tendinitis (la Niña, SAD, Hemlock Grove, iZombie, Elementary, Bojack Horseman)

[verushka70]

My tendinitis continues. It's been -- I've lost track -- 5 weeks I think. Icing, splints, ointment, epsom salts, massage (I'll be getting another tomorrow) have made only minimal improvement. Ibuprofen and naproxen are temporary relief only; the pain and stiffness come back. The warm, damp weather here has made it worse. So thanks, la Niña --

Got a massage & acupuncture yesterday after work. It gave me the first 100% relief I've had in over a month. It's back today but not as bad. Most of this has been copied and pasted from speech to text on my phone using my left hand only. It's not perfect but it helps.

I honestly can't wait for freezing weather to come. The older I get, the happier I am when it's cold. Preferably with snow. Not bitter like 2 winters ago when I (the Polar Vortex winter), but you know what? after a few days of that, 20 degrees F seemed positively balmy & I was over it. I got so sick and tired of hearing inappropriately dressed people bitch about the cold. It's Chicago: winter requires more than a fucking hoodie. (At least for now...) Plus snow makes everything much prettier and quieter.

Now that the clocks have changed, SAD is hitting me big time. On the plus side, last year Costco had SAD lamps on sale; I got one. I guess without it I'd be worse. I've already been late to work twice this week. Not that that is so surprising; I'm chronically late. Usually it's me clocking in 1-3 minutes late. This week twice it was 10-15 minutes late. Sigh.

I'm watching S3 of Hemlock Grove and... can't get into it. What happened? Maybe if I'd re-watched all of S1-S2 first I'd like it more. But... meh. The slashiness of S1 and S2 is missing. I started rewatching S1 but didn't have time to rewatch both S1 & S2 before S3 dropped. I'm up to 3x4 and I'm still pretty 'meh' about it.

iZombie S2, however, I am loving. I caught up with S1 on Netflix. I get some of the same feels from iZombie I used to get from Veronica Mars (the series). I love the score/whoever scores it; I think it's the same person... at least, it is a similar sound -- the scoring/soundtrack for VM was atmospheric and spot-on. Plus I just love the characters. I never really thought I'd dig a zombie show but it's not all that zombie-ish because there's only one main zombie and she's rarely zombie-ish. I love it because of Rob Thomas' writing, Rose McIver/Liv Moore (the most Veronica-ish character) and -- I admit it -- hottie Rahul Kohli as coroner Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti who is clearly the Mac character of iZombie (or as Mac once put it to Veronica, "Q to your Bond"). Detective Babineaux is clearly Wallace. David Anders, who has creeped me out on other shows in the past, is a sexy villain on iZombie as well, with no clear VM character antecedent except maybe Weevil, but only in a very super opposite way. The least compelling person is Major, Liv's ex-fiancee. He is no Duncan -- and he's definitely no Logan.

The premiere of S4 of Elementary was... well, it wasn't terrible. It picks up the threads left dangling intentionally last season. We get to see the much-ballyhooed Holmes pater familias. (Now will Mycroft return in any substantial way, or was he just a convenient way to shoehorn in a plot line that, once finished, was no longer needed thus he was summarily dismissed...?) I continue to enjoy Johnny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu but... I reserve judgment until I see a few more eps of S4. At least Holmes and Watson professed to each other their individual feelings that their work together and partnership is the most important thing to each of them and for both of them, come hell or high water. That was good to see.

Bojack Horseman is a *weird* show, but pretty damn funny. It's animated, sort of like Bob's Burgers crossed with Dirt (the only show I ever truly loved Courtney Cox on). Except instead of the dark disturbing aspects of Dirt's examination of celebrity/tabloid-paparazzi journalism/D-list (ex)celebrity/Hollywood-eats-its-young aspects, BH plays those for laughs. I'm only on 1x4 though. It makes me laugh pretty hard. I've read it gets darker with more pathos later in S1. We'll see; I'm going to keep watching
.

Comments

[ride_4ever]

GO YOU for not letting the tendinitis and the SAD stop you from making this excellent post. (And want to talk with you IRL about SAD lamps.)

