Sherlock

[neadods]

Before we talk about me, Moffat and Gatiss have tweeted that there WILL be a third season, that it was already commissioned. Huzzah!

Now, tonight.

I've been offline all day so I haven't seen anyone else's reactions yet, and I really want to see this episode (and the previous one again) before I go into lots of detail. But that's not going to stop me from having (quite) a few first impression opinions.

The main one is that watching slow character assassination was actually loads more painful than watching a manhunt for 90 minutes. Especially when it looked like that slow character assassination was going to bring down Lestrade as well as Sherlock. (Anderson, really, do you hate Sherlock SO much that you're going to bring down your governor as well? If so, you deserve every nasty thing Sherlock ever said. And Donovan? Sherlock didn't do it with "just a shoeprint." He did it with a shoeprint, understanding of biology for stride and height, and rather a lot of painstaking chemistry, something that New Scotland Yard is theoretically capable of reproducing. Yes, if Sherlock had planted it then what NSY found would be what he said, BUT the fact remains that NSY detectives should be able to find the same data. It *wasn't* "just a shoeprint.")

I'm assuming that the three years dead will be resurrecting Sherlock's reputation instead of dismantling Moriarty's web. Or both. Mind you, the dismantling shouldn't be that hard, not *really* not with Moriarty himself gone. I watched in the company of a theater manager and a journalist; the theater manager was going on and on about how she'd contact all the theaters and see if "Rich Brook" really did have a part in all of those productions, because it's so unlikely that Moriarty actually acted as part of his cover story. The journalist had plenty to say about her counterpart on screen, and how true investigative journalism involves research, not taking the word and the paperwork of the guy you're boffing. (Hmmm. I suddenly sense an SJA crossover.) We all wanted to know two things:
1) Why was the crown jewel display so obviously, patently fake? Three Americans knew it was all wrong; we assume that all of England was pointing and laughing. And
2) There was incontrovertible evidence that Moriarty broke into the crown jewel display. What judge worth his law degree would put aside the tapes and the eyewitness account of the arresting officers on the say-so of an obviously tampered jury? And if the judge was also tampered with, why was the case not appealed? (Please tell me someone is working on a Law and Order UK crossover. Pers? That would be up your alley.)

How Sherlock managed to commit suicide in front of John and not die is a mystery that I dearly hope will be cleared up in the next season that I dearly hope will happen. Molly has got to have had something to do with it; too much was made of Sherlock soliciting her help.

On the converse, I hope that nothing was faked about Moriarty's suicide. He was such a whackaloon that there really didn't seem to be any other way out, and the idea that the Sherlock Holmes story would be reduced to season after season of the Sherlock-vs-Moriarty story really depressed me. Holmes isn't Batman, forever locked with the Joker. He really did detect crime and did not need a Napoleon of Crime to make his career worth living.

I'm surprised that Mycroft was that blindsided by Moriarty. Isn't My supposed to be the smarter of the two brothers? Because after all that time protecting Sherlock, it's gotta sting to know that you're the reason why Sherlock's nemesis could ruin him.

And I gotta say... after 90 minutes of bleeding for Sherlock and worrying about Lestrade? I'm so glad we got that last shot. I NEEDED that last shot.

Bottom line: I had a lot of angst about this one going in; not just because of the storyline, but because I had no confidence in the writer. However, this? Was way better than I feared it would be.

Comments

[songfire3.livejournal.com]

I need to go to bed now (lol - it's 4 am over here, but I HAD to see this!), but you don't need to worry about a third season, both Moffat and Gatiss confirmed that it was commissioned when they commissioned the second (!) season!

They are such trolls! XD

[neadods.livejournal.com]

They are, but I love them.

[drakyndra.livejournal.com]

Holmes isn't Batman, forever locked with Lex Luthor.

Just to nit-pick your analogy here: Lex Luthor is Superman's villain. Batman has the Joker et al.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

This would be what I get for blogging tired.

[wendymr.livejournal.com]

I thought it was the best episode yet, and - as I said on my LJ - that MF and BC both deserve BAFTAs. So much to love, and so much to weep over for all the main characters.

I'm not so sure that Mycroft was fooled, really. He's so complex, and so Machiavellian, that it's impossible to say at this point what he was really up to.

