History Analysis / Sherlock

A peculiar trait of the ''Sherlock'' fandom is its seemingly limitless creativity in creating fanart or fanfiction taking place in “alternate universes”. From [[EverythingsWetterWithOtters woodland animals]] to ballet dancers to [[Film/TheHobbit hobbits and dragons]], the fandom seems determined to transform Franchise/SherlockHolmes and John Watson into anything and everything other than a consulting detective and an army doctor. Why does this happen? There may, in fact, be a valid reason for this occurrence…

''Sherlock'' is one of those shows that is [[GenreBusting extremely difficult to pin down into a single genre]]. “Crime thriller” and “Detective story” just don’t do it justice. Looking at the fan output alone, one could quite easily be forgiven for assuming it was, for example, a [[BlackComedy dark]] [[ShipTease romantic comedy]], a delightful [[{{Bowdlerize}} series of children’s picture books]] about a clever little [[EverythingsWetterWithOtters otter]], or [[BreadEggsMilkSquick hardcore]] [[{{Rule 34}} pornography]] [[note]](this author has thankfully yet to confirm the existence of fanwork that incorporates all three of these elements, but is willing to bet that it does or will exist somewhere in the depths of the Internet)[[/note]]. It may or may not qualify as {{speculative fiction}} in its own right, but the allusions to other stories and genres, together with metafictional elements that reference the source material and tap gently on the fourth wall have helped to create a world that is familiar yet new, hilarious yet terrifying, and all in all, just as rich, entertaining and flexible as Conan Doyle’s original work.

Look at The Golem, the [[NoodlePeople gangly assassin]] featured in “The Great Game”- he was so much like a ''Doctor Who'' monster he was virtually recycled into one (The Silence, and later the Whispermen, invoke his quiet, sinister, {{Uncanny Valley}}-ish presence).

There are also elements of [[SuperheroTropes superhero stories,]] particularly in the first episode, with all this talk about Sherlock having an “arch-nemesis”. Moriarty’s camp, [[EvilIsHammy hammy,]] [[CardCarryingVillain card-carrying villain]] persona, meanwhile, is separated from Saturday morning cartoon baddies only by his terrifying ''[[BewareTheSillyOnes competence]]''. The SherlockScan, too, is subject to superhero tropes, including PowerIncontinence (Sherlock can’t turn it off) as well as a sort of KryptoniteFactor (when he meets [[NakedFirstImpression Irene Adler]]). John’s blog, in fact, has an entire case centered around comic books and super heroes (the comments on the post reveal the appreciative client’s intent to create a comic book based on Sherlock and John’s adventures; a fun little nod to the official manga adaptation.) [[note]]As a side note, it’s interesting to contrast the portrayal of Holmes’s deductive abilities here with rival series ''Series/{{Elementary}}''. ''Sherlock'' portrays his abilities as a mostly inherent talent, a borderline superpower that ordinary folks could never hope to match, while ''Elementary'' places a heavy focus on real-life memory and observation techniques, implying strongly that Holmes-like abilities are attainable if one is prepared to put extensive time and effort into honing them (the mental equivalent of CharlesAtlasSuperpower, perhaps).[[/note]]

!''Sherlock'' as SpeculativeFiction

The comparison is remarkably apt. ''Sherlock''’s Moriarty is portrayed as almost omniscient in his ability to [[MagnificentBastard control people and systems around London]]. While he does this allegedly through real-world means (psychological manipulation, blackmail, threatening victim’s families, recruiting criminals with a wide variety of skills and backgrounds), the means are [[NothingIsScarier not always elaborated on,]] and the effect it produces is that of a malevolent, inescapable trickster god. The Great Intelligence employs many science fiction concepts- mind control, extensive hacking, android doppelgangers, etc, to produce the same effect. There’s a brief moment in "The Reichenbach Fall" where the lights of a building flicker as Sherlock looks on, revealing the message “IOU”. It’s one of many creepy phenomena throughout the episode that give the impression that Moriarty has control over the whole city. The moment is recalled later in an episode of ''Doctor Who'', “The Bells of St John,” in which London’s Wi-Fi is hijacked by the Great Intelligence. “Is the Wi-fi switching on the lights?” asks The Doctor's companion, [[TheWatson Clara]]. “No,” The Doctor replies, “the people are switching on the lights, [[MindControl the Wi-fi is switching on the people]]”. "The Reichenbach Fall" toyed with the idea of a villain who can hack into every system in London, then the Bells of St John followed it up with a villain who [[spoiler: actually could]].

“Hammered” how hard, exactly? Well for those of you who haven’t seen the show, the Doctor rocks up in a deerstalker, introduces himself as Sherlock Holmes, makes a few rubbish deductions about apple trees and goldfish while music from ''Sherlock'' plays in the background, and then proceeds to compare his nemesis (currently in the form of a [[ItMakesSenseInContext giant, villainous snowglobe]] that sounds like [[Film/LordOfTheRings Gandalf]]) to Moriarty.

So, how do we classify this show in terms of its relationship with the speculative and the supernatural?
Enter the concept of MagicRealism. Magic Realism is an unusual, hard-to-define genre involving a relatively realistic setting containing hints that there [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane might be supernatural forces at play]]. The characters generally either [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight fail to notice]] these phenomena, or simply [[MundaneFantastic take them in their stride]] as a normal part of life without asking too many questions. Often, but not always, the supernatural elements are surreal enough that the audience can reasonably argue that they were imagined by the characters, or subdued enough that one could just as easily say they were never there in the first place. Perhaps ''Sherlock'' is an example of this genre?

(It’s… [[{{Understatement}} kind of a weird show.]])