Sherlock: "His Last Vow"
Jan. 19th, 2014 11:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tj_teejayIt’s taken a while to write this up, because, man, so much shit was going down in this episode, and it took me days to put this together. I also got constantly distracted by the urge and enjoyment of photoshopping Sherlock screencaps into quote collages. But here it finally is, my “His Last Vow” review/recap.
As usual, spoilers to follow, so proceed with caution.
Let me just start off with saying that I had little idea what would be expecting me in “His Last Vow”. I daresay anyone who had followed the fandom a little more closely was aware of the creators’/producers’ merciless teasing beforehand. There was a tweet from Sue Vertue that said, “Sometimes somebody has to die.” Amanda Abbington replied something rather cryptic. The fandom was hell-bent on the preconception of Mary being killed off in this episode, because she mysteriously dies rather quickly in the Doyle novels. And besides, why should John ever have the privilege of being happy for more than one episode?
I think 99% of the Sherlock fandom was convinced that something terrible and drastic and heart-breaking was afoot, and that Steven Moffat would singlehandedly be hurtling the fandom into darkness (pun fully intended). Every fangirl in the country (countries, plural, I should say) came prepared and equipped with a box of Kleenex, an orange shock blanket, and quite possibly large amounts of chocolate and/or alcohol, waiting for disaster to strike just around 10pm GMT on January 12, 2014.
And, then, well... it didn’t. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But let’s start from the beginning.
Charles Augustus Magnussen
Our series 3 villain of villains. The new Moriarty, it seems. Well, not quite, as it turned out. But I’m getting ahead of myself. What an introduction! I don’t think I’ve been this repulsed by anyone on TV in a long time. “Claire de la Lune. It never tastes like it smells, does it?” Uargh. *shudders* Still gives me the creeps!
He’s the drugs one, yeah?
Yes, John, he’s the drugs one. Isaac, the neighbour’s boy. The first time I watched John walk straight out to his car to go to the drug den himself, I never really questioned his motives. Now that I’ve seen the episode a second time, it suddenly becomes blatantly obvious that he’s not doing it so much out of neighbourly compassion but because of the thrill. How did Sherlock aptly put it? “You are a man who couldn’t stay in the suburbs for more than a month without storming a crack den.”
But I must say, I really loved the banter between John and Mary. “Imagine I said that without shouting.” What’s curious here as well is that, as far as I know, Martin Freeman doesn’t have a driving license, or at least doesn’t drive. (Which is why Sherlock is behind the wheel on their trip to Dartmoor in “The Hounds of Baskerville”.) And I guess it would be weird somehow if John Watson didn’t have a driving license, so if you pay close attention, there was some creative editing around this scene.
Side Note: The Watsons drive an Audi A3 Sportback. A car I’ve driven many times, a car I’m very fond of, and a car I would love to own if it wasn’t for the fact that it’s giving me back pains on longer trips. Probably something to do with the seat design. But back to the story at hand...
As I’m watching John get out of the car in front of the drug den, I wonder if the billboard in the background is supposed to have some kind of hidden meaning. One could read into it, “Free Information is the power to change”. Poke me. I’m probably just being paranoid.
A tyre lever? Seriously, John? I mean, why on earth didn’t he take his gun? He’s taken it into situations a lot less dangerous. He was purposefully and willingly walking into a crack house filled with criminals. It’s beyond me how that could not trigger the impulse to take a gun he is legally allowed to own.
“Hey John. It is a tiny bit sexy.”
“Yeah.”
Well... not just a tiny bit, if you ask me. Gosh, I love Mary!
Enter BAMF!John, who I love more than I can say. BAMF!John with a sarcastic edge. “I’m asking you if you’ve seen Isaac Whitney, and now you’re showing me a knife. Is it a clue? Are you doing a mime?” Yes, he’s definitely spent too much time around Sherlock. And it’s moments like these where I marvel at the fact that seemingly harmless, domesticized John Watson has hand-to-hand combat skills and a bit of a mean streak.
I can’t mention often enough how much I adore the cinematography on Sherlock. They make even the most run-down of buildings look beautiful. One day I wanna take a trip to Cardiff and visit all the exterior locations they’ve ever used, and stop by Dartmoor on the way.
“Oh, hello John. Didn’t expect to see you here.” Yeah, I say! No one expected to see you there either, Shezza! You know, I had read about Sherlock going back on drugs in this episode, but I didn’t quite make the connection when I first watched it. And I totally loved the reveal.
Peeing in a jar
Ragged looking Sherlock, that’s certainly something new! (Kudos to the make-up department, cause Sherlock really looks like he’s slept in that dump for a month. He probably smells like it, too.) Although why Molly has to pipette Sherlock’s pee into a petri dish with dry ice in it is beyond me. (Sizzly effect for dramaturgy, I know. Still not quite logical to any scientist.)
Side Note: Urine drug screens are usually done via either immunoassay or gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Without going into the details, let me just say that both methods are a little more complicated and time-consuming than pipetting three drops of urine into a petri dish. TV science tries to fool us once again.