Fraser heartily supports your comments about snow and cold weather! *g*

[verushka70]

I had a full spectrum SAD lamp from the 1990s that was HUGE (~2'x3.5'), very heavy, and expensive (almost $300) but really helped a LOT. I had it on an appliance timer for early morning/early evening. My old room mate likened the light it produced to "aliens landing in your bedroom" -- that's how bright it was! It took specialty full spectrum tube bulbs which were ~$18-25 ea. When I moved in w/my ex, he dropped one end of it and broke 4 bulbs (it took 12 iirc). By then SAD lamps were common, prices were much more reasonable, and I was off night shift w/fewer SAD symptoms due to working 6:30am-3pm w/afternoon sun exposure while driving home. It was cheaper to buy a new lamp than replace the bulbs but since I had fewer SAD symptoms, I procrastinated getting a new one until last winter when flexing between 8:30am-5pm shift and 6:30am-3pm shift and often working late meant I had unreliable/irregular exposure to either morning or afternoon sun and SAD symptoms started to affect me again. SAD manifests (for me) as an increased inability to drag myself out of bed in the morning, decreased energy/motivation after I get off work for activities of daily living (cooking, cleaning, pet care, socializing/family time) and general nonspecific melancholia. Of course the former 2 of those 3 issues can be from fibromyalgia &/or major depression, but when they worsen as days get shorter, I know it's SAD affecting me.

And yes, Fraser and Dief would surely agree wrt snow/cold -- though I'm sure they could enjoy far colder temps than I! *g*

[glitteryv]

Boo to the tendinitis (props to you for practicing self-care, though). Kudos on getting the SAD lamp too (it's great knowing that it's working for you).

I've always liked the cold weather (which, admittedly, I don't get to experience it in full where I live, but still...) with the same intensity I loathe the summer heat. Here's wishing this upcoming winter season is right on the edge of good (instead of bitter).

As far as TV shows go, I'm thinking I'll get around watching Hemlock Grove and Bojack Horseman sometime in January. I'm kinda in the middle of a chill marathon of Arrow and The Blacklist so there's that.

Oh gosh, Dirt! I was so into it for the first four episodes. Then the show got weirder and weirder until I felt like I'd lost the narrative thread. /o\

I'm standing by my decision to not watch the new season of Elementary (for now). In part, it's because I'm not in the mood to deal with Sherlock's substance abuse subplot. Another reason is because I'd prefer Moriarty or Kitty to return to the show rather than deal with Holmes Sr. I'm just...not really impressed or curious with what I've heard about episode 4.1 #hands

[verushka70]

Agreed -- right on the edge of good is the kind of winter I'd like. *crosses fingers*

Dirt did get weird, but I often can't resist psychologically dark/disturbing material so I stuck with it. It also got kind of irregularly/unpredictably surreal which I enjoy in movies/TV. (It's the former art/film student in me. Anything that throws a wrench into linear narrative, which I often find boring/predictable, typically grabs/keeps my attention.)

SLIGHT DIRT SPOILERS (in case you ever go back to it): part of the weirdness came from POV shifts to one of her reliable paparazzi photogs, who was off his meds. That probably accounted for at least some of the increasing weirdness. The fact that the person who noticed and helped was Lucy kind of softened her otherwise pretty hard-edged, unsympathetic character. END SLIGHT SPOILERS

Re: HG -- if you like it, you'll like S1-S2 best, and it'll still be there in January *g*. I'm no further in S3 than when I posted despite being home in pain and stiff/achy much of this weekend. I'll finish S3, just don't feel an urgent need. It is def not "must see TV" for me (unlike S1 and parts of S2). I'd actually rather finish Bojack Horseman.

I have Arrow in my queue but there are so many seasons to catch up on, I'm intimidated. I have not seen The Blacklist yet. Did you keep up with Blind Spot? or The Player? I haven't started watching either yet though tbh as previously mentioned, Blind Spot's ridiculous hype turned me off and The Player looked potentially quite silly though fun. I'm much more likely to try The Player sooner rather than later than Blind Spot, like, ever.

Started watching Gotham S1 via Netflix. I like the seedy, sleazy, corrupt Gotham angle, young Selena, stern/strict!Alfred (Sean Pertwee), and Jada Pinkett-Smith's Fish Mooney. OTOH it's been incredibly violent from jump in a way that makes me question how canonical the violence is (I'm truly not sure -- I never read the original comics). So I backburnered Gotham in favor of lighter material like Bojack and picking up HG again at least so I can finish it.

wrt Elementary S4 premiere... having seen it, I basically agree with/understand your position.
(NO SPOILERS - just general commentary)
There was nothing particularly compelling about the S4 premiere. It was mostly exposition/loose-end tie-ups/laying ground for S4 plots/arcs.

