I can't stop hitting a dead horse...or a "dead" Sherlock for that matter.
I tend to think the keys to the screenplay of the last episode of season 2, in which Moriarty shoots himself and Sherlock jumps to his death, can somehow be gleaned by knowing the stories of the elements in the story: Grimm's Fairy Tales and the stories in Doyle's tales of the most famous detective in history...sorry Hercule you're
really dead in Agatha Christie's last book about Poirot.
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Conan Doyle
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I think the biography of Conan Doyle (is that his last name or is Conan his middle name?) may give us some insight into Sherlock the character. This information was, of course, available to the screenwriters of modern Sherlock. Hopefully they don't rely on Wickipedia like I do.
I'm not sure how to refer to Conan Doyle. Is Conan part of his last name or one of his middle names? Why do public people need to use middle names anyway unless someone else has the same name? There is a modern athlete Conan Doyle. Oh. He was:
"Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930...a Scottish physician and writer...he was a prolific writer whose other works include science fiction stories, plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction and historical novels."
Evidently he had a lot of time on his hands between patients.
This is the link to Wikipedia's site with Conan Doyle's bio.
Arthur Conan Doyle
Of course any information on the internet is filtered through a writer's understanding. Historical facts tend to become popular mythology within two or three generations. And in the case of some stories we hear on news broadcasts it's much faster than that--say a day or two. So facts are some the the greatest fiction we'll ever run across.
In a nutshell, Doyle wrote for years, got tired of Sherlock and killed him off, or so he intended, in
The Final Problem. Due to popular outcry he brought Sherlock
back to life as if he'd been alive all the time. Sherlock was gone for 10 years, at least on paper.
The new Sherlock series is loosely based on the stories in the Conan Doyle series. For instance the titles are (slightly) different--
Study in Pink vs.
Study in Scarlet. I think viewers versed in English Literature who knows Conan Doyle stories well can follow the TV series along and see where the stories may have the same elements and where they differ. I myself didn't spend much time on English Lit in college.
I think there are also
clues in the clues in the series. What good would a mystery be without clues? .
What would a good TV series be without a little,
"What the hell was THAT about?" Not the element of surprise but more the element of bafflement.
So I don't want to go on and on about this. I would like to learn more about the Sherlock novels & short stories and get a little knowledge of
Grimms' Fairy Tales (which in their day were pretty grim before Disney got hold of them.) There are several of their dark tales that might be a "basis" for the clash between Sherlock & Moriarty--if indeed the screenwriters even used a "basis". I surmise they are way more well-versed in all literature and vastly more clever than I can even suspect.
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| One of the faked Cottlington Fairy Photo |
Here's a little about Doyle and his conception of Moriarty (perhaps). It might help to know that in later life Doyle was a spiritualist (talking to the dead) and believed in the Cottington Fairies. He also believed Houdini was truly supernatural even thought Houdini tried to convince him otherwise.
Wikipedia: "Death" of Sherlock Holmes
"In 1890 Conan Doyle studied ophthalmology in Vienna, and moved to London, first living in Montague Place and then in South Norwood. He set up a practice as an ophthalmologist. He wrote in his autobiography that not a single patient crossed his door. This gave him more time for writing, and in November 1891 he wrote to his mother: "I think of slaying Holmes... and winding him up for good and all. He takes my mind from better things." His mother responded, "You won't! You can't! You mustn't!"
In December 1893, in order to dedicate more of his time to what he considered his more important works (his historical novels), Conan Doyle had Holmes and Professor Moriarty apparently plunge to their deaths together down the Reichenbach Falls in the story "The Final Problem". Public outcry, however, led him to bring the character back in 1901, in The Hound of the Baskervilles, though this was set at a time before the Reichenbach incident. In 1903, Conan Doyle published his first Holmes short story in ten years, "The Adventure of the Empty House", in which it was explained that only Moriarty had fallen; but since Holmes had other dangerous enemies—especially Colonel Sebastian Moran—he had arranged to also be perceived as dead. Holmes ultimately was featured in a total of 56 short stories and four Conan Doyle novels, and has since appeared in many novels and stories by other authors.
Jane Stanford compares some of Moriarty's characteristics to those of the Fenian John O'Connor Power. 'The Final Problem' was published the year the Second Home Rule Bill passed through the House of Commons. 'The Valley of Fear' was serialised in 1914, the year, Home Rule, The Government of Ireland Act (Sept.18) was placed on the Statute Book."
Final note: Didn't the TV show have Sherlock's brother say something to John (Watson) they didn't want a repeat of 1922? Or was it 1962? You can look that up for yourself.
PS: I thought I wrote on one of the Sherlock blogs it was my opinion that this episode of Sherlock was acted expertly by Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, and especially Andrew Scott. He was a deliciously evil villain and stole the show. He can't possibly be dead because we want to see more of him!!! Whose willing to bet me Moriarty shows up on "The Storyteller" TV series of Rich Brooks?
.JPG)