I feel a bit ambiguous about Molly slapping Sherlock in the face. I loved it for the fact that it shows just how deeply she cares for him, but I also read some criticism online where someone said it’s not okay that a man isn’t allowed to hit a woman, but it’s perfectly acceptable that a woman hits a man.
Well, yeah, I actually see that point. It does seem a bit hypocritical in the context of the ever ongoing struggle of emancipation. I don’t mean to turn this into a whole philosophical debate, because I’m not a female rights activist. It just gave me food for thought in terms of women always claiming they want to be treated just like men, and when they can use the argument of the weaker sex to their advantage, they shamelessly exploit it. Let’s leave it at that, and revel in Molly’s anger and disappointment, which I think we all sympathized with when she chided, “How dare you throw away the beautiful gift you were born with? And how dare you betray the love of your friends?”
“Probably just an addict in need of a fix.” Sherlock beautifully knows how to write between the lines. “Yes, I think in a way it was.”
Next we see Bill Wiggins’ mind in action. “Nice observational skills, Billy.” Yes, indeed. Some theories have been floating around that postulate Billy is the “other brother”, but I find that hard to believe. He’s just one of Sherlock’s homeless network recruits, and a fairly astute one at that.
The “brotherly love” scene in the 221B hallway was quite telling, and I am very appreciative of series 3 being less about the cases than more about the relationships. I believe this point has been heavily critiqued across the airwaves, and it seems to be splitting the fandom into different factions a little bit. I, for one, don’t mind the shift of focus one bit.
Some more great scenes here. Mycroft telling Anderson and his lackey to scuttle, and Sherlock antagonizing Mycroft, using actual physical force. And, of course, John standing up for Sherlock. Makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.
Girlfriend Material
Oi! Janine! In Sherlock’s bedroom. Naked with only his shirt on. And what’s with the nicknames? Mike. Sherl. And collective baths and French press coffee. It certainly is beyond John’s comprehension, and somehow it is beyond mine as well.
And as Sherlock is putting on his immaculately pressed suit jacket, I secretly wonder what happened to the Purple Shirt of Sex. It was conspicuously absent this season. I feel cheated. I want my money back.
I sip my last bit of Tetley’s tea from a nondescript blue mug as Sherlock is going through all the bits of Magnussen exposition—for the benefit of the viewer, of course—while John is all wait-a-minute-you-have-a-girlfriend-how-can-you-have-a-bloody-girlfriend-all-of-a-sudden?!
John’s reaction to the goodbye kiss is making me laugh, and somehow, back when I was watching this for the first time, I wasn’t quite buying the cosy togetherness. The words Sherlock and romantic relationship a don’t fit together in one sentence, let alone in one Baker Street flat. I should be proven right, shouldn’t I? Why am I not surprised?
The tyre lever makes its repeat appearance, and I can’t help but chuckle when Sherlock says, “I can vouch for this man, he is a doctor.” Yes, that perfectly explains why John is hiding a tyre lever in his pants. Cause, you know, it really is invaluable for such things as open heart surgery or lower extremity amputation.
Did anyone else notice that one of Magnussen’s mind file references is “porn preference”? Both Sherlock and John rate as “normal”. Steven Moffat, you are a cheeky bastard! Also, please define normal.
And let us admire all of Sherlock’s pressure points for a moment. Irene Adler. Jim Moriarty. Redbeard. Hounds of the Baskerville. Opium. John Watson. “There’s rather a lot,” Magnussen says. No, there’s not. It just repeats ten times in scrolling. I’m not sure why exactly.
And, man, the fireplace-turned-loo scene just makes more shudders of repulsion run down my spine. Though somehow I couldn’t help thinking, how on earth would they get the smell out of the living room afterwards? Replacing the coal, sure. In my mind’s eye, I’m seeing Mrs Hudson scrubbing the whole fireplace down with her arms clad in oversized rubber gloves.
If you watch very closely, you will see that Sherlock’s forehead is covered in sweat as Magnussen cleans his hands with the wet wipe. Make-up or maladjusted set temperature? I say the latter, cause somehow in the next shot his forehead is dry. Could be a continuity error, of course. Well, never mind.
CAM Global News
God, that building is a monster of vertical lines. Score 1 for the cinematographer using that to his advantage.
Side Note: Yes, the mobile phone vs. magnetic card can be quite the nuisance. Any receptionist in a hotel with magnetic key cards will know what Sherlock’s talking about.
Wait a minute. Janine is Magnussen’s personal assistant? Janine was Mary’s maid of honour, so presumably her best friend. Now I wonder if that was a purely calculated move on Mary’s part. And if so, poor Janine. Being played twice in one episode must be the ultimate betrayal.
Also... the engagement ring. Where on earth would Sherlock get the kind of money from to buy Janine a rock? John always bickers with him about not having money. John’s fake smile at the passers-by makes me grin, though. I haven’t yet mentioned how much I love Martin Freeman, have I?
And then, up in the office, the culprit clad in black... there’s the reveal. The big, holy-shit one. First time around, it actually made me gasp, whispering, “Oh no!”
Holy fuck. It’s Mary. Immediately my brain started spinning. What’s she doing? Is she evil? Did John marry a criminal? What the fuck is she doing? What will that mean? What will that do to John? What will she do to Sherlock? What the fuck...is...she...doing?
