A Better Story: [Part Two] A Study in Structure & Series One

This video is the second installment of a larger retrospective series. Click the link below to be taken to the full playlist! Part Two looks back at Series One of BBC Sherlock, including an in-depth analysis of the structure of the first twenty minutes to establish a few concepts I'll be referring back to throughout the retrospective.
A Better Story
• A Better Story
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
02:19 A Study in Structure
20:36 (The Rest of) A Study in Pink
35:46 Intermission: The Blogs
37:35 The Blind Banker
52:38 The Great Game
01:11:29 Conclusion
From a Drop of Water
archiveofourow...
Social Media
Tumblr: / victorianpining
Main Twitter: / legendofrebekah
Sources
A Chat with Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss. Premium Hollywood, 2010:
www.premiumholl...
Steven Moffat Babel SVT:
• Babel, interview Steve...
Comic Con 2015:
• SHERLOCK Comic Con Panel
"Indecency"
en.wikipedia.o...
M-Theory (My Beloved):
docs.google.co...
John's Blog Web Archive:
web.archive.or...
Science of Deduction Web Archive:
web.archive.or...
Molly Hooper's Website Web Archive:
web.archive.or...
Mark Gatiss Introduces Private Life:
• Mark Gatiss on The Pri...
The Valley of Fear 1915:
www.gutenberg....
Mark Gatiss for The Strand Magazine 2015:
strandmag.com/...
FAIR-USE COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER:
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Reference:
support.google....
www.multiplech....
Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976:
www.copyright....
www.copyright....

[@sarahuchoa4018]

I'm so tired from college. Nothing better than to sit and lunch listening to some good TJLC analysis😌.

[@trutrustories5223]

Wow! If nothing else, they really WERE raising those questions deliberately. You are explaining that thesis amazingly! I particularly liked your study in structure. And also what better way of revisitng all Sherlock episodes, than through your analysis! It´s just great💛

[@TJLCExplained]

Thank you Tru!! Glad you're enjoying!

[@benjalucian1515]

Sherlock literally asks John out [to Angelo's]. "I like company when I go out..." Really Sherlock? Since when? Is this the same Sherlock who in "Many Happy Returns" avoided John's birthday dinner because "people will be there"? Sherlock was hitting hard on John in "A Study in Pink". He's never that nice to anyone else when just meeting them. And yes, Sherlock is clearly not into women. "Not my area". But he doesn't say the same about men. "So, you have a boyfriend? And it's OK." Sherlock does NOT say "Not my area", he pretty much implies that he is into men, "I know it's OK", but is currently single. "So, you have a boyfriend?" "No." Been pretty obvious since Ep 1, Series 1.

[@ptowzapotato4157]

"a significant portion is dedicated to his tragic backstory" when I first tried to read the book making it through the deserts of Utah was so hard, and I didn't see the point of it. Seeing that it's about religious persecution over love and connecting that to the main story, definitely makes it a lot more useful.

[@christinechapman2074]

Continuing to watch episode by episode. This is bringing up so many memories and emotions for me. I'm laughing, I'm angry, I'm remembering it all. Wonderful analysis and editing as always. I really love the concept behind this revisit that johnlock as endgame was ultimately a better story than what we got. No one will ever be able to convince me that we were wrong to believe. I hope you know how bright and intelligent you are. You have such a talent, it's so devastating that series 4 made us all doubt ourselves.

[@Mel-zl2pz]

the EXCITEMENT I felt when the notif for one of your vids appeared. Just like old times

[@merid2499]

I'm thinking a lot about how TJLC theory and your videos about it is such a masterpiece. It doesn't really matter for me if the writers did these things on purpose or not. But the analysis that fans made together is even "better story" (as you named this series) for me, than the story they were explicitely telling. I love how Sherlock BBC makes people question things and make amazing beautiful meanings in the story. The fact that Mark and Steven could just play with us is upsetting, but it doesn't make the theories any less valid and beautiful for me.

[@juliemyers12]

Long ago, I concluded that Moffatt is repressing homosexual feelings, because it comes out ( oops) in every show he writes. Good thing he has writing as an outlet for telling the actual truth,; better than getting physically ill from the secret- keeping. It’s entirely possible, even probable, that it is completely subconscious on his part. This is why he seems kind of angry at the continual “harping” of fans on the gay subtext: he genuinely does not see it. He can’t see it, ever.

[@TS-kj8og]

For some reason this comment KILLED me. I hope Moffat finds himself one day! In the meantime, though, I'll remain wholly resentful of him for exploiting us, deliberately or otherwise. I wonder what Gatiss was thinking, too.

