It's An Ear Hat, John.
Everyone on the planet has already posted their Sherlock reaction post, as far as I can tell, and you're probably all thoroughly sick of reading them by now. TOO BAD; HERE'S MINE.
Well, Stephen Thompson. Well. I've criticised your television writing in the past - 'Curse of the Black Spot' comes to mind, and 'The Blind Banker' was by far the weakest episode in the first series of Sherlock - and so I was wary when I heard you were writing such an important episode of Sherlock's second series, but 'The Reichenbach Fall' was more or less perfect. Well done.
I was also pleasantly surprised by Andrew Scott's Moriarty. I wasn't at all sure about his Moriarty in previous appearances, but in this episode he was just great. He built up the character in such a way that, on the rooftop, I completely believed that, yes, he would shoot himself with a smile on his face so that Sherlock would know there was no way out. It's a difficult thing to make convincing, but he managed it.
No, seriously. He had a gun. He was at point-blank range. He could have shot Sherlock dead and lived, easily. And instead he chose to shoot himself. And I believed that he would make that decision. In shooting himself dead, he was shooting Sherlock's last hope dead right in front of him, which was far more satisfying to him than anything else he could have done. He didn't want to kill Sherlock; he wanted to destroy him. Sherlock had to kill himself, as a last symbol of that destruction. So Moriarty was more than happy to pull the trigger and die, knowing that in doing so he'd won, knowing that Sherlock would know he'd won.
Was there a brief shot of Sherlock and Moriarty in the same cell? Does that happen? It seems unlikely to me that someone would throw a witness for the prosecution in the same cell as the man being prosecuted, no matter how much contempt of court he's guilty of. Presumably this shot was just thrown in there as a 'go on, fandom, time to write all the weird twisted sex you've ever dreamed of' invitation. (Just rewatched; it looks like they were just in adjacent cells (which still doesn't seem wise, frankly). BUT IT COULD TOTALLY BE ONE BIG ILL-ADVISED CELL WITH TWO DOORS.)
Or perhaps I should say 'all the weird twisted sex Moriarty's ever dreamed of', because Moriarty definitely, definitely wanted to have sex with Sherlock. It was burning off the screen. Had he kissed Sherlock during the roof scene, I'm not sure I would even have been surprised; I'd just have gone 'yes, that makes sense'. If Moriarty's dreams did come true, it wouldn't quite be hatesex. There has to be a better word for it. Obsessionsex? In any case, I'm sort of fascinated by the idea of Sherlock/Moriarty now. THEY SHAG ON THE ROOF AND MORIARTY SHOOTS HIMSELF IN THE HEAD AT THE MOMENT OF CLIMAX.
Right, moving to less alarming matters. I found myself unexpectedly loving Molly in this episode! She is so sweet and so awkward, bless her. The way she was derided whenever she appeared was beginning to make me feel uncomfortable, and then along came this episode, where not only was her worth acknowledged but her overlooked position meant she was the only person who could help Sherlock at the end.
Speaking of that: Lestrade is Sherlock's friend! Awww. I didn't really pay attention to Lestrade in the first series, but in this one I liked him a lot. Was he always that attractive?
I am so glad that John refuses to believe Sherlock is a fraud, no matter how much apparent evidence mounts up. If John really believed Sherlock had been deceiving him all along, it would have destroyed me. (Although 'Just one more thing: don't... be dead' managed to destroy me quite effectively anyway. Oh, John. I didn't cry at this episode, but that was definitely the point at which I came closest.)
Despite what's been said by writers and actors in interviews, it seems to me as if John is genuinely being played as in love with Sherlock by this point. Maybe it's just all the fandom in my veins. (EDIT:
serriadh has pointed out to me that the interviews have generally been saying that they're not having sex, rather than that they're not in love. 'Nonsexually in love' has always been my interpretation of the Holmes-Watson relationship; I'm thrilled to see an adaptation that portrays it as exactly that!)
I really did think they had killed Sherlock. I thought they had taken 'The Final Problem' and gone 'yes, let's do this but actually kill him off for real'. I'd completely missed the fact that a third series had been commissioned, somehow, and my first response to seeing Sherlock in the graveyard at the end was '...is - is he a ghost?' (My verbal response was 'THIS SEEMS HIGHLY UNLIKELY.' The screen did not reply.)