Lestrade, though... I wish we'd seen some reaction from him at the end. He really was between a rock and a hard place, and I don't think he ever really believed that Sherlock was a fraud. He's stood beside him too many times at crime scenes to believe that it was all faked.

This, though:
The journalist had plenty to say about her counterpart on screen, and how true investigative journalism involves research, not taking the word and the paperwork of the guy you're boffing.

Remember that the "journalist" in question works for, or sold her story to, the Sun. There's a huge difference, in the UK, between the tabloid press and the serious broadsheets, and it's been getting worse. Have you seen any of the fallout of the phone-hacking scandal in the UK? The public enquiry into the behaviour of the press?

Yes, the serious press should have done more investigation, but you know how it is: today's scoop is tomorrow's fish-wrapping. With Sherlock apparently dead, the story's old news.

Anyway. Wasn't that graveside scene magnificent and heartwrenching? Sherlock's 'suicide phone call' was heartwrenching too, but John at the graveside is what will stick in my mind. And Sherlock's face, watching.

Is it time for S3 yet????

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Is it time for S3 yet????

It isn't, alas, but it is time for me to go to bed or I'll be brain-damaged at work tomorrow. Am saving off this comment and your post (& some others) for actual response tomorrow.

I will say... does even the Sun take "the guy I'm sleeping with showed me some stuff" as proof? Because with the phone hacking scandal it's unethical and illegal and all kinds of wrong, but it's also not making up evidence based on the word of the guy who's apparently living with you. I'd think that would be beneath even the Sun.

More tomorrow...

[paratti.livejournal.com]

There's nothing beneath The Sun. That's the problem.

[wendymr.livejournal.com]

Exactly. If they can't find even circumstantial evidence for what they want to assert, they make it up. That's been suspected for a long time, and some former tabloid journalists (Sun, Mirror etc) confirmed it during the Levinson enquiry. If it'll sell papers, they'll write it - and they argue that it's justified because once someone puts themselves in the public eye it's fair game.

Scum.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

That's beyond scum. But... Dang, I'm forcibly reminded of the different laws here. Not even Fox news can make shit up and call it news. (Call it opinion that's then discussed as news, but there's not even that fig leaf in this case.)

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

All the tabloids in America do exactly that; Weekly World News was the most blatant, but they ALL do it. And Fox News has twice gone to court for the right to broadcast blatantly false information and call it "news" -- and won. So yes, they do it here.

Journalism standards in the Sun

[penguineggs.livejournal.com]

Item appearing serendipitously in today"s Guardian.

Presented without comment.

Re: Journalism standards in the Sun

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I'm speechless. How appalling!

[neadods.livejournal.com]

MF and BC both deserve BAFTAs

Martin won his just with the opening scene, IMO. But I'm going to be *furious* if Ben is shut out again. That had to have stung last year; if he gets overlooked again I may go postal.

I'm not so sure that Mycroft was fooled, really. He's so complex, and so Machiavellian, that it's impossible to say at this point what he was really up to

He's also insanely protective of Sherlock, but this is a bit "we had to destroy the village to save it." Sherlock's poor reputation! Oh, that hurt, watching that.

Yes, the serious press should have done more investigation, but you know how it is: today's scoop is tomorrow's fish-wrapping. With Sherlock apparently dead, the story's old news.

I don't know... seems to me that now that there's an even juicier story for the serious press - the internal police workings of Scotland Yard and the possibility that Lestrade was led astray. (Much as I love Lestrade, he's got to be battling for his career right now, and I wouldn't be surprised to discover that he's been posted to the outer wilds of Essex or something to count police boxes.) That would be irresistable to the press on top of the phone hacking scandal.

I needed Sherlock at the gravesite. It's about the only thing that could have soothed my own heartbreak. To quote an old parody song, Moffat & Gatiss have "done ripped out my heart and mashed that sucker flat."

[penfold-x.livejournal.com]

Lestrade, though... I wish we'd seen some reaction from him at the end. He really was between a rock and a hard place, and I don't think he ever really believed that Sherlock was a fraud. He's stood beside him too many times at crime scenes to believe that it was all faked.

Agreed. I'm not opposed to them having NSY come down hard on Lestrade for involving Sherlock. I'm not a criminal lawyer, but AFAIK having a private individual enter the crime scene, handle and process evidence would IRL be a defense attorney's paradise. I accept Sherlock's involvement as part of the set up for the story (like, what would happen in a world where ghost are real, what would happen in a world where a time-traveling alien took companions into space, etc).

