Picspam Reaction/Recap: Sherlock Series 3 Episode 1 (Part 1 of 4)
[(Why this is late and stuff about why and how I do these.)](I intended to have this up before episode 2 aired, but given the rate I watch shows I do reaction posts for (and this show, I can't not do a reaction post for new episodes) and my work schedule, I've been managing to watch less than 20 minutes of show time per workday, (which kind of turned it into a serial, which was kind of cool). And then after that, figuring out where I'd meant to cap and hadn't, proofing, coding etc.... And so therefore, late. Not that it matters as I don't know if anyone in the fandom is going to read these, but I'm doing them anyway because that's how I roll it seems. *shrug*)
WARNING: CONTAINS IMAGES AND DETAILS OF THE SHERLOCK SERIES 3 PREQUEL AND FIRST EPISODE. If you are not watching Sherlock Series 3 at UK pace, this post is CHOCK FULL OF SPOILERS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
CONTAINS: random live-blog-style babble, episode details and spoilers, pointless comments, meta, speculation, capslock, ACD references of dubious validity, burbling about the nature of Watsons, brief references to other fandoms, and squee. Also profanity. Ohhh yes. Also between the two four?? O.o sections there are 700 not terribly great screencaps which might massacre your bandwidth all to smash.
Spoilers I knew for this episode before watching and theories I had, posted mainly for the purposes of seeing how wrong I was.
I know:
-Mary Morstan is in Series 3 and is being played by Martin Freeman's partner, Amanda Abbington. From what little I've seen of her work, she has a fantastic way of playing strong, witty and genuine female characters, and BBC Sherlock's Mary is going to be a very interesting person who needs a deft touch, so Amanda being cast is very cool.
-John has grown a mustache, which has unleashed a howling audible round the fandom. Also, mustache or no, based on one of the promo shots I didn't manage to block in time, John's face is going to kill me stone dead.
-Molly's gotten engaged to someone who is awfully prominent in some promo photos apparently, so I'm hoping it doesn't turn out to be Sebastian Moran, because seriously, Molly has the worst luck with men.
-Anderson has become a retroactive fanboy of Sherlock Holmes. That is... believable. I can see that, with the setup at the end of series 2. Some review of what Sherlock did and whether it was fake or not, plus a bit of ego in having to believe Sherlock wasn't a fake so his constant upstaging of Anderson was due to him being better at some things, not by Anderson being generally incompetent, which he isn't. Also guilt. Masses of guilt.
-The two main actors are really excited about it. I mean, really excited. There's 'being excited because you're promoting a project you're in' and then there's flat-out genuine actor squee. Benedict and Martin have been exhibiting, in the limited amount of articles I've seen in the months before the series premiere, some serious actor squee about character development and dynamics, and that's such a major yay as far as I'm concerned. Even though I don't doubt it will hurt like hell to watch. YAY. \o/
-I also have heard in passing that the "How" may not be precisely spelled out in episode 1. And maybe that John may have been hallucinating Sherlock while he was gone, though that's a big maybe. And that Sherlock is going to show up somewhere that John and Mary are out to dinner and John is going to head-butt him. Or something similar.
-Also there's going to be a terrorist attack on London, which really is pretty much what Moriarty was doing without the political goals when he stopped being subtle, so it's likely connected to Moriarty's network.
Now. Theories about the "How". [Spoiler cut for the disinterested]
Expanding from this post in a bit of a last minute scramble, I kind of like to think that the Hound gas might be involved, and if it's not in the falling snow/rain that John got knocked down to where it was more concentrated/melting (the ground), then perhaps he had it sprayed in his face at some point while distracted. (And if he's kept having hallucinations, maybe that's a side effect...) Crowd is Homeless Network and Mycroft's most trusted 'make an intelligence asset disappear' team, so given Mycroft's name is on file as having investigated Baskerville, he would be more likely than anyone else to be able to get hold of some Hound gas. But... maybe.
The body that hit the ground wasn't Sherlock. Sherlock landed in the laundry truck which drove away. The ball Sherlock was playing with is a bit obvious for stopping his pulse, so given Moffat and Gatiss are epic trolls it will probably turn out to have been a red herring or perhaps used by whoever was on the ground (I had a short fic that I didn't get finished in time where it was Mycroft, and I may yet finish it later because there were a few cute bits, but it's doubtful now) to stop the pulse in the hand John checked, because the skin would have to still be warm enough to have been alive seconds before, so it can't have been a corpse from the morgue unless they, um, reheated him somehow. Bleagh. :-P
So. Summary: Random corpse hitting the pavement. Sherlock in the laundry truck. John with the Hound gas (MAYBE) and some random alive guy with stopped pulse on the ground, or maybe Mycroft, which would mean Sherlock can never ever make fun of his weight again.
However... I'm probably over-thinking it all. Two years to go nuts with theories will do that. It'll probably end up being something far closer to what I initially thought right after the episode. Simplest is best. *nods*
What else. I had other thoughts. I'm out of time.
Mini-live-blog-Picspam: Sherlock Series 3 Prequel - "Many Happy Returns"
-PREQUELS! Amazing things. As a spoilerphobe, I'm never certain what to do with a prequel. I saved this one to watch just before the actual episode, sort of like a prologue.
