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On Lolo TV, I’ll share my discovery of culture reference in TV shows with you
Today, we are going to look at Season 3 Episode 1 of BBC’s Sherlock
The Empty Hearse
Are there really hidden culture references in TV shows?
Let me give you a quick example
The Empty Hearse gave the explaination on Sherlock's escape
He jumped off from the roof of Barts two years ago.
How on earth did he survive the jump?
Did you notice
Right before the jump
He sent a text messsage to Mycroft
"Lazarus"
Lazarus is a character in the Bible
He was resurrected by Jesus after his death
There is no better name for Sherlock’s escape plan than "Lazarus"
Did you notice this culture reference?
The main arc of this episode is
Sherlock found out a London underground network’s conspiracy to bomb Westminster
When it comes to bombing Westminster
One has to mention the famous Gunpowder Treason and Plot in the British history
Nov 5, 1605, the British Parliament was having a big ceremony at Westminster
Guy Fawkes snuck explosives into the basement
He planned on setting the place on fire during the ceremony
In The Empty Hearse, the story writers refered to the Gunpowder plot several times
to create a parallel between the current case and the history
The parallels provided clues for Sherlock in solving his case
Now let’s look at all these parallels
Parallel 1 – The Copy Cat
Guy Fawkes chose to bomb the parliament on the day of an opening ceremony
In The Empty Hearse, Lord Moran totally copied Guy’s plan
He picked the night when the Parliament was going to be full house voting for the anti- terrorism bill to blow up the place
今晚反恐法案的投票结果很难预测, 当局政府指出这套法案意义重大...
Parallel 2 – The Bonfire
Since fellow conspirators tipped off the authorities, Gunpowder Plot failed
The King survived the assassination
Thus, 5th of Nov was designated as a day for celebration, with bonfires
That is why when Watson was kidnapped
He was placed inside a bonfire
Sherlock saved Watson from the fire
This jolted something in his mind palace.
It’s a vital clue for his deduction
At that point, he realized Lord Moran was planning on blow up the Parliament that night
今晚他不会去议会
今天是11月5日
“切记，切记”
“火药阴谋”
““切记，切记，十一月初五”
This is a British folk song about the Gunpowder Treason and Plot
When Sherlock mentioned that
Watson came to the realization they need to stop the bomb
Parallel 3: The Underground
Sherlock deduced Moran’s plan to bomb the Parliament
But he still needed to find the explosives
History helped Sherlock again
In Gunpowder Plot
Guy Fawkes snuck 36 barrels of gun powders into the basement of the Parliament
Following this scheme
Sherlock found the car full of explosives In the deserted London underground segment
Stopped the bomb just in time
It is fascinating to watch Sherlock using the history as clues to solve his current case
However, some fans complained the writers made Moran such a dumbass
He followed Guy Fawkes template way too literally
Making it too easy for Sherlock to guess his whole plan
Well, to that -
Lolo’s explanation is
Without Moriarty as the Criminal Consultant
Folks like Moran are certainly amateur hours.
These are the culture references I found while watching The Empty Hearse
I’m glad I get to share with you all
If there is a show you like to watch with me and discuss the hidden references
Drop me a line in the comments
Maybe next time
Lolo TV will be watching what you are watching
Lolo TV