Television-wise, it's been an excellent start to 2012! Let's hope the year keeps it up.
Well, Stephen Thompson. Well. I've criticised your television writing in the past - 'Curse of the Black Spot' comes to mind, and 'The Blind Banker' was by far the weakest episode in the first series of Sherlock - and so I was wary when I heard you were writing such an important episode of Sherlock's second series, but 'The Reichenbach Fall' was more or less perfect. Well done.
I was also pleasantly surprised by Andrew Scott's Moriarty. I wasn't at all sure about his Moriarty in previous appearances, but in this episode he was just great. He built up the character in such a way that, on the rooftop, I completely believed that, yes, he would shoot himself with a smile on his face so that Sherlock would know there was no way out. It's a difficult thing to make convincing, but he managed it.
No, seriously. He had a gun. He was at point-blank range. He could have shot Sherlock dead and lived, easily. And instead he chose to shoot himself. And I believed that he would make that decision. In shooting himself dead, he was shooting Sherlock's last hope dead right in front of him, which was far more satisfying to him than anything else he could have done. He didn't want to kill Sherlock; he wanted to destroy him. Sherlock had to kill himself, as a last symbol of that destruction. So Moriarty was more than happy to pull the trigger and die, knowing that in doing so he'd won, knowing that Sherlock would know he'd won.
Was there a brief shot of Sherlock and Moriarty in the same cell? Does that happen? It seems unlikely to me that someone would throw a witness for the prosecution in the same cell as the man being prosecuted, no matter how much contempt of court he's guilty of. Presumably this shot was just thrown in there as a 'go on, fandom, time to write all the weird twisted sex you've ever dreamed of' invitation. (Just rewatched; it looks like they were just in adjacent cells (which still doesn't seem wise, frankly). BUT IT COULD TOTALLY BE ONE BIG ILL-ADVISED CELL WITH TWO DOORS.)
Or perhaps I should say 'all the weird twisted sex Moriarty's ever dreamed of', because Moriarty definitely, definitely wanted to have sex with Sherlock. It was burning off the screen. Had he kissed Sherlock during the roof scene, I'm not sure I would even have been surprised; I'd just have gone 'yes, that makes sense'. If Moriarty's dreams did come true, it wouldn't quite be hatesex. There has to be a better word for it. Obsessionsex? In any case, I'm sort of fascinated by the idea of Sherlock/Moriarty now. THEY SHAG ON THE ROOF AND MORIARTY SHOOTS HIMSELF IN THE HEAD AT THE MOMENT OF CLIMAX.
Right, moving to less alarming matters. I found myself unexpectedly loving Molly in this episode! She is so sweet and so awkward, bless her. The way she was derided whenever she appeared was beginning to make me feel uncomfortable, and then along came this episode, where not only was her worth acknowledged but her overlooked position meant she was the only person who could help Sherlock at the end.
Speaking of that: Lestrade is Sherlock's friend! Awww. I didn't really pay attention to Lestrade in the first series, but in this one I liked him a lot. Was he always that attractive?
I am so glad that John refuses to believe Sherlock is a fraud, no matter how much apparent evidence mounts up. If John really believed Sherlock had been deceiving him all along, it would have destroyed me. (Although 'Just one more thing: don't... be dead' managed to destroy me quite effectively anyway. Oh, John. I didn't cry at this episode, but that was definitely the point at which I came closest.)
Despite what's been said by writers and actors in interviews, it seems to me as if John is genuinely being played as in love with Sherlock by this point. Maybe it's just all the fandom in my veins. (EDIT:
serriadh has pointed out to me that the interviews have generally been saying that they're not having sex, rather than that they're not in love. 'Nonsexually in love' has always been my interpretation of the Holmes-Watson relationship; I'm thrilled to see an adaptation that portrays it as exactly that!)
I really did think they had killed Sherlock. I thought they had taken 'The Final Problem' and gone 'yes, let's do this but actually kill him off for real'. I'd completely missed the fact that a third series had been commissioned, somehow, and my first response to seeing Sherlock in the graveyard at the end was '...is - is he a ghost?' (My verbal response was 'THIS SEEMS HIGHLY UNLIKELY.' The screen did not reply.)
Television-wise, it's been an excellent start to 2012! Let's hope the year keeps it up.