However, from what we've seen on screen, I think it would take a lot more than Donovan expressing some doubts for Lestrade to really question whether Sherlock is the real deal. I think what we've seen on-screen is ambiguous and given the fact that he did call Sherlock to warn him, I'm choosing to believe Lestrade hasn't lost his faith. I'd prefer to have had something more direct to back that up, however.

[wendymr.livejournal.com]

I *cough*might have started a story this evening in which Lestrade manages to tell John a bit about the circumstances behind the arrest (and quite a lot of other stuff)*cough*

There might or might not be over 1000 words so far...

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Yay! Looking forward to it.

[penfold-x.livejournal.com]

*kermit arms*

[wendymr.livejournal.com]

Huh?

(1800 words *g*)

[penfold-x.livejournal.com]

*kermit arms*

[wendymr.livejournal.com]

LOL!

I am flattered :)

No further progress as yet, but my beloved and trusted BR (and occasional coauthor) tells me that it is deserving of continuation, so continuation it will receive. Soon.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I see you have a link. This is also called "Kermit flail."

[bentleywg.livejournal.com]

How Sherlock managed to commit suicide in front of John and not die is a mystery

I don't have the full answer, but there's the obvious bit that Sherlock *did not* commit suicide in front of John. Sherlock made sure -- insisted -- that John in such a place that he couldn't see Sherlock's body hit the ground. How and when Sherlock arranged for a fake body to be placed there, I don't know, but a body with a messed up head is what John found after he went around the low building that was blocking his view of the pavement.

EDIT: (Why the coroner didn't realize they had the wrong body... *handwave* You'd think that, if they had a body with an unrecognizable face, they would use some of the form of identification, right? Fingerprints? Dental records?)

[wendymr.livejournal.com]

Positive identification by Mycroft? Who, I am now convinced, is in on it.

[tiggerallyn.livejournal.com]

In the Canon, Mycroft was "in" on The Great Hiatus as well, keeping Holmes' rooms at Baker Street paid for and untouched for when his brother would return.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Why the coroner didn't realize they had the wrong body.

Molly is the coroner, and Sherlock had just gone to her for help; she has to have been in on it. I've been wondering if she provided a body to toss, but Moriarty was right there.

On the other hand, John saw Sherlock's face - so do we - and touched his hand while he lay on the pavement. Either that was a hell of a doppelganger, or what went over the side was not what was on the sidewalk within seconds.

[penguineggs.livejournal.com]

Molly isn't the coroner, she's the police pathologist (having had a coroner's inquest on my own mother, I can testify that the coroner doesn't get anywhere near the body for *ages* - it took six months for my mother's cause of death to be established).

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Six months! How horrible for you.

There is also Mycroft; canonically he was in on it, and the most cynical part of my mind thinks that he may even have been in on the discrediting of Sherlock to make his "suicide" more plausible. With Sherlock's knowledge.

[wendymr.livejournal.com]

I read an excellent fic last night with that as the hypothesis: that everything, including Mycroft giving Moriarty information, was planned by the brothers. What Moriarty did with the information was a surprise, hence the need to include Molly, but the need for Sherlock to die was a contingency they had covered. It made a lot of sense to me: I just can't believe that Mycroft could be used that easily, or that he'd sacrifice Sherlock with so little gain - not after he bent over backwards to get Sherlock out of trouble in ASiB.

[stlscape.livejournal.com]

Link, please?

[wendymr.livejournal.com]

To Play the Fool

[penfold-x.livejournal.com]

Either that was a hell of a doppelganger, or what went over the side was not what was on the sidewalk within seconds.

Hmmmmmmm... make-up masque on another body? Molly and Sherlock had time to do makeup/prosthetics, and access to whatever was in her morgue at the time.

Also, the angle Sherlock keeps John at could have shielded something, behind the trash van maybe?

[paleologa.livejournal.com]

I assume this had something to do with the little kidnapped girl, who screamed when she saw Sherlock... Moriarty could look like Sherlock *somehow* (not sure how!) - and the bleeding head was the same wound that Moriarty had, so seems like he was the one who went over the side...

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's easy. You tell me that there aren't "Sherlock Holmes" masks in every costume shop in England within 3 weeks of the fad starting. And a terrified 8-year-old child isn't the likeliest of people to noticed that it's a mask.