-Oh hell no, he did not go to Nepal. Did he? I know it's said in the books, but... Really? Previous Watsons may have been enthralled and forgiving, but I think this John will kill him if he didn't have a damn good reason for faffing around in Tibet while John grieved and the world thought Sherlock was a fake.
-And I don't know what to think when I instantly recognize a character by the way he shuffles around pretending to be someone else entirely.
-Okay, so finding a (possible?) member of Moriarty's organization hiding there is a fair enough reason. Still think John will kill him though. I've been pretty certain John's going to kill him since January 2012 though, so no surprises there.
-*WAVES HI TO LESTRADE* "A breakaway sect of Buddhist warrior monks infiltrated by a blonde drug-smuggler?" Well when you say it like that... XD
-HI! HI ANDERSON! HI ANDERSON'S PILOT BEARD!!! HI! OMG!
-And hello mirrors. My what an interesting shot this is. I am certain there is meta in it (maybe the role reversal of Anderson defending Sherlock and Greg doubting him? Although really Greg is technically defending Sherlock's "I am dead, woe" story, and Anderson is technically doubting Sherlock by poking holes in his bullshit tale of being dead, so really it's the same as ever isn't it?), but I'm low on time to brain right now.
-"Incident at New Delhi"/"You haven't been titling these?" Heee! He does have the jumper for it!
-"By working out the depth to which the chocolate flake had sunk into the victim's ice cream cone." PFFFFT! HAHAHAHAAH. Sure, buddy.
-*glee*
-"What police Inspector could have made that deduction?"/"Well, thank you." Lestrade's wounded pride face is rather adorable. Not sure what happened to his hair, but whatever.
-Fanboy!Anderson is also kind of adorable.
-"'The Mysterious Juror'"/Lestrade: *headtable* HEEEEEEE! Need icon.
ETA: Made icon. Might make more after the end of series 3, but no guarantees.
-They are being really cute about showing unmistakeable bits of him aren't they.
-Aw, Anderson lost his job, because he wants Sherlock to still be alive so much he's obsessing about it and has serious guilt about what happened in 2.03. Oh, Anderson. (Who until they give a first name for, I'm going to assume is something horrendous like Hortensque or Wunderbarrykins and he just goes by Anderson. I mean what the hell, it worked for MacGyver for seven seasons.)
-"Just look at the map though. He's getting closer. It's like he's coming back." Eeeeeeeee! Okay. I kind of really like Anderson right now. :-D
-HI JOHN! HI JOHN'S NEW FLAT which has the same curse of intense wallpaper as 221B it seems. And he still has his RAMC mug, Sherlock didn't destroy it in an experiment. YAY MUG CONTINUITY! \o/
-"Much better." Meaning he had a time where he was much worse, and Lestrade was around him to see it. Owwww and *flail*
-Box contents: Nicotine patches, the pink phone, a mask, a hand-written note, a disc, and a model train that must be a reference of some kind but I'm missing it.
-"Remember the video message he made for your birthday? I had to practically threaten him." THERE'S A PROMPT IN THAT. *flaaaaaaaaail* "This is the uncut version. It's quite funny." Oh god. Not sure exactly how long this is since Sherlock's 'death' but for someone still grieving, something like that could be devastating, even if it's the person who is gone just being an utter ass. Or it could be really good too, depends if the grieving person is ready for that. Definitely something to be cherished and preserved, but... just ow.
-Oh John.
-Sorry, but the moment of dueling wallpapers is making me giggle inappropriately.
-"Of course I'm going to miss dinner, there'll be people." Awwww. Yep. I understand this logic well.
-"All his friends hate him." O.o "I wrote an essay on suppressed hatred in close proximity based entirely on his friends." And John still smiles and chuckles.
-"In reflection it probably wasn't a very good choice of gift." O.O *SNEEEEEERK*
-"Only lies have detail." Heh heh heh. He had a lot of detail up on the roof, didn't he. Is John going to catch that? I think so, but in a more painful way.
-"I can tell you what you can do, you can stop being dead." Owwwwwwww. *sad flailing*
-"Okay." Ahahahahaha. Oh poor John, obviously, but still. XD
-"I'm going to be with you again very soon." Oh god. It's got to be devastating for John, but I can't stop laughing. XD
-Anderson, chuckling and talking to himself in a pub about Sherlock returning is kind of sweet. *pats Anderson*
-Hellooo, Lestrade in a long coat.
-Right. The whole world is trolling them all now.
Okay! It's time! Still not prepared. Need more tea.
Picspam Reaction/Recap for Sherlock Series 3 Episode 1
PART ONE - "The Empty Hearse" (Hahahahha, very cute)
HERE WE GO.