“Is John with you?” Mary asks. Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar. LIAR. As if she cares. But maybe she does. WTF?
She swears she will kill Sherlock. He’s sure she won’t. Phomp. A silenced shot goes off. SHERLOCK! Jesus. Sue Vertue’s tweet pops up like a bad headache you can’t quite shake. “Sometimes somebody has to die.”
Well, surely not Sherlock. Been there, done that. I mean, the show’s named after the bloody guy. Rationally I know they’re not really gonna kill him. But the suspense still kills me on the first viewing. And I believe I’ve had a knot in my stomach all through the episode from here on out.
Sherlock’s Mind Palace of Death
And then starts probably the most interesting, most brilliant, most agonizing 7.8 minutes of seeing someone die. Quite possibly the highlight of the episode.
Side Note: A quick nod to the DP, cause in that wide angle shot with Magnussen on his knees and Mary pointing her gun at him, you can actually see CAM’s reflection in the oval mirror next to Sherlock, and again (twice) in the mirror behind him. A sign of three?
And then there’s Molly, and Anderson, and Mycroft, aaaaand... Mini-Moffat. Cause Kid!Sherlock is played by Steven Moffat’s son. It’s like series 3 was the poster child for casting nepotism, but I don’t mind one bit. They were all perfect fits, and I think the rest of the fandom was more than happy about it. *high-fives fandom*
“Fall on your back. Now.” I’m so happy they brought back the brass & drum-heavy Reichenbach theme for this. And why the bleepin’ hell is that plant moving as Sherlock falls backwards?
Another curious blink-and-you-miss-it moment: As Sherlock is going into shock, there’s a brief image of Mary in her wedding dress, firing the gun at him. Is that supposed to mean John indirectly killed Sherlock by marrying Mary? Poke me, I’m being paranoid again.
And here’s the Redbeard solution. He was a dog, one they had to put down when Sherlock was a kid. How apropos.
On to the next metaphor. Sherlock’s mind refuge to gain control is a 4x4m padded cell that houses a straight-jacketed Moriarty. Interesting...
And can I just say, thank you, thank you, thank you, writers or medical advisors, or whoever was responsible for the fact that they didn’t shock Sherlock when he was flatlining. Cause you don’t shock a flatline. It’s utterly useless to send a few hundred joules through a heart that shows no activity. And 9 out of 10 TV shows will do it anyway. What you should do instead is perform CPR (i.e. cardiac massage) and pray to whatever deity you believe in that it will get the heart to beat on its own again.
So then it’s John who ultimately saves Sherlock’s life, isn’t it? “You are letting him down, Sherlock. John Watson is definitely in danger.” Wait, actually that’s all in Sherlock’s head. Still good to know that John has that kind of pull on him. And of course the first word he would’ve said when he woke up was Mary.
Side Note: So the bullet hit Sherlock in the torso. Upon closer investigation, it looks like it would have injured the liver, possibly also the lung, maybe grazed or hit a rib. Injuries to the liver can be very serious, because there are a lot of blood vessels leading to and through the organ. Even if the large vessels near it remain intact, you can still bleed out very quickly from a shot to the liver because you’re oozing blood all over the place.
It actually makes the whole Mary-saved-my-life-by-calling-the-ambulance believable. Short of cracking Sherlock’s chest open to staunch the internal bleeding, John couldn’t have saved Sherlock right there and then.
There have been questions around the timeline of the episode. How long would Sherlock have had to stay in the hospital, seeing how he seems to have been released just shortly before Christmas? Well, I think we can safely assume he had surgery to repair his liver the first time around. Then there were the complications when he discharged himself, causing more internal bleeding and probably more surgery. It seems likely he would’ve had to stay in the hospital at least three weeks after that, maybe more. It’s hard to say, really, and I’m no doctor.
The Hunt for Sherlock
Okay, this has been bugging me from the start. Upon Janine’s visit, why is Sherlock lying in his hospital bed with nothing on? I’m sure the bare chest was for the benefit of the Cumberbatch fangirls, but it’s doing absolutely nothing for me other than making me frown at the surreal nature of it.
I actually like Janine. She’s not bitter, she’s probably over the anger. It’s ironically heart-breaking that she still cares about him. “I know what kind of man you are. We could have been friends.” Now I really wish they would. And maybe a little bit of Sherlock does too.
The hunt for Sherlock is on. I’m not surprised he would be leaving the hospital without being discharged. And WTF is he up to? Of course John wonders the same thing. At first I wasn’t sure how John would have made the Claire-de-la-Lune connection, but then I remembered that Sherlock and John were talking about it in Magnussen’s office.
And here we have an actual reference to “The Adventure of the Empty House”, one of Doyle’s stories. Quite fittingly it’s the one where he miraculously resurrected Sherlock Holmes after his fatal dispute with Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls in “The Final Problem”.
The Christmas Day from Hell
It’s Christmas at the Holmes’s. How quaint. And here’s another detail I missed the first two times around. The Guardian Sherlock is reading has a headline that says, “Lord Smallwood Suicide”. Another one of Magnussen’s accomplishments, no doubt.
