1895itsallfine:Yes I disagree with EMP. But you know what I disagree with even more? Being...

1895itsallfine:

Yes I disagree with EMP. But you know what I disagree with even more? Being completely nasty when you happen to disagree with people, willfully mischaracterizing their arguments, and choosing crude, name-calling mockery over dialogue.

(Probably 5% at most of the EMP proponents I’ve seen think it involves all of S3. Most contain it to the very end of HLV. And, no, I don’t personally think even that’s going to happen, for many reasons that I’ve listed out myself, and reblogged from others, but, wow, how wildly disingenuous to try to deride the whole thing by bringing up multiple plot points from TEH and TSOT. Putting aside for the moment the basic choice to be mean to other fans (who are just having fun and afaik haven’t been nasty themselves?) for no good reason, exaggerating only serves to detract from the reasonable arguments others are making against the most prevalent limited-scope theory.)

I’m not sure I’ve seen the post this is referring to, but… I agree.

I’m not 100% convinced of EMP/EDT. However, the main arguments I’ve seen against it don’t address the real reasons it even came into being in the first place. Things like Mycroft’s tie, lines like “None of this is real” (Moriarty in TAB), items mysteriously swapping position (Mycroft’s office), or the backwards running heart monitor. Yeah, the show does weird shit and not everything has to mean something, but when there’s a bunch of stuff like this that appears to have no narrative purpose (without EMP/EDT), it’s interesting to posit ‘what if’ theories as to what it means. 

Also, I personally find it disturbing that they have that one ‘modern day’ scene in TAB that is demonstrably false. The writer in me wants to sort of slap them and say ‘keep it clean!’ When messing with something like a jump back in time, you’d think they’d be very clear about what IS imaginary and what ISN’T in order to avoid narrative confusion. The fact that they didn’t do that is a big ‘hum’ moment to me. Since they have already muddied the waters in that way, there must be a reason. Like setting a precedent. They’ve told us it’s not going to be clear, so what else can we not depend on?

I also agree that some of the things pointed to as ‘evidence’ of EMP, such as the scene with Janine in the hospital, aren’t so far out of bounds that they are necessarily false. After all, this show is ultimately about Sherlock’s sexuality/romantic life, so having that bit with Janine focus on absurd lies about his het virility, which John will likely see and be another ‘miscommunication’ factor in the romantic arc, makes total sense to me. The show is pretty whacked really, so very little is truly out of bounds.

However, I’m not sure I’ve seen ANYONE posit that all of S3 and TSoT is MP? So I don't get that counter argument. The most I’ve seen is that it began the moment Sherlock was shot in Magnussen’s office. Personally, I don’t even like that because I feel like the scene where Mary is revealed to John as a villain and the domestic are just too significant and too iconic to be false and then require a complete re-do in S4. But hey, the truth is NONE OF US KNOWS FOR SURE. We’re ultimately just passing gas until S4 airs (no pun intended). So there’s no point in anyone acting like they KNOW the truth or being rude to others. IMHO. Of course, everyone has opinions about what they think is going on and sharing those opinions is what we DO.

As for me, the OOC moments at the end of HLV, such as John forgiving Mary and his weird blankness on the tarmac and on the plane – these could be explained in several ways. If it is ‘reality’, and really happened that way, then I believe John has a plan we’re not seeing. God, I hope so anyway! Because otherwise, I’m truly lost as to what is going on with his character. But I also really like the “John’s Choice” idea by tjlcisthenewsexy, where we are only running through a scenario in Sherlock’s head in which John chooses Mary. I just happen to think that’s a cool set-up as a writer, and because of the Dr. Who connection, I can see Moffatiss actually doing something like this. Does that mean it’s absolutely what’s going on? No. It’s one possible explanation that fits some of the weird MP-pointing hints others have pointed out and could be a really brilliant story arc.

On the ‘anti EMP/EDT’ side, one thing I would have expected to see in S4 if the end of HLV was false is Magnussen. We didn’t get even a whiff of him in setlock. Yeah, it’s possible they hid him well, and they would have HAD to to avoid a huge spoiler, but still… there wasn’t the slightest hint of him being involved and I think I recall reading Lars was busy elsewhere during that time.

As for ‘pro EMP/EDT’ stuff in setlock, I would count the ‘happy trio with baby and dog’ stuff as likely an MP projection, whether that’s related to a longer term EMP or not. Because if that’s real, where did the baby go? It just vanishes after that. Also, all of E2 setlock looked really whacked, with the windows in the street, the mysterious LiR, the spotlighting drones, IV bags at conference tables in the street, the sexy 50′s style nurses, etc. Obviously a bunch of that is MP. Yes, it could be MP unrelated to an EMP theory from the end of HLV. However if the EMP/EDT theory is true, I wouldn’t be surprised if E2 is where it comes to a head. After all, there’s all that medical imagery around Culverton Smith, and Sherlock looking like he’s ‘dying’ during the case. So it would tie in very well with the idea of Sherlock actually being in a hospital, possibly in a coma, imagining it all. That’s exactly the sort of case I’d EXPECT to see in that scenario – one involving medical stuff and increasing signs of the ‘reality’ breaking down. But are there other explanations for it that don’t involve HLV-TAB-EMP? Sure!  Sherlock could be hallucinating because Culverton Smith is drugging him and it could have nothing to do with HLV/TAB.

Honestly, at this point, I’m finding a lot of the rehashing rather mentally exhausting actually! I am SO looking forward to S4 airing so we can stop wrestling with the existing data set and see what’s real.

XA