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ALPHA SHERLOCK

Analysing Ideological Themes in BBC’s ‘Sherlock’

Dean Lobo

Submitted for partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Mass Communication (MMC) with a specialization in Audio – Visual Production.

Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication (SIMC – PG), Pune

A Constituent of Symbiosis International University

Monday, 24th March, 2014

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research paper has been a journey of hard work and great discovery, both of the text as well as my own inclinations that will help me progress greatly in this industry; a journey that would not have been fully possible without the help of several people who contributed in ways little and big towards making the entire process possible.

I am grateful to the many Sherlock fans at Symbiosis International University I sound boarded my initial ideas and objectives to, who gave me constructive and critical feedback.

Special thanks to all the faculty members, in-house and visiting, for the knowledge they have imparted to us over these two years; so much of which came to good use while I wrote this paper. Knowledge is indeed a privilege that we need to earn, one that yields good fruit in the long run.

Lastly, but most importantly, I express my heartfelt gratitude to Professor Ruchi Jaggi who acted as facilitator and mentor for the duration of my dissertation. Her immense support and constructive criticism helped me shape this paper in the best possible manner that I could.

In the end, I hope this paper will serve to be a good and insightful read.

Dean Lobo

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To Mr. Sherlock Holmes.

Your mysteriously weird, yet charming ways inspired me to write this paper.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract Chapter I: Introduction to Sherlock Chapter II: Theoretical Framework and Design Chapter III: Data Collection and Analysis

1. The Holmes-Watson Relationship Dynamics

2. Sherlock versus the various Institutions 3. Women in Sherlock’s Universe 4. Sherlock versus Moriarty

Concluding Arguments References and Works Cited

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ABSTRACT

‘Alpha Sherlock’ is my attempt to understand Sherlock, a series that is contemporary in its look and feel and possesses a brilliant style of storytelling. When I decided to research this show, I chose it out of sheer passion for the series. Little did I realize that I would soon be faced with the question, ‘What do you want to research about in the show?’

As I watched it several times, I found several ideological themes based on gender, sexuality, race and class emerging from the show. This prompted me to take up this perspective or angle of research with regards to Sherlock.

While I have taken under study all the existing episodes of the series, I have chosen to analyse these themes only by looking at the characters; by which I mean, their physical appearance, mental make-up, what they think and do as well as character relationships and power dynamics within these relationships.

Using a combination of narrative analysis, thematic analysis and semiotic study, I have attempted to analyse the characters and their relationships in specific sequences and scenes in the series that bring out their attributes best.

I hope I have succeeded.

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Chapter 1

Introduction to Sherlock

Sherlock is the on-going contemporary crime drama show produced by Hartswood Films; that is based on the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The show places Sherlock Holmes in the 21st century where he also uses technology to his advantage. The stories are written borrowing from the different original stories of Holmes by Conan Doyle.

As of now, the series consists of three seasons each having three episodes of roughly, an hour and a half’s duration each. Season 1 was released in the year 2010. After positive reception, the production house produced seasons 2 and 3 which were released in 2012 and 2014 respectively.

The show is centred round Sherlock Holmes, the protagonist played by Benedict Cumberbatch who along with his friend and partner, Dr. John H. Watson, played by Martin Freeman solves some of London’s most deadly and toughest criminal cases.

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Chapter 2

Theoretical Framework and Design Objectives

1. Primary: To examine and explore ideological themes in the show 2. Secondary: To look at how characters and their relationships are used in conveying themes

Study Population

Sherlock – Seasons One, Two and Three

Sample under Study

All the three seasons of Sherlock; each containing three episodes.

Methodology

Qualitative textual analysis

Design

A combination of Thematic Analysis, Narrative Analysis and Semiotics

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Chapter 3

Data Collection and Analysis

Introduction

For this section, I have chosen to analyse the characters and their relationships in the show by classifying the process of collection and analysis under four broader ‘themes’ or parts. While I have selected all the episodes of the show for my study; within these episodes, I have done a convenient and judgemental sampling of the scenes and sequences which I thought if analysed and deconstructed would help bring out attributes and traits of the characters and their relationships best and would help further my objective.

We will visit this section in the following manner:

Part I – The Holmes – Watson Relationship Dynamics

Part II – Sherlock versus the various Institutions

Part III – Women in Sherlock’s Universe

Part IV – Sherlock versus Moriarty

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Part I

The Holmes – Watson Relationship Dynamics

Introduction

The relationship between Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson is perhaps the most central of all with regards to the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, the writers of Sherlock display great ingenuity in the way they have created and shaped the characters of Holmes and Watson. Though just two individuals, the characters each represent certain themes by manner of their physical appearance, mental makeup, the worlds they come from and their relationship with each other.

In her paper, ‘A study in Sherlock: Revisiting the relationship between Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John

Watson’ (2013) , Rebecca McLaughlin mentions: though ‘Sherlock’ places Holmes and Watson in a contemporary British society, the show actually draws from and relies on the original representation of the characters and their relationship as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle imagined so.

What then makes this relationship so central to the show and what ideological themes does the age old, yet seemingly fresh and interesting Holmes-Watson relationship draw out for us as viewers and analysers of content?

This section aims to deconstruct the characters of Sherlock and Watson as individuals first, thereby attempting to understand what each one stands for on their own. We will then move on to exploring the many facets that these characters posses when their worlds intersect.

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(a) How Sherlock and John are introduced to us

‘A Study in Pink’ is the curtain raiser on the entire Sherlock series. The first episode of the first season and of the series itself, it lays the very foundation for the characters, their universe and the story they will participate in with its tight and intricate plot structure. The show introduces John and Sherlock to us for the very first time. The aesthetic decisions with regards to framing and positioning the characters of Sherlock and John in this episode make for a rather interesting study on how the characters have been introduced to us. Let us see how.

Figure 1: John portrayed as vulnerable and in need of help (S01E01: ‘A Study in Pink’)

John Watson has been introduced to us as a former British army doctor who has been invalidated home after war. Refer to figure 1. This is the first sequence where we see him (for the first time) in his moment of greatest vulnerability. Watson is having a nightmare of a war scenario, one that he was involved in back then when he was in action. The nightmare abruptly cuts to a tight, top angle close up shot of John’s face when he wakes up, sweaty and appalled. He is broken to the extent that he breaks down in helplessness. Watson is literally trapped below the gaze of the camera. We seem to be ‘looking down’ on him. This sequence of shots immediately calls for us as viewers to feel for the character, to know that the situation he currently is in is not a good one. He is in desperate need of help. He is not the hero.

In the sequences that follow, John is then seen visiting his therapist who suggests to him to maintain a blog to help him get over his problem and in the long run, adjust to civil life. He is mentioned to be having trust issues and possessing a psychosomatic limp. This ‘prescription’ of writing a blog only sounds shallow in contrast to what John seems to be going through.

All this places him in a position of vulnerability and helplessness. It seems like he needs something or rather someone far greater to come to his rescue, who would be none other than Sherlock as we would

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see as the story progresses. John is represented and introduced to us in the context of war and the adverse effects it has on the human mind leading to symptoms of depression and absolute stress.

The first shot that introduces Sherlock on the other hand is very, very contrary to how we see Watson for the first time. Let us look at figure 2 now.