The Dynamics of Combustion? Seriously? So that’s where Sherlock gets his interest in science from, eh?
At first I didn’t really understand what they were doing with this scene, cause while it’s fairly clear they’ve jumped forward in time, I found it confusing to suddenly be back in Leinster Gardens. But I suppose it made a certain kind of sense.
Mary’s Case
Someone pointed out to me the other day that during the empty house ruse, John actually wore a bulletproof vest that you can still see as they get back to Baker Street. Which made sense, of course, since they couldn’t be sure Mary would not fire another bullet at Fake!Sherlock in the wheelchair. I mean, wow.
So much love for Sherlock’s monologue. “You were a doctor who went to war. You are a man who couldn’t stay in the suburbs for more than a month without storming a crack den, beating up a junkie. Your best friend is a sociopath who solves crimes as an alternative to getting high. That’s me, by the way, hello. Even the landlady used to run a drug cartel.” And of course, being Sherlock, he’s hit the nail on the head.
And here comes one of my favourite moments from the episode.
“Why is she like that?”
“Because... you chose her.”
So heart-breakingly beautiful.
A.G.R.A. There’s much debate as to what that actually means. She says those are her real initials. It’s a nod to Doyle’s story “The Sign of Four”, where Mary’s father found the Great Agra Treasure. Which apparently ended up being an empty box. Coincidence? We will probably never know.
What we do learn, however, is that Mary is most likely a former American intelligence agent, possibly an assassin, who is on the run from something and assumed the identity of a stillborn child named Mary Morstan. And Sherlock also confirms that Mary befriended Janine in order to get close to Magnussen. Wow, why did I not notice that snippet of dialogue before? Well, probably because Sherlock was going through one of his superfast deductions. Sometimes I faze out. Shoot me.
And now the Christmas scene makes more sense as well. I wasn’t sure how that was going to go, but I don’t think I expected that John would say he didn’t look at the contents of the flash drive. Of course secretly I hoped there would be some kind of reconciliation between the two of them, because despite everything, I still like Mary. I want her to stay. She will undoubtedly be an interesting person to find out more about in seasons to come.
But that also means the baby is going to stay. Which seems strange. There’s no baby in the Doyle books. Which isn’t to say this can’t work. From a storytelling point of view it just seems to... I dunno... unnecessarily complicate the John & Sherlock dynamic.
We see more brotherly love outside the parents’ house. So many personal revelations this season. The dragon metaphor was very sneaky.
“Also, your loss would break my heart.”
“What the hell am I supposed to say to that?!”
And here comes Magnussen and his unremarkable spectacles, and we add another pressure point to Sherlock’s file: morphine.
Appledore
So then we learn that it was indeed Magnussen who was behind John’s Guy Fawkes misadventure. A cascade of pressure points from Mary to John to Sherlock to Mycroft. Is it just me who thinks that using four people to get to the ultimate extortion goal has a terribly high margin for error?
“There are no vaults beneath this building.” Indeed there aren’t. I hear a replay in my head of Sherlock’s, “It was just a trick, just a magic trick.” So I guess Sherlock is not as infallible as he’d like to think he is. And it’s going to cost him. He realizes that, you can see it in his eyes.
Look at Sherlock right here, when John ask him if they have a plan, you can tell he’s come to the conclusion that the only way out is for Magnussen to be killed, and that he’s going to have to be the one to do it.
The face flicking scene was just... whoa. If I was repulsed by Magnussen before, this took it to new levels. Sherlock’s resigned, “Let him, I’m sorry, just... let him,” broke my heart. And then Sherlock’s ultimate sacrifice for John and Mary. I never saw it coming. Holy shit. My reaction was like Mycroft’s. “Sherlock. What have you done?”
Now what? Sherlock in prison? Hardly. The fate Mycroft picked for him is, however, worse. I can’t decide whether I ultimately find it more merciful or merciless.
“I’m not given to outbursts of brotherly compassion. You know what happened to the other one.” Yet another reveal from Mycroft. The fandom lurches into discussion as to what that means and who the hell it might be. Moriarty? Billy Wiggins? I’m sure there’s all kinds of wild theories already out there.
Airfield Goodbyes
William Sherlock Scott Holmes. I think they should call the baby Shirley. I wonder if, when Sherlock says, “Who knows?”, John knew what that actually meant. Possibly the saddest moment of the episode, sealed with a handshake.
And then there’s our game-changer. Moriarty is back. Or is he? “Miss me?” Hmmmmmm.... no. Now go away.
What did I personally think about that twist? Quite frankly, I’m not sure. Do I think Moriarty faked his suicide too? I don’t dare say yes, but I’ve always thought that the ending of “The Reichenbach Fall” was just a little too easy. Moriarty’s a fabulous villain, and it seemed they killed him off way too quickly. Apparently in the Doyle lore he has a brother. There’s your solution right there, if you ask me. (Although, what kind of leverage could you have over your brother to make him shoot himself for you? For real.)
I can live with it either way. If they bring him back in series 4, I’m sure it’s going to be more magnificent Moriarty malice. If it plays out that it was just some kind of elaborate prank to lure Sherlock back from his exile (OMG, what if it was one of Mycroft’s own ploys?!?), I’d also be happy.
