Sherlock: "The Empty Hearse"
Jan. 5th, 2014 01:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tj_teejay
Though somehow... "The Empty Hearse" felt different. I can't quite put my finger on it. Was it the different director? The somewhat changed tone of the music? The cinematography that seemed to lack its usual simple, keen beauty? Or just the more jovial general undertone?
Don't get me wrong. I loved the episode. Probably not my all time favourite, but the fact that I've seen it three times in just as many days (yes, I will admit to that) says enough. So here's some of my thoughts in a little more detail.
The different theories
That was quite a brilliant move if you ask me. When I watched it the first time, they had me fooled with the first one. Granted, the bungee jump and the rather dramatic snog were a bit over the top, but, man, that entrance! The hair ruffle. The KISS! Tumblr is exploding with Sherlolly gifs. Even Louise Brealey tweeted about it. (Apparently it took four takes to shoot. And there was green screen.) Oh, I don't ship them. But I still loved that scene. The slashy nerd theory was hilarious. And the actual one was pretty much precisely what the internet had predicted it would be, thus I wasn't surprised and barely raised an eyebrow. #SherlockLives indeed.
Apparently the guy who hypnotized John was Derren Brown, a well-known British illusionist. I read somewhere that Moffat is a big fan, hence the cameo. *shrugs* I don't know the guy, so I'll have to take the internet's word for it.
Lestrade's "Bollocks!" made me chuckle. While we're talking about that scene... what's with Anderson? Was he expelled from the police force because he screwed up over the whole "Sherlock is a fraud" thing? I hope we get some kind of explanation for that in the next two episodes.
The return to London/221B
Loved the scene between Mrs. Hudson and John. So many subtleties there, and such a sad edge to it. You just know John's gonna hate Sherlock when the "Oh, by the way, I'm not dead" reveal is coming. Side-note: John still has a key.
Freshly shaven Sherlock reminded me of Khan. Probably the slicked back hair. Side-note: Mycroft knows German.
"Not sure about that. Ages you." Just like 99% of the Sherlock fandom, everything inside of me screamed, "YES, GET IT THE FUCK OFF YOUR FACE!!!" He did. Thank God!
"Listen to me. I AM NOT GAY!" I may have cheered triumphantly during that scene, thinking, "Take that, slash writers!" Yes, I know, that's rather mean, but it's just that I've never understood the impulse to thrust a same-sex relationship on two guys who canon said were clearly straight. Moffat and Gatiss may have added nods to the slash community along the way, but I never saw any UST there at all.
¿Dónde estás, Yolanda?
On the first viewing, I was very leery of the "jump out of the cake" scene. I had imagined it so many times in my head. And it was always a lot more angsty and dark than the screen version. Though I must say, I quite liked the way they did it. Martin Freeman was brilliant. John's intense betrayal was all there--on his face, in his eyes, in his gestures and in the voice. The man is an acting god. I want to marry him. No, wait, I don't think I do. He's taken and a bit of an eccentric. Let me retract that.
Subtleties here again. Watch closely, and you'll see that Sherlock expects John recognizes him right away from the voice, even with the faux French accent. "Well, uh, surprise me," John orders without a second thought. By that point Sherlock thought the cat would be out of the bag. Listen to his, "Certainly endeavouring to, Sir." The accent is gone, and he's really pissed off.
We are introduced to Mary Morstan. Who I later learned is played by Martin Freeman's significant other. How sweet is that? I immediately liked Mary. A lot. She giggled during the proposal. How can you not love her?
"Well, short version: Not dead." Not quite the dramatic entrance I would have imagined, but it worked.
This was also brilliant:
"Oh no, you..."
"Oh yes."
"Oh my God."
"Not quite."
"You died, you jumped off a roof."
"No."
"You're dead."
"No, I'm quite sure, I checked."
So very Sherlock!!
I've heard there was some criticism that Sherlock's joking around about the mustache was inappropriate and out-of-character. It didn't really bother me. Meeting John again after two years of radio silence was bound to be awkward, and we know Sherlock's not savvy at reading moods and emotions. He went back to what he knew--classic Sherlock deflection at its best.
I think I only really realized this on the second viewing, but they kept changing venues because John physically attacking Sherlock kept getting them thrown out of the restaurants. And I love that they ended up in a tiny, dinky kebab place.
"Mary likes it."
"Hmmmm, no, she doesn't."
"She does."
"She doesn't."
(silence)
"Oh, brilliant."
"I'm sorry, I didn't know how to tell you."
"Now, this is charming, I've really missed this!"
Well, we have!