It also continued the most disappointing, growing trend of S3 -- predictability of foreground plot/villain/case-of-the-week. I knew the minute they introduced the character who did it, that he was the one who did it. That was maybe 15 minutes or less into the episode. Very disappointing. I wish I could say that the later crisis-related exchange and interplay between Sherlock and Joan was compelling, but it came too little and too late in the ep.

The writers' noncanonical obstruction of the partnership last season to artificially amp up tensions and inject conflict utterly backfired and basically broke the Holmes/Watson chemistry and partnership. (That stands to reason given how cynical and manipulative it was -- it rarely felt like authentic angst or conflict imo.)

It will take much more than tepid episodes like the S4 premiere (and more than just one or two eps) to repair that). More importantly, the S4 premiere didn't inspire any of the excitement, anticipation, or fannish investment/motivation of S1-S2 eps. It felt no different than the lukewarm post-Kitty eps of last season.

Sigh. I'll probably continue to watch it on Thursday nights if I have nothing better to do. It's become a sad waste of the collective talent of the actors.
:-(

[glitteryv]

It also got kind of irregularly/unpredictably surreal[...]

Indeed it did. I remember not being sure if the cat was dead or not until it began talking (iirc). I was really into the gossip sites and all that world, so I think that my expectations of what the show should've been was totally at the opposite spectrum of the TBPBs'. Overall, I had to drop it because I was so frustrated with the non-linear/surreal aspects. Though, like you said, Courtney Cox was really good in it.

Did you keep up with Blind Spot? or The Player?

I don't know why people like Blind Spot. The pilot episode was terrible and gross. FTR, the grossness I'm referring to is that a large portion of the pilot was made up of all these shots of the female protagonist standing naked OR of people looking at a wall of photographs of her tattoos. I didn't care for the cast (though I'd originally tuned in because of Jamie Alexander). Even the "twist" at the end of the pilot had me rolling my eyes. I have no idea if it's gotten better, only that the network has chosen to renew it for a second season. Naked lady with tattoos = must-see TV, I guess.

Now, The Player is the one new show I totes dig. There's a certain OTTness to the plot that I'm processing as fun-yet-mindless action. I also like the cast a lot (Phillip Winchester, the male lead, is appealing because he knows the kind of show he's starring in), they have a lot of chemistry. I think if you can overlook cheesetastic stuff like a dude shooting over his shoulder and hitting a target, then you might like this show too.

Sadly, though, I'm not sure this show will make it past this season. IIRC, the episode order was cut from 15 to 9. That's a really bad sign. :(

I don't remember exactly when I stopped watching Gotham (probably right at the first season break). Some of my meh is because I'm really over Batman and his world and the grimdark version of network TV.

Oh, don't mind spoiling me about Elementary. I read a few reviews about ep 4.1 and that's why I was like "yeah, I don't think I'm gonna get on that horse anytime soon." What do you think it'd take for the show to regain that freshness that it seems to be lacking right now?

[verushka70]

Well, since there is so much room in my TV viewing schedule (not, lol, at least based on my queues), I'll add The Player. I'll probably wind up liking it... and then it'll probably get canceled, since that seems to happen to me and TV shows I like a lot. Argh.

tbh, I'm not sure TPTB can regain Elementary's freshness at this point. At the end of S3 it was made clear that Holmes' father is threatening to oust them from the brownstone due to Holmes using heroin, the one major stipulation. By that point of course Watson had moved back and more or less settled in again, but in her own space in the basement unit. So the setup for them to re-solidify the partnership was at least there in the season-ending loose ends.

Now in the S4 premiere that threat to their ousting from the brownstone is compounded by (SPOILER) NYPD deciding that Holmes must be made an example of (because of his heroin use, albeit just the once, and his beating Oscar to near-death for which he may be convicted/sentenced to prison). So NYPD ends the use of consultants like Holmes/Watson and now they are effectively unemployed except for taking on the cases of private citizens, and the implication of "how/where will they live?" if they do pro bono work is made clear.

