The latest episode of Sherlock, titled "The Lying Detective", other than being a fantastic piece of television, conveyed some very important ideas. Early in the episode Sherlock is speaking with a suicidal woman. He gets her to give him her gun and throws it into the river. Then he says this:
"Taking your own life. Interesting expression... taking it from who? Once it's over, it's not you who'll miss it. Your own death is something that happens to everybody else. Your life is not your own. Keep your hands off it."
As a person who has suffered with frequent and persistent suicidal thoughts in the past, I found this speech to be very impactful. It is fairly uncommon to see this kind of topic covered on mainstream tv programs, so I was pleased to see it being directly tackled in such a popular and wide reaching show. I can't say for sure how much this would have affected me if I was currently experiencing the sort of low which comes with suicidal ideation, but I'd like to think it might have broken through the dark clouds at least a small bit. You can be so wrapped up in yourself and your own pain at those times that you don't think about what impact taking such action might have on your loved ones; I hope that this particular scene can help some people to see from that perspective and stop them from taking action.
Near the end of the episode Watson breaks down crying and Sherlock hugs him while they exchange the following words:
Sherlock: "It's ok."
Watson: "It's not ok."
Sherlock: "No, but it is what it is."
I thought that this was a very nice adaption of the usual "it's ok" that gets said in these kind of situations. I liked how Sherlock's final line encourages acceptance - which is so vital when dealing with such a torrent of emotions. Once again, it is great to see this in a mainstream tv program.
Congratulations to the writers and performers for dealing with such important ideas in their show. I hope to see more of this kind of thing covered in popular entertainment in the future.
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