock doesn’t feel he’s entitled to sit beside John in the sofa in John’s house in TFP (and in TST he’s the spectre of the baby shower and the christening).

Mary’s characterization in TST with that letter to John after she runs away. When the fuck did she call John “my darling” outside Sherlock’s head?

Mrs Hudson got more lines by demand? BAMF Mrs H. FTW! Also, can someone explain me what she means by she’s “not a civilian”? Then who are you, Martha Louise Hudson?

It looks like for me that Sherlock hasn’t really woken up from his Victorian hallucination.  (I’ll create a better diagram when my schedule allows it.)

Phase 3: The circle closes and real memories start to leak through the layers of Sherlock’s MP besides the fabricated story of TAB?

Note: Thanks for the screencaps for kissthemgoodbye.net

And some people seemed interested in my previous potato post so here we go again...

@isitandwonder @loveismyrevolution @holmesianscholar @ebaeschnbliah @tjlcisthenewsexy @sofini @posh-boy-clever-boy @sarahthecoat

(My next potato will be about TAB because I go backwards if anyone’s interested in it.)