Picspam Reaction: SHERLOCK (BBC) Series 2 Episode 1 (2/2)
WARNING - IMAGES FROM AND COMMENTS ON SHERLOCK SERIES 2 EPISODE 1. MAJOR SPOILERS IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE EPISODE.
Picspam Reaction for Sherlock Series 2 Episode 1 (Contains: episode details and spoilers, random babble, pointless comments, meta of sorts, speculation, profanity, capslock, and squee)
Part 1
PART 2 of 2 - "A Scandal in Belgravia."
And onward!
-EEE! CHRISTMAS AT 221B! AND SNOW! *FLAILS*
-Oh dear god yes. *flailing everywhere* I was hoping for a Sherlock Christmas episode, actually, and here's one stuck in halfway through! So. Much. Glee. Where's the skull? IS HE UNDER THE SANTA HAT? :-D
-AND JOHN IN A RIDICULOUS CHRISTMAS JUMPER! AND LESTRADE HANGING OUT AND SOCIALIZING AT 221B!!! OMG THIS IS SO PERFECTLY WONDERFUL I COULD JUST BUST FROM THE HAPPY! \o/
-"Sarah was the doctor, and then there was the one with the spots and then the one with the nose, and who was after the boring teacher?" Hee. oh dear. And I had high hopes for Sarah sticking it out for a little while longer after she made it past the circus of Chinese gangsters. Sounds like John's been busy. Though still not busy enough to recognize the sound of that ringtone.
-"Nobody." Oh crap, is it Mary already? That was fast! O.o
-"Janette!" No. Not Mary yet. Okay. Going to be interesting to see what sort of person Mary is in this iteration, but not yet.
-*LITERALLY SHRIEKS* HI MOLLY! OMG, YOU GUYS, IT'S MOLLY! For a while I was worried Moriarty had offed her after the pool to try to tie up loose ends, and was wondering if it'd get mentioned later, but OMG SHE'S ALIVE! AND SMILING! And her hair looks comparatively awesome! MOLLEEEEEEEEEEE!!! LET ME HUG YOU!!!! \o/
-And the dress! And Lestrade going 'wow!' in the background. Hee, someone in the crew ships Molly/Lestrade! Or something. Hee! *still flailing*
-"The count on your blog, it still says 1895." Okay, that's going a bit further than a shout-out. Must be plot-related. *nods and ponders*
-"You've got a photograph of me in that hat?"/"People like the hat."/"No they don't- what people?" Heeeeeeeheeheeheehee! XD
-"I've seen much worse, but then I do post-mortems." Molly, party girl to the core. Also rivaling Sherlock for tact skills. XD
-"Don't make jokes, Molly." I don't think she was, really, just sharing an observation she didn't quite think through. She spends all day hanging around corpses and doctors and Sherlock, so grim commentary's normal to her. Jobs involving death lend themselves to comments that raise eyebrows outside the workplace.
-"Back together, me and the wife, it's all sorted." *ticks option B off in 'possibilities for Lestrade's family life* Though that's not a terribly 'sorted' smile.
-"No, she's sleeping with a PE teacher." And there's that Sherlockian tact.
-Hmm. Given Lestrade's non-reaction to Sherlock's statement, I think Lestrade knew already. So many ways Sherlock could have found out. It may have been mentioned as 'she's doing this, but I understand and we'll work it out'. Or Lestrade was acting unusually distracted and Sherlock had to figure out why by massively invading his privacy. Or maybe it's something that happened before in their relationship, or maybe he overheard Lestrade's half of a phone conversation, or hacked his emails to prove he could, or maybe he stalks Lestrade when he's bored. In any case, Sherlock knows because he knows. And so now everybody knows. *handwave*
-"First time ever, she's cleaned up her act, she's off the booze!"/"Noop."/"Shut up, Sherlock." So many little nuggets of personal facts and family things and dear god I hope someone's tabulating all this. Do we have a wiki yet? We really need a wiki.
-Oh dear. The new boyfriend deductions should probably wait until you see the tag on the present, Sherlock. I have a forboding feeling... I'm just going to cap some things here and hide from the impending embarrassment.
-I'm thinking he's just horribly misinterpreting the concept of good-natured teasing rather than being mean. He does seem to be genuinely happy for Molly, compared to how he often is, and he could very well be, considering her last boyfriend was Moriarty. Except he is so wrong about Molly having a new boyfriend, when everyone else can see. It's like he has an internal filter that excludes him as a potential option, which is sad, but... *winces anticipatorially*
-"Obviously trying to compensate for the size of her mouth and breasts..." Wow. Tact. Seriously. Dude. Get some. It takes true genius to attain that level of social awkwardness. *facepalm*
-Yup. Molly, honey, we need to have a long talk about your taste in men who are either murdering psychopaths or tactless, clueless wankers.
-"You always say such horrible things, every time." Well, it's not much in the way of assertiveness, but it's a start.
-"I am sorry. Forgive me." O.O
-But he's still going to be getting that half-glass of wine in the face, isn't he?
-"Merry Christmas, Molly Hooper." Awwwwwwwww! Little kiss for Molly, but not one that's anything more than friendly at best, so as hopefully not to lead her on. Sherlock's still an ass though, and I'm still thinking that wine's gonna fly and he'll deserve it, but at the moment, awww.
-You know Sherlock, really, a guy with your intelligence should at least turn the volume down on your text notifications in a group environment when they make that sort of noise.
-"No! That wasn't-! I didn't-!" Oh poor Molly!
-"No it was me."/"My god, really!?" *snerk* Lestrade, just hush and drink your whatever it is.
-Oh dear. Be careful who you open that in front of, Sherlock. It's awfully small for most kinds of underwear. Not too small for the phone though.
-Aw, Molly. Honey. Seriously. You need to re-calibrate your taste in romantic conquests. Now go talk to Lestrade. He's nice, the thing with his ex probably isn't going to work out, and whether it does or not, he'd be a good guy as a friend. You're already chatting about Christmas plans with the Dorset thing earlier, so that's a start. Plus he could run background checks on any other prospective romantic partners, as with your current inclinations, sadly, they'll probably be mad geniuses who may or may not also be ruthless criminal masterminds. In the meantime, drink up!
-Of course it's a phone. But is it the phone? And is it unlocked? And how up the creek is Irene that she's left that there for him? And really, how shit is security at 221B??? Irene's got in twice to leave stuff, then there's the usual assassins and kidnappings. May as well leave the doors unlocked all the time because they don't seem to be stopping anyone.
-Aw. Mycroft all alone at Christmas. That's what you get for not telling your brother and his friend about the CIA-trained assassins. *nods* Also... I think this may confirm the fairly common head-canon that Mummy is dead? Dammit. Because I so wanted her to be Judi Dench. :-/
-Actually though it's Christmas Eve, isn't it? Roaring fire, snow outside, all alone, sounds fantastic. The big Holmes Family Christmas Dinner is probably tomorrow. Christmas Eve's a good night for quiet solitary contemplation. Or frantic wrapping. Or drunkenness. It's all good.
-This just in. Mycroft at a lead-paned window in the snow is damned pretty.
-"No, I mean you're going to find her dead." Ooo. Hm. Sherlock caring enough to phone his brother for Irene, with this unusual subdued grimness is... quite addictive. In a way. She is still alive, though, to send that text. Unless it was a timed send. Can you do that? I don't text so... *shrug*
-"You okay?"/"Yes." *door slam* Yeah. Definite sign of being okay, that.
-...thaaaaat's an awfully tall foreboding tower-looking thing, particularly for a hospital. Is St. Bart's housed in a converted castle? No, no, that's the big wall we've seen before. It just looks all towery and ominous in the dark. *side-eyes*
-"It's okay, everyone else is busy with Christmas." In her festive jumper. In the morgue. Aw, Molly. Seriously. Start hanging out with Lestrade more. He'd be an awesome friend. He might even tolerate a Glee marathon.
-The corpse's face is smashed in, so it's totally not Irene. Now it's just a matter of whether Sherlock knows that and is lying, or whether he really does think it's her. Also, where exactly did she acquire that was a close enough match to her physically to fool Sherlock...? I really doubt someone with her exact skin type/tone and measurements would have conveniently dropped dead on Irene's preferred schedule. That's quite a few shades past 'morally grey' there. *side-eyes Irene*
-"How did Sherlock recognize her from... not her face?" This and other questions Molly Hooper reeeeally doesn't want to know the answer to, tonight on Sherlock.
-"She had an item in her possession, one she said her life depended on, she chose to give it up." Someone that might be Molly is crying loudly in the background right now, and there are hospitalish gowned people moving visible through the door off to the side. It feels horrible to say, but I hope if it is Molly crying, she's only crying because she's heartbroken, and not due to any CIA-assassin team incursions. O.o
-Oh, it's not Molly. Phew. I'm just paranoid. I'm sorry for the poor random, possibly plot-related grieving people, but I'm really glad Molly is okay.
