#eemp

Here are some posts regarding that topic. Just in case if you  are interested of course. I'm not trying to convince anyone either. In the end it's just an idea like many others out there. Who knows how this sory will turn out in the end? I'm just guessing. :)

What might have happened on January 15th?   The stage is set - the curtain rises   When Sherlock lies drugged in a cab   A dog barks in the night   He hasn’t woken up yet

The last addition on this thread.   And the very first time I posted about it is here. But back then I stood still at the beginning of that road. This one goes just back to TEH.  

Your question though was:  Why would Sherlock 'imagine' the show as we got it?

When I'm thinking about 'PILOT-VERSE' the most likely starting point that comes to my mind is - Sherlock lying drugged in that cab. Drugs as an explanation for everything that goes on in Sherlock's mind, in certain episodes, is nothing new. In fact this has been discussed a lot already ... just with a different starting point ... the flight to his exile/hospital in HLV.

In Jeff Hope's cab:   Of course I can only assume what might be going on in Sherlock's head in a situation like this. As we hear Jeff Hope say:

CABBIE: Do a lot of drugs, Sherlock ’olmes? SHERLOCK: Not in a while. CABBIE: I ask ’cause you’re very resilient

... the possibility exists that Sherlock isn't completely unconscious for long and I think his brain would go as fast as humanly possible and as long as it is able to,  in this circumstances. Sherlock knows he has been kidnapped by a dangerous serial killer. He knows how all the other victims died. He knows Hope is clever. And he certainly knows that he is rather helpless himself at the moment. Sherlock also knows that his only chance of surviving is John Watson ... if that doctor is clever enough to notice that Sherlock's plan has gone wrong, of course.

To me it seems quite clear in the PILOT - but also in ASIP - that both men are very interested in each other right from the first meeting in Molly's lab. John's questions at Angelo's are more than telling. To me this doesn't look like 'supressed sexuality'. On the contrary. John goes for it at the very first fitting moment. And Sherlock too realizes at once what John is asking him. Hence Sherlock's answer:

SHERLOCK: John, you should know that I consider myself married to my work, and while I’m flattered by your interest, I’m really not looking for any kind of ..

At this moment Sherlock might still never have considered a realtionship of that kind. But who knows. Maybe pulling off that act with a potential serial killer was already Sherlock's attempt to impress John. It would be a fittin behaviour for him, I think.

What would go through Sherlock's head then ... in this life threating situation inside the killers cab ... or afterwads at the place Jeff Hope takes him to ... wherever that is.

Surely Sherlock's brain would still be working on that special case. Working in the hope he might find a solution .... a possibility to survive?

Another point to consider is Sherlock's own suicidal tendencies. Therefore I think it quite plausible that Sherlock has at some point maybe the wish to give up and let everything go. It's probably the thought of John Watson who prevents him from doing this.

Worry, because he noticed John's suicidal tendencies very well. What might happen to this interesting army doctor if Sherlock isn't there anymore to provide ... adventures?

Anger and guilt because he has been so stupid to approach this killer in that way? Big brother was right after all?

Regret because now he would maybe never have the chance to get to know this army doctor better? To share a flat with him. Being colleagues, being friends, being more than friends? How could something like this turn out? Would I even like it? Why have I never? What is wrong with me? Who am I? What made me like this?

Sherlock's brain is incredibly fast. One question might lead to another. And maybe the influence of the drugs trigger long forgotten - supressed - memories? Memories regarding his family, his past ....

And finally .... there is still the possibility Sherlock took the pill ... or was forced to take it. All that stuff about drowning and asphyxiation throughout the story could be an indicator for such an occurance. Who knows? Though it could also be just the fear of such an outcome .... because the chances to become the next victim of Jeff Hope would be rather overwhelming from Sherlock's POV, I think. So, yes ... I think all of what is shown from ASIP to TFP could be very well going on inside Sherlock's head. Played out in scenarios on his Mind-Stage ... which is, as I think, a special 'tool' Sherlock created/cultivated to solve cases. Something he uses on a regular basis for all kinds of unsolved problems.

Jim - a confrontation with Sherlock's darkest fears ... in multiple aspects like sexuality, depression, suicidal tendencies ....

