(Spoilers for Sherlock seasons 1-3)

This past week's 2016 Comic-Con has been a ball of comic-fun in which new releases of teaser trailers, clips and pictures have been finally introduced to the public. The Sherlock BBC panel happened Sunday morning in H-hall, including writers and directors Stephen Moffat and Mark Gatiss––Gatiss also plays Mycroft Holmes––producer Sue Vertue––and actors Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays Sherlock Holmes, and Amanda Abbington, who plays Mary Watson. The panel also included a Season 4 two-minute teaser trailer, which showed the first look in the upcoming season.

Link to trailer: Sherlock Season 4 teaser trailer

So, what can the Sherlock fan base expect for Season 4? What did Moffat and Gatiss want their fans to see or think about the trailer?

I have taken theories from the web, as well as from my personal theories, and compiled them into a database:

Let’s talk about season 3

Season 3 was the latest season aired for Sherlock BBC in January of 2016. In the last episode entitled “His Last Vow,” Sherlock worked tremendously hard to keep John and Mary Watson safe from a new villain named Augustus Magnussen, who specializes in destroying people’s personal lives just by leaking secret information about them. Mary Watson, John Watson’s wife, had a very secret and dark past that she wanted to leave behind before she ever met John or Sherlock. Even though Mary did confess some of her secrets to John and Sherlock, she was still in danger from Magnussen if he ever decided to leak her secrets to the public. In the last episode, Sherlock defeated Magnussen by killing him, and in return had to go into exile and was tried as a murderer by the British Government. In the last scene Sherlock is seen on a private jet flying off to an unknown exile location, when suddenly, all of London’s computer and TV signals broadcast a short clip of Moriarty, Sherlock’s past nemesis he thought was dead and defeated. The season ends on a cliffhanger of Sherlock touching down back in London to deal with the threat, leading into Season 4, which comes out in 2017.

What we already know from season 3:

• Sherlock is back in London because of a video threat of Moriarty
• The video showed Moriarty’s face and the screen reading “Did you miss me?”
• Mary Watson is pregnant
• Sherlock is reintroducing his drug addiction of cocaine

Why is there a video of Moriarty?

Either someone made that video and is simply teasing London or Sherlock, or Moriarty is truly back and his team has risen again. Of course, no one knows Moriarty better than Sherlock, so that is why the British Government invited him back to help deal with the situation. Since Sherlock has risen, so will Moriarty, and that is a new and much more dangerous threat the second time around since Mary is now involved.

Will Mary’s pregnancy play a big role in season 4?

In season 4, there is doubt that Mary Watson will give birth in one of the three episodes. But we do not know if she or the baby will be okay.

Now, as a fan who needs to know answers, I have searched up spoilers for season 4.

(If you do not want to read any spoilers for season 4 please skip to the next bolded heading.)

Some pictures for season 4 from the set were released on twitter, revealing that Mary had her baby, which is a girl, and they are both safe and healthy. I personally was worried if Moffat and Gatiss would let Mary and her baby be alright or not, because in the original writing of Sherlock from the author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Doyle wrote in his books that Mary Morstan had died from childbirth, but the baby was fine. So many fans including myself were suspicious if Moffat stayed true to the books or not. Thankfully, Moffat wrote his own fate for Mary Watson and the baby to be safe.

Some other set picture showed Sherlock holding a leash on a Basset Hound, which might indicate that the hound is Sherlock’s, John and Mary’s, or someone else’s dog that they are letting Sherlock have as a sidekick. I do not know much about dogs but I know that Basset Hounds are one of the best hunting dogs, and they have gifted noses to smell anything from miles away. Could the hound be a blessing to Sherlock and his case work? It is possible that the hound could help Sherlock solve many cases in season 4. Another reason why the hound might be a key to bring some secrets to light is because in season 3, some of Sherlock’s past was revealed. Sherlock had a childhood dog named Redbeard, an Irish Setter. As the audience knows, Redbeard must have died horribly for Sherlock to be affected by his name so often. Foreshadowing can play out a lot in this upcoming season between Sherlock and the Basset Hound, maybe bringing back some sad memories of Sherlock’s past again.