-They know we make icons of things like this, don't they?
-Side note. In the first series and in this one, there's quite a few instances of this kind of framing. Character seen through a smaller frame inside the larger frame of the image which is blank or black in some way. (eg John running down the halls in ASiP, first shot of Sherlock in the lab with the shoes.) It's an interesting look visually, and it's a sort of symbolic isolation. Needs more pondering, but it is most ponderable. *ponders*
-"Caring is not an advantage, Sherlock." Suuuuure. And you don't care at all. You just kidnap your brother's potential flatmates for giggles and information, you showed up at Baker Street after that explosion in The Great Game because you had a job for Sherlock to do, and you're hanging out with him at a morgue because you're waiting for him to give up that he has Irene's phone. Suuuuuuuure. Pull the other one, Mycroft, it's got bells on.
-...Though really, Mycroft isn't saying he doesn't care. He's just saying it's not an advantage. So he tries to hide caring under enigma and a vague condescending implied potential megalomania. Which... Awwww. Except you still aren't forgiven for leaving Sherlock and John in the dark about the assassins, Mycroft. Telling them would not have been caring, it would have been tactically sensible. Tsk! *finger shake*
-"Are you sure tonight's a danger night." Oh my god. Oh my god! I thought Mycroft had them searching for her phone, but they're searching the flat to clear out Sherlock's drug stash just in case and it's all of them working together and trying to help keep Sherlock from hurting himself and backsliding and, and MYCROFT, YOU LYING COW! Caring isn't an advantage my foot! *flails all over* :-D
-"My friends are so wrong about you. You're a great boyfriend." Heeee! John's '...seriously??' face! (Incidentally, Janette's leggings appear to match the couch cushion. I don't know if that's a good sign or a bad sign.)
-"And Sherlock Holmes is a very lucky man." Ha! Yeah, figured that was coming. And guessing that would be 'bad sign' on the leggings matching the cushion then. There you are then. Avoid romantic partners who blend with the decor of your flat.
-Seriously though, if a person's boyfriend/girlfriend has a friend who has had a friend (or adversarial friend, whatever *handwave*) die and needs to stay with said friend so they don't do something stupid and aforementioned boyfriend/girlfriend can't understand that that might take priority over a date, then that boyfriend/girlfriend has got some messed-up priorities.
-"I'll walk your dog for you. I've said it now, I'll even walk your dog."/"I don't even have a dog!"/"I know, because that was... the last one." *facepalm* and the optional save on that faux pas would have been claiming "walking her dog" was a euphemism for something else, but that would probably net a slap in the face at this stage.
-"Hope you didn't mess up my sock index this time." *sneeeeerk* HA! Yeah. As if he couldn't tell the place has been searched. Silly.
-"Composing?"/"Helps me to think." Yay, canon! Also OMG THE SKULL IS IN THE SANTA HAT! Far left side! Couldn't see it before, but YAY!!! \o/
-1895 as the code. Well, it wouldn't be that obvious now would it? It's got to have some significance though.
-John and Mrs. Hudson worriedly discussing Sherlock's emotional state and personal history and, just, friends and adopted family caring about each other, and, and, *DRAWS HEARTS AROUND EVERYTHING EVER*
-And then Mrs. Hudson goes into another room to putter, an Sherlock is out of there following John like a shot, am I right?
-"You know Mycroft could just phone me, if he didn't have this bloody stupid power complex." Yeah, but where would be the fun in that? Except I doubt it's Mycroft. He's a little less subtle than this. And, since Sherlock is watching all this from the window and would notice that that wasn't Mycroft's car, he'll be out off after John immediately.
-"You were right. He thinks it's Mycroft." Yep, silly John. The dangers of making a habit of abducting your brother's flatmate the same way too many times, he becomes susceptible to a pretty female face and a shiny black car. Of course it's likely just Irene, who is totally not dead, so he's safe as can be. Lucked out this time, not thugs or murderers (unless you're a body double, maybe *side-eyes Irene*) or mad bombers.
-"He's Sherlock. He does all that anywh-" Yep. Hello, Irene. Definitely someone else that was 32-24-34 dead and beaten there.
-And this is John, totally failing his boggle-check. XD
-"Tell him you're alive."/"He'd come after me."/"I'll come after you if you don't." Jooooooohn! *smishes him*
-And more of that isolation in darkness framing. Hmm.
-"I knew what he liked." Irene keeps saying this. It's cute, but getting a little annoying because the lack of variation in phrasing is making it seem like a deliberate attempt to develop a catchphrase, which more often than not makes a character look like a total poser. Either that or an attempt at an advertising slogan or some corporate branding for her business, and given her business you'd think she might have 'alternative' methods of corporate branding. So to speak, ha ha ha.
-"Fine, I'll tell him, and I still won't help you." And this is one of the many many reasons I love John Watson.
-"He will outlive God trying to have the last word." And yet he's never replied to her. Aww. I have no idea what it implies, but just aww.
-"Are you jealous?"/"We're not a couple."/"Yes you are." Everyone's a shipper on this boat! Whee!
-"For the record, if anyone out there still cares, I'm not actually gay."/"Well I am. Look at us both." Heh. Yeah. They're both rather obsessed with Sherlock, whatever their reasons are for it. :-)
-Yep. He followed. And he still didn't turn down that notification noise before going sneaking around in abandoned factories! Silly, silly, silly Sherlock.
-Understandable boggled, but not so far out of it as to not notice a break-in. It would be frightening as hell to see what would upset Sherlock to the point he wouldn't notice that. Also, entirely possible that the break-in was Irene's thing too, since she's trying to get the phone back, but we're due for an upping of the stakes, so maybe CIA assassins. ...And now I'm worried about Mrs. Hudson. O.o
-EEEEEEK! Nonononono! Not Mrs. Hudson! O.O
-Okay, I'm getting traumatized here. They can't kill off Mrs. Hudson, right? I've had one fandom lose an awesome pseudo-parent this TV season, Sherlock and John need to keep Mrs. Hudson. They just do. Moffat and Gatiss wouldn't mess with that, would they? O.O
-"Sherlock!" And he's not there because he snuck out to follow John and ALL THE WIBBLES NOW OH GOD.
-AH. The deep Sherlockian in-drawn breath of "THOU SHALT NOT FUCK WITH MY GOD DAMNED HOUSEKEEPER." Everything's going to be fine. After some severe badassery. *nods*
-Random side mention I meant to mention before. I truly love that the smiley face is still on the wall months later. :-)
-*random wibble noises*
-Oh they are so very dead. Every last one of them.
-Oh so very.
-"I dislike being outnumbered, it makes for too much stupid in the room." Heeee!
-Smiles!
-"I'm unarmed."/"Mind if I check?"/"Oh I insist." *cackles evilly* Close combat range, hopefully lack of attention on his own weapon, good place to start a combat if there's a chance.
-Yep. At close range, a aerosol can of whatever ZIL is (from the bucket downstairs), and a headbutt can beat a gun. The guy was a moron to let his people leave.
-*flailing all over everything right now with the awwww!*
-The moron CIA assassin is about to enter a world of pain, methinks. Can't say as I'm terribly disturbed by anything that might happen to the guy. There are only 17 steps at Baker Street, but he can be hauled back up and tossed down again if necessary. A bit hard on the carpeting though, and we wouldn't want to leave Mrs. Hudson with extra cleaning and repairs.
-"Crime in progress. Please disturb." HA!! I can see that going up on a few college dorm doors in the new year! XD
-"Mrs. Hudson has been attacked by an American, I'm restoring balance to the universe." HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, there's that tweaky glint of madness shining out.
-ALL THE FLAILING AND WIBBLES. AWW!
-Yeah. You are so dead, assassin guy.
-"Oh nononono, we're fine." HOW MUCH DO I LOVE THAT LESTRADE ASKED IF THEY WERE OKAY BEFORE ASKING LOGICAL THINGS LIKE "WHY IN HELL AREN'T YOU DIALING 999 INSTEAD OF ME?" \o/
-"A few broken ribs, fractured skull, suspected punctured lung." None of which he has yet. Heh, heh, heh. I sense a few questions being asked of our 'burglar' shortly, whether they involve actually causing him that damage or not.
-"He fell out of a window." Oh dear. Or there's that. Might attract attention along the street though. Hope you took the tape off first. It does leave a residue regardless.
-Oh, on her BINS! Ah. Sherlock was throwing the guy out the back window. Slightly less disturbing to passers-by than the front window, though still awfully public. Interior stairs. Seriously. Carpets can be replaced and drywall can be fixed. Unless it was a manual softening up before the fall out the window?
-Aaaand... nope. Not at all bothered about the fate of the assassin guy. Bastard beat up Mrs. Hudson. Grr.