I already know that Moffat and Gatiss will be surprising the hell out of us with three more mini-movies in hopefully just about a year’s time. I’m more than ready. Bring on series 4!
As usual, spoilers to follow, so proceed with caution.
Let me just start off with saying that I had little idea what would be expecting me in “His Last Vow”. I daresay anyone who had followed the fandom a little more closely was aware of the creators’/producers’ merciless teasing beforehand. There was a tweet from Sue Vertue that said, “Sometimes somebody has to die.” Amanda Abbington replied something rather cryptic. The fandom was hell-bent on the preconception of Mary being killed off in this episode, because she mysteriously dies rather quickly in the Doyle novels. And besides, why should John ever have the privilege of being happy for more than one episode?
I think 99% of the Sherlock fandom was convinced that something terrible and drastic and heart-breaking was afoot, and that Steven Moffat would singlehandedly be hurtling the fandom into darkness (pun fully intended). Every fangirl in the country (countries, plural, I should say) came prepared and equipped with a box of Kleenex, an orange shock blanket, and quite possibly large amounts of chocolate and/or alcohol, waiting for disaster to strike just around 10pm GMT on January 12, 2014.
And, then, well... it didn’t. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But let’s start from the beginning.
Charles Augustus Magnussen
Our series 3 villain of villains. The new Moriarty, it seems. Well, not quite, as it turned out. But I’m getting ahead of myself. What an introduction! I don’t think I’ve been this repulsed by anyone on TV in a long time. “Claire de la Lune. It never tastes like it smells, does it?” Uargh. *shudders* Still gives me the creeps!
He’s the drugs one, yeah?
Yes, John, he’s the drugs one. Isaac, the neighbour’s boy. The first time I watched John walk straight out to his car to go to the drug den himself, I never really questioned his motives. Now that I’ve seen the episode a second time, it suddenly becomes blatantly obvious that he’s not doing it so much out of neighbourly compassion but because of the thrill. How did Sherlock aptly put it? “You are a man who couldn’t stay in the suburbs for more than a month without storming a crack den.”
But I must say, I really loved the banter between John and Mary. “Imagine I said that without shouting.” What’s curious here as well is that, as far as I know, Martin Freeman doesn’t have a driving license, or at least doesn’t drive. (Which is why Sherlock is behind the wheel on their trip to Dartmoor in “The Hounds of Baskerville”.) And I guess it would be weird somehow if John Watson didn’t have a driving license, so if you pay close attention, there was some creative editing around this scene.
Side Note: The Watsons drive an Audi A3 Sportback. A car I’ve driven many times, a car I’m very fond of, and a car I would love to own if it wasn’t for the fact that it’s giving me back pains on longer trips. Probably something to do with the seat design. But back to the story at hand...
As I’m watching John get out of the car in front of the drug den, I wonder if the billboard in the background is supposed to have some kind of hidden meaning. One could read into it, “Free Information is the power to change”. Poke me. I’m probably just being paranoid.
A tyre lever? Seriously, John? I mean, why on earth didn’t he take his gun? He’s taken it into situations a lot less dangerous. He was purposefully and willingly walking into a crack house filled with criminals. It’s beyond me how that could not trigger the impulse to take a gun he is legally allowed to own.
“Hey John. It is a tiny bit sexy.”
“Yeah.”
Well... not just a tiny bit, if you ask me. Gosh, I love Mary!
Enter BAMF!John, who I love more than I can say. BAMF!John with a sarcastic edge. “I’m asking you if you’ve seen Isaac Whitney, and now you’re showing me a knife. Is it a clue? Are you doing a mime?” Yes, he’s definitely spent too much time around Sherlock. And it’s moments like these where I marvel at the fact that seemingly harmless, domesticized John Watson has hand-to-hand combat skills and a bit of a mean streak.
I can’t mention often enough how much I adore the cinematography on Sherlock. They make even the most run-down of buildings look beautiful. One day I wanna take a trip to Cardiff and visit all the exterior locations they’ve ever used, and stop by Dartmoor on the way.
“Oh, hello John. Didn’t expect to see you here.” Yeah, I say! No one expected to see you there either, Shezza! You know, I had read about Sherlock going back on drugs in this episode, but I didn’t quite make the connection when I first watched it. And I totally loved the reveal.
Peeing in a jar
Ragged looking Sherlock, that’s certainly something new! (Kudos to the make-up department, cause Sherlock really looks like he’s slept in that dump for a month. He probably smells like it, too.) Although why Molly has to pipette Sherlock’s pee into a petri dish with dry ice in it is beyond me. (Sizzly effect for dramaturgy, I know. Still not quite logical to any scientist.)
Side Note: Urine drug screens are usually done via either immunoassay or gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Without going into the details, let me just say that both methods are a little more complicated and time-consuming than pipetting three drops of urine into a petri dish. TV science tries to fool us once again.
I feel a bit ambiguous about Molly slapping Sherlock in the face. I loved it for the fact that it shows just how deeply she cares for him, but I also read some criticism online where someone said it’s not okay that a man isn’t allowed to hit a woman, but it’s perfectly acceptable that a woman hits a man.