Another important set picture introduced on twitter was on a set near a harbor. Sherlock is seen on a small yacht with John by him. Fog is all around the boat, and there are some pictures of Sherlock jumping off the boat, of him either jumping on the deck of the boat or off the boat. So far, I am clueless as to why Sherlock and John are on a boat. But this scene could be an important play in the season.

The last picture that was posted by a crew worker was of Moriarty on a beach with two bodyguards by his side. Moriarty looks like he just got off of the helicopter behind him, and he is seen breathing in the fresh air or relishing being back in his active crime-life. Now, I can see why fans might think he is definitely alive and back, but this could be a scene from a flashback or the past. Maybe the scene is from the past, or maybe it is not, and Moriarty is truly alive.

The three clues from Comic-Con

During a Comic-Con interview with the Sherlock cast, Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock), Amanda Abbington (Mary) and Mark Gatiss (Mycroft) shared three pieces of clues for the upcoming season. Each held up a piece of paper, with the names Thatcher, Smith and Sherrinford. So what could these three names mean?

• Thatcher: Thatcher is not an uncommon name used in the Sherlock TV show. Although the name might not ring a bell to some fans, the name Thatcher appeared in “The Hounds of Baskerville” in season 2 as a password used to get into a computer. The name Margaret Thatcher is actually the name of the Prime Minister of Britain in the 1990’s. Although, it is unlikely that she would be linked to an important clue for Sherlock. Another possibility for the importance of the name is a case written by Doctor John Watson on his blog entitled The Six Thatchers. The case was about a clay bust of Margaret Thatcher that was used to kill an art student. The fact that John wrote about Margaret Thatcher could be linked to the clue that was given to us on Comic-Con week.
• Smith: Although this is a very common last name, the name Smith in the Sherlock world does come up in the original books of Sherlock Holmes written by Arthur Conan Doyle. In one of Doyle’s stories entitled “The Adventure of the Dying Detective,” a character named Culverton Smith interacts with Sherlock Holmes and tries to poison Sherlock on purpose. But Sherlock ends up faking his poisoned scenario and gets Smith to confess his plan to poison his nephew. Sherlock is fine and Watson witnesses the confession by hiding in a room. Since Moffat and Gatiss love to incorporate Doyle’s stories into their own creative versions, it would not be a surprise to see a mirrored version of The Dying Detective in season 4.
• Sherrinford: A name this odd could almost be like another Holmes! Well in fact, there is an adaption of the name Sherrinford Holmes. Arthur Conan Doyle almost named his famous detective Sherrinford before he settled on Sherlock. Sherrinford was later introduced properly by another author who was a Sherlock scholar named William Stuart Baring-Gould, and gave Sherrinford a role in his Sherlock Biography. In Gould’s biography, Sherrinford Holmes was the eldest brother of Mycroft and Sherlock, and since he was the eldest, he had to look after the Holmes’s family estate, which left Mycroft and Sherlock free to choose any career they were interested in- namely, working in the British Government and becoming a consulting detective. Going back to the BBC television show, the hint of another brother actually did go into play in the last episode of season 3, in Mycroft’s dialogue towards one of his men. Mycroft says, “I'm not given to outbursts of brotherly compassion. You know what happened to the other one.” What other one, Mycroft? Got something to tell us? Anyways, perhaps the other brother is Sherrinford, and he might become a big deal in season 4 if he is introduced.

The teaser trailer

Finally, I want to address the teaser trailer that was released at Comic-Con on July 24th. The trailer only lasted one minute and thirty seconds but showed many important scenes of season 4 and left many questions for desperate fans. The writers promised us that this season was going to be the darkest season yet, and we should all be prepared for the East Wind...

1. Something's coming...

In the beginning of the trailer, Sherlock whispers “Something’s coming.. Maybe it’s Moriarty, maybe it’s not.” Sherlock does not have enough information to hypothesize if Moriarty is truly dead or not, which can be a dangerous unanswered question for the characters.