-"And exactly how many times did he fall out of the window?" Somehow I think Lestrade no longer gives the slightest shit whether John has a gun or not and what sorts of things he gets up to with it. *draws hearts around Lestrade* *glee*
-Oh, hey, 221A! More data! \o/
-Sherlock casually going into Mrs. Hudson's fridge and helping himself to a mince pie, like a teenager home from school is, it's just, *hearts everywhere!* \o/
-"You left it in the pocket of your second-best dressing gown, you clot." My face -> 8-D Only like, ten thousand times bigger, with a long admiring in-drawn breath and things. SHE HAD IT THE WHOLE TIME, AND DIDN'T SAY A THING, AND OMFG, MRS. HUDSON IS AN AWESOME BADASS AND ALL THE WIN BELONGS TO HER!!@@!! AND WE KNEW IT!! THAT'S MRS. BAMF HUDSON RIGHT THERE! SHE IS A BAD ASS MOTHER FIGURE! WHEEE! \o/
-"Mrs. Hudson leave Baker Street? England would fall." Yeah, so I'm just going to sit here and grin and flail all over the place for a while. *flailflailflail* MUTUAL BADASS SUPPORT SOCIETIES AND FAMILIES OF THE HEART FOR THE WIN! \o/
-I am suffused with schmoop. Huzzah! \o/
-John: *interrogating about Irene and Sherlock's feelings and intentions* Sherlock: *violin of seasonally-appropriate STFU and MYOB music* Me: *giggling*
-And he's finally replied to her text, so, yeah. Cool. It's interesting that she's a highly sexualized character, using sexuality as both defense and weapon, and also is a relationship interest, but not really a love interest as such. Adversarial friendship at best. I think I'm cool with this take on Irene. She's another player of the game, one who isn't as psycho as Moriarty. (Though I still really want to know how her double became a corpse, and how she found an exact double in the first place. Or did she ask "Dear Jim"? *ponders*)
-"You think she's my girlfriend because I'm x-raying her possessions?" Hee, well, for you, that could be kind of... sweet? In a way? So maybe? XD
-221B, definite pass code option. The 1895 still has to mean something besides the meta though. Maybe it's the original construction date of that conspicuously-news-articled hospital being refurbished or whatever from that headline earlier?
-And no, not 221B, because it's too obvious. *headdesk*
-Is it just me, or does Sherlock look ridiculously young in the lab lighting?
-More room reference, kitchen window does go outside. Good to know. Still plays merry hell with the topography of the damned flat, but at least it's a concrete point.
-And hall to Sherlock's room. Door on the end and door to the left which goes into his... bathroom.... Or whatever it might be, both his bedroom and bathroom that extend invisibly into stair-space... Hey wait, the kitchen could be as long as the stairs! So it's all fine, it's just the back part of the flat extending into the alley and what not, no transdimensional manipulation required. Yeah. *handwaves with determination and aplomb*
-Also that means Sherlock's bedroom window and the kitchen window are 90 degrees to each other, and theoretically a person could possibly climb between them, even if there's no balcony. Bit of a stretch though, tricky.
-Aww. She's changed her armor. The super-aggressive-sex armor wasn't having the effect she wanted, so she's going with a more subtle stealth damsel-in-distress armor. Um. Slightly creepy to stand there staring though, boys.
-She looks a lot better with her hair down, can I just say? I don't know what was going on with the semi-Queen-Amidala thing she had going on in that warehouse, but down suits her better.
-"If they're watching me they'll know that I took a safety deposit box in a bank on the Strand a few months ago." The phone's totally not there, but he's definitely got a safety deposit box. I kind of hope he's using it to run experiments on putrefaction in an air-tight environment in case anyone decides to go looking.
-"Excellent plan, full of intelligent precautions." And letting three more people know that a Phone Of Interest exists, even though they won't know what it's for. Although Molly already knows it exists since she saw it in the lab. And it's all pointless because the phone's totally not there.
-Hee! Yeah.
-Oh smart bastard! He gave her the phone to enter the passcode, right. SHE'S STANDING WITH HER BACK TO THE MIRROR. (Mirrors! Again!) There's a very good chance he'll catch a glimpse in the mirror. Hard to say with the way she's standing. He may be able to read it from her thumb movements if the mirror ploy doesn't work.
-Or it could be a duplicate phone. For those among the group who can afford random duplicate phones. I still say the mirror ploy would have been awesome. And meta-able!
-HA HA. XD
-"Hamish. John Hamish Watson. If you're looking for baby names." Pfffft. Maybe just a little presumptive? And/or jealous?
-Hello random James Bond reference! The code isn't hexadecimal, and that's about all I know without launching into extensive and pointless twiddling with alphanumerics.
-Sherlock: *Decodes all the things* "Give me a moment I've only been on the case for eight seconds." WIN. \o/
-And this is John Watson's HOLY SHIT face. Also his boggle-check-fail face, but the two do seem to happen in conjunction quite often, so that's understandable.
-"Please don't feel obliged to tell me that was remarkable or amazing, John's expressed that thought in every possible variant available to the English language." HAHAHAHAHAHAH and John's little look up of 'yup' and then look back down to his laptop. Heee!
-"I would have you right here on this desk until you begged for mercy twice." Well, I don't think John will have said that in the Series, but I can guarantee there have been several similar variations in the fanfic. XD
-"I've never begged for mercy in my life."/"Twice." Heheheeheheheee! *randomly gestures and laughs* I don't even know who's barking up which wrong tree anymore here. XD
-"Double oh seven, what?" So, did John not actually get around to subjecting Sherlock to Bond night, or has he deleted it? And since it's a plane, is this all relating to the guy found in the car boot earlier in the episode that was unsolved and may or may not have the numbers 007 associated with the flight he wasn't on when it crashed in, where was it, Germany? Hmmm!
-HI JIM! HIIIIII! I was wondering if you'd be back before the end of this episode, or if we'd be waiting to see you later in the series. And Irene carries through on whatever deal she made with him at that astoundingly opportune time for Sherlock and John at the start of the episode. Which does make me wonder if she was stalking him before the pool... Which came first? *ponders*
-"Bond Air is a go." Oh sure, Mycroft gets pop culture references.
-AHAHAHAHAHAHAH. Okay, that was pure crack. Does that count as subversion of a trope?
-Mycroft angst. Tasty. And he's not telling anyone, calling anything off, calling up Sherlock? Hmm...
-Mycroft has a kick-ass board room to angst in at least. Not up on my heraldry; what crest is that in the window?
-"Coventry." *gasp* *jawdrop* Oh god. Okay, if he means what I think he means, I can see why Mycroft was up all night angsting. Poor Mycroft! D-:
-"Where's John?" You know, focus like that is great, but one of these days it's going to bite you in the ass, dude.
-Yep. Coventry. Crap.
-[Ohhhh, the raspberry from Moriarty was representing the encoding, and the message is to Mycroft to show that Moriarty's bunch now knows the code has been broken and who did it, and Mycroft wasn't angsting abiout the Coventry situation, because he'd already had that dealt with, he was angsting about Sherlock having tipped their hand. Ahhh. Missed that at first. It was about 2 AM when I got to this part though, so yeah. Brain dead. :-P]
-"Have you ever had anyone?" Really, really not the time, Irene.
-Irene: *making innuendoes* Sherlock: *IS TOTALLY TAKING HER PULSE TO SEE IF SHE'S LYING OR NERVOUS OR SOMETHING* Seriously, just look! I mean, she's not stupid, she's got to know that there are more important things to be done at that moment than flirting or sex, so she's trying to distract him from something.
-Ah. The plane is full of the dead. So there's still a bomb, the plane still goes down, there's still a body count. Rough on the pilots though. Ooooor this is a trap, and Sherlock is screwed, right? Or something?
-Mycroft's solution. Ah. Not bad, but surely if anyone is observing the flight they're going to be tipped off when no passengers get on, won't they? Or is boarding something that isn't seen anymore?
-HAHAHAH, the kids were part of the plot, because their dead grandad is on the freaking plane! \o/ Okay, that's awesome.
-"But that's the deceased for you. Late. In every sense of the word." Aaaaarg. *headdesk*
-Moriarty's running terrorist cells. That's scary. Wonder what's in it for him?
-"One fragment of one email, and months and years of planning, finished." And now Sherlock's got to finish putting it together. Because only he, John and Irene heard the broken code. If he hasn't done already.
-"I'm not talking about the MoD man, Sherlock, I'm talking about you." *umbrellastomp* Oh dear, Mycroft is disappointed. And pissed off. With good reason. Still not letting him off on the assassin thing, considering it seems they're working for him. Or something. Needs more brain.
-"I think it was less than five seconds." Wait what? O.o
-"I drove you into her path." Holy- What the- Oh my god. What?