Well, yeah, I actually see that point. It does seem a bit hypocritical in the context of the ever ongoing struggle of emancipation. I don’t mean to turn this into a whole philosophical debate, because I’m not a female rights activist. It just gave me food for thought in terms of women always claiming they want to be treated just like men, and when they can use the argument of the weaker sex to their advantage, they shamelessly exploit it. Let’s leave it at that, and revel in Molly’s anger and disappointment, which I think we all sympathized with when she chided, “How dare you throw away the beautiful gift you were born with? And how dare you betray the love of your friends?”
“Probably just an addict in need of a fix.” Sherlock beautifully knows how to write between the lines. “Yes, I think in a way it was.”
Next we see Bill Wiggins’ mind in action. “Nice observational skills, Billy.” Yes, indeed. Some theories have been floating around that postulate Billy is the “other brother”, but I find that hard to believe. He’s just one of Sherlock’s homeless network recruits, and a fairly astute one at that.
The “brotherly love” scene in the 221B hallway was quite telling, and I am very appreciative of series 3 being less about the cases than more about the relationships. I believe this point has been heavily critiqued across the airwaves, and it seems to be splitting the fandom into different factions a little bit. I, for one, don’t mind the shift of focus one bit.
Some more great scenes here. Mycroft telling Anderson and his lackey to scuttle, and Sherlock antagonizing Mycroft, using actual physical force. And, of course, John standing up for Sherlock. Makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.
Girlfriend Material
Oi! Janine! In Sherlock’s bedroom. Naked with only his shirt on. And what’s with the nicknames? Mike. Sherl. And collective baths and French press coffee. It certainly is beyond John’s comprehension, and somehow it is beyond mine as well.
And as Sherlock is putting on his immaculately pressed suit jacket, I secretly wonder what happened to the Purple Shirt of Sex. It was conspicuously absent this season. I feel cheated. I want my money back.
I sip my last bit of Tetley’s tea from a nondescript blue mug as Sherlock is going through all the bits of Magnussen exposition—for the benefit of the viewer, of course—while John is all wait-a-minute-you-have-a-girlfriend-how-can-you-have-a-bloody-girlfriend-all-of-a-sudden?!
John’s reaction to the goodbye kiss is making me laugh, and somehow, back when I was watching this for the first time, I wasn’t quite buying the cosy togetherness. The words Sherlock and romantic relationship a don’t fit together in one sentence, let alone in one Baker Street flat. I should be proven right, shouldn’t I? Why am I not surprised?
The tyre lever makes its repeat appearance, and I can’t help but chuckle when Sherlock says, “I can vouch for this man, he is a doctor.” Yes, that perfectly explains why John is hiding a tyre lever in his pants. Cause, you know, it really is invaluable for such things as open heart surgery or lower extremity amputation.
Did anyone else notice that one of Magnussen’s mind file references is “porn preference”? Both Sherlock and John rate as “normal”. Steven Moffat, you are a cheeky bastard! Also, please define normal.
And let us admire all of Sherlock’s pressure points for a moment. Irene Adler. Jim Moriarty. Redbeard. Hounds of the Baskerville. Opium. John Watson. “There’s rather a lot,” Magnussen says. No, there’s not. It just repeats ten times in scrolling. I’m not sure why exactly.
And, man, the fireplace-turned-loo scene just makes more shudders of repulsion run down my spine. Though somehow I couldn’t help thinking, how on earth would they get the smell out of the living room afterwards? Replacing the coal, sure. In my mind’s eye, I’m seeing Mrs Hudson scrubbing the whole fireplace down with her arms clad in oversized rubber gloves.
If you watch very closely, you will see that Sherlock’s forehead is covered in sweat as Magnussen cleans his hands with the wet wipe. Make-up or maladjusted set temperature? I say the latter, cause somehow in the next shot his forehead is dry. Could be a continuity error, of course. Well, never mind.
CAM Global News
God, that building is a monster of vertical lines. Score 1 for the cinematographer using that to his advantage.
Side Note: Yes, the mobile phone vs. magnetic card can be quite the nuisance. Any receptionist in a hotel with magnetic key cards will know what Sherlock’s talking about.
Wait a minute. Janine is Magnussen’s personal assistant? Janine was Mary’s maid of honour, so presumably her best friend. Now I wonder if that was a purely calculated move on Mary’s part. And if so, poor Janine. Being played twice in one episode must be the ultimate betrayal.
Also... the engagement ring. Where on earth would Sherlock get the kind of money from to buy Janine a rock? John always bickers with him about not having money. John’s fake smile at the passers-by makes me grin, though. I haven’t yet mentioned how much I love Martin Freeman, have I?
And then, up in the office, the culprit clad in black... there’s the reveal. The big, holy-shit one. First time around, it actually made me gasp, whispering, “Oh no!”
Holy fuck. It’s Mary. Immediately my brain started spinning. What’s she doing? Is she evil? Did John marry a criminal? What the fuck is she doing? What will that mean? What will that do to John? What will she do to Sherlock? What the fuck...is...she...doing?
“Is John with you?” Mary asks. Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar. LIAR. As if she cares. But maybe she does. WTF?