The one scene where they frankly discuss the quandary facing them results in Holmes essentially saying he'll pave the way for Joan to continue working on her own, and her replying that she'll only work with her partner -- Sherlock -- because she and they work best together. So there is that re-commitment. But that was the scene I'd like to tell the writers was a day late and a dollar short. It just made all the obstruction and interruption of their partnership last season seem that much more gratuitous and manipulative to me. Like, why couldn't we have had further solidification of their partnership, with all the requisite snarking between them, all last season -- if this was how it was going to end up anyway? Just made that obstruction seem even more pointless and unnecessary.

Maybe that's just me, but it felt very much like, "Oh, noes! Here we go again, yet another uphill battle for our consulting detectives to stay partners, continue fighting the good fight, and triumph over evil... how will they do it? Tune in next week! same Bat time, same Bat channel!" in a very ho-hum way.

At this point I think it would take a lot of solid "Holmes and Watson unify against/triumph over threats like Holmes Sr. and take on/solve tricky new (private) cases" (part of Conan Doyle canon, anyway), spread across 4-5 more episodes. But when I say solid, I mean solid -- with no more fucking around with the partnership itself and their commitment to it and each other (other than their inherent snarkiness with each other, of course).

Then, too, Elementary started with some fresh takes on things from jump -- John Watson becoming Joan, and Irene Adler being Moriarty. More of such inspired twists on canonical Conan Doyle stuff would be awesome.

The dynamic between Joan and Sherlock got all fucked up last season, thanks to tied up loose ends of S2, to the introduction of the Kitty/Sherlock partnership/dynamic/pseudo-rivalry with Joan/Sherlock (and then the writers really blew all that potential and went totally predictable with it, imo), and to Joan's relationship with Andrew (who, though nice enough, just felt very 'meh' to me, the relationship lacking in chemistry and believability, which made his death less of an impact than it should have been, despite being caused by Elana March -- and now since she's served her narrative purpose, I guess we won't be seeing more of Gina Gershon, which is kind of a bummer).

We got the expositional re-commitment to the partnership from both of them and even some selfless "my prospects may be ruined, but yours shouldn't be" from Sherlock, so what remains is to execute it across a few or several solid eps while whatever dramatic xternal maelstrom whirls around them.

Speculating wildly and even going so far as *gasp* a wish list, I'd love to see Moriarty and Mycroft return. There was a brief reference in 4x1 to Sherlock's ongoing correspondence with Moriarty. I'm really hoping that was dropped in for a reason, considering that Moriarty's people are still all out there. And I just want to see more of her and the development of that Moriarty-Irene/Sherlock dynamic, because in a way they are two sides of a similar coin and she's just kind of fascinating to me. (Although I kind of liked BBC Sherlock's take on Moriarty and the slashy aspects, he ended up being more loose canon and less sinister than he should have been -- whereas Elementary's Moriarty being Irene ended up being more sinister, so the emotional double whammy of his arch nemesis being the only woman he ever loved, and Joan being the one who outsmarted her, leads me to much prefer CBS's Moriarty over BBC's.)

Considering all that happened in S1-S3, I felt the Mycroft/Joan thing had more chemistry and plausibility than Joan/Andrew. And the way Joan/Mycroft messed with Sherlock was amusing, entertaining, and revealing to watch. He and Mycroft seemed to have come to some sort of brotherly detente in their own sibling dynamic, so it would be nice to see Sherlock achieve a level of maturity about Joan and Mycroft maybe getting it on again. I liked the "you're available, I'm available, we enjoy each others company, let's snog" smexin' of Mycroft/Joan. Given Sherlock's canonical practicality regarding commitment-free sexual release, and his development wrt some of his own issues (like recovery, backsliding, and re-committing to recovery), it'd be nice to see Sherlock come to understand that Joan and Mycroft can have a thing that is non-committal and caring, and has nothing to do with him.

And if Kitty came back, too, that'd be awesome, although I'm not sure how she could because isn't she still technically wanted by NYPD for burning the face of her captor/torturer? Maybe she could come back as one of the Irregulars or with Everyone. More of Sherlock's Irregulars, more Ms. Hudson (what happened to her? she should be more prominent!), more Marcus, more Alfredo -- this is what I want. I doubt I'll get it, but -- I can dream.