-*tries very hard to get all the preemptive flailing done as quickly as possible, which entails running around my apartment flapping my hands and randomly blurting things like "JOHN'S SO TOTALLY GOING TO KILL HIM WHEN HE TURNS UP NOT DEAD!"*
-"SHERLOCK!" And the recap from the end of the last episode, and nope, not done with the preemptive flailing yet. *FLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIL*
-OH HI NEW MATERIAL IN THE RECAP. I guess this is confirmation that Moriarty didn't fake his death too? Oh, hey, if John's under the influence of Hound gas, Moriarty's corpse would totally work as the one John examined because it'd still be recently-alive-warm without needing re-heating and not have a pulse without needing to use a ball. Or it could be his own men dragging him off, but.... doubtful. So, two goons of some allegiance in op gear, dragging the corpse somewhere while Sherlock is talking to John. (And rain/snow/slush falling when it was bright and sunny before. Just saying.)
-Dragging Moriarty's corpse into a... truck? Of some kind? Hm.
-OR THERE COULD TOTALLY BE A LATEX LIFE MASK OF SHERLOCK THEY CAN PUT ON MORIARTY AND COVER WITH BLOOD AND KEEP JOHN FAR ENOUGH AWAY TO KEEP HIM FROM SEEING IT. AND COLOURED CONTACTS. Not as much need for Hound gas now, though Moriarty is a totally different build than Sherlock so it'd help. And his head is smaller and the mask would be weird and squashed looking but that fits with a fall off a building I guess. Still, ARG. *MASSIVE FACEPALM*
-Oooo ow ow ow unexpected scalpel in the eye region is ow. *winces*
-ROPE! OR BUNGEE! AHAHAHA, and the best part of that is all the series has to do to show that is show the unedited footage shot for the jump scene with the safety rope left in. AHAHAHAH, love it.
-They have John's being knocked down out of sequence though. Which I guess could be partly explained by 'unreliable narrator' and the effect of trauma, both physical and emotional, on memory. What we saw at the end of TRF was John's point-of-view, solidified at the point where he's talking to Ella. Maybe to him he saw Sherlock fall and heard the landing, then ran over and was knocked down on the way, and what we're getting here is Sherlock and the Fall crew's view. John started running before the landing and was knocked down. Memories edit themselves, and like Sherlock says in Blind Banker, visual memory is only 62% accurate. The rope was close in colour to the building wall, and if he mentioned thinking he'd seen a rope to Ella in therapy, of course she would dissuade him from believing that even without being in on any conspiracy. And so the order John was knocked down is before Sherlock landed, but the trauma's effect on John's memory put it after....I guess? *handwave?*
-OH GOD MOLLY.
-BUNGEEEEEEE!!! Ahahahah! XD
-That's a heck of a targeting job on getting through that window. I can't imagine they got much of a test run for that.
-*needle-scratch* Oh wait, wait. We're getting Molly's unreliable narrator version now aren't we? *facepalm* Or maybe he just kissed her... *shrug* Stranger things have happened, and I should think anyone who'd just survived jumping off a building would feel like kissing someone who'd helped them do it. *handwave*
-Ah, not a truck, an alcove of some kind?
-Ah ha ha ha. Okay.... hm. If this is meant to be Sherlock in a change of clothes and an anorak, as I think it might be judging by the hands even though that was a hell of a quick change if so, there is a subtle canon reference. When Sherlock came back in disguise in the original Empty House, part of the disguise was a false nose and wads of cotton tucked inside his cheeks, which would look something like he does here. And I can believe that intense ACD fanboys like Gatiss and Moffat would find a way to work that in somehow. :-)
-BAG OF BLOOD! \o/ That's probably the most inappropriate thing I have squeed over, at least in this fandom, but really, I think it's warranted.
-*squints* ...maybe it's not him? But. Hm. Bald-wig, nose with extension to upper lip, jowly with cotton, contacts... Or maybe it's someone recognizable to people in the UK, some large-scale illusionist like Derren Brown since I've seen that name getting tossed around in combination with Moffat's other projects, but he's not looking much like his picture on Wikipedia if so. In which case, no jowly cotton, darn, but oh well. Can't have all the things.
-Hunh. The timing here is all really whacky... I'll have to take another run at watching this and figure out how long each bit does take, but Moriarty may have been on the ground before Sherlock jumped in order to make everything fit. John might have been knocked down for longer than he remembered too. And they would have had to have an exact copy of what Sherlock was wearing in Moriarty's size, but that could have been arranged after Moriarty killed himself by Sherlock calling Mycroft from the roof (because Mycroft is so very involved with all of this of course he is.) and not by them having a complete set of Sherlock's clothes including coat in Moriarty's size on hand before Sherlock went up on the roof, which would have indicated that Moriarty wasn't leaving that rooftop alive regardless of who killed him. They could have had the latex life mask and contact lenses done and ready to put on anyone or any corpse. Or the clothes too, since the way the body was laying it would be hard to tell if the clothes fit correctly or not. Hm. So. Regardless, whatever Mycroft's role in the government is, you can bet that sourcing a complete wardrobe in under an hour is a cakewalk, and sourcing the rest of this after Sherlock called him regarding Moriarty's endgame and his own plans to take down the organization etc would be even easier. He probably had that life mask of Sherlock done ages ago. And, given Mycroft's involvement, this all could be a fairly standard recipe MI6 asset extraction procedure, with a few variations, and the team involved would have had lots of practice getting the timings down. Anyway, TLDR, I think it sort of works? Somehow?