Figure 2: Meeting Sherlock Holmes for the first time (S01E01: ‘A Study in Pink’)

The first shot of Sherlock is framed in precise opposition. The time at which we first meet him is when he is examining a corpse at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, in order to prove an alibi. We are virtually positioned below him, taking the ‘perspective’ of the helpless corpse.

Firstly, the shot is in complete contrast to the shot that introduced Watson. The shot hence reverses our relationship with Watson. Also, taking the perspective of the corpse for a split second, the shot carries a lot of weight with it, conveying Sherlock in the context of great power, possessing a god-like aura.

Throughout the sequence, Holmes gets a heroic introduction. Infact, in the second shot that follows, we have still not seen Sherlock completely. We see him in the way Watson describes him in Conan Doyle’s literary work, ‘A Study in Scarlet’ as also pointed out by McLaughlin in her own paper:

‘His very person and appearance were such as to strike the attention of the most casual

observer. In height, he was rather over six feet, and so excessively lean that he seemed to be

considerably taller. His eyes were sharp and piercing […] and his thin, hawk-like nose gave his

whole expression an air of alertness and decision. His chin, too, had the prominence and

squareness which marks the man of determination […]’

(‘A Study in Scarlet’ by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, McLaughlin 8)

Holmes is hence portrayed as all knowing, the saviour, in control, unlike Watson; helpless, broken and in need of salvation. There is hence already an establishment of a relationship as to who the dominant character is and who the subordinate one is.

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The next sequence that we will look at makes use of framing to represent a relationship between these individuals now – a relationship that possesses several facets to it.

(b) The top – down relationship between Sherlock and John

In this sequence, John meets Sherlock for the first time through a mutual friend in the context that he needs a flatmate. Refer to figure 3.

Figure 3: Homes and Watson meet for the first time (S01E01: ‘A Study in Pink’)

The first frame has both John and Sherlock in it. Then, Sherlock begins to dominate the frame little by little until he completely ‘eclipses’ John and the other characters in the frame as well. Do note how the focus has also shifted completely onto Sherlock. For the remaining part of the sequence, Sherlock dominates the frame and also separates us from his world.

There just comes one time when the pattern is broken. Sherlock seals the deal and agrees to move in with John without even interacting with him well enough. As he is leaving, John calls on him saying, “Is that it? We’ve only just met, and we’re going to look at a flat? We don’t know a thing about each other...” (‘A Study in Pink’). This is the one time that john dominates the frame showing his assertiveness. However Sherlock reads John on the spot, deducing that he is an army doctor

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invalidated home, and agrees on the fact that his therapist thinks that his limp is psychosomatic; and this knowledge is enough for him to know John well enough to move in with him. At this point, the camera tracks out from John revealing how ‘small’ he is in his surroundings and in the eyes of Sherlock. Just by clever use of framing and aesthetics, the relationship that exists and is about to exist further between Sherlock and John is already established.

According to Elizabeth Reh, the show also presents a neat deconstruction of different kinds of masculinities in the show by way of different characters and their representations. Likewise is the case with Sherlock and John. Most male figures in the show fit into the framework of a ‘Victorian, capitalist business man’, suited in designer clothes and perfectly fitting coats. Mycroft, Holmes’ brother, Sherlock himself, Sebastian in ‘The Blind Banker’, et al all conform to this so called ‘archetype’ (more, a stereotype). However, if one were to look at Watson, he is mostly shown wearing ‘ridiculous jumpers’ as Reh puts it in her paper ‘A Study in Gender: BBC’s Sherlock, Masculinities and Gender Identities in the

Transmedia Fandom’. This itself positions John as subordinate to Sherlock, who is mostly seen wearing designer suits and his trademark coat. There is a difference of class on basis of physical appearance.

Besides this, Sherlock possesses the genius ability for deduction, most often even at first sight. This is what sets Sherlock apart from most of his contemporaries, a skill owing to which the police and government and not forgetting, clients are often in desperate need of him. This marvellous skill set of deduction and precise observation positions him at a much higher pedestal than Watson who is often in awe of how Sherlock manages to do it. When Sherlock deduces how the ‘pink lady’ came in from Cardiff and landed up dead, just by examining her wet clothes, John exclaims that the deduction was ‘fantastic’. Sherlock reminds him that he does this aloud a bit too often, but also does not mind it all the same. In ‘The Blind Banker’, there is a sequence that brilliantly juxtaposes the shots of Watson verbally fighting with a machine in the supermarket that refuses to accept his mode of payment, with those of Sherlock singlehandedly fighting a robed warrior as you can see in figure 4.

Figure 4: Worldly John verses Super Sherlock (S01E02: ‘The Blind Banker’)

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This parallel cutting of events portrays John as more worldly, someone who is bogged down by the cares of the world, and shows Sherlock to be above it all, capable of handling any situation alone. This simple juxtaposition also chalks out a relationship of dominance and sub-dominance where Sherlock and John are concerned. Sherlock is the one who is in control.

More often than not, Sherlock seems to pay no heed to what John is going through or even saying, owing to his own deep line of thought and observational deduction. When John is in need of money in ‘The Blind Banker’, Sherlock too busy in thought, talks about going to the ‘bank’ to investigate a case that he’s been called for and leaves; quite a contradictory thing to talk about. John is later seen even settling for the job of a locum doctor. Instances like this show that Sherlock perhaps transcends all worldly matters. Twice in this episode, Sherlock also goes into the site of investigation, leaving John out. He seems to be so involved with his work, that he hardly acknowledges John.

Though John does not possess that level of skill and genius as Sherlock, he is reasonably intelligent as well. However, going beyond knowledge, there is a relationship dynamics that they share clearly on basis of their personal natures. But, for the larger part, Sherlock is the greater one in the relationship.

There are far too many examples of this fact to enlist; however, the theme is predominantly recurrent throughout the series, even in the most recent third season to a certain extent. The theme is constantly played out through character positioning, narrative flow within the plot and dialogue content.

(c) Sherlock and John – the head versus the heart

Though Sherlock is the more superior figure in his relationship with John, the two characters also depend on each other to exist and come across the way they do. McLaughlin illustrates that Sherlock, on his own possesses all the qualities required to become a criminal degenerate, which on coming to think of it, is true. In almost all the episodes of the series, we see how Sherlock considers everyone around him to be inferior – even the police and government officials. Besides this, he lacks feelings and a conscience. In ‘The Great Game’, there comes a point when Watson reminds Holmes that the case of multiple hostages he is dealing with has real human lives at stake and asks if he ever cares about them. Sherlock replies with a plain face, “Will caring about them save them?” (‘The Great Game’). These attributes are the perfect fit for a criminal degenerate. However Sherlock is always ‘on the side of the angels’ and never succumbs to becoming like the criminals he encounters. A lot of this is owing to his friendship with John Watson. Watson serves to be Sherlock’s moral compass in many a case. He offers Sherlock ‘prevention from degeneracy’, states McLaughlin (McLaughlin 22). John often chides Sherlock’s ego reminding him of what he is meant to do. Sherlock who calls himself a high functioning

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sociopath, on account of his behaviour also does not work well professionally with the police or government, to the extent that he is unable to communicate with them properly as well. It is always John on the other hand who strikes the balance with his sense of morality and social skill, like in ‘The Blind Banker’, where he is seen actually empathizing with Inspector Sergeant Dimmock with regards to Sherlock’s weird behaviour. Thus John often uses his ‘humanness’ to bring balance to Sherlock’s life – one that is otherwise impulsive and often irrational. John is also a very loyal friend, a character attribute that is illustrated by a sequence in the first episode of season 1, where Holmes’ elder brother, Mycroft offers to pay John in exchange for information about Sherlock and John flatly declines the offer. Besides this, one must not forget that it is John’s blog that brings Sherlock his clients and in turn validates him to be the ‘world’s first consulting detective’. So there is one more important role that Watson plays in Sherlock’s life.