[@atomiccavalier5354]

So glad you’re back & sharing again! I came to TJLC conclusion on my own from Series 1-Series 3, but your videos helped me so much by clarifying what I knew I was seeing. I still think we were all right. The evidence WAS there. Maybe your question about the authors just wanting to ask the question and never answer it is correct. After Series 4 nothing else makes sense. Who spends hundreds of thousands and nearly ten years of effort to make Series 4?

[@ngothingocminh61]

They seem to be really proud of Series 4, if that means something. Like Mark Gatiss said in an interview that S4 is their favourite/their best (I don’t remember their wording). And Steven Moffat said TFP might have the edge over his best work - ASiB. That doesn’t make much sense if you ask me. So either the writers are really full of themselves (which I don’t believe because if you know you didn’t spend that much effort in doing something you wouldn’t be that proud), or there must be something about S4 that they are really proud of.

[@atomiccavalier5354]

@@ngothingocminh61 or, like they always say in interviews, they’re lying. I can’t look at Series 4 and see good work unless the point of S4 was to make it bad enough to stand out in some way. So I have to go with them lying about S4 in every way. Nothing else makes sense…

[@ngothingocminh61]

@@atomiccavalier5354 Well I think they did it deliberately but I don’t want to start an argument or something… It’s just that there are still a lot of mirror characters and the subtextual layer makes sense to me.

[@atomiccavalier5354]

@@ngothingocminh61 no, no intent to to argue. Just so frustrated with Series 4 I sound like I’m arguing. Hearing you say you see mirrors and a subtext layer that makes sense to you makes me feel much better. I don’t see it and it was very disappointing, but I’m going to hold on to viewers like you who do and just hope I’m missing the meaning.

[@juliemyers12]

There are two brilliant articles on Medium analyzing S4 as Brechtian theatre of the absurd- there was supposed to be a third article; I keep checking to see if she’s posted it. Look for them, everybody.

[@howlynnmartin1356]

Oh, and something that always bugged me about the explosion.. John had just left. How did he not hear the boom? Even a few blocks away, he had to have heard it. If my street blows up, I would probably turn around and at least wonder if my stuff is okay not to mention my annoying flatmate!😏😂

[@benjalucian1515]

I said the same thing when the episode first came out. People came out with all kinds of excuses "He'd caught a taxi" or "He went underground into the Tube station" and didn't hear it. I was like, "No way. That explosion tore out the front of a building, broke windows and knocked people down."

[@ngothingocminh61]

I think it’s pointless to discuss about why when it concerns time and locations in Sherlock. Like Moriarty is able to come from the court to 221B just in a short period of about 5 minutes of boiling water, as Sherlock said “kettle has just boiled”. They just don’t care about that. 😭😭😭

[@ananananabop]

Rewatching this great series of yours as I work ❤

[@ThePonderer]

Damnit this retrospective is actually giving me the impulse to rewatch some of this show for the very first time since it ended.

[@mori5509]

Same!

[@MB-it6bp]

My first encounter with Sherlock Holmes in my teenage years. I watched Jeremy Brett's Sherlock in fox channel that too with a hindi dubbing, even back then apart from it's intriguing story what catches my eyes more is the pure love ( platonic or romantic) they had for each other. After a long time just last year I found BBC Sherlock and subsequently your channel then there is no looking back, now these two man became a part of my life, and i am so contented with the fact.

[@carpefuego]

This is so good. Damn glad you did this!! Such careful, reasonable, invigorating thinking with such a genuine, infectiously warm attitude!! ❤ Boss.

[@absurdisms1895]

the fact that I've read the scripts for these and even seen parts before you uploaded and still I'm enjoying every second so much just shows how good you are at this 🤍 can't wait to get to the ones I don't know much about yet!

[@TJLCExplained]

Thank you so much Moe!!! I am especially excited for you to see the last two 👀

[@absurdisms1895]

@@TJLCExplained I'll send you live reactions!! ahdndn

[@kgoofy3297]

So so glad you’re doing this, I’m a huge fan of your work here, whether you had TJLCE up or down these five years I would seek it out periodically and be really sad when there was nothing to find. TJLC was just fun and so much of it and so concentrated and you communicated it so deftly and for me that’s the legacy of this channel. Nothing I’ve found in the five years since has compared. Can’t wait for the next installment ❤️

[@howlynnmartin1356]

I am so excited to hear your retrospective vision of this. It has been a very long time and part of the joy was that the jokes were so casual and all over the place. And on our first view of SH, what did you see? You saw a man above you, a perspective of an inverted lover? Then you see him handling a riding crop, later used as a seggz toy, by the woman!😂😂 (But they certainly didn't Mean it that way!!) Yet they never explain what else that could mean. Lol. Thanks again for a wonderful show.