"Gosh, you don't know anything about human nature, do you?" Yes, Mary has it down after spending one evening with the man. She admits that she likes him. I want to hug her. But what I realized later on, I think it's apparent that Sherlock likes her too. It's not so much in the things that he says, it's in the things that he doesn't say. There's this sequence where he deducts that she's an only child, a liguist, a guardian, shortsighted, clever, a liberal democrat, bakes bread, is a romantic, a cat lover and has a secret tattoo. Yet, he keeps all of that to himself when in any normal Sherlockian situation he would have made a glib remark to point out his superiority. He likes her. A lot.
Don't you want to know what John and Mary would have discussed that night after they got home. Fan fiction, anyone?
Btw, the split lip and bloody nose was soooo deserved. Lestrade said it. Sherlock, you bastard! Loved the hug, too.
Side-note: John keeps an alarm clock, a mug, small coins, his mobile phone and his watch on his bedside table.
A game of Operation and the First and Finest of Family Medicine
Ha! I thought the intercutting between Mycroft & Sherlock and John & Mary was brilliant.
"Oh bugger!"
"Oopsie."
LOL! Loved the banter between the brothers.
The gloved finger, that was another lovely insider. If you've seen the Hobbit Part 1 Extended Edition extras, you'll know that the person on Tumblr who said it was 99.9% Martin Freeman and 0.1% John Watson wasn't far off.
Got a question about the dialogue with Molly, though. Sherlock says to her, "Moriarty slipped up, he made a mistake. Because the one person he thought didn't matter at all to me was the one person who mattered the most. You made it all possible." He's talking about John and not Molly, right? But if so, that puzzles me. How could Moriarty not know John mattered to Sherlock? That just doesn't seem to make any sense. Okay, scratch that. On second thought, I think he was talking about Molly.
The Guy Fawkes thing
Well, as a non-Brit, it took a little research to make sense of this and understand the full extent of the symbolism. November 5. The bonfire, the girl mentioning Guy Fawkes. After looking at Wikipedia, it all became clear, especially the text that said, "John is a quite a Guy!" The question is being asked later why John was the target of this near combustion. We don't know. Yet. But I already know who the man in the very last scene is. I don't think this is too big a spoiler when I say his name is Charles Augustus Magnussen, the modern version of Conan Doyle's Charles Augustus Milverton. But we will only learn what his agenda is in the coming episodes.
We get to know Sherlock's parents. Who are, quite amusingly, played by Benedict Cumberbatch's real parents. No joke. "Your parents?" ... "Your parents?" ... "Those were your parents?" John doesn't quite want to believe it, does he?
"I prefer my doctors clean-shaven." I wonder what the slashers will make out of that one. The beauty of that moment was there was rare, uncensored honesty on Sherlock's part here. His apology is genuine, his concern for John's well-being is too. As well as his bafflement at John's mysterious abduction.
The Treacherous Tube Tunnels
This was probably one of the most visually pleasing scenes of the whole episode. I don't know, I just like eye porn, and the blue-ish filter and spotlit faces did the trick for me.
"I wasn't in bomb disposal, I was a bloody doctor." Haha! Sherlock's take on Kirk vs. Bones. Side-note: The code to activate the bomb was the date: 051113.
And from that moment when the bomb activates, I thought that was one of the strongest scenes of the whole episode. The dialogue was just laden with innuendo and intensity and confessions. The question is, how much of Sherlock is Honest!Sherlock, and how much is Smug!Sherlock? My take is that Honest!Sherlock turns into Smug!Sherlock the moment he finds the switch (just when the bomb counts down to 1:28). I want to believe that the despair and panic is real. Sherlock can't be that cruel, can he?
Although I still think it's kind of mean of him to lead John on, and the puppy dog eyes and the tears after he found the switch. Makes you think, doesn't it? When is Sherlock feeling and when is he faking emotion?
And then... they do something that puzzles me. There's this beautiful speech where John forgives Sherlock, and then... it cuts to Sherlock explaining to Anderson how he really faked his death. Is it just me, or did that seem completely out of place? Did I miss a point somewhere?
The Reichenbach Mystery Unraveled
So we learn how Sherlock faked his death. As I already said, not a big surprise for me. What did surprise me, though, is that Moriarty really seems to be dead. As in, dead, dead, and dead. So that's probably where the new Danish villain comes in. And what's the deal with Anderson anyway? And why is it that every single flat they show has utterly hideous wallpaper that I wouldn't want to put in my own one if they paid me. Side-note: "Hat-man and Robin"??!!