Sherlock is aware of the fact and does mention the role that Watson has to play in his life, which is very prominently done by him in his best man’s speech at John’s wedding in ‘The Sign of Three’. In his speech, he very specially makes mention of the case of the Bloody Guardsman, when Watson showed ultimate concern over attending to cure and save Bainbridge, the household guard, while Sherlock as usual stuck to trying to deduce who the killer was.

Just the way Sherlock is a little short of becoming a criminal degenerate if not for John, John too is in great need of regeneration when he is introduced to us. On being invalidated home, we see John to be without life’s purpose, not sure of himself, in need of a job and wanting to fit into society. However, when he meets Sherlock, he begins to feel a new sense of wanting to live. Sherlock greatly involves John in his cases. He makes John aware of his own skill set as a doctor that can help him solve cases. Sherlock hence helps Watson get back his identity. A very interesting fact about Watson is his blog, one that McLaughlin talks about as well. Till the time he meets Sherlock, John isn’t able to write a single word in his blog. He is without purpose, groping in the dark. However, the moment he meets Sherlock, accompanies and assists him in cracking some of England’s toughest cases, John begins to write extensively about them. It is through this platform that the world gets to know about Sherlock as a master detective, bringing him great recognition. The blog is in fact symbolic of the new meaning and purpose in the life of John Watson. The content on the blog really is symbolic of Sherlock himself who didn’t exist before, but now does, bringing meaning and a sense of looking forward. The same blog that was void before now attracts 1895 views overnight (season 2). McLaughlin says that Watson finds rehabilitation in his relationship with Sherlock and is able to re-enter society by means of solving cases with Sherlock and writing about them. His life gains perspective as well.

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Along with this, it is noteworthy to trace the arc that John’s character takes with Sherlock in his life. From a traumatized army doctor, home from war, visiting a therapist, John transforms into a man who writes, solves cases with Sherlock and hence gives back to society, also personally gaining back the sense of adventure that he long missed. Sherlock literally saves him from falling into social degeneration and living a life that is void. John never went back to his therapist after that. The only time he did, was when Sherlock supposedly died and his world literally came crashing down, his life seeming void again. Sherlock’s character too seems to go through a sort of evolution in the third season where he appears to be more human than before.

(d) #JOHNLOCK – food for thought for the fandom

One cannot help but give space for discussion to this facet in the relationship of John and Sherlock. The Sherlock series addresses the issue of Sherlock and Watson possibly being a couple, something that even Air Arthur Conan Doyle did not really do. There are several instances where this ‘theme’ so as to say, is addressed in the show throughout all the seasons. When John and Sherlock visit 221B for the first time before moving in, the land lady, Mrs. Hudson thinks they are a couple, which John explains isn’t true. In ‘A Study in Pink’, there is a sequence where John and Sherlock enter an Italian restaurant overlooking 22 Northumberland Street to look for the killer.

Figure 5.1: Sherlock and John ‘on a date’ (S01E01: ‘A Study in Pink’)

The restaurant owner lays out a candle and insists on a ‘nice free dinner’ for Sherlock and his date. John is unsuccessful in telling the owner that he is not Sherlock’s date. It is at this time that John makes clear to Sherlock that he is not gay and Sherlock too establishes that he is ‘married to his work’. Two seasons down when Sherlock is presumably dead and Watson moves on, he goes over to inform Mrs. Hudson that he’s getting married. The first question she asks him is HIS (partner’s) name. Rather tired, John tells her that it is a woman that he is marrying and that he was never Sherlock’s boyfriend.

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Figure 5.2: Watson mistaken for ‘moving on’ (S03E01: ‘The Empty Hearse’)

The show teasingly addresses this issue in other ways as well like the skill sets that Sherlock and John each possess, and what they do. John is a well trained army doctor, but it is Sherlock who a master in shooting, sword fighting and the martial arts. There is this certain trait that runs commonly throughout the series. Even in ‘The Hounds of Baskerville’, it is Sherlock and not Watson who is driving the jeep to where Baskerville centre is. According to Reh, John on the other hand is always the one telling Sherlock how to behave, the one who is more sensitive towards hostages and victims and so on which Reh says makes John conform to the framework of a stereotypical housewife. It is instances such as these that validate Sherlock as being the protagonist. If we were to infer, Sherlock is the more ‘manly’ and alpha masculine member in the relationship, the one who is emotionally cold, calculative, aggressive and everything else that masculinity is (falsely) supposed to carry with it. John on the other hand is the ‘less masculine’ member so as to speak. This is hence passed off as not a homosexual but a homosocial relationship, a concept that wasn’t new to Victorian culture and society according to Reh.

Ever since the show has aired, this is this term, ‘JohnLock’ that has been trending on all social networking sites and apps. This represents the food for thought that the show has provided for fandom, to use as fodder and in the long run, think in unconventional ways. One can find stories of fantasy, homoerotic art of Sherlock and John together and theories about the same on these platforms. There is also a special day set aside for the relationship known as ‘Johnlock Day’.

Going beyond all this frenzy of the fandom, what we can infer is that this facet of Sherlock and John’s relationship plays out in the foreground of the context of liberalization (in England) towards the LGBT community. The show does address the idea of Holmes and Watson being a couple, but the concept is never ridiculed. There is a certain liberal line of thought both in the minds of the writers when they chalked out the characters and the plots in the story that suggest this as well as viewers when they consume and appreciate content that embraces this facet.

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Findings

By looking at the Holmes Watson relationship, taking into consideration all the facets that define it, we can infer the following:

1. Sherlock is the more dominant, superior member in the relationship while Watson is the subordinate.

2. Holmes is ruthless, emotionally detached and edgy whom Watson complements by being his moral compass, a more human and a loyal friend. They both depend on each other to co-exist as characters in ways we have already seen.

3. There is a clear class and ‘gender’ difference established in the central relationship of Holmes and Watson itself by manner of their physical appearances, their mental makeup, the skill sets they each posses and how they behave in certain situations. Their relationship hence plays out the ideological themes of gender and class and sexuality to a certain point. At the same time, their relationship dynamics is important to the overall story at large.

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Part II

Sherlock versus the various Institutions

Introduction

This part of the paper deals with Sherlock’s relationship with the two most primary and important institutions of London – the police and the government. Where deemed necessary, characters that represent these ‘classes’ have been deconstructed in order to understand how representations of class and gender have been approached in the show in order to demonstrate power dynamics in institutions.

There is clearly a class divide, so as to say when it comes to Sherlock and these institutions. We shall look at instances that bring out this theme in the series.

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(a) Sherlock versus the Police

Figure 6: The character universe of Sherlock and the police of New Scotland Yard

Throughout the series, the members from the police force that Sherlock comes in contact with are represented in figure 6. Greg Lestrade is a detective inspector with New Scotland Yard. He seems to know Sherlock for the longest possible time as compared to the other officials. Sally Donovan, a black woman is portrayed as working under Lestrade. Anderson on the other hand takes care of forensics. Dimmock is also a detective inspector who seems to be filling in for Lestrade in ‘The Blind Banker’. This is the only episode in which we meet his character. Together, these four characters stand for and represent the entire police force at New Scotland Yard by way of physical appearance, mental makeup, their thought process and the manner in which they work.