Off the top of my head, I would say that the writers can't go wrong by looking to the source material but putting their own spin on it, like they did in S1. That worked beautifully and gave Elementary a lot of its freshness (at least for people like me who like the original Conan Doyle stuff but like the 21st century updates -- but I think it worked okay for people who just came for Lucy Liu &/or Johnny Lee Miller, because it wouldn't necessarily have been noticeable, it just added resonance if you already knew the canon). The greatness of its execution was that that writing then relied on the ensemble of actors and guest stars doing their talented things, which they did. But then the writers got carried away with their own cleverness in S3 and it ended up being a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing, with little of the emotional gravity, the resonance, or the freshness of the first two seasons. (I don't even know if the writing teams were the same from S1 to S2 to S3 -- if they weren't, then maybe that was part of the problem.)

[glitteryv]

I do find myself watching less TV and more Netflix and iTunes. BTW, have you watched Luther? I recommend it if you're in the mood for a British police procedural with a very dark mood.

As for Elementary, I don't even know where to begin. I was a fan from the beginning and kept watching until the end of the last season. I'm not sure what was it that triggered it, but the show really lost its way (imho). In part, I think that the wonkiness in the second half of S3 came about because TPTB don't want to do the Joan/Sherlock a canon romantic pairing--which is a smart move on their part. However, they feel that they need to dangle the potential breakup of their (platonic) relationship. But it all feels forced. In turn, some viewers (like myself) stop feeling invested in what's going on in Joan and Sherlock's lives. I do think that the turn to a more insular cast (Joan, Sherlock, the Captain, Detective Bell, and (very occasionally) Alfredo) is also affecting the show.

The setting is NYC, for gods' sakes! I think that they should've expanded the cast instead of keeping it at a minimum.

Joan's relationship with Andrew (who, though nice enough, just felt very 'meh' to me, the relationship lacking in chemistry and believability, which made his death less of an impact than it should have been[...]

Agreed. Andrew was "OK", but I'd wished Joan's partner had been someone a lot more dynamic. In the end, Andrew's lack of "oomph" didn't endear him to me.

I do wish Moriarty would return (as well as Kitty). FTR, I don't ship Sherlock/Moriarty but Joan/Moriarty. She kinda seems obsessed with Joan (perhaps because no one other than herself has ever gotten so close to knowing Sherlock). It'd be SUPER AWESOME if there was a multi-episode arc with Ms.Hudson (who's fantastic as well as a hottie. #Imforevershallow) and Alfredo and, yes, more people in general. I do wish that Joan/Mycroft had been a lot more ambiguous rather than "on the page". If anything, so that Mycroft could've teased Sherlock like whoa.

Here's hoping the show returns to a clearer path sooner rather than later.

[verushka70]

I have watched Luther, yes. But only through season 2. I just haven't gotten around to season 3. it is very dark, like I like it. Plus Idris Elba!

Yes, I too have found myself watching more Netflix. I don't use iTunes, because I thought you had to pay for that? also, the iTunes app is not available via my Roku device. I think that's because iTunes restrict its availability to only Apple devices. I mean, obviously, you pay for Netflix too. But my impression was that you have to pay per episode on iTunes or per season. I'm cheap, I'd rather just pay for a subscription service like Netflix, or Amazon Prime and get entire seasons when they're available which is usually right when the new season becomes available. So right now the only things that I watch on network television would be Elementary, & iZombie. and some of the PBS shows like Nova, Nature and the mysteries.

Other then over the air antenna TV, and the HBO that comes with my high speed internet, I use my Roku to watch TV on my television. It has some free streaming apps like the Sony Studios app Crackle, which has the rotating list of Sony Studios owned movies and TV shows you can watch for free. But the main things that I use Roku for are Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, YouTube, Amazon music so I can listen to my music/mp3s from Amazon through my sound bar connected to my TV, and a media player that lets me play my accumulated video and audio from an external hard drive. It's basically like having an internet-connected streaming PC with a good GUI and no keyboard, although it is possible to sync a tablet or a mobile phone to the Roku device so you can do your searches on your phone or tablet and they get transmitted to the Roku device. because using that little tiny keyboard one button at a time to do searches on YouTube is kind of annoying. And since nearly everything streams in HD now, whatever I'm watching looks gorgeous. Now if only it had an actual web browser, and some kind of an e-reader that allowed me to magnify the text, it would be a basically perfect replacement for a desktop computer with a huge HD TV screen, and the only thing I wouldn't want to do on it is write stories or edit something.

