“The Abominable Bride” Thoughts
“The Abominable Bride” becomes even more fascinating when you realize that all the people who appear in Sherlock’s Victorian Mind Palace are not just caricatures of how Sherlock views the people in his life, but are actually different facets of his own mind.
Mycroft: Some people are saying that his appearance is a foreshadowing of Mycroft dying of cancer or something. But I didn’t see that at all. Instead, we are presented with Sherlock’s version of Mycoft, and the ecliptic (he who eclipses Sherlock in intelligence) is quite oblique, isn't he? Mycroft’s overeating just to win a bet parallels how Sherlock is happily willing to gamble with his own life. I think Sherlock knows that on the path he's currently taking, he only has a few years left, but feels compelled to continue anyway. And if you swap the food for drugs, then the analogy becomes even clearer. Also, in conversing about the recently solved case, it’s hinted that Sherlock is jealous of Mycroft, whom he views as a more successful version of himself.
Watson: Sherlock is afraid of losing John, and is afraid to admit it even to himself. When Lestrade points out to Holmes that Watson’s chair is empty and he hasn’t lived in Baker Street for months, Sherlock cracks a joke and says he didn’t even notice; however, this scene immediately cuts to Watson visibly upset that Mary is not at home in her usual seat. The maid chastises him, but John holds back because it’s Mary’s job to talk to the help (just as it’s John’s job to do the emotional stuff instead of Sherlock). And just as the conversation gets too emotionally taxing for Sherlock to think about, the case picks up again with the maid suddenly interrupting the scene with a telegram from Holmes regarding the next bit of the case.
We see this again when Holmes and Watson have an argument about Watson being too fanciful and letting his imagination get the better of him. In the next scene, Carmichael says of his wife:
C: She's an hysteric, prone to fancies.
C: I'm sorry. What did you say?
S: I said, 'No, she's not an hysteric.' She's a highly intelligent woman of rare perception.
C: My wife sees terror in an orange pip.
S: Your wife can see worlds where no one else can see anything of value whatsoever.
C: Can she really? And how do you deduce that, Mr. Holmes?
S: She married you. I assumed she was capable of finding a reason.
Clearly Sherlock is thinking of his relationship with John.
Throughout the episode, whenever Sherlock delves in too deeply with his emotions, the conversation suddenly cuts off with a break in the case.
Mary: There’s a lot I can say about Mary here. But I’ll just quote Holmes, “She thinks she's found the solution. For no better reason than that, she's put herself in the path of considerable danger.” Sound like anyone we know?
Sherlock’s Victorian Mind Palace was a way not only for Sherlock to work out a (less personally-involved) case similar to the one he is working on now, but is also a way for him to analyze his emotions: all of his fears, worries, doubts, jealousies, inferiorities, and loneliness. And only after he is able to beat his demons is he able to put emotions aside in order to successfully work on the case currently at hand.
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