There is a sequence in ‘A Study in Pink’ where there seems to be a situation of total chaos. Three deaths in the city have sparked worry and chaos and police officials seem to be working against the clock to come to some sort of conclusion. All they know is that all three victims consumed the same tablet prior to their death. Lestrade and Donovan are seen facing a mass of media personnel at a press conference where they seem nervous and confused as they answer daunting questions thrown at them. They term these deaths as ‘serial suicides’ and assure the journalists that they are taking all possible measures to look into the matter. During this press conference, all the journalists receive messages on their mobiles. One word: ‘WRONG!’ This happens every time Lestrade and Donovan make a point or assure the journalists that everything is under control. The last message that Lestrade gets is,

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“You know where to find me – SH”. It is an easy guess that it is Sherlock himself who has been sending out these messages all along. While this is embarrassing to Lestrade and Donovan, deep down, they both know that it is also true and the need of the hour. Right here in this sequence, a relationship is being established. The police are in a state of chaos and have hit a roadblock as to how to progress into the case further. They need Sherlock to come and help them. Sherlock too is aware that he is required to come and ‘rescue’ them, hence the messages. Infact Donovan tells Lestrade, “You’ve got to stop him doing that. He’s making us look like idiots.” To this, Lestrade replies, “If you can tell me how he does it, I’ll stop him.” (‘A Study in Pink’). There is a sense of complete control that Sherlock seems to have, over both the situation in the long run as well as the police force. He mentions to Watson that they consult him when they are ‘out of their depths’, which is always. Besides this, the sequence also reveals how much the police dread and fear the media.

Figure 7: The press conference sequence (S01E01: ‘A Study in Pink’)

While the police need Sherlock, the officials are also insecure when it comes to Sherlock, specially Donovan and Anderson. Donovan particularly believes that Sherlock is a freak who gets a kick out of solving crimes. She in fact warns Watson to stay away from. “One day, we’ll be standing round the body and Sherlock Holmes will be the one that put it there”, remarks Donovan. (‘A Study in Pink’). It is no wonder then that Donovan and Anderson both get convinced so easily when Sherlock’s arch-nemesis Moriarty poisons their minds that Sherlock may be involved in the kidnapping of the children in ‘The Reichenbach Fall’. Their insecurities seem to push them to believe that this is true and they were right all along.

In ‘The Blind Banker’, when we meet DI Dimmock, he is suspicious and seems to possess pre notions about Sherlock. Perhaps it is Donovan or Anderson or some other official who might have told him about Sherlock. Throughout the episode, Dimmock seems to be unsure of himself or the case, almost like a fresher cop. Sherlock also insults him when he once asks if any help is required, and Sherlock responds by saying that some silence would do. At the end, when the Black Lotus den has been busted

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by Sherlock, he mentions to Dimmock that there is no need to make mention of either him or Watson in his report. Dimmock confesses that he is grateful to Holmes for helping him on the case.

Dimmock: “Mr Holmes…”

Sherlock: “I have high hopes for you inspector, a glittering career…”

Dimmock: “If I go where you point me?”

Sherlock: “Exactly!”

- ‘The Blind Banker’

Besides being the dominating member in this relationship as well, Sherlock is also shown to be particularly rude towards officials from the police force. He is shown to either note or remember their ‘vices’ by using his great skill for observation and deduction and use it against them as a personal remark.

When he and Watson come on scene to investigate the death of ‘the pink lady’, Sherlock asks Anderson quirkily whether his wife is going to be away for long. He further states that the deodorant that he is wearing is the same that Donovan is wearing too, deducing that Donovan spent the night at Anderson’s place in the absence of his wife. This is rather uncalled for, that too at a place of work. However, Sherlock is seen doing this many a time throughout the series; passing personal, implying derogatory remarks at particularly Donovan and Anderson (Dimmock in ‘The Blind Banker’ as well) by using his sharp observational skills and having a moment’s fun at their expense. Just moments after this sequence, he also closes the door insultingly on Anderson when he tries to make a point about the murder.

Sherlock has problems working with many of the officials and demands what he needs because he knows that they need him and his services. Though the police detest this, they are rather helpless clearly because they too know that they need him. Lestrade admits it so as well.

Findings:

There is hence a clear class divide when we look at the relation dynamics of Sherlock with the police force. The police stand for law and order in the country and Sherlock represents the parallel system of justice. For the police to be able to function properly, it is necessary for their world to ‘invite’ or to be intersected with that of Sherlock. Sherlock is in actuality, indispensible.

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This is in similar thought with that of S.S. Van Dyne, who penned ‘The Twenty Rules for writing Detective Stories’, who believed that there cannot be more than one detective in a story and that police and institutions of power had to be portrayed as subordinates in the world of the detective for the detective to shine and truly emerge as the hero.

“There must be but one detective — that is, but one protagonist of deduction [hence no other

detective or similar institution] — one ‘deus ex machina’. To bring the minds of three or four, or

sometimes a gang of detectives to bear on a problem, is not only to disperse the interest and

break the direct thread of logic, but to take an unfair advantage of the reader. If there is more

than one detective, the reader doesn't know who his co-deductor is. It's like making the reader

run a race with a relay team.”

- Originally published in the American Magazine (1928)

(b) Sherlock versus the government

Mycroft Holmes, the brother of Sherlock is in actuality the face of the British government in Sherlock. Holding a powerful and influential position in the government, he has connections and contacts that can move mountains. Figures 8.1 and 8.2 below show us how he is first introduced to us. In the preceding sequence, John Watson is seen walking towards the main road to get a cab home. On his way, all the telephones he crosses ring just in time. He finally picks up the phone to an anonymous voice that tells him that he is under the surveillance of security cameras.

Figure 8.1: Watson is summoned (S01E01: ‘A Study in Pink’)

Watson is asked to get into the car that is parked outside the telephone booth. This car brings him to a dark and eerie go-down like setup. The way the shots have been framed, we are tricked into believing that it is the villain who has summoned John.

This is no villain but Mycroft Holmes. Mycroft is seen wearing a high class designer suit (indicative of high class, the framework of a typical wealthy businessman, the epitome of capitalism). He leans on an

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umbrella in a posture of dominance and extreme comfort. The way he leans on the umbrella literally indicates that he has power over something as incontrollable as the climate as well. Throughout the series, we either see him holding a cane or an umbrella; both very phallic symbols.

Figure 8.2: The introduction of Mycroft Holmes (S01E01: ‘A Study in Pink’)

Though Mycroft’s personality does not come across as very impressive, the power he holds in the government lends him his aura. We see how similar he is to Holmes with regards to possessing even better skills of observation and deduction, specially revealed to us in the third season. However, Mycroft was said to have lacked the spirit and practicality that Holmes possessed to put all this into action.

