Sherlock

Patrick and I saw the Reichenbach Fall episode of Sherlock last night. It's a tour de force emotionally, due in the good part to the acting. The two leads were wonderful as usual, and the guy playing Moriarty was terrific. But I'm not sure the script works. I don't really believe the twists or the explanations. Because of the way the show is paced -- very quickly, with many jumps -- I don't find it especially easy to follow, which I don't mind. But I will have to watch it again to decide about the script. The other problem is -- it's a cliffhanger. Good thing there will be another season.

Mark Gaddis has said there's a clue hidden in the Reichenbach Fall episode, which tells viewers how Sherlock survived the fall at the episode's end. Patrick went on line and discovered there are entire sites devoted to explaining what the clue might be. He spent a couple of hours looking at them, but stopped himself before he watched a video reenactment of the fall made by a zealous fan, showing what might have happened. But he bookmarked the video.

I am struggling with a short story at the moment. It's SF and intended to be funny. I had a solution to the narrator's problem, but it required one coincidence too many. I worry about plausibility when writing comic SF. Do the writers of Sherlock worry? The cliffhanger at the end of the first season is resolved when Moriarty gets a call on his cell phone. Apparently it's Irene Adler, offering hims a deal he cannot refuse, if he will let Sherlock and John live. Likely? Not really. For one thing, how does she know what's going on? And how does she manage to call at just the right moment?

And yet they have an insane smash hit... Of course, it really helps to have Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman and all the other wonderful English actors.