-And guy with stethoscope and medical people running in to cover. Oh hey! In the back of the pack, that looks a bit like Craig, the Eleventh Doctor's flatmate. Maybe. Hehe. I'm looking at these caps too closely. I'm only at 2:15. XD
-HAHAHA what. Okay. Well, who needs Hound gas when you've got hypnosis? That's like an instant handwave for all the John's POV quibbles, and his not seeing the difference in the size of the corpse or any other weirdness if he's operating under a post-hypnotic suggestion to see the body as Sherlock (would that work with hypnosis?). Tricky to do with a sniper watching John, but so is the rest of it. So given they know what Moriarty knows about Sherlock because Mycroft gave it to him deliberately (because Mycroft doesn't do anything without it being deliberate), and know who has snipers on them, perhaps they've got watchers on the snipers in preparation to follow them all back to their individual cells of the organization and carry on from there, and therefore know that there's a blind spot on John where his sniper is set up. Given the angle seen in TRF, and his sniper maybe still griping his way up the stairs after following John back to 221B and back, and the sniper and the rest of Moriarty's crew totally missing Sherlock bouncing back on the bungee (...maybe it was a low window, so it wouldn't be seen over that blocking building? *tentative handwave*) I'd say that could be possible.
-And timing quibbles from John's perspective solved, I guess, and what we're being shown now is out of order a bit. Thought he'd got up awfully slow from being run down by a bike. And god only knows what happened to sniper guy to have missed his target disappearing for five minutes, but he could have got caught in traffic. Missed the bus et cetera. Or something. *handwave*
-And John will kill him even harder when he realizes that was Moriarty's body.
-"Bollocks!" BWAHAHAHAHAAHAH! Or it could all be Anderson's theory, which explains the kiss and all the other bits that don't quite fit. And the James Bondness. Oh dear. It's the Rashomon effect gone mad. Could be close in bits though? Very small bits? No sign of the ball though, but that wouldn't have been generally known. Well, I'm not going to cut any of the insane handwaving I was doing above during the first bit because it does go to show that when presented with material that's masquerading as a somewhat hard to swallow "way things actually happened" by a show with show-runners/episode-writers I trust, I will handwave the hell out of all of it until it works. Somehow. Sort of. Other shows with runners and writers I either don't trust or have lost trust in, I would've been "Oh hell no," from when John getting knocked down happened out of sequence. So, what all this does prove is that I trust Moffat and Gatiss, even if it looks like they may have lost their minds. *nods* It is interesting though to look at what Anderson's theories are and see what they include as knowns (Moriarty is dead, John was knocked down, the details of the phone call, etc.) and don't include or account for as unknowns (the ball, the laundry truck (or did it?), the sniper) to see the shape of what the available knowledge base is for the public or former members of the police service. Hm.
-Also, gotta say, Anderson's Theory music was catchy. What? It was. *shrug*
-"Derren Brown?" Guess that was actually who that was then. Huh. I'd guess that would have been when anyone who recognized him easily had their suspension of disbelief finally and irrevocably go *TWAANNNNNNNGGGG!* if it hadn't already. Though I can believe Mycroft could pull off getting a well-known illusionist/hypnotist involved in this particular circus. It being for Sherlock's safety, he'd have sufficient motivation to make extraordinary effort.
-"Two years and the theories keep getting more stupid." Oh hell, Lestrade, that's nothing. He hasn't even mentioned Hound gas, Portal guns, giant bees, feather fall spells or Tardises yet. XD
-"You pushed us all into thinking Sherlock was a fraud, you and Donovan. You did this and it killed him, and he's staying dead." Ow. Charitably, they were doing their job based on the evidence they were fooled by, but that's a hard thing to see when it seems like a friend is dead because of it. Yet Lestrade is still willing to meet Anderson and listen to his crazy theories, even feeling that way at the root. A surprising and sudden amount of ow in this scene.
-"I believe in Sherlock Holmes." Says Anderson. I may have just flailed very hard indeed.
-"Sherlock Holmes was vindicated and cleared of all suspicions." And the truth is coming out, two years later. Shorter than canon, but nicely in line with the gap between series'.
-"Absent friends." Oh and the toasting with Anderson. ANDERSON. Like they've had this little support group of two after Sherlock's death full of regret and guilt and crazy theories and bitter bitter pain at the heart of it all because you know when Lestrade is talking about Anderson's guilt he's talking about his own too, and and oh god Lestrade's faaaaaaaaaaaaaace. I can't flail hard enough. *flaaaaaaaail*
-Heh. Drinking buddies. I get the feeling between the prequel and this that maybe both their wives left them permanently around the same time (considering the various infidelities going on before the stressor of Sherlock's apparent demise) and they just sort of started hanging out in pubs as fellow-wounded and became actual friends of a prickly sort, circling around mutual loss, grief, guilt and hope. Just a headcanon though.
-Also since I'm firing up the headcanons, until shown otherwise, my current headcanon for Donovan is that she's a DI in another division, and even before the vindication came down realized she was likely wrong about Sherlock, but has no apologies for following the evidence as it appeared at the time, and that if Sherlock encounters her in future, he won't be put out by that at all. Likelihood on all that might be minimal, but that's what headcanons are for.