Though Mycroft is the face of the British government, he also plays the role of Sherlock’s big brother – hence a dual role. As a government official, he is brilliantly diplomatic in the way he talks, precise in his planning and execution and is usually a step ahead of the villain, along with Sherlock in the loop. There is a great mark of brilliance in the way he gets matters executed on account of his connections throughout London. As a brother, he constantly (but secretly) worries for Sherlock. Infact, in the above sequence, he has heard of Watson for the first time and summons him, offering to pay him well in exchange for information about Sherlock. Throughout the series, Mycroft uses this odd way whenever he wants to call upon Watson in privacy without the knowledge of Sherlock. There are several other instances that show his secret love for Sherlock as a big brother. When the house opposite 221 B explodes in ‘The Great Game’, and John rushes in panic after seeing it on the news, he arrives to find Mycroft already there. By the manner in which he sits; coat off, well settled, it seems like he’s been there for long enough. He might have probably rushed to 221 B to check on his little brother the moment he heard of the explosion.

The camera mostly frames Mycroft in top angle shots to translate the power he holds and represents in London. Only when Mycroft is talking to his brother, will he be framed in eye level shots.

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Figure 9: How the camera frames Mycroft (S03E02: ‘The Sign of Three’ & E03: ‘His Last Vow’)

Sherlock refers to Mycroft as his ‘arch enemy’. They seem to have between them an extremely antagonist relationship. Since the nature of the narrative sides with the hero, it is usually Sherlock that we favour in this sibling war. However the relationship that they share is also a symbiotic one. More often than not, Mycroft pays Sherlock a visit at Baker Street when he needs him to investigate a case that is of great importance to the government. For this, he is willing to go to great lengths to see that Sherlock has what he needs. In ‘A Scandal in Belgravia’, we see how Mycroft arranges to fly both Sherlock (only clad in a bed sheet at home) and Watson by helicopter to the Buckingham Palace for a meeting with the palace official regarding a case that concerned one of the royal family members. Such is the power he held in England. Likewise, Sherlock too makes use of Mycroft’s influence when he needs entry intro restricted land or access to top secret data for the good of the case like he does in ‘The Hounds of Baskerville’. As brothers, Sherlock tries his best to keep away from Mycroft’s watchful eye, lest he or the power he holds interfere with any of his findings or spoil chances of cracking a good case. More often than not, Mycroft is seen pleading in the most dignified manner that he can manage, of Holmes to look into a case of government importance like in the case of Westie’s mysterious death and the missing pen drive that contained government missile plans in ‘The Great Game’. Sherlock simply mocks him by playing a melody on his violin. Mycroft then intercedes for this through John. Of course, in the end, Sherlock does go on the case in secrecy, knowing how important the missing plans are. There hence exists a relationship of interdependence between Sherlock and Mycroft.

Findings:

1. Mycroft, a white man, falling in the framework of a high class, wealthy businessman represents the British government. He has power owing to the influential position he holds in the government. His character brings out themes of class and gender with relation to power.

2. At the same time, he plays a dual role of the face of the government as well as Sherlock’s brother, concerned for him. They both share a relationship of interdependence or symbiosis.

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Part III

Women in Sherlock’s Universe

Introduction

So far in this paper, all the characters that we have seen, who are associated with institutions of power or who contribute greatly taking the narrative of the show forward in a manner that is both meaningful and considerable are men or atleast masculine representations when deconstructed.

Does the series then hold any place for women in the world of Sherlock? The show definitely contains a number of female characters. However, a deeper look at how these women are represented and what they stand for will reveal if there is a definite gender bias with regards to character representations and motivations in the narrative of the show. Let us see.

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We will analyse and deconstruct the female characters of the show under two categories in this section, one where we will visit female characters that appear regularly throughout all seasons. The second section will look at characters restricted to particular episodes or seasons.

Part A - The Regulars

Figure 10: Sherlock’s character universe with ‘the regulars’

Figure 10 shows us the character universe of women who belong to Sherlock’s universe across the series. Let us analyse each of these three characters in detail by looking at how they are portrayed, physically, mentally and by looking at the role they have in the broader narrative of the show. It may be worthwhile even looking at their character arcs or dramatic progress over the three seasons available to us at the moment.

1. Mrs. Hudson

Mrs. Hudson is Sherlock’s landlady. She had let 221 B to Sherlock at a very cheap rate because she ‘owed’ him on account of the fact that Sherlock helped see to her husband’s execution. At first, this does not seem to make any sense at all. Why would a woman owe someone who helped execute her husband’s death? Perhaps they had an unhappy marriage. That’s all we can infer. However, there is no more detailing to this fact. It seems to pass of as convenient, but lazy storytelling.

Though Mrs. Hudson cooks and brews tea for Sherlock and John without having any problem, she always reminds them that she is their landlady and not their housekeeper. On the contrary, instead of being grateful to her for her goodness, Sherlock tends to find her a nuisance when she is around. He

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only calls on her when he needs her to get him tea or lunch or when the audience needs a moment of a breather or some comic relief from the story.

Figure 11: Mrs Hudson: “I’m your landlady dear! Not your housekeeper…”

Many a time, Mrs. Hudson is seen wearing an apron which portrays her as a house-bound woman who needs to cook, clean and serve (Sherlock and Watson, both men). As we watch the story, we do know that she is definitely more than a land lady to Sherlock and Watson. Yet, little is known about her character: we do not really know much about her background, not even her first or maiden name. The little that we do know about her is that too about her husband, not her.

Not much time is spent in conveying what she ever feels when she is treated like a door mat by particularly Sherlock. When Sherlock ‘dies’, Watson moves out and loses contact with her. When he does return, there is little that she tells him for doing this. Infact, she serves as the consoler to Watson during Sherlock’s ‘death’.

Besides this, Mrs. Hudson though a jolly lady is shown to be a woman who ‘has a past’. She ‘got carried away’ as she put it, and married a man who was a leader of a drug cartel. Infact she admits to have helped him with the typing. She is also a former exotic dancer and her pressure point is marijuana which she calls ‘herbal soothers’. All this is revealed to us in ‘The Last Vow’, when Mr. Magnussen, an unscrupulous, influential newspaper owner barges into 221 B to intimidate Sherlock Holmes. Magnussen like Holmes had a ‘mind palace’ where he stored data about every person, thing and place. When Magnussen walks past Mrs. Hudson, all these details about her are revealed to us, including her full name. The revelation is done using the male gaze, so as to look down upon her. It is a totally different point that the writers chose to introduce more about Mrs. Hudson to us in the third season.

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Figure 12: Magnussen’s gaze reveals personal details about Hudson (S03E03: ‘The Last Vow’)

Throughout the show, Mrs. Hudson is shown to be one who isn’t assertive and doesn’t ‘have guts’. Sherlock may chose to get bored when he does not get a case, and draw a smiley on her beautiful wallpapered walls and shoot at it as though it were a dartboard. Yet, she will not raise much of an objection.

Countless people barge into her house – the police, robed swordsmen, government officials, CIA killers or even the ruthless Mr. Magnussen, but she never seems to have a problem with that. Mrs. Hudson comes across as a ‘cardboard’ cut out as described by the ‘global word’ platform. For the larger part, she is given little screen time. Though a seemingly sweet woman, her character seems to lack motivation and reveals little to the viewer who would probably like to know her better.

2. Sally Donovan

We have already got a gist about Sergeant Sally Donovan when we looked at Sherlock’s relationship with the police force of New Scotland Yard. However, there is a lot that her character reveals with regards to gender politics.

Sally Donovan firstly reports to a man; Lestrade. She is seen taking few or no decisions at all. We do know that she greatly detests Sherlock and tries to find fault with his character or what he does. She refers to him as a ‘freak’, someone who gets a high in solving cases.

