#eastwind

“There’s an east wind coming all the same, such a wind as never blew on England yet. It will be cold and bitter, Watson, and a good many of us may wither before its blast. But it’s God’s own wind none the less and a cleaner, better stronger land will lie in the sunshine when the storm has cleared.”

So says Holmes in HLB, probably speaking of the World War, but it could also be of the new that advances, of the progress, of the new ideas. Thinking of BBC Sherlock as a rereading, an interpretation of the Canon, what significance could the Moffits have attributed to the wind of the east?

Let’s say that the theme of homosexuality is central. Let’s say that the fact that practically all the villains are homosexual is neither politically incorrect, nor caused by bad writing, hipocrisy, or a bad joke (although I can very well understand that it may not be appreciated at all, they are running on a line that is definitely too thin). It happens damn intentionally and that there is a reason behind it ( I think ).

In the period in which the Canon was written, homosexuality was a bad thing, at least it was considered a criminal thing. Even now it is not universally accepted. In BBC Sherlock many of the villains have ties to the east, Moriaty in the first place. We have the case of the Chinese circus, the Czech gallerist and also the Golem was from Czechoslovachia. There is the boy from Minsk to who Sherlock denies his help and there are the killers in TRF. During his “death” Sherlock, as well as Holmes, travels exclusively in East and in Serbia is captured and tortured. After his return the villains lose their ties with the east, they gradually become closer. There is Magnussen from Scandinavia, but then Culverton is English. But at that point, Eurus, the east wind, has arrived. Even the mess of AGRA happens in the East, Mycroft is always solving some international drama, Korea is mentioned, also in connection with Moran. Watson himself is no stranger to the joys and sorrows of the East. He was in Afghanistan from where he returned wounded in body and spirit (In the canon aboard the ship Orontes, name of a river that is known to flow in reverse). Everything that comes from the East is negatively connoted, but for Sherlock also the emotions are considered negatively. We are seeing reality from his point of sight. Contrary to the West there is repression. Mary is probably a former CIA agent, CIA agents intervene when Sherlock meets his sexuality, Irene. In America, Dr. Frankland began his studies on the HOUND project, an homophobic fog that can alter your behavior and change what you are and feel. Mrs. Hudson (whom I think represents Sherlock's heart) was married to a dissolute man involved with drugs... perhaps a reference to a possible promiscuous past of Sherlock when he used drugs. But his heart was not involved, he just typed. Whatever it is, it's been over, it's been over in America. We are facing the most classic Cold War's deployments. East against West. Waiting for the wind from the east to blow so strong as to break the wall (or the glass) and run free. I want to be free, said Moriarty. Small bonus, during the World War II, the code name for the invasion of the Soviet Union by the Axis was Operation Barbarossa (Readbeard). And someone used the same code to monitor the possible invasion of the east wind * usual quote about the coincidences * 

Sorry I‘m too late (again)…but it‘s very stressfull these days… I have to work all day long. Literally. So I couldn’t do it yesterday. I‘ll post Day 14 later today.

So here we go….

(And don’t get me wrong… I really loved and enjoyed my scary moments)