[@Junoisverysleepy]

Ahh what a beautiful video to enjoy on the Train. This series is feeding my video essay addiction and it’s wonderful

[@TJLCExplained]

On a train eh? 🚂

[@ladyblakeney]

I don't know if I've commented before, but I am so glad you're back! I love your analysis of this show, regardless of what the show ultimately ends up being, and I'm so glad you were able to work through your experience with series 4 and come back to finish your analysis here. 💖

[@bluecladchipmunk]

Another amazing video! This is highlighting some of my main reasons why after all this time and despite some of the hurt I've had from the show I still really enjoy it. It's a fantastic analysis and a fantastic retrospective. I can tell the amount of time that you've put into thinking about this and put into working on it. And I can really feel all the emotional labor that went into this as well.

[@howlynnmartin1356]

Also, why does John Only ever pair Sherlock with people he kind of hates at the moment? "Hope you'll be very happy together...You two should have got married(mary) and She's alive and available(because of all the girlfriend recommendations, existence and breathing are very convincing) And for Janine? Well, while Sherlock was dead on a table, John took it upon himself to break up with the girl, for Sherlock, probably whilst she was concussed! 😂😂😂 John's priority during Sherlock's near death, is to make sure his love life is totally gone, so there is nobody getting in the way of Taking Care of Sherlock, but John!😆😂😂

[@benjalucian1515]

John spends a lot of time trying to hook Sherlock up with anyone but him even when he KNOWS it's a bad fit ("Trust you to fall for a psychopath").

[@oliakowal4558]

Thank you Rebecca for your blogs, i badly know english but each time when i watched my vocabulary growth:) adorable so much

[@butterflymilk6240]

Can we take a second to admire your choice of placing your funkos in the background like this?

[@charliewisse9085]

As someone who had only experienced BBC Sherlock and TJLC via random tumblr posts on my pinterest dash and has never seen the show and read its scripts until recently for the purpose of study as a writer, I find these videos extremely interesting and helpful because of the in depth analysis of the show not just in the context of TJLC but as a stoy with themes and subtext. I think this series is also a good example on "Death of the Author" and how it can enhance a story. Just want to say thank you for making this series for both TJLCs and non (like me).

[@jaimeerindy4573]

As I'm watching this and you mention "which is at odds with what happens in series 4", I'm actually remembering what happened in series 4 and... my god. I can't wait to hear your answer for all of that.

[@miracle_prelude4392]

A friend of mine told me about a year ago that your channel existed and oh booooy... I've watched all your videos and I enjoy it so much! Thank you for coming back! I finished From a Drop of water two months ago but I reading it again jsjsjs so you will leave some comments. And ohhh the music from the playlist! I discovered so much music from there. Thank you for that too. Gracias! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@donajivenegas1705]

I didn't have idea about the formula, contradiction after contradiction, amazing. Very interesting about what Sherlock says and does being different, because as an actress my teachers taught me to focus on the actions of the character more than focus on the dialogue, actions speak louder than words(?). Also really refreshing analysis, maybe because you have a new perspective, and the uncertainty... we can only theorize and make it make sense for us. I wonder what would have happened with BBC Sherlock if they left it at the cliffhanger, never to be renewed... Can't wait to see the next chapters.

[@MoogieSRO]

This is an amazing analysis so far. The rest can't come out soon enough!

[@jamiecahill9846]

This is the comeback I needed rn

[@freowyn6415]

Becs the bisexual lighting in the bg... chef's kiss

[@TJLCExplained]

Oh, just you wait until Part Six 💗💜💙

[@rivkavermeij]

I'm excited about this new bout of videos 😁

[@bez_b]

Oh hi Mark😂 i can't I just can't 😂

[@KajsaBernhardina]

Excellent breakdown of series 1! You are so talented!

[@yours_eve2001]

The Game is mind blowing ! WOW! So, you think the writers lied again when they said they did not lie ?

[@pierreroberts9169]

Man still talk tough big brother studio . Olympics

[@pierreroberts9169]

Smoke and mirrors roll the dice ❤

[@LaceyWright98]

Can I ask why you hid your season 3 episode break downs? They were so good. Not trying to pressure you to re-add them. I respect your choice for sure, but I would love to watch them again! I adore all of your videos, I believe in your reading of the show, and I still stand by the Johnlock ship. It is WAY too explicit for all the creators' claims that we were insane for shipping them. I think it was a gross case of queerbaiting to get views. They gaslighted the viewers into believing we were crazy for shipping them because they didn't want to admit to queerbaiting. Nothing will ever change my mind: the romantic tension was specifically put there. Even if it was only put there to tease us, it was there.