-I think I'm going to need some sleep and some coffee before I can try and untangle that plot-knot. So, she's now blackmailing Mycroft with everything, and Sherlock being the leak is her chip. But to get there Mycroft sent Sherlock... gah. NEED MORE BRAIN. That said, if this is the kind of case Mycroft sends Sherlock on, I can see why Sherlock habitually tells him to piss off. O.o
-[Especially considering how much Mycroft withheld from Sherlock that he needed to know. Assassins, they're after the phone for more than just compromising photos, etc. Mystery at both ends, right down to the red-herring Illustrious Client, because the real client isn't the Royal family, it's the Government in the form of Mycroft trying to plug an intel leak. Mycroft, silly, all this could have been avoided if you had properly briefed your brother, and I don't mean by making him put on his pants.]
-Phone has self destruct, they can't torture the code out of her because she might give the burn code... but... don't they want the info deleted anyway? Let it burn. Punch in one more set of random numbers and off it goes problem solved, right?
-But maybe people's lives depend on the intel. "Telling you would be playing fair." Yeah, okay fine. You know, if Irene's looking for something to do after this, she'd make a hell of a Number Two in the Village from The Prisoner.
-"Jim Moriarty sends his love." Oh sure, stomp on Sherlock some more, why not. XD
-"Gave me a lot of advice about how to play the Holmes boys." Oh really? Did he now? That's intriguing. *ponders* Still, there's a vast difference between getting advice on how to play them and actually having the skills and chutzpah to pull it off successfully. A person can be told all day long how to sneak through a pack of hungry wolves without detection and still fail at it without using intelligence and skill.
-"D'you know what he calls you? The Iceman, and the Virgin." Pffft.
-"Didn't even ask for anything, just likes to cause trouble, now that's my kind of man." And she keeps kicking and kicking and kicking... I still like her, as an adversary. She's never been anything but true to herself, and kept the masquerade going until she had what she wanted and then dropped it or switched masks. And yeah. Getting thoroughly played hurts.
-"Very very close, but no." Really? There are a few loose threads, lets see where pulling them goes.
-"Sentiment is a chemical defect found in the losing side." Oh dear. You are one broken little puppy, aren't you, Sherlock?
-"Because you're the great Sherlock Holmes, the clever detective in the funny hat?"/"No." Yep. Pulse rate. Not quite why I'd thought maybe, but pulse rate.
-*nods along with the rundown* Yep.
-OH HE'S GOT THE CODE! \o/
-I'm just gonna sit back and cap for a while here.
-"I've always assumed love is a dangerous disadvantage. Thank you for the final proof." Oh ow. Oh Sherlock. *pats*
-"Everything I said, it's not real, I was just playing the game."/"I know. And this is just losing." *final keypunch* Victory arms? She beat him, but he's getting one on her, so it's almost kind of even-ish? Not really, considering he was tricked into fucking up a massive international anti-terrorist scheme but yeah. Pyrrhic victory arms. \o/
-AHHHHHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh god! XD That's so iconnable, but it's a total spoiler for half the world for another several months. That's, that's just, HEEE!
-Does Irene love love him? Doubt it. I think she's obsessed with Sherlock, definitely, but not necessarily in a romantic way, not that that makes it any less of a weakness. Pulse speeds up and pupils dilate for a lot of reasons that were applicable in that situation, not just attraction. Excitement, fascination. Or, yes, attraction. But Sherlock's a challenge, probably more than she's had in a long while, and he's fun, unlike his brother who's too constrained by rules to really cut loose and play with her. She's a variant along the genius spectrum in the show; less murderous than Moriarty (except for her double, maybe...), more self-concerned than Sherlock, and far less civic-minded than Mycroft. She is a genius, of a sort, but her genius lies in manipulation and social matters. Moriarty may have provided her with intel on the Holmes brothers, but she was the one with the social manipulation skills to fool them both. They're all playing the game in their own ways. It goes well with the mirrors and mirror imagery scattered around, particularly between Sherlock and Irene. I hope someone with more brain than me metas about that.
-"Are you expecting me to beg?"/"Yes." TWICE. Mwahahahah. Sorry. Mild moment of vindictiveness there. Won't happen again. Oh who am I kidding, it totally will. XD
-But now was that the truth or another layer of armor? I don't know if we've ever seen anything from Irene that wasn't a mask of some sort. Mirrors. Hm. She's certainly an interesting character to consider.
-"I also don't frequent cafes." UMBRELLA BEING USED AS UMBRELLA! Minor geekout, sorry. Also, John Watson stands like a penguin when it's raining, and tucks his hands up into his coat sleeves like he's five. Heeeee! The adorable, it burns!
-Holy crap is that the actual interior of actual Speedy's? COOL! It's so tiny!
-Irene's gone into witness protection in the US? DUCK AND COVER, AMERICA!
-"Won't even mention her by name, just 'The Woman'" *waves hi to ACD Canon again some more*
-Oh. Interesting mirror placement. That's, arg. I know the name for that. The reflections reflect the reflections back and forth and make a mirror tunnel; it's used in film to represent many things, duplicity, alternate decisions made or to be made, very cool! A very subtle one too, which is nice. (More mirrors. Hmmm.)
-"My brother has the brain of a scientist or a philosopher, yet he elects to be a detective. What might we deduce about his heart?" And the immediate cut to John. You know. Just sayin'.
-"But initially he wanted to be a Pirate." HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE OMG WEE!HOLMES FIC PROMPT! XD
-Awww. And then Mycroft's goofy grin slowly fades, and his eyes drop, and it's like he's missing the kid that Sherlock used to be and OMG, I don't care who the assassins were working for anymore. MYCROFT, YOU BIG BROTHERY WOOBIE! \o/
-Oh, and just kidding about the not caring about the assassins part. I'm watching you, Mycroft. *eyes with suspicion*
-"She's dead." Well, shit. Let me guess, those assassins of dubious origin were the ones that were supposed to deliver her to witness protection, and she kind of fell out of the plane on the way there, but only once. No, wait. Moriarty. Yeah. She's toast.
-Beheaded in Karachi. Yikes. O.o
-"It would take Sherlock Holmes to fool me, and I don't think he was on hand, do you?" Probably not. But there's another fic prompt. [Or not! XD]
-Mycroft is cute. Who knew? Oh wait, everybody knew. XD
-"What should we tell Sherlock?" Ah hah hah. Right. So. Mycroft's told John the two stories and said which one is real. John will now go tell Sherlock the 'happy ending' story, but will be displaying tells of a 'sad ending' being hidden. Mycroft knows Sherlock will believe Irene's dead based on this but pretend he believes the happy ending, because he knows John is lying to protect him, and would rather avoid more discussions about his feelings. When in actuality, the truth is something entirely different. Like, really, if Mycroft didn't try to recruit Irene for some branch of someone's secret service, he'd be severely remiss, because she was really good. Just in need of a major shift in priorities. Of course I'm going to be completely wrong, but hey, what the hell, if it's not true now, it might happen in someone else's fanfic.
-"She's uh... She's in America." John. Dude. You are blatantly exuding bullshit vibes that can be seen from space. You suck at lying.
-*awkward pause* "Listen, actually-"/*Sherlock interrupts* "But I will have the camera phone." Ha ha ha. And that would be Sherlock blocking John from having to tell the 'truth' which is a good thing, because seriously, beheaded in Karachi sounds a little far-fetched.
-"I know but I- I'll still have it." Aw. Don't worry Sherlock, she's getting training to do nasty things for some government or other, don't fret.
-Aw.
-Ooooooor maybe that spy training didn't work out so well after all. Fair enough. To be honest, given who Irene's crossed, I'm surprised she wasn't shot within the first week out of protection, probably by the same sniper that took out General Shan in Blind Banker. She's been good to get as far as she has.
-RINGTONE! AHHHH!!! HE WAS THERE! AND HE FORGOT TO TURN HIS BLOODY RINGER OFF DURING A COVERT OP AGAIN! That could get you killed one of these days, Sherlock. Anyway, cool. That works too. Which means she'll be around to cause trouble or provide a random assist, or infiltrate Moriarty's group again and report back, or whatever.
-"When I say run, run!" Hey, if it works for the Doctor, it can work for Sherlock Holmes!
-Cool. There are few enough people in the world who can put one over on the Holmes brothers without chopping someone's head off in Karachi. And by rescuing her, Sherlock evens the score on the who beat whom how badly scale. [Except she's also kind of winning because Sherlock's showed up when she needs an assist, which could be seen as a result of her machinations, so... *handwaves* It's a draw, score even all, and right after this, Sherlock totally got to the truth of who killed Irene's body double and alerted appropriate authorities, or whatever. Because.] Also, if Sherlock didn't help her out, it'd be him, Mycroft and Moriarty playing on that level. Good to have a bit of extra, entirely self-interested adversarial potential-friend-maybe-maybe-not-possibly-murderer for variety. Fill out the spectrum a little more. And possibly provide future plot-muffins! \o/
Right, that's it! Thanks for sticking through my insanity, and play nice in the comments please!