2. John at the end of a hospital bed

John is definitely concerned about whoever is in that hospital bed. There could be two scenarios: 1) Mary is in hospital for her pregnancy and possibly is on bed rest. Although if she was in hospital about to give birth, wouldn’t we see much more hustling in the room? Maybe John not looking so still and staring in that scene. 2) Sherlock is in the hospital bed either from an injury, overdose, or maybe even faking an illness. The injury could be from the gun wound Sherlock had in season 3, and this scene could be a flashback from season 3. For an overdose, Sherlock possibly could have overdosed on drugs or another source of overdose and was taken to hospital. The third possibility could be that he is faking his sickness, just like in Doyle’s story of the Dying Detective.

One thing is for sure, is that Mary and Sherlock are the only suspects that could be lying in that bed, because John would not care about anyone else as much to sit at the end of the hospital bed. Of course unless the bed might be empty and John is simply remembering a past.

3. Sherlock and the pool

We see a pool in both season 1 and season 2 when Moriarty reveals his identity to Sherlock and John. Moriarty takes John captive inside a swimming pool and Sherlock almost kills all of them to end Moriarty, but thankfully his plan never played out. The reason Moriarty chose the pool for a location to reveal his identity was because back in 1989, Moriarty killed a student named Carl Powers who was a swimmer at the school. It was the very first case Sherlock ever took on, and that is possibly how Moriarty got interested in Sherlock. Sherlock and John get out of there safely, but it was that pool scene when Sherlock realized who he was dealing with and what game he might play with him.

In the trailer, however, Sherlock seems to visit a pool, which it could be the same pool or a different pool. Reflecting back on the pool in season 1 and 2, the pool seemed much bigger than the pool in the season 4 trailer. The pool in the trailer has designs of trees, which the other pool did not have. My guess is that they are two different pools, but that does not indicate that Sherlock is not haunted by every pool he walks into.

4. New Villain talks with John and Sherlock

A quick communication between Sherlock, John and a new character, possibly the villain, takes place right outside a car. The villain seems to be telling Sherlock that he is looking forward to playing the game with Sherlock and John, whether it he is working with Moriarty or not. Since the clue name Smith is considered to be Sherlock’s enemy, perhaps this new villain could be Culverton Smith.

5. Mary Morstan or A.G.R.A

A quick scene shows Mary with a gun and with her wearing black hair. She also seems to be undercover, since her clothes are distinctively different attire. Since she has a different hair style, I am guessing this scene could be a flashback from her past life she left behind as an assassin undercover. There also have been facts that she is not from the UK and that she is originally from somewhere else other than Britain. Sherlock deduces Mary and her secrets in season 3, revealing that her real name is not Mary Elizabeth Morstan since she took the name of a stillborn child, thus giving her the background of growing up an orphan with no family. Mary also confesses her real name in her initials, A.G.R.A. on a hard drive in season 3. Although John nor Sherlock never wanted to discover her true name or her darkest secrets, perhaps season 4 will show what was on her hard drive.

6. John in a car crash.. Possibly?

John Watson is seen in the trailer driving a car and him looking disgruntled or worried, and then the next scene of two cars hitting head-on. Could this have been the same car John was driving? If so, John could have been so worked up he was not paying attention to the road, but what writing fun would that be for the plot? John either was purposely hit by the other car or he veered off road and hit the car. Let’s just all pray that was not John in the crashed car.

7. Mrs. Hudson vs. Mycroft

Never do we see Mrs. Hudson angry, let alone scary as well. Towards the end of the trailer Mrs. Hudson gives a deathly glaring look at Mycroft Holmes and then whispers to him, “Get out of my house, you reptile”. What has caused sweet Mrs. Hudson to lash out on Sherlock’s brother, Mycroft? We see in past seasons that Mrs. Hudson and Mycroft don’t get along all too well, Mycroft thinking she is just an old lady that does chores, and Mrs. Hudson thinking that Mycroft is a cold-hearted human. Well Mrs. Hudson, you’re not wrong.

But the coldness of her voice when she orders Mycroft to leave the flat, it can’t be anything good. She does not seem to be playing either. This scene could be more important than the fan base realizes. Had Mycroft done something to cross the line? Maybe betrayed Sherlock, or lied. Whatever Mycroft did, Mrs. Hudson does not approve. Don’t fight with your elders, Mycroft! They’ll whoop your arse.