She swears she will kill Sherlock. He’s sure she won’t. Phomp. A silenced shot goes off. SHERLOCK! Jesus. Sue Vertue’s tweet pops up like a bad headache you can’t quite shake. “Sometimes somebody has to die.”
Well, surely not Sherlock. Been there, done that. I mean, the show’s named after the bloody guy. Rationally I know they’re not really gonna kill him. But the suspense still kills me on the first viewing. And I believe I’ve had a knot in my stomach all through the episode from here on out.
Sherlock’s Mind Palace of Death
And then starts probably the most interesting, most brilliant, most agonizing 7.8 minutes of seeing someone die. Quite possibly the highlight of the episode.
Side Note: A quick nod to the DP, cause in that wide angle shot with Magnussen on his knees and Mary pointing her gun at him, you can actually see CAM’s reflection in the oval mirror next to Sherlock, and again (twice) in the mirror behind him. A sign of three?
And then there’s Molly, and Anderson, and Mycroft, aaaaand... Mini-Moffat. Cause Kid!Sherlock is played by Steven Moffat’s son. It’s like series 3 was the poster child for casting nepotism, but I don’t mind one bit. They were all perfect fits, and I think the rest of the fandom was more than happy about it. *high-fives fandom*
“Fall on your back. Now.” I’m so happy they brought back the brass & drum-heavy Reichenbach theme for this. And why the bleepin’ hell is that plant moving as Sherlock falls backwards?
Another curious blink-and-you-miss-it moment: As Sherlock is going into shock, there’s a brief image of Mary in her wedding dress, firing the gun at him. Is that supposed to mean John indirectly killed Sherlock by marrying Mary? Poke me, I’m being paranoid again.
And here’s the Redbeard solution. He was a dog, one they had to put down when Sherlock was a kid. How apropos.
On to the next metaphor. Sherlock’s mind refuge to gain control is a 4x4m padded cell that houses a straight-jacketed Moriarty. Interesting...
And can I just say, thank you, thank you, thank you, writers or medical advisors, or whoever was responsible for the fact that they didn’t shock Sherlock when he was flatlining. Cause you don’t shock a flatline. It’s utterly useless to send a few hundred joules through a heart that shows no activity. And 9 out of 10 TV shows will do it anyway. What you should do instead is perform CPR (i.e. cardiac massage) and pray to whatever deity you believe in that it will get the heart to beat on its own again.
So then it’s John who ultimately saves Sherlock’s life, isn’t it? “You are letting him down, Sherlock. John Watson is definitely in danger.” Wait, actually that’s all in Sherlock’s head. Still good to know that John has that kind of pull on him. And of course the first word he would’ve said when he woke up was Mary.
Side Note: So the bullet hit Sherlock in the torso. Upon closer investigation, it looks like it would have injured the liver, possibly also the lung, maybe grazed or hit a rib. Injuries to the liver can be very serious, because there are a lot of blood vessels leading to and through the organ. Even if the large vessels near it remain intact, you can still bleed out very quickly from a shot to the liver because you’re oozing blood all over the place.
It actually makes the whole Mary-saved-my-life-by-calling-the-ambulance believable. Short of cracking Sherlock’s chest open to staunch the internal bleeding, John couldn’t have saved Sherlock right there and then.
There have been questions around the timeline of the episode. How long would Sherlock have had to stay in the hospital, seeing how he seems to have been released just shortly before Christmas? Well, I think we can safely assume he had surgery to repair his liver the first time around. Then there were the complications when he discharged himself, causing more internal bleeding and probably more surgery. It seems likely he would’ve had to stay in the hospital at least three weeks after that, maybe more. It’s hard to say, really, and I’m no doctor.
The Hunt for Sherlock
Okay, this has been bugging me from the start. Upon Janine’s visit, why is Sherlock lying in his hospital bed with nothing on? I’m sure the bare chest was for the benefit of the Cumberbatch fangirls, but it’s doing absolutely nothing for me other than making me frown at the surreal nature of it.
I actually like Janine. She’s not bitter, she’s probably over the anger. It’s ironically heart-breaking that she still cares about him. “I know what kind of man you are. We could have been friends.” Now I really wish they would. And maybe a little bit of Sherlock does too.
The hunt for Sherlock is on. I’m not surprised he would be leaving the hospital without being discharged. And WTF is he up to? Of course John wonders the same thing. At first I wasn’t sure how John would have made the Claire-de-la-Lune connection, but then I remembered that Sherlock and John were talking about it in Magnussen’s office.
And here we have an actual reference to “The Adventure of the Empty House”, one of Doyle’s stories. Quite fittingly it’s the one where he miraculously resurrected Sherlock Holmes after his fatal dispute with Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls in “The Final Problem”.
The Christmas Day from Hell
It’s Christmas at the Holmes’s. How quaint. And here’s another detail I missed the first two times around. The Guardian Sherlock is reading has a headline that says, “Lord Smallwood Suicide”. Another one of Magnussen’s accomplishments, no doubt.
The Dynamics of Combustion? Seriously? So that’s where Sherlock gets his interest in science from, eh?
At first I didn’t really understand what they were doing with this scene, cause while it’s fairly clear they’ve jumped forward in time, I found it confusing to suddenly be back in Leinster Gardens. But I suppose it made a certain kind of sense.