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The only personal detail we get to know about her is that she is supposedly having a discreet affair with Anderson from forensics. This again is revealed when Sherlock ridicules both of them in public in ‘A Study in Pink’. There is perhaps nothing wrong in having an affair – it is her personal choice. However, Sherlock uses this against her to run her down professionally as well. One must not forget that she is not a white. May be it is because of this that her job profile isn’t well defined, she does not possess much authority and feels insecure in the presence of Sherlock.

Figure 13: This screenshot shows how Lestrade after losing yet again to the criminal Waters family, brushes past Donovan and opens the car door, not caring that she’s standing just beside

it and gets hit. (S03E02: ‘The Sign of Three’)

Many a time, when criminals get the better of the police, she is seen standing by Lestrade’s side in shame as he curses himself (and the rest of the officials) wondering how the villains got away so easily. She seems to be mindless and one who is not capable of suggesting better measures. This is well illustrated in ‘The Sign of Three’ when the police are in a state of mayhem after the Waters family criminals have evaded them several times. We also see this in ‘The Great Game’ when Moriarty breaks intro three locations at the same time.

All in all, her character has less to contribute – it lacks power. She is mostly portrayed as insecure in the light of Sherlock’s laurels. She is also subordinated by him at her workplace in view of her personal relations with Anderson. Having an affair is shown to be a matter of great sinful nature here.

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3. Molly Hooper

Molly Hooper is the pathologist at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. She is perhaps the only woman who knows Sherlock best, because she works closely with him. Sadly, though Molly is an intelligent woman and one that is kind at heart, she is portrayed to be a completely clumsy and goofy ‘schoolgirl’ who has a crush on Sherlock. She looks like a complete clown in her hospital apparel and finds the time to touch up her lipstick when Sherlock visits St. Bart’s. In ‘A Study in Pink’, when we first see Molly, she is watching Sherlock whipping a corpse with a riding crop in order to prove an alibi. Figure 14 tends to suggest that she is enjoying what she sees, possibly even hoping she was in place of the corpse.

Figure 14: Sherlock whipping the corpse as Molly looks on (S01E01: ‘A Study in Pink’)

For the large part of the show, Sherlock seems to be or rather, acts oblivious towards Molly and her feelings for him. In fact, he is shown to be passing remarks at her, to which she does not take offense at all.

Sherlock: “What happened to the lipstick?”

Molly: “It wasn’t working for me.”

Sherlock: “Really? I thought it was a big improvement! Your mouth’s too…small now.”

Molly: (silence) “OK.”

- ‘A Study in Pink’

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Molly is portrayed to be hopelessly devoted to Sherlock. Even her work seems to be secondary to her. Sherlock’s sarcasm, rudeness and misogynistic comments at Molly reach a limit when she is insulted by him in the presence of others on Christmas night at 221 B in ‘A Scandal in Belgravia’. Sherlock sees a well wrapped present in her bag and begins to think that she has brought it for someone she is seeing. He makes ridiculous deductions and ends by saying that she is trying to compromise for the size of her mouth and breasts. On opening the gift tag, he realizes that the gift was intended for him. Though extremely hurt, she still chooses to come in to hospital later that night to help Sherlock investigate the body of Irene Adler, the woman whom he encountered earlier in the episode.

Molly character is also ridiculed by the writers when she introduces Jim Moriarty to Sherlock in ‘The Great Game’, as her boyfriend. She does not know that he is a mastermind criminal. She simply knows him as ‘Jim from IT’. All her boyfriends seem to be her attempts at getting over Sherlock but in vain. Just by this incident alone, we as viewers are made to believe that Molly has problems judging the men she dates; she also dates psychopaths (Sherlock included) and is insecure. Moriarty literally uses her as a door mat to get to Sherlock.

Wonderfully, Molly’s character undergoes a positive evolution starting from ‘The Reichenbach Fall’ continuing into season three. She begins to become more assertive.

Figure 15: A more assertive Molly Hooper slaps Sherlock for taking drugs (S03E03: ‘His Last Vow’)

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Sherlock begins to also acknowledge that she matters to him. She helps him execute faking his death because she believes it to be important to him. However, Sherlock is not seen thanking her for her help.

Season three literally sees her breaking free from the shackles of being a door mat. She begins to hold Sherlock accountable for his actions and even slaps him when she discovers that he has been on drugs. When Sherlock is shot at by Mary the assassin, he visits his mind palace where one of the few people he meets is Molly, perhaps because she began to have some meaning in his life as a friend. Molly makes Sherlock more human by her acts of kindness (and assertiveness).

All said and done, though Molly undergoes a change, the change also happens, keeping Sherlock in mind. Sherlock is always good to her when he needs her. When she is assertive, she is so for Sherlock’s good. It is not her interest that is protected. Molly is a wonderful character, but could have been given more of a role, one that was ‘selfishly assertive’.

Part B – Special Characters

In section, we will analyse characters that made special appearances in certain episodes of seasons.

1. Irene Adler – ‘The Woman’ : ‘A Scandal in Belgravia’

The character of Irene Adler perhaps possessed most weight though she appeared in just one episode of the series. She is the one woman who stood up to Sherlock and impacted him greatly. Her ways charmed Sherlock greatly. However, this does not mean that he respected her fully.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never described Adler as being a dominatrix in his work ‘A Scandal in Bohemia’ the way she has been introduced to us in Sherlock. There seems to be no reason why the writers did this. By doing this, they made Adler’s sexuality her weapon against Sherlock, something he would need to overcome.

The details given to us about Adler are through the words of Mycroft within the confines of Buckingham Palace – again by a man.

Mycroft:

“She’s been at the centre of two political scandals in the last year, and recently ended the

marriage of a prominent novelist by having an affair with both participants separately […] Irene

Adler. Professionally known as ‘The Woman’ […] She prefers ‘dominatrix’…”

- ‘A Scandal in Belgravia’

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By just this introduction, Adler’s sexuality as a possible bisexual, her connection with scandals that ruin lives and her nature is established. But of course, she is a villain.

When Sherlock meets her for the first time, she is completely nude. She refers to it as her ‘battle dress’. She uses her sexuality to get to Sherlock; so much so, the code to unlock her safe is her measurements which Sherlock deduces by looking at her, another example of use of the male gaze. The camera cleverly frames Adler in the nude, also not revealing her privates, suggestive of her manipulative nature.

Figure 16: Irene Adler – ‘The Woman’ aesthetically framed in order to reveal her nature (S02E01: ‘A Scandal in Belgravia’)

There are brilliant sequences in the episode that parallel cut between Sherlock and Adler practically preparing for their encounter, even choosing the ‘right armour’ or clothes to wear, which in itself creates a class of Sherlock versus Adler. This worked well in establishing the underlying relationship between Sherlock and Adler.

Adler in the true sense did break off from the stereotype of women that the show created. Unlike the others, she was assertive and calculative from the start. She knew what she wanted and was the only one who beat Sherlock (literally as well as metaphorically). She is the epitome of outward expression of sexuality. However, this wasn’t used in the right spirit. Though a brilliant woman, Adler had to end up using her sexuality to get to Sherlock. Somewhere down the road, she too succumbed to falling into the trap of other women in Sherlock. She began to generate feelings for Sherlock, to the point of using his

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name as a password to her mobile phone (her life), that contained information that was scandalous, that could bring the government to its feet and also lead Sherlock to Moriarty. Her feelings got the better of her. Also one must not forget how it was Sherlock who saved her from getting beheaded by terrorists in Karachi. After all, it was necessary for the alpha male of Baker Street to come and rescue her. Nonetheless, Adler’s character was a challenge to Holmes which contributed well to the broader story. She was a woman of strength and assertiveness. Only it did not stand her in good stead for long.