(PLEASE, NO SPOILERS OR REFERENCES TO ANY INFORMATION FOR OR ABOUT UNAIRED EPISODES IN COMMENTS! THIS INCLUDES ANY REFERENCING OF INTERVIEWS, PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL, TRAILERS OR ADVERTISEMENTS. The further definition of what constitutes a spoiler for this journal is located in left hand sidebar. Theory and speculation are welcome if based on aired episodes only.)
Picspam Reaction for Sherlock Series 2 Episode 1 (Contains: episode details and spoilers, random babble, pointless comments, meta of sorts, speculation, profanity, capslock, and squee)
Part 1
PART 2 of 2 - "A Scandal in Belgravia."
And onward!
-EEE! CHRISTMAS AT 221B! AND SNOW! *FLAILS*
-Oh dear god yes. *flailing everywhere* I was hoping for a Sherlock Christmas episode, actually, and here's one stuck in halfway through! So. Much. Glee. Where's the skull? IS HE UNDER THE SANTA HAT? :-D
-AND JOHN IN A RIDICULOUS CHRISTMAS JUMPER! AND LESTRADE HANGING OUT AND SOCIALIZING AT 221B!!! OMG THIS IS SO PERFECTLY WONDERFUL I COULD JUST BUST FROM THE HAPPY! \o/
-"Sarah was the doctor, and then there was the one with the spots and then the one with the nose, and who was after the boring teacher?" Hee. oh dear. And I had high hopes for Sarah sticking it out for a little while longer after she made it past the circus of Chinese gangsters. Sounds like John's been busy. Though still not busy enough to recognize the sound of that ringtone.
-"Nobody." Oh crap, is it Mary already? That was fast! O.o
-"Janette!" No. Not Mary yet. Okay. Going to be interesting to see what sort of person Mary is in this iteration, but not yet.
-*LITERALLY SHRIEKS* HI MOLLY! OMG, YOU GUYS, IT'S MOLLY! For a while I was worried Moriarty had offed her after the pool to try to tie up loose ends, and was wondering if it'd get mentioned later, but OMG SHE'S ALIVE! AND SMILING! And her hair looks comparatively awesome! MOLLEEEEEEEEEEE!!! LET ME HUG YOU!!!! \o/
-And the dress! And Lestrade going 'wow!' in the background. Hee, someone in the crew ships Molly/Lestrade! Or something. Hee! *still flailing*
-"The count on your blog, it still says 1895." Okay, that's going a bit further than a shout-out. Must be plot-related. *nods and ponders*
-"You've got a photograph of me in that hat?"/"People like the hat."/"No they don't- what people?" Heeeeeeeheeheeheehee! XD
-"I've seen much worse, but then I do post-mortems." Molly, party girl to the core. Also rivaling Sherlock for tact skills. XD
-"Don't make jokes, Molly." I don't think she was, really, just sharing an observation she didn't quite think through. She spends all day hanging around corpses and doctors and Sherlock, so grim commentary's normal to her. Jobs involving death lend themselves to comments that raise eyebrows outside the workplace.
-"Back together, me and the wife, it's all sorted." *ticks option B off in 'possibilities for Lestrade's family life* Though that's not a terribly 'sorted' smile.
-"No, she's sleeping with a PE teacher." And there's that Sherlockian tact.
-Hmm. Given Lestrade's non-reaction to Sherlock's statement, I think Lestrade knew already. So many ways Sherlock could have found out. It may have been mentioned as 'she's doing this, but I understand and we'll work it out'. Or Lestrade was acting unusually distracted and Sherlock had to figure out why by massively invading his privacy. Or maybe it's something that happened before in their relationship, or maybe he overheard Lestrade's half of a phone conversation, or hacked his emails to prove he could, or maybe he stalks Lestrade when he's bored. In any case, Sherlock knows because he knows. And so now everybody knows. *handwave*
-"First time ever, she's cleaned up her act, she's off the booze!"/"Noop."/"Shut up, Sherlock." So many little nuggets of personal facts and family things and dear god I hope someone's tabulating all this. Do we have a wiki yet? We really need a wiki.
-Oh dear. The new boyfriend deductions should probably wait until you see the tag on the present, Sherlock. I have a forboding feeling... I'm just going to cap some things here and hide from the impending embarrassment.
-I'm thinking he's just horribly misinterpreting the concept of good-natured teasing rather than being mean. He does seem to be genuinely happy for Molly, compared to how he often is, and he could very well be, considering her last boyfriend was Moriarty. Except he is so wrong about Molly having a new boyfriend, when everyone else can see. It's like he has an internal filter that excludes him as a potential option, which is sad, but... *winces anticipatorially*
-"Obviously trying to compensate for the size of her mouth and breasts..." Wow. Tact. Seriously. Dude. Get some. It takes true genius to attain that level of social awkwardness. *facepalm*
-Yup. Molly, honey, we need to have a long talk about your taste in men who are either murdering psychopaths or tactless, clueless wankers.
-"You always say such horrible things, every time." Well, it's not much in the way of assertiveness, but it's a start.
-"I am sorry. Forgive me." O.O
-But he's still going to be getting that half-glass of wine in the face, isn't he?
-"Merry Christmas, Molly Hooper." Awwwwwwwww! Little kiss for Molly, but not one that's anything more than friendly at best, so as hopefully not to lead her on. Sherlock's still an ass though, and I'm still thinking that wine's gonna fly and he'll deserve it, but at the moment, awww.
-You know Sherlock, really, a guy with your intelligence should at least turn the volume down on your text notifications in a group environment when they make that sort of noise.
-"No! That wasn't-! I didn't-!" Oh poor Molly!
-"No it was me."/"My god, really!?" *snerk* Lestrade, just hush and drink your whatever it is.
-Oh dear. Be careful who you open that in front of, Sherlock. It's awfully small for most kinds of underwear. Not too small for the phone though.
-Aw, Molly. Honey. Seriously. You need to re-calibrate your taste in romantic conquests. Now go talk to Lestrade. He's nice, the thing with his ex probably isn't going to work out, and whether it does or not, he'd be a good guy as a friend. You're already chatting about Christmas plans with the Dorset thing earlier, so that's a start. Plus he could run background checks on any other prospective romantic partners, as with your current inclinations, sadly, they'll probably be mad geniuses who may or may not also be ruthless criminal masterminds. In the meantime, drink up!
-Of course it's a phone. But is it the phone? And is it unlocked? And how up the creek is Irene that she's left that there for him? And really, how shit is security at 221B??? Irene's got in twice to leave stuff, then there's the usual assassins and kidnappings. May as well leave the doors unlocked all the time because they don't seem to be stopping anyone.
-Aw. Mycroft all alone at Christmas. That's what you get for not telling your brother and his friend about the CIA-trained assassins. *nods* Also... I think this may confirm the fairly common head-canon that Mummy is dead? Dammit. Because I so wanted her to be Judi Dench. :-/
-Actually though it's Christmas Eve, isn't it? Roaring fire, snow outside, all alone, sounds fantastic. The big Holmes Family Christmas Dinner is probably tomorrow. Christmas Eve's a good night for quiet solitary contemplation. Or frantic wrapping. Or drunkenness. It's all good.
-This just in. Mycroft at a lead-paned window in the snow is damned pretty.
-"No, I mean you're going to find her dead." Ooo. Hm. Sherlock caring enough to phone his brother for Irene, with this unusual subdued grimness is... quite addictive. In a way. She is still alive, though, to send that text. Unless it was a timed send. Can you do that? I don't text so... *shrug*
-"You okay?"/"Yes." *door slam* Yeah. Definite sign of being okay, that.
-...thaaaaat's an awfully tall foreboding tower-looking thing, particularly for a hospital. Is St. Bart's housed in a converted castle? No, no, that's the big wall we've seen before. It just looks all towery and ominous in the dark. *side-eyes*
-"It's okay, everyone else is busy with Christmas." In her festive jumper. In the morgue. Aw, Molly. Seriously. Start hanging out with Lestrade more. He'd be an awesome friend. He might even tolerate a Glee marathon.
-The corpse's face is smashed in, so it's totally not Irene. Now it's just a matter of whether Sherlock knows that and is lying, or whether he really does think it's her. Also, where exactly did she acquire that was a close enough match to her physically to fool Sherlock...? I really doubt someone with her exact skin type/tone and measurements would have conveniently dropped dead on Irene's preferred schedule. That's quite a few shades past 'morally grey' there. *side-eyes Irene*
-"How did Sherlock recognize her from... not her face?" This and other questions Molly Hooper reeeeally doesn't want to know the answer to, tonight on Sherlock.
-"She had an item in her possession, one she said her life depended on, she chose to give it up." Someone that might be Molly is crying loudly in the background right now, and there are hospitalish gowned people moving visible through the door off to the side. It feels horrible to say, but I hope if it is Molly crying, she's only crying because she's heartbroken, and not due to any CIA-assassin team incursions. O.o
-Oh, it's not Molly. Phew. I'm just paranoid. I'm sorry for the poor random, possibly plot-related grieving people, but I'm really glad Molly is okay.
