There’s something of an odd feeling about this upcoming season of Sherlock—something we can’t quite put our finger on, but feels particularly dreadful. Perhaps its the sense we got from the cast at San Diego Comic-Con this year, or the surprising willingness with which we’ve been able to gather particular bits of intel from Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss, and the crew. And then there’s this photo of series stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, looking far less Victorian but no less serious that debuted Wednesday on their official Twitter page:
The boys will be back soon! Here’s the first official picture of #Sherlock and John from Series 4. pic.twitter.com/MqGfuUWb96
— Sherlock (@Sherlock221B) August 31, 2016
It seems pretty innocuous at first, right? But then there’s how WHITE John Watson’s hair is—has he suffered a life-shattering turn of events? And the fact that we can’t see his ring finger—coincidence or purposefully leading? That he looks off to one side, distracted by something, also feels telling compared to Holmes’ straight-on, discerning look into the camera with an eyebrow full of skepticism.
Couple this with the overall darkness of the image and what we DO know, the photo takes on a bit more of that unease. What’s going on here? Those three little words the crew used to describe the season to fans at their main SDCC panel—Thatcher, Smith, and Sherrinford—aren’t turning up anywhere in here. So why are we feeling so NERVOUS here?
We talked about this all a bit more in a recent episode of Nerdist News (don’t worry, we’ll wait for you to watch):
That looming sense of dread could point to another thing that’s been hanging over Sherlock’s head: Moriarty, anyone? We saw in the trailer for season four that Moriarty may, in fact, be alive—or at least so mastermind-y he set up a real hoot of a way to terrorize Sherlock even in death—and play a major part in season four. Guys, what if, in this new iteration, we find out that Sherrinford (the name given to an as-yet-unconfirmed elder Holmes brother in a non-canonized “biography” for Sherlock) IS ACTUALLY MORIARTY?! Don’t give me any of that “but wouldn’t they recognize their brother?” ish, or that “but what about Tom Hiddleston?!” stuff. Because Mark Gatiss already said he was “f**king” with us so maybe we’re living in a Hiddleston pipe dream. But also plastic surgery exists/we don’t know their lives/you KNOW Sherlock has face blindness, so c’mon, the elder Moriarty could actually be Sherrinford Holmes. I’M JUST SAYING.
What do you think of the new image? Are you looking forward to the new season of Sherlock (for which we do not have a premiere date outside if “early 2017”)? Let us know in the comments below.
And check out our interview with the Sherlock team from SDCC!
Image: BBC/PBS Masterpiece Mystery! | GIF: Giphy
Alicia Lutes is the Managing Editor of Nerdist, creator/co-host of Fangirling, and also a human on Twitter.