2. Soo Lin Yao : ‘The Blind Banker’

Soo Lin Yao was a character in desperate need of transformation. Orphaned, she was forced to work with a Chinese mafia gang called ‘The Black Lotus’ for a living, trafficking drugs. Looking for a better life, she escaped and came to stay in London. This is perhaps the only good thing about Soo Lin. Physically; she is portrayed to be a typical Chinese doll, powdered with straight black hair. She is portrayed to be so desperate that she settles for a menial job at the museum of performing the traditional Chinese tea ceremony. Every time she appears, there is a stereotypical oriental music track that heralds her entry. Her character brings up issues of gender bias, racism and stereotyping. In the end, though she gives Sherlock most of the information that would lead him to The Black Lotus community and even begins to decipher the code, she dies an instant death, helpless at the hands of her own brother. Her character seems to be wasted and ‘finished off’, the moment she stops being of use to Sherlock. She is portrayed to be spineless and without much motivation; the damsel in distress.

Image 17: Soo Lin Yao (S01E02: ‘The Blind Banker’)

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3. Jennifer Wilson – ‘The Pink Lady’ : ‘A Study in Pink’

Jennifer Wilson was the first victim of the cabbie murderer that Sherlock investigates. She is also a very intelligent woman because she places her phone on the murderer so that he could be caught via GPS tracking, which leads Sherlock well. However, for the major part of the sequence that she appears in (as a corpse), we never really see her face. She lies there as a lifeless object that has no value, only to be investigated by Sherlock and the police. Just because she is wearing a bright pink, Sherlock tends to stereotype and deduce that she is a media person. Infact, this stereotyping works for him. He deduces that everything she had and wore the night she died would have been the same bright pink colour which actually leads him to the murderer. She is even referred to as ‘the pink lady’ and isn’t acknowledged for her genius that led Sherlock to the killer. We must not forget that Sherlock also deduces her to be a seasoned adulteress. Jennifer’s character is set against themes of gender bias, stereotyping and is ridiculed for personal sexual relationships.

4. Janine

Janine is a beautiful Irish girl that Sherlock meets at John and Mary’s wedding. She is Mary’s bridesmaid for the day and is paired with Sherlock for the day, him being Watson’s best man. This gives them a platform to develop a chemistry and talk. From the word go, Janine is shown to be smitten by Sherlock and his mysteriously weird ways. When Sherlock plays the violin for John and Mary’s dance, she is shown to be absolutely head over heels in love with Sherlock.

Figure 18: Sherlock dates Janine with an ulterior motive (S03E02: ‘The Sign of Three’)

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In ‘His Last Vow’, we see how the relationship between Sherlock and Janine progresses and they begin seeing each other. Only later do we realize that Sherlock dated her with an ulterior motive. He knew that she was Magnussen’s personal assistant and used this fact to his advantage. He used this as a ruse to take her help to break into Magnussen’s apartment. When Janine realizes that Sherlock used her, she calls him a ‘backstabbing, heartless, manipulative bastard’, to which he shamelessly retorts calling her a ‘tabloid hungry whore’. He does not seem to realize the pain he has possibly caused her. Janine is just another door mat for Sherlock.

5. Mary Morstan

Mary Morstan is the woman that Watson finally decides to marry and settle with. Throughout the series, Watson is shown to be a hopeless case when it comes to making conversations with and flirting with women. However, Mary wins his heart and we see them getting married in season 3. When Mary enters Watson’s life, a triangular relationship is formed between her, Watson and Sherlock. Both love John. However, Mary’s greatest fear is of John getting to know about her dark past and leaving her. The finale episode of season three shocked viewers when it was revealed, that Mary was an assassin previously. She chose to leave that life behind and broke all the connections to start new life. In this sense, Mary is similar to Soo Lin who also needed transformation.

Figure 19: The engagement ring and Mary in her two forms (S03E01: ‘The Empty Hearse’ and S03E03: ‘His Last Vow’)

The wedding ring we see Watson holding in ‘The Empty Hearse’, the one he plans on proposing to Mary with; has three diamond stones which seemed to represent Sherlock, Mary and Watson each.

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The ring was symbolic of how Watson would be torn by Mary’s past that would be revealed to him by Sherlock. Mary as a character again finds a special place in the narrative because of her relationship with Watson. However she too needs the forgiveness of her husband in order to feel better about herself and feel accepted. When her past is revealed, we as viewers are forced to look down upon her because it is again revealed through the male perspective of Sherlock. Little do we think at that time, that Mary had made a conscious decision to change her ways and start a new life. The only reason she did return as an assassin, was to kill Magnussen who had information about her past that would ruin her present and her future with John. She had felt threatened and hence took this step.

6. Other women in the show

There are other women who appear very briefly in the show and tell us a little more about representation of female characters in Sherlock. We will look at them very briefly:

Findings: Most women characters in Sherlock have ‘some problem’ – they are portrayed as having sexual relationships which is used against them, though it is a personal, valid choice. The woman characters have little role to play in the narrative or major plot of the story, even in terms of the number of appearances. All women are related to Sherlock in an inferior – superior relationship, some not even raising an objection to wrong done to them. Only Irene Adler does not really conform to this convention. We read themes of gender bias, dependence on the male, stereotyping, sexism and power dynamics.

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Part IV

Sherlock versus Moriarty

Introduction

In this last and final section of data collection and analysis, we will look at the second most central relationship that spans the show – the hero verses villain relationship between Sherlock Holmes and Jim Moriarty.

We will look at how Moriarty is introduced to us. We will also look at the characteristics and attributes that define him and thus contrast him from Sherlock. Does their relationship bring out the existence of any ideological themes? We will analyse.

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Jim Moriarty calls himself the world’s first ‘consulting criminal’. “I’m a specialist…like you”, he tells Sherlock (‘The Great Game’). Sherlock likens Moriarty to a spider that has woven a huge web of crime. He lies at the centre of it all, and knows each and every string of the web. He is in control, always.

The writers of Sherlock brilliantly reveal Moriarty to us for the first time only in the first series’ third episode, ‘The Great Game’. Before that, we encounter the cabbie murderer in episode one and General Shan belonging to The Black Lotus in episode two. It was because of Moriarty’s funding and assistance that these two parties could commit their crimes flawlessly. We literally see a summary of Moriarty’s modus operandi in ‘The Great Game’ where a series of crimes take place, given to Sherlock as puzzles to crack in order to save hostages. They were all the work of Moriarty.

Moriarty’s introduction to us is almost like a sonata piece playing out. Just the way a Sonata has themes, the theme of Moriarty is introduced to us in the very first episode of the series itself through the crime being committed. It’s only that we aren’t aware of it. The theme seems to become a little more active in the second episode, especially when General Shan is talking to a person named ‘M’. The final and climatic ‘theme of the sonata’ kicks in, in the third and season finale to the first season where the curtain is finally raised on Moriarty, the man responsible for financing the previous two crimes in the prior episodes. Moriarty makes a glorious appearance. Infact, even when Molly introduces him as her boyfriend ‘Jim from IT’, we do not know who he is, till the time he makes an almost heroic return at the end of the episode. This same convention is repeated in the second season. He does not make an appearance in the first two episodes, but was present behind the scenes all along.