-Oh John. Hi John. Hi John's wonderfully expressive nose. Aw.
-GAH!!! Right. I'd heard about the mustache, but being confronted with it directly is rather disconcerting. And, it's a Watson thing. Watson having a mustache has been canon for as long as there's been canon, and now this Watson has his mustache, to connect him to the long line of mustached Watsons before and after him in his time of Watson-specific grief. Or something. Sure. (Is that Sherlock's scarf? No... I don't think so, but it's similar enough to me to make me take a second look, once I stopped being distracted by the mustache.) Sad John. Saaaaaad Jooooohn. *wraps him up in blankets and feeds him soup and tea*
-HI BACK OF MARY! HI! I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOUR FRONT! ...That sounded weird. O.o
-In other parts of the world, Sherlock needs a haircut. And some night vision goggles. And an extraction team, like, yesterday.
-Oh dear. If you die before you get back to London, Sherlock, you know John will kill you even harder.
-Rather permissive military or paramilitary group to let their guards listen to loud music to block out the noises of an interrogation beat-down. Likely a sign of over-confidence. They'll regret that.
-One thing that this screencap tells me is that I think I know too much about the Geneva convention and interrogation and torture techniques. It also tells me that Sherlock's going to come out with some smart-ass reply about sleep in a second here.
-Or he's going to provoke his captors by deducing them, as one does. Ahhahahahahah! I just laughed so hard my spine cracked. XD
-And the interrogator takes off, which is why you don't let the low IQ, easily-manipulated thugs do the interrogating, as they can be convinced into leaving in the middle by their interrogation subject telling them things that confirm their suspicions about their home life, whether they're true or not. Which now leaves Sherlock with one guard who's listening to an iPod, and one guard/watcher with his feet up who has been staying muchly out of the interrogation in a rather suspicious manner, and who isn't stopping his compatriot from leaving in the middle of a job, and therefore is probably one of the extraction team. Or Mycroft, though he doesn't seem like the in-person sort but it sounded slightly like his voice, hard to say in Russian or whatever Slavic language they're speaking, so... maybe. We'll see. One way or another I'd say that's a major success on beating an interrogation on Sherlock's part.
-"Sorry, but the holiday is over, brother dear." HI MYCROFT! Aw. He went into the field himself to get to his brother. AWWWWWWW! And I'd bet we now know who let the guard have an iPod while on duty.
-"Sherlock Holmes." Probably the first time he's been called by his own name in two years. And the grin. Hee!
-THEME MUSIC! \o/ Not too much distinctive in terms of hints of things to come in the title sequence, except that hospital bag of fluid, (Sodium somethingide, making it probably saline solution) which could be [guesses based on ACD canon.] Mary getting sick and dying which would be awfully fast, or an update of Dying Detective which if Sherlock pulls that this series so close after Reichenbaching John, John will really, really kill him. Or could be just someone getting whumped enough to end up in hospital. WOOHOO! Er... I meant "eek" there, obviously. >.>
-I suppose they had to do it, horrible pun that it is. I did hear about the promo for the air-date of this episode being announced. The BBC drove a hearse through London to St. Bartholomew's Hospital with the show's air-date spelled out in flowers in the back windows. Fans all over the world were watching the CCTV live online traffic cameras of London apparently, waiting for a glimpse. Which is, in a way, kind of amazingly awesome.
-GAH! Sorry, mustache. It's startling. I'll get used to it, though I suspect I won't need to. That's definitely not Sherlock's scarf, though... John wasn't much of a habitual scarf-wearer before, was he? I don't think so. Aw.
-Mycroft's office got a bit swankier, looks like. Love the antique desk fan.
-Seems like a lot of members of the Diogenes Club ride bicycles. Sensible of them. *nods*
OH! *flaps hand* And I found out a little while ago that the fellow in Reichenbach Fall in the Diogenes Club, the one who used his cane to push the 'someone is annoying me, come take them away' button (wouldn't we all love to have one of those?), was played by a fellow who had previously played Sherlock Holmes in the 1964-65 TV series, played a "Professor Van Dusen" who was another fictional detective of a similar mien in A TV Series "The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes", and played Sherlock Holmes again in the comedy, "The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother". So that's kind of awesome too.
-Oh. John has a scarf and a longer, swishier coat. Oh Joooohn. *smishes him*
-"Penny for the Guy." Making this late October/Early November if Guy Fawkes day is coming up. Good to know. Also, I'm not precisely sure of what all is involved in a Guy Fawkes Day tradition aside from burning someone in effigy, but if it involves a lot of fireworks and firecrackers being set off all over at random, that's going to make a hell of a cover for some loud, organized criminal or terrorist activity. Hm. I also know that John Watson's Blog has been updated on the run up to the episode and probably even has a matching date now, but I've been avoiding that, kind of because of spoilers, but kind of also I was trying to get that stupid post-Reichenbach fic I was writing finished before looking at any new material. I'm probably missing bits that tie in to the blog, but I'll do the reading later, because obviously now it'll have a post up about this episode and the next since it's taken me so long to watch this one, so actual spoilers. Not going near the Science of Deduction page or Molly's page either yet. Later. Anyway, Guy Fawkes day is coming. *nods*
-Waitaminute, that's the door to 221B! Does John still live there and just had it massively renovated!? I don't think so. But he's still got a key. OMG. You guys. He's still got a keeeey! *flail* Maybe he visits Mrs. Hudson and checks on the place and things when she's out of town and and omg *flail* I can't even explain.
