#td-12

Hi Nonny!

YES! This was a theory I had going on too; that it all started as Unreliable narrator and became more muddled as the TD-12 was introduced into both John and Sherlock’s systems, either on purpose or nefariously. It’s never really stated what Sherlock is on in TLD – I think we just assume it was coke or heroin – but could it have been the TD-12 drug? In the canon story, Holmes “takes” the drug to fool Smith, so the possibility is there that Sherlock did indeed take the drug himself and John was exposed to it somehow. 

I mean, I maintain some skepticism obviously, especially with the way Mofftiss are behaving post-S4, but like you I find that there’s so many little things and inconsistencies that have me suspecting that there is something more, even if that “something more” is finishing the story in the fifth season.

There are moments you shouldn’t try to go deeper, there is a reason we need suspension of disbelief.

Because TD-12? It’s a mess and thinking about it makes the scene with Culverton and his ‘friends’ even creepier.

“TD-12. We sell mainly to dentists and hospitals for minor surgical procedures. Interferes with the memory.“

...how many of you went to their dentist and got an IV?

Anyway, I’m going to let that one pass. Moving on...

You go to the doctor (or the dentist), you’re going to be operated and someone is going to give you TD-12. This is an amazing drug, they tell you, you’re not going to remember anything ever happened once he’s done with you.

We know, considering its use, that you are not going to be under general anesthesia, you’re going to be awake. If anyone decides to tell you that they’re going to operate on you and you won’t remember a single thing, you should run away screaming.

Because, at no moment did they tell you you’re not going to be in pain.

TD-12 isn’t morphine, or cocaine, it is never said it is an analgesic or a painkiller. The only effet we know is the memory loss. And the only reason you would need to forget your operation isn’t because you’re scared of the needle, it’s because you’re going to be in a lot of pain.

They are going to hurt you, but it’ll be okay because you won’t remember the pain.

Anethesia vs Amnesia, the difference between the two is the same than the one between being healed and being tortured.

TD-12 is a torture device and Culverton is using it the correct way. And, as nobody remembers what Culverton is doing, he’s torturing them every time and they always come back in that room.

JOHN: What’s TD12? SHERLOCK: It’s a memory inhibitor. CULVERTON: Bliss. JOHN: Bliss? CULVERTON: Opt-in ignorance. Makes the world go round

But  if you decide to take TD-12, if you decide to choose ‘forget’, you can never move forward nor escape the pain. It’s not because you don’t remember that it isn’t there. Because it will inevitably come back.

The only reason this ended is because, despite everything, Faith decided to find a way to remember, to face the truth. And even though she forgot immediately afterward, Eurus gave the note to Sherlock.

In The Six Thatchers, when David Wellsborough receives the phone call from his son Charlie, I noticed that the camera gave us a close up view of the table in which he sat his glass of champagne. There didn’t seem to be anything particularly interesting in the shot, other than a photo of what appeared to be Charlie taking a photo of himself in a mirror. 

But then I noticed something else. 

 What’s going on with Wellsborough’s glass? Is there something attached to it? Or to Wellsborough’s arm?

See that bright line right underneath Wellsborough’s hand? What is that? At first I thought maybe it was just a reflection from something or something to do with the camera lens. 

But... no.

It’s a bit hard to see in the full screen cap. 

Here’s the same shot, zoomed in and with the exposure cranked up:

Weird, right? What the hell is that? 

Probably nothing, after all, it’s fairly difficult to see. 

Although... 

Wow. That really is a string running from his arm to the table. And there’s more strings or lines running down the front of the table. 

Here’s the same shot with the exposure cranked up again:

Definitely a line running from Wellsborough’s arm to the table. But what else do we see? Lines running down the front of the table?

I don’t know about anyone else, but those look really familiar. Haven’t we seen something like this before? 

Hmm... that TD-12 drug. That corrupts or erases memories. 

Or maybe... overwrites memories? 

This is a few seconds after Wellsborough answers the phone. The lines are gone. 

Oh, and that shot that sent me down this road? The close up of the table? 