Mary’s Case
Someone pointed out to me the other day that during the empty house ruse, John actually wore a bulletproof vest that you can still see as they get back to Baker Street. Which made sense, of course, since they couldn’t be sure Mary would not fire another bullet at Fake!Sherlock in the wheelchair. I mean, wow.
So much love for Sherlock’s monologue. “You were a doctor who went to war. You are a man who couldn’t stay in the suburbs for more than a month without storming a crack den, beating up a junkie. Your best friend is a sociopath who solves crimes as an alternative to getting high. That’s me, by the way, hello. Even the landlady used to run a drug cartel.” And of course, being Sherlock, he’s hit the nail on the head.
And here comes one of my favourite moments from the episode.
“Why is she like that?”
“Because... you chose her.”
So heart-breakingly beautiful.
A.G.R.A. There’s much debate as to what that actually means. She says those are her real initials. It’s a nod to Doyle’s story “The Sign of Four”, where Mary’s father found the Great Agra Treasure. Which apparently ended up being an empty box. Coincidence? We will probably never know.
What we do learn, however, is that Mary is most likely a former American intelligence agent, possibly an assassin, who is on the run from something and assumed the identity of a stillborn child named Mary Morstan. And Sherlock also confirms that Mary befriended Janine in order to get close to Magnussen. Wow, why did I not notice that snippet of dialogue before? Well, probably because Sherlock was going through one of his superfast deductions. Sometimes I faze out. Shoot me.
And now the Christmas scene makes more sense as well. I wasn’t sure how that was going to go, but I don’t think I expected that John would say he didn’t look at the contents of the flash drive. Of course secretly I hoped there would be some kind of reconciliation between the two of them, because despite everything, I still like Mary. I want her to stay. She will undoubtedly be an interesting person to find out more about in seasons to come.
But that also means the baby is going to stay. Which seems strange. There’s no baby in the Doyle books. Which isn’t to say this can’t work. From a storytelling point of view it just seems to... I dunno... unnecessarily complicate the John & Sherlock dynamic.
We see more brotherly love outside the parents’ house. So many personal revelations this season. The dragon metaphor was very sneaky.
“Also, your loss would break my heart.”
“What the hell am I supposed to say to that?!”
And here comes Magnussen and his unremarkable spectacles, and we add another pressure point to Sherlock’s file: morphine.
Appledore
So then we learn that it was indeed Magnussen who was behind John’s Guy Fawkes misadventure. A cascade of pressure points from Mary to John to Sherlock to Mycroft. Is it just me who thinks that using four people to get to the ultimate extortion goal has a terribly high margin for error?
“There are no vaults beneath this building.” Indeed there aren’t. I hear a replay in my head of Sherlock’s, “It was just a trick, just a magic trick.” So I guess Sherlock is not as infallible as he’d like to think he is. And it’s going to cost him. He realizes that, you can see it in his eyes.
Look at Sherlock right here, when John ask him if they have a plan, you can tell he’s come to the conclusion that the only way out is for Magnussen to be killed, and that he’s going to have to be the one to do it.
The face flicking scene was just... whoa. If I was repulsed by Magnussen before, this took it to new levels. Sherlock’s resigned, “Let him, I’m sorry, just... let him,” broke my heart. And then Sherlock’s ultimate sacrifice for John and Mary. I never saw it coming. Holy shit. My reaction was like Mycroft’s. “Sherlock. What have you done?”
Now what? Sherlock in prison? Hardly. The fate Mycroft picked for him is, however, worse. I can’t decide whether I ultimately find it more merciful or merciless.
“I’m not given to outbursts of brotherly compassion. You know what happened to the other one.” Yet another reveal from Mycroft. The fandom lurches into discussion as to what that means and who the hell it might be. Moriarty? Billy Wiggins? I’m sure there’s all kinds of wild theories already out there.
Airfield Goodbyes
William Sherlock Scott Holmes. I think they should call the baby Shirley. I wonder if, when Sherlock says, “Who knows?”, John knew what that actually meant. Possibly the saddest moment of the episode, sealed with a handshake.
And then there’s our game-changer. Moriarty is back. Or is he? “Miss me?” Hmmmmmm.... no. Now go away.
What did I personally think about that twist? Quite frankly, I’m not sure. Do I think Moriarty faked his suicide too? I don’t dare say yes, but I’ve always thought that the ending of “The Reichenbach Fall” was just a little too easy. Moriarty’s a fabulous villain, and it seemed they killed him off way too quickly. Apparently in the Doyle lore he has a brother. There’s your solution right there, if you ask me. (Although, what kind of leverage could you have over your brother to make him shoot himself for you? For real.)
I can live with it either way. If they bring him back in series 4, I’m sure it’s going to be more magnificent Moriarty malice. If it plays out that it was just some kind of elaborate prank to lure Sherlock back from his exile (OMG, what if it was one of Mycroft’s own ploys?!?), I’d also be happy.
I already know that Moffat and Gatiss will be surprising the hell out of us with three more mini-movies in hopefully just about a year’s time. I’m more than ready. Bring on series 4!