-*FLAIL* OR HE COMES AND STARES INTENTLY AND SILENTLY AT THE DOORS AND HEARS GODDAMNED VIOLIN MUSIC AND VOICES AND MEMORIES AND TRIES TO DEAL WITH THE GRIEF AND THE AVOIDANCE ISSUES BUT CAN'T AND OH MY GOD *FLAAAIL*
-HI MRS HUDSON! HIIIIIII!!!! \o/ She looks a bit disconcerted to see him, so maybe he doesn't stop by at all and just still has a key but I don't care *flaaaaail*
-Okay, one, Mycroft's office has an intense door, one that makes me think it's on board a ship of some kind except it's in the Diogenes Club, judging by that otherwise random transition shot of the car pulling up in front paired with Mycroft in his office, so the door is just like that because sound-proofing, and two, there's a barber and a barber chair and a wet bar, and blankets and seriously, if anyone could make Anderson's 'Derren Brown/James Bond Extravaganza fall survival' theory work, it's Mycroft Holmes. He's practically a Bond villain already, without being a villain. He's got a barber in his office.
-HI SHERLOCK'S CURRENT FACE! Not looking too bent or busted from the interrogation, so some time has passed, though the thug did seem to be aiming for body blows mostly.
-Did Sherlock say 'It was awesome' there? My sound is muddy. Sounded like awesome. Don't think it was.
-"Fieldwork is not my natural milieu." Awwwww Mycroft cares about his brother so much. *glee*
-And then the bickering about whether Mycroft was protecting Sherlock's cover or enjoying watching him get beat to crap. Which really at the heart is the Sherlock variation of the same sort of thing as Supernatural's infamous "Bitch"/"Jerk" exchange. Sort of. Ah, brothers.
-ANTHEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! OH MY GOD I JUST LITERALLY SCREAMED! HI ANTHEA! HIIIIII!!! WELCOME BACK!!! \o/
-That was a rather hard clunk of the teacup... Aw. I guess Mrs Hudson's upset with John? (Is she wearing black nail polish? Different.)
-Yep, she's upset. Those are some angry biscuits, those are.
-I have to say that at this angle and expression, John looks very classically Watsony. It's cool.
-"You forget lots of little things, it seems." Oh my. She is good at the passive-aggressive. Maybe he hasn't been around in a long while?
-"Not sure about that." So say we all. Maybe. Well the few bits I've seen referencing John growing a mustache seem to be intent on removing it from him as quickly as possible.
-"Ages you."/"Just trying it out."/"Well it ages you." Oh Mrs Hudson. I don't know why you're so angry just yet but I want to sit you down with a nice warm blanket and a cup of tea. As to John's mustache, when it's not making him look like a classic Watson on the rare occasions when the facial expression and angle are right, I think it makes his eyes look enormous and is mouth look small. Kind of like a chibi. Which is adorable in its own way, but probably not the effect he's going for with it.
-"I'm not your mother, I've no right to expect it, but just one phone call, John! Just one!" Awwwwwww. And given how he walked in, how many times do you think he might have stood in that entryway, looking up those stairs, looking at her door, and not able to bring himself to face going to see her again?
-"It just got harder and harder to pick up the phone, somehow." *nods* Avoidance. I hear that. Also HOW MUCH MORE OW CAN THEY GET IN THIS SCENE, MY GOD.
-Well I had to go and ask, didn't I. *wibbles*
-HI AGAIN ANTHEA! No Blackberry. She looks bereft.
-Sherlock asking about John *flail* "Oh yes, we meet up every Friday for fish and chips." Yeah, didn't think he'd have much to say to Mycroft after what he thinks Mycroft did. Or at least not much to say that was pleasant.
-Surveillance photos should not result in such warm fuzzy feelings as I am having. Mycroft and his crew keeping an eye on John while Sherlock was out on an extended Op. Sherlock asking after John and them having a surveillance packet ready that they hand him even before the mission packet, because really, faking your own death to save your friends' lives is one thing. Being undercover taking out criminals and terrorists for two years so you can be sure your friends are safe and the people who target you won't be targeting them again before you eventually go home to them, that really shows what your priorities are. He's not asking after Lestrade or Mrs Hudson yet, but he'll get around to it. All Holmeses' and Watsons' first priority is each other, always, and everyone who knows them knows this. Any era.
-"We'll have to get rid of that." *snerk* Take Mycroft's barber with you.