[@TJLCExplained]

That was not my decision I’m afraid, the videos were blocked by the bbc on copyright grounds, along with episodes 14, 46, and 47

[@LaceyWright98]

@@TJLCExplained DAMN! Season 3 had so much to dissect, and you did an amazing job. Anyway you could repost with less copyright material? I understand if you can't or don't want to. Anyway, thank you for this channel. I come back to these videos all the time. They're the best out there.

[@TJLCExplained]

I might at some point but right now I need a LOOOONG break from video editing

[@benjalucian1515]

I second the request for Series 3 reposting. Once you've had a nice long break. I love your series and I'm loving this new one as well.

[@juliemyers12]

Long ago, I concluded that Moffatt is repressing homosexual feelings, because it comes out ( oops) in every show he writes. Good thing he has writing as an outlet for telling the actual truth,; better than getting physically ill from the secret- keeping. It’s entirely possible, even probable, that it is completely subconscious on his part. He genuinely cannot see it.

[@juliemyers12]

Lovely sweater 😘

[@QuotePilgrim]

I've only watched Sherlock somewhat recently, several years after it had ended, and only some time after that I learned about TJLC, and I was very baffled about it. During my watching of the show, I never considered the possibility that either Sherlock or John might be gay, let alone come to be in a romantic relationship with each other at all. And initially I didn't understand how anyone could possibly believe that was a possibility, it just seemed so absurd. Here's the thing, I'm an asexual, which probably explains why TJLC doesn't work for me. I look at all the scenes that people point as being indicators of Sherock being gay, and to my mind they couldn't possibly be any clearer indicators that he's asexual. Even that one scene from The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes ("the answer is yes, you're being presumptuous"), even though it definitely intended to imply he's gay (from what I understand, I haven't seen the movie), still only seems it's implying asexuality, and thinking it implies homosexuality feels like too much of a leap. Him not being interested in women does not really imply he's interested in men, and to think it does, to me, is one assumption too many. To be fair, while reading the books way back in middle school, years before BBC Sherlock, I already thought Holmes was asexual (despite not knowing the word for it and not having fully realized I was), so I did come to the show looking for confirmations of that interpretation of the character. So, because of my personal bias, Sherlock being asexual is the only interpretation I can possibly accept. My brain is incapable of looking at the character any other way. Anyway, I got sidetracked, what I really wanted to say is the video I learned about TJLC from mentioned this channel, but it also said it had been taken down. I found out you brought it back up by chance, as I searched TJLC only to rewatch a portion of that video. I'm glad you did, because I'm really interested in understanding this whole thing better and this channel will undoubtedly be of great help. I've watched a few other videos already, including the first in this series, and I'm very fascinated by this story. I'm also thinking of starting the original TJLC Explained series, so I can get a fuller understanding of what was happening in the fandom back then, but I've noticed some of the videos are missing, and I was wondering why, and if there's any chance you could bring the back. Sorry for taking this long to get to the point 😆

[@pierreroberts9169]

😊

[@pierreroberts9169]

Aware available and interested 🎉

[@ngothingocminh61]

ooh structure? 👁👁

[@pierreroberts9169]

Kicked out of the brother house 🎉

[@pierreroberts9169]

Adaptation 😅 🎉 Bruce parting-ton plans

[@hopipp]

holding out for that fifth pip.... 🙃

[@pierreroberts9169]

Smoke and mirrors role the dice 😢

[@susyycarlyle]

💞💞💞

[@pierreroberts9169]

Go into business with a grizzly bear. ❤

[@zoetevka4653]

♥️🙏🏻♥️

[@DominicaL1134]

28:40 "If you read my take on season 4" - where can we find this? I'd like to read it 😀

[@TJLCExplained]

It’s in the description (along with the sources I reference) but here you go! archiveofourown.org/works/34655509/chapters/86278909

[@pierreroberts9169]

Respect sublime deeply touching own life. ❤

[@pierreroberts9169]

Clashing again ❤🎉

[@annatevka8830]

💕😍

[@pierreroberts9169]

Shift 😢 can’t help no one that can only help himself 😮

[@vocaloid4arab684]

What tljc mean guys 😶

[@butterflymilk6240]

The Johnlock Conspirancy

[@Mel-zl2pz]

💕💕💕💞💕💞💕💞💕💞💕💞

[@pierreroberts9169]

Get off on it.

[@pierreroberts9169]

Cycling weekly.

[@pierreroberts9169]

IKEA

[@pierreroberts9169]

Stark like the bullock of Iraq

[@pierreroberts9169]

Hiding. ❤ the game is finding the true story.