8. Moriarty at the beach

If that is not Moriarty’s back head, then I don’t know who it would be, but from the looks of it it definitely looks like him with a few bodyguards by his side. Why has Moriarty chosen a beach to be on? And who is that guy about to walk up to greet him? This scene could be proof that Moriarty is still alive, or maybe it could be a flashback of him. It also could be likely that this scene is a vision of Sherlock’s mind-palace; we have seen his mind-palace before and Moriarty seems to be in his head quite a lot.

9. The Nurses

“The roads we walk have demons beneath, and your’s have been waiting for a very long time”. This is what Mycroft says in a voice-over presumably to Sherlock in the scene with the nurses walking in a hospital hallway. These nurses look dead scary and not in a mood to cheer a patient up. Also their attire reminds me of the 1960’s outfit, so why the nurse outfit theme? My hypothesis is that this could very well be a dream or in Sherlock’s mind-palace. If the scene is real, it could be related to Sherlock’s addiction to drugs, or maybe related to John being in the hospital room.

Another thing to point out is that when the nurses are walking in the hallway, there is a man standing right against the wall while the nurses pass him. It only shows the man’s legs and feet, and he is wearing a black suit. The man’s hands seem to be behind his back.

This man could be narrowed down to four men; 1) Mycroft Holmes 2) Sherlock Holmes 3) Moriarty or 4) Sherrinford or another un-introduced character. I do not believe it is John nor Smith because they both have similar body types; stocky and not the lean type, which it’s clear to see that the man in the suit is lean and sharp. Now since the man has his hands behind his back, that posture is seen a lot in Sherlock and sometimes Moriarty. Although for Mycroft, we rarely see his hands behind his back, since he usually acquires himself with an umbrella. The fact that it could be Sherrinford or another character we do not know about is a possibility.

10. Sherlock’s look of fear

The last scene before the Sherlock title appears is of Sherlock looking at something or someone as if death had just stared him in the face. He looks absolutely a mess and frightened of whatever is appearing before him. Since this scene comes right after the nurses walking in the hallway, it could be that he is looking at the nurses walking toward him. The silver doors behind him do not look very welcoming, so he could be in an empty part of a hospital. This also could be the works of his mind-palace, similar to his mind-palace dream of when he got shot. Is this his mind-palace when Sherlock possibly could have overdosed? Or is it the real deal? Let’s hope poor Sherlock is okay, Physically if anything.

Why Moffat and Gatiss could be lying about what information they share with the fans

As a dedicated and well-informed fan of the show, I know well enough that both writers, Stephen Moffat and Mark Gatiss, have turned corners and lied about what to expect from the show’s episodes. Moffat and Gatiss have told fans before that a certain plot would certainly happen, but the fans found out later when the episode came out that the plot never rang true to Moffat and Gatiss’ words, in a good way. And this is precisely why they are brilliant writers of the show, because they know how to hide their information well and they know how to make the show even more exhilarating for fans; to lie about their plots. For example, Moffat and Gatiss both said in many interviews that Moriarty is definitely dead from season 2 and will continue to be dead in season 4. But they’re freaking liars. Why you lying. Stop lying i can see past both your evil eyes

. Moffat said that there is no way Moriarty is back because he blew his own brains out. Well… technically we never saw the back of his head being blown off, only blood coming out underneath his head.

Now, I would call them both trolls for imparting false information to fans, but as much as I want to be angry about their trolling, I believe their way of handling the secrets and information of their show is ingenious, and trolling the fanbase might be the most brilliant way of keeping a shows secrets.

Conclusion

The trailer that was released at Comic-Con 2016 for "Sherlock" did bring the fandom many questions and excitement for upcoming season 4. The fan base has been growing every year and the show is now a global hit, possibly one of the best TV shows there is out there. And although they only release three episodes every eighty-four years(actually only every two years, but still feels like eighty-four years), we can always count on each episode to be a great action packed adventure filled with adrenaline and love for the show. And proof that the last three seasons have been absolutely brilliant, we can expect nothing less for season 4.