[themis1.livejournal.com]

Whilst it's true that NSY probably could have done the same scientific research as Sherlock into the footprint, the reality is that IT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN, and even if it did, it would take at least six months. I speak as someone who worked for the UK police for 28 years. Lestrade being ripped off by his boss for using a civilian investigator was absolutely true to life - he really has no defence for that. What wasn't realistic was the way Donovan spoke to him, which in the heirarchical UK police service would definitely not happen. You might speak about your senior officer that way out of his hearing, but not to his face!

Am worried about Mycroft's behaviour, however - hope they do something in the next three to sort that out, as I couldn't believe he'd be that dumb!!

BTW as a Brit I have never seen the crown jewels, neither has anybody else I know. We don't really go and look at our own heritage ...

[wendymr.livejournal.com]

I don't actually believe that Mycroft was that stupid, now that I've had time to think about it; I think it's all part of the plot. Mycroft never says or does anything without multiple reasons. He's in on the fake suicide; I'm convinced of that. But it's been done in such a way that John won't go near Mycroft, so there's no chance that John would find out anything he shouldn't.

Argh! I want S3!

[penguineggs.livejournal.com]

I saw them once when I had an American friend in town who was interested. They look flashy, tacky and unbelievably fake, so pretty much like on the show.

[bentleywg.livejournal.com]

I saw them once. I hated the rolling sidewalks they have on both sides of the display case, making it so you can't stop and take a proper look.

[stlscape.livejournal.com]

ITA. I saw them decades ago pre-moving sidewalks/cellphone cameras/etc., and thought they were much better displayed then. There was big cylindrical display area, with individual cases all side by side, and the items were displayed on black and were brightly lit under spotlights and you walked around the central area crocodile-fashion. IMHO, it was much more stunning and effective display.

I took my daughter to the Tower a couple of years ago, and was unimpressed to the max with the new display and the moving sidewalks. We both felt we'd wasted our time.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Any jewel over 3 carats looks flashy, tacky, and unbelievably fake (ref: Hope Diamond.) It wasn't so much that the display wasn't just right with the walkway and all that bugged me as much as the idea that the entire display of crown jewels was presented as a single display case. It's like Big Bang Theory (which also bugs me) - I know what a Cheesecake Factory looks like and it isn't a handful of folding chairs and bare tables in a soundstage.

Renting some more glitz shouldn't have been that hard; does neither of them know anyone at the RSC or opera so they can fill the background with stage glitter?

[neadods.livejournal.com]

IT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN, and even if it did, it would take at least six months

Even in an active kidnap case? Then Lestrade rather has an "out" for using Sherlock as an external lab to get his results faster! (But yeah... he's going to be counting police boxes in Essex - if not penguins in Faulkland - for his reliance on Sherlock so much.)

What wasn't realistic was the way Donovan spoke to him

I want to know how Anderson's going to fare within the force. He's the one who really stabbed Lestrade in the back by tipping his superior off to how much Lestrade has used Sherlock. Would any other DI trust him now?

And speaking of that superior, snarking off to John about how "odd" Sherlock looked was incredibly unprofessional. Don't know about the law there, but it would be grounds for a complaint higher up the ladder here, and a lawyer could make a case for prejudice/false arrest.

hope they do something in the next three to sort that out, as I couldn't believe he'd be that dumb!!

I know! But this is also the guy who let his little brother commit treason with Irene over Bond Air and scrapped with him like an 8-year-old in front of others at the Palace. He's not infallible.

as a Brit I have never seen the crown jewels, neither has anybody else I know. We don't really go and look at our own heritage ...

Technically neither do we - nobody really treats their own home like a tourist does - but I would have thought that there'd be enough pictures around for people to have an idea. I've never been in the White House or Congress, but I've seen enough mockups/news photos to know what they more or less look like.

[themis1.livejournal.com]

I'll try and post the link for the Met forensics site:
http://www.met.police.uk/scd/specialist_units/forensic_services.htm

Note the bit about 11,000 cases a month! I was under the impression Anderson was a forensics guy rather than working directly for Lestrade? I may have that wrong.

Yes, the police complaints division would have a LOT to say about the behaviour of Met officers in this ..!