You're right, a more insular cast has not made things better on Elementary, only worse. and as you rightly point out, it is NYC for god sake! obviously, it's a good idea for them to avoid any kind of romantic pairing between Watson and Holmes. but as we both agree, all of the external threats and problems between them have resulted in us being less invested in the show, because it does feel forced.

I don't really do the femslash thing but Moriarty obviously seems fixated on/ fascinated with Joan. Whether it is a function of Joan being able to catch her, or not, it's a really interesting dynamic that seems somewhat dangerous and edgy. I do get the feeling that Moriarty would do something bad to Joan if she could, but then again the way she is with Holmes now, maybe she would see the opportunity to hurt Joan and then not do it. which might change Joan's perspective on Moriarty, which is rather limited. either way, I think that Holmes is an integral part of the dynamic between Joan and Moriarty, because Joan wants to protect Sherlock from Moriarty, but she can't very well do that if Sherlock is willingly continuing correspondence with Moriarty. all she can do is watch the train wreck as it happens, if it happens, and try to help him pick up the pieces afterwards. which leads to Joan being frustrated with Sherlock, engaging in something that is essentially dangerous to himself. in a way, Moriarty corresponds with heroin. he knows he shouldn't indulge in her, but he can't help himself. it's obvious that Joan disapproves of his correspondence with Moriarty, and probably sees it as corresponding with heroin in terms of his recovery specifically from Moriarty, and basically doesn't understand it. I like that Joan is very protective of Sherlock. because although he is very capable in most respects, he really really isn't in some others. and Joan's got that covered, if he would listen to her or take her advice. and he more or less does in other arenas -- just not Moriarty.

with respect to the Moriarty / Holmes dynamic, I don't have any real desire to see them hook up again romantically. but when Moriarty was let out from prison when her biological daughter was kidnapped to assist with solving the case, there were some exchanges between Moriarty and Holmes that led me to believe that she might be trying to change and debating internally whether or not it is worth it. Questions that she asked Holmes about "Is this why you do it?" or "Is this how you fake being one of them ?," acknowledging the fact that she and Holmes can't really relate to other people as well as they can relate to each other, acknowledging that sociopathic element to their personalities, were really the most interesting parts of that relationship to me after the big reveal that Irene was Moriarty at the end of season one. Joan's perspective on Moriarty is much more limited, I think. She just sees her as an irredeemable criminal sociopath with no hope of ever being a worthwhile human being of any kind. in a way, that kind of limits the Jones / Moriarty possibilities, but the fact that Sherlock himself seems to be trying to make himself less isolated, less unfriendly, developing more of a support network for himself despite his prickliness, his intense need for privacy -- as he continues to work on his addiction recovery -- and the fact that none of this really comes naturally to him makes him far better able to relate to Moriarty, and more inclined to think that if perhaps he can change, if he can redeem those misanthropic, somewhat sociopathic qualities in himself, maybe she can too. I wish that they would give Joan a more complex response to Moriarty in the writing, but they seem to have settled on her just being baffled as to why Sherlock would continue corresponding with Moriarty -- baffled, disapproving, and ultimately chalking it up to romantic / erotic fascination. which I think Holmes is actually past at this point.

So more Moriarty and Joan interaction would hopefully expand on Joan's more rigid take on Moriarty. of course, if anything were to happen, it wouldn't be unusual to see Moriarty revert to type or in general be rather femme fatale ish, and I hate to say it, but I kind of like her evil! she's just more fun that way. the suspense is in whether or not she will choose to be evil, or go a different route, and there are strong hints that she might do the latter, if only because she sees that in Holmes and either wants those things for herself that Holmes now has (expanded circle of support and friends), where that some small part of her wishes for his approval. and I don't mean the latter in any traditional romantic "woman pleasing man" sense but in a kind of therapeutic/change oriented "this person sees me as more capable of these things than I see myself, but maybe I am capable of it -- or maybe he needs to see it that way for himself" kind ofway.

Yes, absolutely, more Mrs Hudson ! and you're right, the Mycroft / Joan thing seemed to have more going for it the less explicitly spelled out it was, especially in terms of Sherlock's / the audience's "did they or didn't they" reaction.

sorry if this isn't quite grammatically correct or spelled properly or the wrong words are being used. I'm using speech to text, but my wrist have been pretty bad the last couple days so it's really, really painful for me to go back and fix things. I think you get the gist of things, even if the wrong words are substituted.