"You... utter... You cock!! I knew it!" Come on, John, you can do better than that! Yeah, yeah, I know, PG-13 and all...
And now... probably my favourite line from the episode: "Oh please. Killing me, that's so two years ago."
And then we meet Molly's Sherlock clone. Watch Martin Freeman's facial expression here. I cannot admire the guy enough. There have been vague theories online that Clone-Tom plays some kind of more sinister role that will yet have to be revealed. Some people say John's assassin in "The Reichenbach Fall" looked a lot like him. Others have posted screencaptures of a man riding the tube with John in the first scenes of this episode that looked suspiciously like Clone-Tom.
And why is Sherlock suddenly wearing a woolen scarf instead of the usual silky one?
"When you were dead, I went to your grave. And I made a little speech. I actually spoke to you."
"I know. I was there."
"I asked you for one more miracle. I asked you to stop being dead."
"I heard you."
I'm trying to figure out what this actually meant. Was John trying to say thank you that Sherlock did perform the miracle he asked for, even if it came two years late?
The Sign of Three
So... tomorrow airs 3x02 "The Sign of Three". I honestly can't wait. Wedding. Best Man. Awkward sociopathic speeches and a game of murder. It sounds fabulous! Bring it on!
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Date: 2014-01-05 09:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-05 10:53 am (UTC)John thought he was about to die because of a situation Sherlock had put him in. It was an emotionally charged scene and, thanks both to the situation and the physical location, completely separated from the realities of every day life. It was a moment in time that could be carved out and treated, afterwards, almost as if it never happened. Sherlock was very aware of the possibilities that offered.
He needed John to forgive him and he could see, had seen from the moment John turned up at 221B (which, incidentally, is why I think he kicked his parents out so fast), that John wanted to forgive him. He also wanted a way to say all the things to John that would stick in his throat if he attempted to voice them in 221B or any other ‘normal’ place. Sherlock saw a chance to resolve everything and he took it.
Yes, it was manipulative but it wasn’t manipulation purely for Sherlock’s benefit. As John said, he doesn’t find it easy to talk about his feelings, doesn’t like confronting his own emotions head on (the army doesn’t exactly encourage emotional outbursts and to lead men successfully you have to set your own feelings aside) so Sherlock offered him a way to say what he truly felt.
There is also the fact that if John hadn’t really, truly, wanted to forgive Sherlock he wouldn’t have said it. Thinking you’re about to die really exposes your priorities and tends to make you truthful, in case you are about to be judged by a higher power (and I think it can safely be assumed, given the ‘please God let me live’, that John has at least a passing belief in a deity).
The other think Sherlock was very aware of was that once the moment had passed - once they’d said what they really meant and how they really felt - and he revealed to John that they weren’t about to die after all, that it would be too overwhelming for them both if the situation weren’t somehow closed off. He chose to do that by treating it all a joke, because he’s still not emotionally mature and humour, however puerile, has an easy appeal; taking the piss doesn’t require any emotional weightlifting at all, plus it happens to be something a lot of soldiers do to defuse emotionally charged situations in the field and thus would be something John was familiar with. This approach also offered John, should he have wanted it, the opportunity to take his words back altogether.
Yes, it looked cruel but I think the saying “being cruel to be kind” is apt here, especially since, from John’s reaction to it, it’s obvious he realised just what Sherlock had done and why. He started laughing not because he thought it was funny that Sherlock had lied to him but because he found it amusing that two grown men actually needed the threat of death and being surrounded by explosives to tell each other what they really thought. He was laughing at the ridiculousness of it all.
You only have to look at how they are with each other at the end of the episode – comfortable, laughing, John feeling able to call Sherlock out on loving being in the limelight, Sherlock admitting (albeit obliquely) that he isn’t quite sure who he is any more, John feeling comfortable telling Sherlock he’s asked for a miracle and Sherlock telling John he’d been there at the graveyard and heard John ask – to see that they needed their cathartic moment and that it worked. They can move forward now, together. It may not have been a conventional moment but since when have either of them been conventional where the other is concerned?
Mit dieser Erklärung finde ich das durchaus vertretbar, auch wenn es sich zunächst wie eine Verarsche von John durch Sherlock anfühlt.
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Date: 2014-01-05 12:40 pm (UTC)Ansonsten hat mir die Folge auch sehr gut gefallen. Schön viel Zwischenmenschliches, überraschend wenig Fall. Der hat mich nicht ganz so überzeugt oder wird ja wohl noch fortgeführt. Mal sehen, ob ich es noch schaffe, die 2. Folge von London zu gucken :)