-They know we make icons of things like this, don't they?
-Side note. In the first series and in this one, there's quite a few instances of this kind of framing. Character seen through a smaller frame inside the larger frame of the image which is blank or black in some way. (eg John running down the halls in ASiP, first shot of Sherlock in the lab with the shoes.) It's an interesting look visually, and it's a sort of symbolic isolation. Needs more pondering, but it is most ponderable. *ponders*
-"Caring is not an advantage, Sherlock." Suuuuure. And you don't care at all. You just kidnap your brother's potential flatmates for giggles and information, you showed up at Baker Street after that explosion in The Great Game because you had a job for Sherlock to do, and you're hanging out with him at a morgue because you're waiting for him to give up that he has Irene's phone. Suuuuuuuure. Pull the other one, Mycroft, it's got bells on.
-...Though really, Mycroft isn't saying he doesn't care. He's just saying it's not an advantage. So he tries to hide caring under enigma and a vague condescending implied potential megalomania. Which... Awwww. Except you still aren't forgiven for leaving Sherlock and John in the dark about the assassins, Mycroft. Telling them would not have been caring, it would have been tactically sensible. Tsk! *finger shake*
-"Are you sure tonight's a danger night." Oh my god. Oh my god! I thought Mycroft had them searching for her phone, but they're searching the flat to clear out Sherlock's drug stash just in case and it's all of them working together and trying to help keep Sherlock from hurting himself and backsliding and, and MYCROFT, YOU LYING COW! Caring isn't an advantage my foot! *flails all over* :-D
-"My friends are so wrong about you. You're a great boyfriend." Heeee! John's '...seriously??' face! (Incidentally, Janette's leggings appear to match the couch cushion. I don't know if that's a good sign or a bad sign.)
-"And Sherlock Holmes is a very lucky man." Ha! Yeah, figured that was coming. And guessing that would be 'bad sign' on the leggings matching the cushion then. There you are then. Avoid romantic partners who blend with the decor of your flat.
-Seriously though, if a person's boyfriend/girlfriend has a friend who has had a friend (or adversarial friend, whatever *handwave*) die and needs to stay with said friend so they don't do something stupid and aforementioned boyfriend/girlfriend can't understand that that might take priority over a date, then that boyfriend/girlfriend has got some messed-up priorities.
-"I'll walk your dog for you. I've said it now, I'll even walk your dog."/"I don't even have a dog!"/"I know, because that was... the last one." *facepalm* and the optional save on that faux pas would have been claiming "walking her dog" was a euphemism for something else, but that would probably net a slap in the face at this stage.
-"Hope you didn't mess up my sock index this time." *sneeeeerk* HA! Yeah. As if he couldn't tell the place has been searched. Silly.
-"Composing?"/"Helps me to think." Yay, canon! Also OMG THE SKULL IS IN THE SANTA HAT! Far left side! Couldn't see it before, but YAY!!! \o/
-1895 as the code. Well, it wouldn't be that obvious now would it? It's got to have some significance though.
-John and Mrs. Hudson worriedly discussing Sherlock's emotional state and personal history and, just, friends and adopted family caring about each other, and, and, *DRAWS HEARTS AROUND EVERYTHING EVER*
-And then Mrs. Hudson goes into another room to putter, an Sherlock is out of there following John like a shot, am I right?
-"You know Mycroft could just phone me, if he didn't have this bloody stupid power complex." Yeah, but where would be the fun in that? Except I doubt it's Mycroft. He's a little less subtle than this. And, since Sherlock is watching all this from the window and would notice that that wasn't Mycroft's car, he'll be out off after John immediately.
-"You were right. He thinks it's Mycroft." Yep, silly John. The dangers of making a habit of abducting your brother's flatmate the same way too many times, he becomes susceptible to a pretty female face and a shiny black car. Of course it's likely just Irene, who is totally not dead, so he's safe as can be. Lucked out this time, not thugs or murderers (unless you're a body double, maybe *side-eyes Irene*) or mad bombers.
-"He's Sherlock. He does all that anywh-" Yep. Hello, Irene. Definitely someone else that was 32-24-34 dead and beaten there.
-And this is John, totally failing his boggle-check. XD
-"Tell him you're alive."/"He'd come after me."/"I'll come after you if you don't." Jooooooohn! *smishes him*
-And more of that isolation in darkness framing. Hmm.
-"I knew what he liked." Irene keeps saying this. It's cute, but getting a little annoying because the lack of variation in phrasing is making it seem like a deliberate attempt to develop a catchphrase, which more often than not makes a character look like a total poser. Either that or an attempt at an advertising slogan or some corporate branding for her business, and given her business you'd think she might have 'alternative' methods of corporate branding. So to speak, ha ha ha.
-"Fine, I'll tell him, and I still won't help you." And this is one of the many many reasons I love John Watson.
-"He will outlive God trying to have the last word." And yet he's never replied to her. Aww. I have no idea what it implies, but just aww.
-"Are you jealous?"/"We're not a couple."/"Yes you are." Everyone's a shipper on this boat! Whee!
-"For the record, if anyone out there still cares, I'm not actually gay."/"Well I am. Look at us both." Heh. Yeah. They're both rather obsessed with Sherlock, whatever their reasons are for it. :-)
-Yep. He followed. And he still didn't turn down that notification noise before going sneaking around in abandoned factories! Silly, silly, silly Sherlock.
-Understandable boggled, but not so far out of it as to not notice a break-in. It would be frightening as hell to see what would upset Sherlock to the point he wouldn't notice that. Also, entirely possible that the break-in was Irene's thing too, since she's trying to get the phone back, but we're due for an upping of the stakes, so maybe CIA assassins. ...And now I'm worried about Mrs. Hudson. O.o
-EEEEEEK! Nonononono! Not Mrs. Hudson! O.O
-Okay, I'm getting traumatized here. They can't kill off Mrs. Hudson, right? I've had one fandom lose an awesome pseudo-parent this TV season, Sherlock and John need to keep Mrs. Hudson. They just do. Moffat and Gatiss wouldn't mess with that, would they? O.O
-"Sherlock!" And he's not there because he snuck out to follow John and ALL THE WIBBLES NOW OH GOD.
-AH. The deep Sherlockian in-drawn breath of "THOU SHALT NOT FUCK WITH MY GOD DAMNED HOUSEKEEPER." Everything's going to be fine. After some severe badassery. *nods*
-Random side mention I meant to mention before. I truly love that the smiley face is still on the wall months later. :-)
-*random wibble noises*
-Oh they are so very dead. Every last one of them.
-Oh so very.
-"I dislike being outnumbered, it makes for too much stupid in the room." Heeee!
-Smiles!
-"I'm unarmed."/"Mind if I check?"/"Oh I insist." *cackles evilly* Close combat range, hopefully lack of attention on his own weapon, good place to start a combat if there's a chance.
-Yep. At close range, a aerosol can of whatever ZIL is (from the bucket downstairs), and a headbutt can beat a gun. The guy was a moron to let his people leave.
-*flailing all over everything right now with the awwww!*
-The moron CIA assassin is about to enter a world of pain, methinks. Can't say as I'm terribly disturbed by anything that might happen to the guy. There are only 17 steps at Baker Street, but he can be hauled back up and tossed down again if necessary. A bit hard on the carpeting though, and we wouldn't want to leave Mrs. Hudson with extra cleaning and repairs.
-"Crime in progress. Please disturb." HA!! I can see that going up on a few college dorm doors in the new year! XD
-"Mrs. Hudson has been attacked by an American, I'm restoring balance to the universe." HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, there's that tweaky glint of madness shining out.
-ALL THE FLAILING AND WIBBLES. AWW!
-Yeah. You are so dead, assassin guy.
-"Oh nononono, we're fine." HOW MUCH DO I LOVE THAT LESTRADE ASKED IF THEY WERE OKAY BEFORE ASKING LOGICAL THINGS LIKE "WHY IN HELL AREN'T YOU DIALING 999 INSTEAD OF ME?" \o/
-"A few broken ribs, fractured skull, suspected punctured lung." None of which he has yet. Heh, heh, heh. I sense a few questions being asked of our 'burglar' shortly, whether they involve actually causing him that damage or not.
-"He fell out of a window." Oh dear. Or there's that. Might attract attention along the street though. Hope you took the tape off first. It does leave a residue regardless.
-Oh, on her BINS! Ah. Sherlock was throwing the guy out the back window. Slightly less disturbing to passers-by than the front window, though still awfully public. Interior stairs. Seriously. Carpets can be replaced and drywall can be fixed. Unless it was a manual softening up before the fall out the window?
-Aaaand... nope. Not at all bothered about the fate of the assassin guy. Bastard beat up Mrs. Hudson. Grr.