Figure 20: The police find Moriarty adorned with Crown Jewels (S02E03: ‘The Reichenbach Fall’)

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Moriarty is a man with ambition. He prefers not to ‘dirty his hands’, but rather chooses to oversee crimes and thereby become the world’s first consulting criminal. He is intelligent, emotionally cold and ruthless. In ‘The Reichenbach Fall’, he brings London down to her knees when he takes over three locations simultaneously, thereby causing chaos and mayhem. When the police find him, he is seated on the throne that he broke the security glass to, adorned with the crown jewels. This shows the capability that this man had to even evade a place so hardened with security as the Tower of London.

We have already seen that Sherlock possessed qualities similar to Moriarty; qualities that would put him at risk of becoming a criminal degenerate. However Sherlock does not become like him. This in itself creates an automatic class divide of good versus evil.

We now know that it is John Watson who plays Sherlock’s moral compass and balances his machine-like life by bringing humanness into it. It is Watson whom Sherlock has, who saves him from becoming like Moriarty. Jim Moriarty does not have John Watson and is hence is the way he is.

The show portrays Jim to be a homosexual genius who hates Sherlock but is also attracted to him and his ways. Hence there is a constant attraction between the two classes of good and evil in the story, a constant risk of the fine line between being a ‘consulting detective’ and a ‘consulting criminal’ getting blurred.

Figure 21: Use of framing to illustrate the divide, but fine line between Sherlock and Moriarty (S02E03: ‘The Reichenbach Fall’)

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Though Sherlock Holmes and Jim Moriarty belong to the two classes we established, there are times when they are also mirror images of each other, though contrary in their thought and intent. The show makes ingenious use of dialogue and aesthetic framing to illustrate this fact. Figure 21 is a good example of it.

The epitome of this fact comes to life in ‘The Reichenbach Fall’ when Moriarty poisons the minds of the police officials and others known to Sherlock that Sherlock was possibly involved all along in the crimes he solved so far. This is a real challenge for Sherlock to be able to stay in the class of righteousness and not move over to the other side.

Sherlock never forget Moriarty as he is literally a part of him. We see this visually represented in ‘His Last Vow’ when Sherlock is shot at by Mary. In the few seconds he has, he visits his memory palace to find the one thing that can bring him comfort. During this time, we see him visiting a chamber in which Moriarty is chained. There too, Moriarty tries to discourage Sherlock from making it through, convincing him to die. So, Moriarty really is the other side of Sherlock; the side that is suppressed by him on account of the presence of Watson in his life and his own personal intent. The reason Moriarty is chained in this sequence, is because Sherlock suppresses the Moriarty in him, but there is a constant risk of the chains breaking and the monster being unleashed. However, that will also never happen.

Figure 22: Sherlock meets his ‘Moriarty’ in his mind palace (S03E03: ‘His Last Vow’)

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Findings: In the relationship between Sherlock Holmes and Jim Moriarty, there is a clear class difference of good versus evil. However, Moriarty is also a part of Sherlock, a side that is suppressed, but at risk of getting unleashed. This side however, will continue to haunt and challenge him.

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CONCLUDING ARGUMENTS

Through our analysis of all the characters of Sherlock in this paper and the character relationships that exist, we infer that Sherlock is the alpha male in them all. All characters and character relationships are designed (or you could also say, contrived) to make Sherlock Holmes emerge as the true hero, the true alpha male in the story.

Sherlock as a series surpasses all expectations in terms of technicality, storytelling and creative characterization. However there are dominant ideological themes that emerge from the narrative. The most dominant ones are themes based on gender, sexuality, class and race. The only time we really see a theme based on religion is in the finale episode of season two, ‘The Reichenbach Fall’, when Sherlock’s coming death shares characteristics similar to the way Christ died. He was handed over to law and betrayed. He was mocked at by people who knew him and finally died a shameful death after his integrity was questioned. There seems to be a ‘Christianization’ in the way Sherlock ‘dies’. Again, just like Christ, he was meant to go through a ‘resurrection’ and come back to life to save others.

Sherlock is the alpha protagonist and the alpha male of the show; and that is what lends to the show’s extreme brilliance.

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REFERENCES AND WORKS CITED

Literature Review

Academic Papers

1. Kayalvhizi, A., ‘The Decoding Skill of Sherlock Holmes in detection’, 2012 – EBSCO 2. Kayalvhizi, A., ‘The Cerebral Analysis of Sherlock Holmes in detection’, 2012 – EBSCO 3. Moore, John Robert, ‘Holmes borrows a Plot’, 2003 – EBSCO 4. Polasek, Ashley D., ‘Sherlockian Simulacra - Adaptation and the Postmodern construction of

Reality’ (year not known) – EBSCO

Articles from Newspapers and Magazines

1. 21st Century Holmes from BBC (2010) – Philadelphia Inquirer – EBSCO 2. Holmes, Sweet Holmes (2002) – The Statesman – Google Scholar 3. New Movie resurrects Old Favourite (1976) – The Saturday Evening Post - EBSCO

Films

1. ‘How to be Sherlock Holmes’ – BBC Time Shift (2014), BBC Media 2. ‘Unlocking Sherlock’ – Hartswood Films (2010, 2014), BBC Media

Data Collection and Analysis

Films/ the Original Texts

1. ‘A Study in Pink’. Sherlock. By Steven Moffat. Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman et al. BBC. , 2010.

2. ‘The Blind Banker’. Sherlock. By Steven Moffat. Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman et al. BBC. , 2010.

3. ‘The Great Game’ Sherlock. By Steven Moffat. Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman et al. BBC. , 2010.

4. ‘A Scandal in Belgravia’. Sherlock. By Steven Moffat. Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman et al. BBC. , 2012.

5. ‘The Hounds of Baskerville’. Sherlock. By Steven Moffat. Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman et al. BBC. , 2012.

6. ‘The Reichenbach Fall’. Sherlock. By Steven Moffat. Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman et al. BBC. , 2012.

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7. ‘The Empty Hearse’. Sherlock. By Steven Moffat. Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman et al. BBC. , 2014.

8. ‘The Sign of Three’. Sherlock. By Steven Moffat. Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman et al. BBC. , 2014.

9. ‘His Last Vow’. Sherlock. By Steven Moffat. Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman et al. BBC. , 2014.

Note: All images used in this paper, courtesy: Sherlock. By Steven Moffat. Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman et al. BBC. Academic Papers and content resources 1. Reh, Elizabeth, ‘A Study in Gender – BBC’s Sherlock, Masculinity and Gender Identities in the

Transmedia Fandom’, 2012 2. McLaughlin, Rebecca, ‘A Study in Sherlock: Revisiting the Relationship between Sherlock Holmes

and Dr. John Watson’, 2013 3. The Blog of Dr. John H. Watson (www.johnwatsonblog.co.uk), Hartswood Films 4. Sherlockology: The Ultimate guide for any Sherlock Fan (www.sherlockology.com), Hartswood

Films 5. Baker Street: The Sherlock Holmes Encyclopaedia (www.bakerstreet.wikia.com) 6. Cultural Learnings (www.culturallearnings.com)

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