Irene - Sherlock's view on sexuality in general .... that he might be dominated by it, become a 'prisoner of his own meat'

Mary - the realisation that he is hiding behind a facade, then looking for the reason why his brain had the need to create that mask in the first place. On another level Sherlock might picture himself married to John or how it might feel if he loses John.

Smith - recognizing and dealing with drug addiction

Magnusson - Sherlock's worst fear of what he might become if he 'deletes' his heart entirely?

Eurus - the part of him connected to everything he tried to 'delete' ... everything Sherlock opted to never remember. The Memory that comes back after the facade broke down.

In a situation where Sherlock's existance is in immediate mortal danger ... or he is (hopefully not) already dying ... I think it plausibel that his extraordinary brain would work at full speed and probably on several different levels at the same time. Going from one level to the next. Going back and starting anew. Combining different levels. Distilling the most important thoughts.

Sorry, Moni ... this got a bit longish. Seems you opened a floodgate. :)))  Anyway, I could picture a situation like this and I would honestly like it. Exploring how Sherlock'a brain works from the inside ...  in a situation like this .... this is a thrilling idea. But if it turns out any other way .... well, I'm certainly open for many variations. :)))))

August, 2017

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But where does this row of experiments start? Even before 'The Final Problem' I considered a rather early beginning. After this dreamlike episode I suspect such an outcome  even more to be possible. Maybe Sherlock is indeed lying in a cab, druged and helpless.

Knowing he is on his way to a location where he will be killed. Hoping his new doctor friend is indeed pretty damn smart and able to rescue him in time. If so ... I think Sherlock will not be dissapointed.

JOHN: Something’s gone wrong. ANGELO: No, no, no. All part of the plan. ANGELO: Sherlock always has a plan. JOHN: Yes, and it’s gone wrong.

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A STUDY IN PINK

The first time  an experiment is mentioned it is about human eyes.

DONOVAN: Are these human eyes? SHERLOCK: Put those back! DONOVAN: They were in the microwave! SHERLOCK: It’s an experiment.

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THE HOUNDS OF BASKERVILLE

This episode is packed with mentions of Experiments. The whole Baskerville complex is a place dedicated to experiments. And it's the episode where the first time a red Irish Setter appears.

JOHN: Oh God. It was you. You locked me in that bloody lab. SHERLOCK: I had to. It was an experiment

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THE ABOMINABLE BRIDE

Several events from previous episodes appear in Sherlock's victorian dream. Especially ASIP, THOB and ASIB are heavily featured.

STAMFORD: It’s an experiment, apparently.

SHERLOCK: ... running an experiment: how would I have solved the crime if I’d been there in 1895

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THE FINAL PROBLEM

A culminaton of impossible, irreal and surreal events are leading Sherlock back to where he once started.

EURUS: This is an experiment.

SHERLOCK: Molly, this is for a case. It’s ... it’s a sort of experiment. MOLLY: I’m not an experiment, Sherlock. SHERLOCK: No, I know you’re not an experiment. You’re my friend.

EURUS: Saved her? From what? Oh, do be sensible. There were no explosives in her little house. Why would I be so clumsy? You didn’t win. You lost. EURUS: Look what you did to her. Look what you did to yourself. EURUS: All those complicated little emotions. I lost count. Emotional context, Sherlock. It destroys you every time

SHERLOCK: This isn’t torture; this is vivisection. We’re experiencing science from the perspective of lab rats

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The case of the empty coffin. It mirrors very closely a scene in the previous episode 'The Empty Hearse'. A huge bomb in danger to explode. Sherlock confessing to get a confessin. And John and Molly perfect mirrors for one another from the very start of the story.

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THE EMPTY HEARSE

Constant repetitions, people and situations mirroring themselves over and over again. Severness and darkness permanently increasing. Sherlock conducting similar experiments under different conditions. Not with other people but with himself. Sherlock is investigating himself. He is deducing himself. He is evaluating himself. In the end he is dissecting himself to the degree of torture.

Why would he do this to himself? What for? Why is he so determind to change himself. Why does he want to become a good man so badly? Maybe because:

Who you think I am is the man who I want to be ...

January, 2017

Thanks @callie-ariane for the scrips.