-"And exactly how many times did he fall out of the window?" Somehow I think Lestrade no longer gives the slightest shit whether John has a gun or not and what sorts of things he gets up to with it. *draws hearts around Lestrade* *glee*
-Oh, hey, 221A! More data! \o/
-Sherlock casually going into Mrs. Hudson's fridge and helping himself to a mince pie, like a teenager home from school is, it's just, *hearts everywhere!* \o/
-"You left it in the pocket of your second-best dressing gown, you clot." My face -> 8-D Only like, ten thousand times bigger, with a long admiring in-drawn breath and things. SHE HAD IT THE WHOLE TIME, AND DIDN'T SAY A THING, AND OMFG, MRS. HUDSON IS AN AWESOME BADASS AND ALL THE WIN BELONGS TO HER!!@@!! AND WE KNEW IT!! THAT'S MRS. BAMF HUDSON RIGHT THERE! SHE IS A BAD ASS MOTHER FIGURE! WHEEE! \o/
-"Mrs. Hudson leave Baker Street? England would fall." Yeah, so I'm just going to sit here and grin and flail all over the place for a while. *flailflailflail* MUTUAL BADASS SUPPORT SOCIETIES AND FAMILIES OF THE HEART FOR THE WIN! \o/
-I am suffused with schmoop. Huzzah! \o/
-John: *interrogating about Irene and Sherlock's feelings and intentions* Sherlock: *violin of seasonally-appropriate STFU and MYOB music* Me: *giggling*
-And he's finally replied to her text, so, yeah. Cool. It's interesting that she's a highly sexualized character, using sexuality as both defense and weapon, and also is a relationship interest, but not really a love interest as such. Adversarial friendship at best. I think I'm cool with this take on Irene. She's another player of the game, one who isn't as psycho as Moriarty. (Though I still really want to know how her double became a corpse, and how she found an exact double in the first place. Or did she ask "Dear Jim"? *ponders*)
-"You think she's my girlfriend because I'm x-raying her possessions?" Hee, well, for you, that could be kind of... sweet? In a way? So maybe? XD
-221B, definite pass code option. The 1895 still has to mean something besides the meta though. Maybe it's the original construction date of that conspicuously-news-articled hospital being refurbished or whatever from that headline earlier?
-And no, not 221B, because it's too obvious. *headdesk*
-Is it just me, or does Sherlock look ridiculously young in the lab lighting?
-More room reference, kitchen window does go outside. Good to know. Still plays merry hell with the topography of the damned flat, but at least it's a concrete point.
-And hall to Sherlock's room. Door on the end and door to the left which goes into his... bathroom.... Or whatever it might be, both his bedroom and bathroom that extend invisibly into stair-space... Hey wait, the kitchen could be as long as the stairs! So it's all fine, it's just the back part of the flat extending into the alley and what not, no transdimensional manipulation required. Yeah. *handwaves with determination and aplomb*
-Also that means Sherlock's bedroom window and the kitchen window are 90 degrees to each other, and theoretically a person could possibly climb between them, even if there's no balcony. Bit of a stretch though, tricky.
-Aww. She's changed her armor. The super-aggressive-sex armor wasn't having the effect she wanted, so she's going with a more subtle stealth damsel-in-distress armor. Um. Slightly creepy to stand there staring though, boys.
-She looks a lot better with her hair down, can I just say? I don't know what was going on with the semi-Queen-Amidala thing she had going on in that warehouse, but down suits her better.
-"If they're watching me they'll know that I took a safety deposit box in a bank on the Strand a few months ago." The phone's totally not there, but he's definitely got a safety deposit box. I kind of hope he's using it to run experiments on putrefaction in an air-tight environment in case anyone decides to go looking.
-"Excellent plan, full of intelligent precautions." And letting three more people know that a Phone Of Interest exists, even though they won't know what it's for. Although Molly already knows it exists since she saw it in the lab. And it's all pointless because the phone's totally not there.
-Hee! Yeah.
-Oh smart bastard! He gave her the phone to enter the passcode, right. SHE'S STANDING WITH HER BACK TO THE MIRROR. (Mirrors! Again!) There's a very good chance he'll catch a glimpse in the mirror. Hard to say with the way she's standing. He may be able to read it from her thumb movements if the mirror ploy doesn't work.
-Or it could be a duplicate phone. For those among the group who can afford random duplicate phones. I still say the mirror ploy would have been awesome. And meta-able!
-HA HA. XD
-"Hamish. John Hamish Watson. If you're looking for baby names." Pfffft. Maybe just a little presumptive? And/or jealous?
-Hello random James Bond reference! The code isn't hexadecimal, and that's about all I know without launching into extensive and pointless twiddling with alphanumerics.
-Sherlock: *Decodes all the things* "Give me a moment I've only been on the case for eight seconds." WIN. \o/
-And this is John Watson's HOLY SHIT face. Also his boggle-check-fail face, but the two do seem to happen in conjunction quite often, so that's understandable.
-"Please don't feel obliged to tell me that was remarkable or amazing, John's expressed that thought in every possible variant available to the English language." HAHAHAHAHAHAH and John's little look up of 'yup' and then look back down to his laptop. Heee!
-"I would have you right here on this desk until you begged for mercy twice." Well, I don't think John will have said that in the Series, but I can guarantee there have been several similar variations in the fanfic. XD
-"I've never begged for mercy in my life."/"Twice." Heheheeheheheee! *randomly gestures and laughs* I don't even know who's barking up which wrong tree anymore here. XD
-"Double oh seven, what?" So, did John not actually get around to subjecting Sherlock to Bond night, or has he deleted it? And since it's a plane, is this all relating to the guy found in the car boot earlier in the episode that was unsolved and may or may not have the numbers 007 associated with the flight he wasn't on when it crashed in, where was it, Germany? Hmmm!
-HI JIM! HIIIIII! I was wondering if you'd be back before the end of this episode, or if we'd be waiting to see you later in the series. And Irene carries through on whatever deal she made with him at that astoundingly opportune time for Sherlock and John at the start of the episode. Which does make me wonder if she was stalking him before the pool... Which came first? *ponders*
-"Bond Air is a go." Oh sure, Mycroft gets pop culture references.
-AHAHAHAHAHAHAH. Okay, that was pure crack. Does that count as subversion of a trope?
-Mycroft angst. Tasty. And he's not telling anyone, calling anything off, calling up Sherlock? Hmm...
-Mycroft has a kick-ass board room to angst in at least. Not up on my heraldry; what crest is that in the window?
-"Coventry." *gasp* *jawdrop* Oh god. Okay, if he means what I think he means, I can see why Mycroft was up all night angsting. Poor Mycroft! D-:
-"Where's John?" You know, focus like that is great, but one of these days it's going to bite you in the ass, dude.
-Yep. Coventry. Crap.
-[Ohhhh, the raspberry from Moriarty was representing the encoding, and the message is to Mycroft to show that Moriarty's bunch now knows the code has been broken and who did it, and Mycroft wasn't angsting abiout the Coventry situation, because he'd already had that dealt with, he was angsting about Sherlock having tipped their hand. Ahhh. Missed that at first. It was about 2 AM when I got to this part though, so yeah. Brain dead. :-P]
-"Have you ever had anyone?" Really, really not the time, Irene.
-Irene: *making innuendoes* Sherlock: *IS TOTALLY TAKING HER PULSE TO SEE IF SHE'S LYING OR NERVOUS OR SOMETHING* Seriously, just look! I mean, she's not stupid, she's got to know that there are more important things to be done at that moment than flirting or sex, so she's trying to distract him from something.
-Ah. The plane is full of the dead. So there's still a bomb, the plane still goes down, there's still a body count. Rough on the pilots though. Ooooor this is a trap, and Sherlock is screwed, right? Or something?
-Mycroft's solution. Ah. Not bad, but surely if anyone is observing the flight they're going to be tipped off when no passengers get on, won't they? Or is boarding something that isn't seen anymore?
-HAHAHAH, the kids were part of the plot, because their dead grandad is on the freaking plane! \o/ Okay, that's awesome.
-"But that's the deceased for you. Late. In every sense of the word." Aaaaarg. *headdesk*
-Moriarty's running terrorist cells. That's scary. Wonder what's in it for him?
-"One fragment of one email, and months and years of planning, finished." And now Sherlock's got to finish putting it together. Because only he, John and Irene heard the broken code. If he hasn't done already.
-"I'm not talking about the MoD man, Sherlock, I'm talking about you." *umbrellastomp* Oh dear, Mycroft is disappointed. And pissed off. With good reason. Still not letting him off on the assassin thing, considering it seems they're working for him. Or something. Needs more brain.
-"I think it was less than five seconds." Wait what? O.o
-"I drove you into her path." Holy- What the- Oh my god. What?
