By Rosie Alger
Elm Staff Writer
The now internet famous BBC “Sherlock” series aired its fourth season this winter. Worldwide, fans are exploding with visceral reactions to what can at best be described as a downfall in quality writing. At its worst, it could be considered a purposeful and cruel taunt to long-time loyal fans. If you are a viewer of this previously award winning show and have not yet seen season four, by now you will have seen many spoilers. Be aware, this article will not be holding anything back.
Let’s be clear: “Sherlock” has historically been a phenomenally written show. Based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic novels, “Sherlock” has combined compelling and dumbfounding mysteries, dynamic character development, and a clever modern twist. In the United States alone, the actors and production team members, as well as the show itself, have been nominated for and won countless BAFTA awards, primetime Emmy’s, and even a Golden Globe. This is a quality show, and it has earned itself one of the fiercest and most loyal fan bases that I have personally ever encountered. This season, however, many fans feel heart broken, lost, confused, and even angry at how much has shifted about the show’s focus, and how poorly the writing seems to be stringing it all together. As the Independent reported, “Many Sherlock fans have been left somewhat disappointed by the latest season, particularly the last episode which drew a record-low number of viewers for the BBC drama.”
With the introduction of Mary’s character in season three, many fans, who have long since been rooting for a romantic plot line between John and Sherlock, found themselves in the frustrating position of having their hopes for the show put on the sideline. Even if you don’t like the two as a romantic couple, the introduction of Mary broke up and confused what has always been a dynamic duo style to the show. Furthermore, these fans’ hopes weren’t crushed completely; they were even egged on by the writing, as evidenced by the final scene of John and Mary’s wedding, where Sherlock leaves early, in distress and without saying goodbye. The writers purposefully left many vague ties of emotional attachment lingering between the characters as a way to string along fans who are part of the LGBT community and are looking for representation.
Season four took this abuse of fan loyalty to a brand new level. Even before the season came out, trailers for the season aired and ended with one of the villains from the new season saying “What’s the very worst thing you can do to your very best friends? Tell them your darkest secret,” and then cutting to Sherlock saying to camera, “I love you.” Any fan would have assumed his best friend to be John Watson, as they have repeatedly enforced on the show, and so this trailer directly fueled the flames of the termed “Johnlock conspiracy.” Not only that, but in the second episode of the season, upon learning that Sherlock has been receiving texts from his old love interest Irene, John gets very upset and defensive, saying romantic entanglement is something that Sherlock needs. Steven Moffat himself, one of the head writers for the show, Tweeted out before the season, “Sherlock’s in love, but with who?” All of this is to say that it is not a case of wild off-the-wall fan theories. Rather, there have been consistent and motivating hints and sidebars thrown into the episodes and talk surrounding them for a long history of this show, which makes it easy for fans to get their hopes up.
Why is a relationship that never happened on a fictional show so important? Why are fans so viscerally angry? It’s because this kind of queer baiting happens all the time in mainstream media, and this fan base is known to have a particularly high population of LGBT and underrepresented folks. Queer baiting is when a movie or TV show or other form of storytelling media sets up the tension and expectation of a queer relationship or leads viewers to believe a character is queer, with the intent of attracting more LGBT viewers, without ever intending on following through with those plot lines, thus leaving the viewers disappointed and underrepresented yet again.
In a time where being open about one’s sexual identity continues to be a dangerous political act, people look to stories like “Sherlock” to help inspire and develop a brighter future for their community. What this most recent season did was dismantle that hope and turn away many viewers who were led to believe that “Sherlock” could be their refuge.
Not only did John and Sherlock’s relationship not work out, but the show continues to fail minorities and oppressed groups in many other ways. Notably, many of the villains of the show have been implied as queer, most recently in season four when Sherlock’s sister insinuated that she sexually assaulted a female body guard in her prison. The villainization of any and all accepted queer characters on the show just adds insult to injury, and the character of Eurus was a particularly bad example, certainly with this thrown in comment on rape and sexual assault. In her case, she represented one of the most heartless and evil characters the show has ever seen, and she was also queer as well as severely mentally ill, and in the end is shown as vulnerable and in need of help and love from Sherlock. This combination of the villainous queer trope as well as the mental illness as a justification for violence made the whole plot line with Sherlock’s sister distasteful, unoriginal, and frankly hard to follow and believe. Many fans were also outraged at the treatment of Molly Hooper, another female character and longtime fan favorite on the show. Her one significant scene in the entire season was one in which Sherlock emotionally abuses and manipulates her, and we never see any kind of follow up on how she coped. Moffat said that he thought that Sherlock actually came out of that scene worse off than Molly, but the actress who plays Molly, Louise Brealey, disagreed, Tweeting, “Loving someone after years is not reductive, retrograde, antifeminist or weak. Fight the patriarchy, not me,” and later, “I disagree with Steven about the impact of the scene on Molly… & that’s fine. He’s allowed to feel something. So am I. So are you.”
Despite these moral complications, there were also just so many plot twists-turned-plot holes, many questions posed and left unanswered, and many fans finding themselves wondering where the story went. Radio Times compiled a list of popular fan complaints and tweets. For example, one read, “Not sure about this latest series of #Sherlock I have no idea what’s going on! What happened to solving crimes?? #Confused.” In fact, there is a lot of overlap into the fan base of “Doctor Who,” another popular British TV show, and many fans are saying that Moffat, who was also a writer for that show, created similar problems in both “Doctor Who” and “Sherlock” in regards to sexism as well as too many plot twists that dilute the story.
I could go on and on about the flaws and failures of this season, but for me and many fans, the disappointment has just become tiring after a while. Whether you wish John and Sherlock could finally be in love, or you just miss the great mystery solving of the first two seasons, I think it is safe to say that this season has left many of us disappointed and wanting more. In a time where not much is guaranteed to stay constant in the real world, it would be nice to know that at least your favorite TV would still keep entertaining and distracting you. Although I am not very hopeful for a comeback, I sincerely hope that there is more and better “Sherlock” to come. As Sherlock always says, the game is on, and now fans are tired of being played as a pawn.