Why the Big Fix is a Big Deal but can't end the series

1895itsallfine:

There is a definite conflict between the clear Classic Love Story arc the Sherlock writers have been using, and the Softly, Softly view that we know they have. You see it all the time, people arguing No, no, they wouldn’t make such a Big Deal about the love story, the Confession, the Kiss. That goes against the show they’re trying to make. And I get it, I get the tension there. I think they are walking a fine line between making the Big Fix they feel is aching to finally be made (which *will*, no doubt, shock many) and sending the message that the Big Fix isn’t in fact a Big Deal, that it should have been that way all along, in fact that it’s really *been* that way all along and just wasn’t seen.


I absolutely one point that @delurkingdetective made (if I’m remembering right), that they’re not only fixing, but they’re simultaneously demonstrating why the fix is necessary, what the audience’s misconceptions are. They’re also doing tons I think to put the fix *in context*, even though theoretically they didn’t have to. So although I know the creators aren’t afraid of audience reaction, and they won’t bow to audience wishes, I do think they have a particular story they are telling that has always involves some level of that context. This is why I think it’s so so crucial not to have the Kiss end the series, not to make their Big Fix *that* much of a *Big Deal*. They bothered to show in TAB that these two were meant to be together back in 1895. The message isn’t just “Hey, we finally got these two together after all these years!”, it’s more “Hey, we finally got these two together after all these years AND look! Nothing changes. They’re the same. Everything is the same. Because they were always meant to be together. It was under the surface in every single adaptation you ever watched.” So I really think it’s crucial to show the adventure and crime solving (the surface level of what the show is About) continuing after they’ve gotten together. And yeah even the drama can continue, I think they’ll be separated again after. You just can’t wait 2-3 years after the Kiss to show them being Normal. And not just to pre-empt the idiots spending that time saying the show has been ruined, but because it’s *part* of the Big Fix. It’s a key component of the Big Fix, and I think they’ve always planned it that way. Life goes on. Sexuality isn’t everything (even though they’ve temporarily made it everything, in a way, because wrongs needed to be righted). In the ideal world you would simply have that detective come home and have their boyfriend say how was your day, but the world isn’t quite ideal yet, is it? (I even see people argue that the ultimate softly is not to ever make it explicit at all for this reason, as part of their “keep it as fic” arguments, and just $&#%¥)


I’ve always thought (ever since they said that about starting younger than other adaptations did) that they intend to basically do their own Granada-esque series, except have it happen after the Fix (the simultaneously momentous and incidental Fix), happened at the younger ages, This is what I think both Series 5 and the one-offs after series 5 will effectively be, unless they really leave some stuff in their current arc to wrap up in S5. I know people really think it’s a 5-part arc. And yes I do think they will have the one offs later; they’ve all said repeatedly they want to do this until they’re old, and they love it, and the time it takes is just plain not a huge deal.