-I think I'm going to need some sleep and some coffee before I can try and untangle that plot-knot. So, she's now blackmailing Mycroft with everything, and Sherlock being the leak is her chip. But to get there Mycroft sent Sherlock... gah. NEED MORE BRAIN. That said, if this is the kind of case Mycroft sends Sherlock on, I can see why Sherlock habitually tells him to piss off. O.o
-[Especially considering how much Mycroft withheld from Sherlock that he needed to know. Assassins, they're after the phone for more than just compromising photos, etc. Mystery at both ends, right down to the red-herring Illustrious Client, because the real client isn't the Royal family, it's the Government in the form of Mycroft trying to plug an intel leak. Mycroft, silly, all this could have been avoided if you had properly briefed your brother, and I don't mean by making him put on his pants.]
-Phone has self destruct, they can't torture the code out of her because she might give the burn code... but... don't they want the info deleted anyway? Let it burn. Punch in one more set of random numbers and off it goes problem solved, right?
-But maybe people's lives depend on the intel. "Telling you would be playing fair." Yeah, okay fine. You know, if Irene's looking for something to do after this, she'd make a hell of a Number Two in the Village from The Prisoner.
-"Jim Moriarty sends his love." Oh sure, stomp on Sherlock some more, why not. XD
-"Gave me a lot of advice about how to play the Holmes boys." Oh really? Did he now? That's intriguing. *ponders* Still, there's a vast difference between getting advice on how to play them and actually having the skills and chutzpah to pull it off successfully. A person can be told all day long how to sneak through a pack of hungry wolves without detection and still fail at it without using intelligence and skill.
-"D'you know what he calls you? The Iceman, and the Virgin." Pffft.
-"Didn't even ask for anything, just likes to cause trouble, now that's my kind of man." And she keeps kicking and kicking and kicking... I still like her, as an adversary. She's never been anything but true to herself, and kept the masquerade going until she had what she wanted and then dropped it or switched masks. And yeah. Getting thoroughly played hurts.
-"Very very close, but no." Really? There are a few loose threads, lets see where pulling them goes.
-"Sentiment is a chemical defect found in the losing side." Oh dear. You are one broken little puppy, aren't you, Sherlock?
-"Because you're the great Sherlock Holmes, the clever detective in the funny hat?"/"No." Yep. Pulse rate. Not quite why I'd thought maybe, but pulse rate.
-*nods along with the rundown* Yep.
-OH HE'S GOT THE CODE! \o/
-I'm just gonna sit back and cap for a while here.
-"I've always assumed love is a dangerous disadvantage. Thank you for the final proof." Oh ow. Oh Sherlock. *pats*
-"Everything I said, it's not real, I was just playing the game."/"I know. And this is just losing." *final keypunch* Victory arms? She beat him, but he's getting one on her, so it's almost kind of even-ish? Not really, considering he was tricked into fucking up a massive international anti-terrorist scheme but yeah. Pyrrhic victory arms. \o/
-AHHHHHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh god! XD That's so iconnable, but it's a total spoiler for half the world for another several months. That's, that's just, HEEE!
-Does Irene love love him? Doubt it. I think she's obsessed with Sherlock, definitely, but not necessarily in a romantic way, not that that makes it any less of a weakness. Pulse speeds up and pupils dilate for a lot of reasons that were applicable in that situation, not just attraction. Excitement, fascination. Or, yes, attraction. But Sherlock's a challenge, probably more than she's had in a long while, and he's fun, unlike his brother who's too constrained by rules to really cut loose and play with her. She's a variant along the genius spectrum in the show; less murderous than Moriarty (except for her double, maybe...), more self-concerned than Sherlock, and far less civic-minded than Mycroft. She is a genius, of a sort, but her genius lies in manipulation and social matters. Moriarty may have provided her with intel on the Holmes brothers, but she was the one with the social manipulation skills to fool them both. They're all playing the game in their own ways. It goes well with the mirrors and mirror imagery scattered around, particularly between Sherlock and Irene. I hope someone with more brain than me metas about that.
-"Are you expecting me to beg?"/"Yes." TWICE. Mwahahahah. Sorry. Mild moment of vindictiveness there. Won't happen again. Oh who am I kidding, it totally will. XD
-But now was that the truth or another layer of armor? I don't know if we've ever seen anything from Irene that wasn't a mask of some sort. Mirrors. Hm. She's certainly an interesting character to consider.
-"I also don't frequent cafes." UMBRELLA BEING USED AS UMBRELLA! Minor geekout, sorry. Also, John Watson stands like a penguin when it's raining, and tucks his hands up into his coat sleeves like he's five. Heeeee! The adorable, it burns!
-Holy crap is that the actual interior of actual Speedy's? COOL! It's so tiny!
-Irene's gone into witness protection in the US? DUCK AND COVER, AMERICA!
-"Won't even mention her by name, just 'The Woman'" *waves hi to ACD Canon again some more*
-Oh. Interesting mirror placement. That's, arg. I know the name for that. The reflections reflect the reflections back and forth and make a mirror tunnel; it's used in film to represent many things, duplicity, alternate decisions made or to be made, very cool! A very subtle one too, which is nice. (More mirrors. Hmmm.)
-"My brother has the brain of a scientist or a philosopher, yet he elects to be a detective. What might we deduce about his heart?" And the immediate cut to John. You know. Just sayin'.
-"But initially he wanted to be a Pirate." HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE OMG WEE!HOLMES FIC PROMPT! XD
-Awww. And then Mycroft's goofy grin slowly fades, and his eyes drop, and it's like he's missing the kid that Sherlock used to be and OMG, I don't care who the assassins were working for anymore. MYCROFT, YOU BIG BROTHERY WOOBIE! \o/
-Oh, and just kidding about the not caring about the assassins part. I'm watching you, Mycroft. *eyes with suspicion*
-"She's dead." Well, shit. Let me guess, those assassins of dubious origin were the ones that were supposed to deliver her to witness protection, and she kind of fell out of the plane on the way there, but only once. No, wait. Moriarty. Yeah. She's toast.
-Beheaded in Karachi. Yikes. O.o
-"It would take Sherlock Holmes to fool me, and I don't think he was on hand, do you?" Probably not. But there's another fic prompt. [Or not! XD]
-Mycroft is cute. Who knew? Oh wait, everybody knew. XD
-"What should we tell Sherlock?" Ah hah hah. Right. So. Mycroft's told John the two stories and said which one is real. John will now go tell Sherlock the 'happy ending' story, but will be displaying tells of a 'sad ending' being hidden. Mycroft knows Sherlock will believe Irene's dead based on this but pretend he believes the happy ending, because he knows John is lying to protect him, and would rather avoid more discussions about his feelings. When in actuality, the truth is something entirely different. Like, really, if Mycroft didn't try to recruit Irene for some branch of someone's secret service, he'd be severely remiss, because she was really good. Just in need of a major shift in priorities. Of course I'm going to be completely wrong, but hey, what the hell, if it's not true now, it might happen in someone else's fanfic.
-"She's uh... She's in America." John. Dude. You are blatantly exuding bullshit vibes that can be seen from space. You suck at lying.
-*awkward pause* "Listen, actually-"/*Sherlock interrupts* "But I will have the camera phone." Ha ha ha. And that would be Sherlock blocking John from having to tell the 'truth' which is a good thing, because seriously, beheaded in Karachi sounds a little far-fetched.
-"I know but I- I'll still have it." Aw. Don't worry Sherlock, she's getting training to do nasty things for some government or other, don't fret.
-Aw.
-Ooooooor maybe that spy training didn't work out so well after all. Fair enough. To be honest, given who Irene's crossed, I'm surprised she wasn't shot within the first week out of protection, probably by the same sniper that took out General Shan in Blind Banker. She's been good to get as far as she has.
-RINGTONE! AHHHH!!! HE WAS THERE! AND HE FORGOT TO TURN HIS BLOODY RINGER OFF DURING A COVERT OP AGAIN! That could get you killed one of these days, Sherlock. Anyway, cool. That works too. Which means she'll be around to cause trouble or provide a random assist, or infiltrate Moriarty's group again and report back, or whatever.
-"When I say run, run!" Hey, if it works for the Doctor, it can work for Sherlock Holmes!
-Cool. There are few enough people in the world who can put one over on the Holmes brothers without chopping someone's head off in Karachi. And by rescuing her, Sherlock evens the score on the who beat whom how badly scale. [Except she's also kind of winning because Sherlock's showed up when she needs an assist, which could be seen as a result of her machinations, so... *handwaves* It's a draw, score even all, and right after this, Sherlock totally got to the truth of who killed Irene's body double and alerted appropriate authorities, or whatever. Because.] Also, if Sherlock didn't help her out, it'd be him, Mycroft and Moriarty playing on that level. Good to have a bit of extra, entirely self-interested adversarial potential-friend-maybe-maybe-not-possibly-murderer for variety. Fill out the spectrum a little more. And possibly provide future plot-muffins! \o/
Right, that's it! Thanks for sticking through my insanity, and play nice in the comments please!
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