As far as surprises go, “Sherlock” is not a stranger to putting its fans in interesting situations, and the show definitely knows how to shake up its audience every once in a while. The somewhat unusual format under which it runs has given the producers quite a lot of creative freedom in running the episodes, and we’ve been seeing some very peculiar developments over its first three seasons.
And now, we’re hearing claims that season 4 is going to ramp up the drama even more and introduce various elements to the plot that could leave fans with their jaws dropped. We don’t actually know what those changes are going to be, for what it’s worth – the producers have been somewhat vague and cryptic about their plans for the show, but they did say that they were quite confident that there will be a major surprise in the next season, one that fans never expected.
What could this mean? The implications are numerous, but it does allude to the fact that the producers know very well what the show’s fans do and don’t expect to see. Which, in turn, most likely means that they are paying close attention to messaging boards and the various discussions about the show on the Internet, as there is certainly plenty of information out there that shows the point of view of a typical “Sherlock” fan.
Something that Steven Moffat revealed in particular was that the producers are trying very hard to improve on their success with season 3, and they want to make the new season feel even more over the top than the last one. What exactly could this mean though? According to his statements, the cast of the film have been quite distressed by the news and some of them didn’t take the plan lightly, but that’s a desirable effect for the showrunners.
What we do know for sure is that the new season is apparently going to feel darker and more serious than the previous ones, for better or worse. This is something that has had the show’s fans split in their opinions, as many people like the lighthearted, sarcastic nature of Sherlock and the whole show around him in general.
But it might be a necessary evil to make the environment of the show more serious and challenging for its characters, as there has been a noticeable need for additional development in those characters lately, and this seems like the perfect way to go about that.
It would indeed be more difficult to evolve all characters – specifically Sherlock and John – without some adversity, but that could also end up changing the theme of the show drastically, and not for the better, judging by the responses of fans. Hopefully the producers know what they’re doing and they aren’t going to drift too far away from the general theme of “Sherlock” just for the sake of additional character development, as that might end up turning people away from the show instead of drawing new fans in.
There have been rumors that Mary might die in this season, and that would make sense with regards to the original version of “Sherlock”. Of course, the show doesn’t exactly follow the original canon that closely, and it’s a modern reimagining of those stories that takes various creative liberties here and there in order to move its plot forward. It’s definitely noticeable in the discussions among fans that the death of this character is going to be particularly sad for many people.