-"He looks ancient. I can't be seen wandering around with an old man." Suuure Sherlock. You only don't like it because it looks like he's been through ten years of Hell in the time you've been through two years of active covert ops and you don't like the idea of the stress of your death aging him that much. But you're hardly going to be saying that to Mycroft and Anthea now are you? *pats*
-Hm. The lighting is hinting at dream sequence, but the furniture is a little bit differently arranged, so he may actually be re-entering 221B. We'll see.
-Oh, dust in the air. Ohhh. The kind of gross factoid that I'm sure John knows about dust containing a significant percentage of shed skin particles has to be going through his head. So on top of 221B being unused and dusty, that's bits of his dead best friend floating there. Macabre maybe, but ow.
-Or not a dream, as Mrs Hudson bustles around. The lamps must all be attached to the switch circuit since they're on now. *handwave* The books, the chair, the skull, the bat and insect collection, the slipper on the hearth, the cow skull with headphones in the mirror. Wow. Oh god, the old tech and the box of floppies is still there. Which, when you consider the entire set has to be re-built from the walls in for the filming of each series is fucking astounding. So thank you so much to the set crew for Sherlock for getting all those incredibly nitpicky details back in place and spreading dust on them. Because wow. O.O
-"I've got some news."/"Oh god. Is it serious?" Oh, poor Mrs Hudson, so used to woe she assumes the news is bad and she's going to lose another surrogate son. Awww. It's okay, he's probably just going to tell you about Mary. *hugs*
-"I'm moving on."/"You're emigrating." Aw. Less final loss, but something where she'd still be losing him. Awww. Seriously, Mrs Hudson, I will wrap you in blankets and feed you soup.
-Something about John's face here. Heeee.
-"What's his name?" Heeeee! She never did let go of that end of the stick, did she? XD
-"Sherlock was not my boyfriend."/"Live and let live, that's my motto." Hahaha! Well, there you are. Mrs Hudson shipped it hard and still does, even in the face of direct denial. Might be a teeeeensy bit of a tin-hat though. XD
-"I am not gay!" Poor John. *pats*
-"I think I'll surprise John. He'll be delighted." Ahahahahaahahaha. Um. No. Not really. Or at least not at first. Allow me to repeat the refrain of "John is going to kill you." John has had the worst Reichenbaching a Watson has ever had. He watched his best friend jump off the roof of a building despite his own best efforts to talk him down, and listened to him spout a bunch of rubbish about being a fake (which was full of holes, since if Sherlock had researched John, he would have known Harry was his sister, not his brother, ha ha!), and then left him alone to deal with his feelings and being told by the world that Sherlock was a fake, and I'm sure we're going to find out what all that entailed in a bit here if I ever shut up, but dude. Seriously. A shock like that could kill a person. That person could be you. Hell, Mary might even punch you when she finds out who you are and what you did to John. I would if I were her. Just saying. Yes, yes, John will eventually be relieved and delighted and all that, sure, he's a Watson, but this particular Watson is not going to respond in the traditional manner of fainting for a little while and then listening enrapturedly to your tales of adventure/hanging out with monks before carrying on as usual. You've dented your particular Watson very badly, Sherlock Holmes. You're going to have to work at undenting him before things carry on as they did before.
-"You think so?" Heh. Yes, and remember to tell your brother Mycroft where you plan to ambush John so he can have every CCTV camera available pointed at it. For posterity.
-"Jump out of a cake." Oh dear god no. Though I think I have seen that in fanart. XD
-"Baker Street? He isn't there anymore. Why would he be? It's been two years, he's got on with his life." And now Sherlock's paying attention. That's the thing with being unavoidably out of contact with places and people for so long while you are in a bad situation, and wanting nothing more than to go back home. You build an idea of them in you head, family, friends and home. A crystal-perfect image of who they are are and how they acted, what they thought of you, where they lived, and you cling to it so hard because it's the only thing that gets you through sometimes. You build that safe image of home in your head with everything where it 'ought to be'. And when (and if) you do get back there, the people have changed, the places have changed, and home doesn't match that image that kept you going in the dark times. It's a jarring feeling to realize your home has moved on without you. Home doesn't wait for you if it doesn't think you'll ever come back. Sometimes it doesn't wait for you even when it does know you're returning.
-"What life? I've been away." Oh Sherlock, you are going to have one hell of a steep social learning curve coming at you very quickly. *facepalm*
-"I think maybe I'll just drop by." Oh. Well. Of course he will. This is the dinner where John's going to ask Mary to marry him. Of course it is. Oh this will be so painful. And awkward. But mostly panful.
-"It is just possible that you won't be welcome."/"No it isn't." Yep. Because Sherlock's been clinging to 'home' as 221B just as he left it, with John safe and there, and the idea that 'home' might reject him, after two years that likely featured doing a lot of nasty things and being a lot of nasty things and a lot of nasty things being done to him all for the sake of keeping part of 'home' safe is not something he can even entertain. He has a happy reunion in his head and that's where he's going, come hell or high water.
-YAY COAT! \o/ Seriously, that thing is the Impala of this series.
-Oh, and then he has to go perching for a while because all his London area knowledge is 2 years out of date. He'll go running up the back stairs at some shop and come out into a new set of one-room flats someone had built to cash in on the tourist influx during the Olympics.