Yeah, no tubes or wires. Even though they were definitely there and visible before and after this shot. 

Corrupted memories? Memories being overwritten??? 

I’m aware that this probably sounds weird at first, but, as a writer myself, I tend to notice syntax/statement patterns - especially, when they’re outstandingly cryptic and contrary to the usual atmosphere of themes/words/sentence structures used. As to that, Eurus is a riddle I’d love to solve; and I think I’ve drawn an conclusion that might be significant to the Faith!Eurus/Faith Smith-issue.

At first, some of Eurus’s most remarkable statements (you may see where I’m going with all of this while reading them):

“Good and bad are fairytales.” (nice Moriarty-mirroring, btw) “Good isn’t really good, evil isn’t really wrong, and bottoms aren’t really pretty.” “Smiling is advertising.” ”Smiling is happiness.” “Happiness is a pop song. Sadness is a poem.” “Helping someone is the best way you can help yourself.” “Withholding the precise deadline will apply the emotional pressure more evenly.” “The gun is intended as a mercy.”

She combines two things in an almost philosphical, cryptic, complex, extraordinary, partially disturbing way whose meaning you can still decrypt in general - I guess that is how Moftiss want to emphasize her ability of “reprogramming” people.

She uses parataxes in order to make her statements more poignant and rememberable. Also, this way of talking/writing makes things generally more convincing, because it is simple, short and does not leave place or time for doubts.

So, yeah, Eurus is quite manipulative. (To an extent that most of her sentences are stuck in my head, because they are also structured like a catchy tune.)

With this knowledge, let’s move to the first scene we get to see Faith - the “real” one:

Obviously, she is not played by Sian here; but isn’t it interesting that they decided to just partially make a voiceover with Sian's voice? The connection between Faith and Eurus still has to be subtle at this point, so the only time we get to hear Gina is when she is off-screen (”And what is that?”) - subtle way of messing with our senses while we probably don’t even notice it, because we don’t get a face to connect the voice with, which is why our brain doesn’t quite notice that it is fooled.

By the way, do you feel reminded of something, knowing about Eurus’s remarkable syntax now, when Faith - voiceovered by Eurus - is saying this line:

? In this context, hearing Faith say those words, don’t make too much sense, I think, since it does not fit into her actual sentence structure (which is quite ordinary, btw) and therefore sounds like a quote - by Eurus?

Think of it: The entirety of this scene is about memory alteration/erasing. This is even the way Faith is introduced to us; knowing that Eurus got hold of her note somehow and later visited Sherlock in 221B, “disguised” as Faith, where she even shows a picture of the real Faith to Sherlock, how is it even possible that Sherlock doesn’t notice the difference between those two women?

Maybe, because they aren’t two different persons.

Faith is fake? Yes. In some way. I think so for two reasons:

When she enters the mortuary, “You Look Different” is playing - and there is Moriarty-notes playing throughout ONE whole minute - though Moriarty, obviously, is not present. Give me another plausible explanation than the one I have come up with if you will, because it is driving me NUTS: Moriarty caused all this mess and messed with Sherlock’s memory by the use of TD-12 (the way Faith is introduced to the audience and the theme she is heavily associated with - so, maybe, she is an allegory for exactly that: for memory alteration?) - even though I still don’t know for what explicit reason.

The voiceover with Eurus’s voice and Faith!Eurus make my alarm bells ring heavily, since Price and Arnold said that - although it is heavily altered and almost not recognisable - scenes with Faith!Eurus contain Eurus’s notes indeed, though in a “buried” way. But why is it “buried”? Why does it have to be? I’m telling you: If they would’ve associated Faith with Eurus more blatantly, if they wouldn’t have remained subtle about the Faith-issue, if they would have put even more focus on the obvious fuckery revolving around Faith and Eurus!Faith, more people would have maybe started to question their senses and the hidden clues and themes of the show; people would’ve started to maybe re-watch it, looking for inconsistencies/parallels/alterations as we do. But you know what? “Ignorance is bliss.”

This one has been done for us.