And note the fact that the 'development' team are working on ways to save money, not better ways to look at evidence :-S

I've done a quick google and I think the Tower is very coy about posting any pictures involving the actual security of the crown jewels. And indeed it may be the case that in order to USE the crown jewels, the deal is that the site is not shown as it is, so as to not give away any actual security details to would-be thieves. Well, it would be if I was running the place, anyway!

As for Mycroft, the general consensus is that he was probably in on it, since he was in the original canon. I'm rather concerned though about why nobody did anything about those assassins ...

[penfold-x.livejournal.com]

Am worried about Mycroft's behaviour, however - hope they do something in the next three to sort that out, as I couldn't believe he'd be that dumb!!

Me, too. I hope there's a plan and some resolution coming, rather than just character assassination to further the plot.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

As mycroft is one of the showrunners, I doubt they're going to totally destroy his character. But he's not infallible, not after BELG.

[penfold-x.livejournal.com]

But he's not infallible, not after BELG.

Agreed. I think he's much more interesting as an imperfect character, rather than the really rather too powerful character he was first presented as (creating the deus ex mycroft plotting problem). I think the idea that Mycroft could have been taken in by the magic code, and in falling for an appeal to his vanity, unwittingly betrayed his brother, is a really interesting one to play with (particularly in light of Mycroft reaming Sherlock out for just the same thing in BELG). Or perhaps Mycroft knew he what he was risking, but felt torn between protecting his brother and protecting the many other lives that depend on him (something they showed in BELG he is actually keenly concerned about).

Whatever actually went down, if there was a betrayal/massive mistake, I just hope that it gets picked up and actually dealt with--giving us a reason for Mycroft's apparent behavior, and having the consequences of it resolved between them. I'm afraid that, because this relationship isn't really the point of the series, we'll pick up next season without an adequate reason given for why things happened the way they did, and Mycroft's role will go back to the convenient exposition provider/furtherer of plot developments (IMO, the motiveless Ms. Adler demonstrates that M&G are not above just writing something because it seemed cool at the time, without really thinking too deeply about why the secondary character did what they did).

[fyrdrakken]

See, the thought I had when Moriarty was talking about having destroyed Sherlock was that, really, no -- all he's done was wreck Sherlock's reputation, and I kind of took the opening montage (and the bit with the reporter and her fangirl disguise) as indicating that Sherlock's gotten entirely too well-known at this point and he could do with a nice stretch of being off the radar for the public to forget about him. So it didn't occur to me to question that he's going to be working to dismantle what Moriarty left behind him -- if he was so willing to kill himself like that, he must have left all sorts of horrible things going on in the hands of his underlings, including nasty things ready to spring up and bite Sherlock's survivors in the ass, and Sherlock's going to need to defuse those bombs and make sure John and Mrs. Hudson and Mycroft are going to be safe once he finally steps out of the shadows and resumes his life. (Though, yeah, in the process of investigating Moriarty's network and tracing his contacts, I imagine Sherlock would be making a point of gathering the evidence so he can present it and redeem his good name when he "comes back." Unless he decides he'd rather be forgotten and ignored, out of the public eye and free to work unimpeded again, clients coming from those desperate enough to try him despite his fall and from cases Lestrade consults him on.)

I ran across in passing a comment on Tumblr about there being a theory that John was dosed with some of the psychotropic agent from Hound and Sherlock on the phone was feeding him suggestions to make sure he'd "see" what Sherlock needed him to think he'd seen because John's too bad a liar. This comment being on a screencap from the scene of Sherlock's "body" being collected, clearly showing someone who wasn't Benedict standing in for the corpse -- the suspicion was that this was the "reality" that John wasn't perceiving (and presumably a corpse Molly had provided for Sherlock to stage his own suicide).

[neadods.livejournal.com]

How would he have dosed John, though? The gas takes effect very quickly, and John was separated from Sherlock for a while.

Hard to say which way Sherlock will want to go, anonymity or fame... but I don't think the choice is really his to make. If his name isn't cleared, he has brought down two of his friends with him - Lestrade and John. Both will be considered incompetent dupes. (Lestrade is already in great peril; I hope that Mycroft will make sure he doesn't fall too far or land too hard.)

[lily-itriwi.livejournal.com]

The mystery cyclist manages to get the drug into John's system perhaps?

This is my favourite theory. When John sees his worst nightmare come to life, but one that cannot possibly be true a week after Hound? Hello, crazy drug!