And I absolutely must say, that I LOVE what they did with the music for this part. It's the same theme, but in a slightly different key. Sad, and wistful, and perfect for seeing their home city after a long hard absence.
-Oh crap, here we go. *cleans glasses and loads up more tea*
-"Your wife just texted you. Possibly her contractions have started." Well, that's an effective new way of fast-talking the maitre'd.
-John. Conspicuously checking his pocket then taking a drink of water. Hell, even I can tell he's going to ask someone to marry him.
-Oh crap. He's not going to do the fake waiter schtick, is he?
-Yep. And stealing a bow tie from a patron. *facepalm*
-Sherlock in glasses. I know there's a small subset of fandom that is very very happy right now.
-"Madam, may I suggest you look at this menu, it's completely identical." *SNEEEEEEEERK*
-CHOKING ON TEA NOW, THANK YOU SO MUCH
-You all know the funnier the run up to this reunion is, the more it's going to hurt, right? Right. Just checking. *prepares blanket*
Continued in...
PART TWO
PART THREE
PART FOUR
(PLEASE, NO SPOILERS OR REFERENCES TO ANY INFORMATION AT ALL FOR OR ABOUT EPISODES PAST 3.01 IN COMMENTS! )
WARNING: CONTAINS IMAGES AND DETAILS OF THE SHERLOCK SERIES 3 PREQUEL AND FIRST EPISODE. If you are not watching Sherlock Series 3 at UK pace, this post is CHOCK FULL OF SPOILERS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
CONTAINS: random live-blog-style babble, episode details and spoilers, pointless comments, meta, speculation, capslock, ACD references of dubious validity, burbling about the nature of Watsons, brief references to other fandoms, and squee. Also profanity. Ohhh yes. Also between the two four?? O.o sections there are 700 not terribly great screencaps which might massacre your bandwidth all to smash.
Spoilers I knew for this episode before watching and theories I had, posted mainly for the purposes of seeing how wrong I was.
I know:
-Mary Morstan is in Series 3 and is being played by Martin Freeman's partner, Amanda Abbington. From what little I've seen of her work, she has a fantastic way of playing strong, witty and genuine female characters, and BBC Sherlock's Mary is going to be a very interesting person who needs a deft touch, so Amanda being cast is very cool.
-John has grown a mustache, which has unleashed a howling audible round the fandom. Also, mustache or no, based on one of the promo shots I didn't manage to block in time, John's face is going to kill me stone dead.
-Molly's gotten engaged to someone who is awfully prominent in some promo photos apparently, so I'm hoping it doesn't turn out to be Sebastian Moran, because seriously, Molly has the worst luck with men.
-Anderson has become a retroactive fanboy of Sherlock Holmes. That is... believable. I can see that, with the setup at the end of series 2. Some review of what Sherlock did and whether it was fake or not, plus a bit of ego in having to believe Sherlock wasn't a fake so his constant upstaging of Anderson was due to him being better at some things, not by Anderson being generally incompetent, which he isn't. Also guilt. Masses of guilt.
-The two main actors are really excited about it. I mean, really excited. There's 'being excited because you're promoting a project you're in' and then there's flat-out genuine actor squee. Benedict and Martin have been exhibiting, in the limited amount of articles I've seen in the months before the series premiere, some serious actor squee about character development and dynamics, and that's such a major yay as far as I'm concerned. Even though I don't doubt it will hurt like hell to watch. YAY. \o/
-I also have heard in passing that the "How" may not be precisely spelled out in episode 1. And maybe that John may have been hallucinating Sherlock while he was gone, though that's a big maybe. And that Sherlock is going to show up somewhere that John and Mary are out to dinner and John is going to head-butt him. Or something similar.
-Also there's going to be a terrorist attack on London, which really is pretty much what Moriarty was doing without the political goals when he stopped being subtle, so it's likely connected to Moriarty's network.
Now. Theories about the "How". [Spoiler cut for the disinterested]
Expanding from this post in a bit of a last minute scramble, I kind of like to think that the Hound gas might be involved, and if it's not in the falling snow/rain that John got knocked down to where it was more concentrated/melting (the ground), then perhaps he had it sprayed in his face at some point while distracted. (And if he's kept having hallucinations, maybe that's a side effect...) Crowd is Homeless Network and Mycroft's most trusted 'make an intelligence asset disappear' team, so given Mycroft's name is on file as having investigated Baskerville, he would be more likely than anyone else to be able to get hold of some Hound gas. But... maybe.
The body that hit the ground wasn't Sherlock. Sherlock landed in the laundry truck which drove away. The ball Sherlock was playing with is a bit obvious for stopping his pulse, so given Moffat and Gatiss are epic trolls it will probably turn out to have been a red herring or perhaps used by whoever was on the ground (I had a short fic that I didn't get finished in time where it was Mycroft, and I may yet finish it later because there were a few cute bits, but it's doubtful now) to stop the pulse in the hand John checked, because the skin would have to still be warm enough to have been alive seconds before, so it can't have been a corpse from the morgue unless they, um, reheated him somehow. Bleagh. :-P
So. Summary: Random corpse hitting the pavement. Sherlock in the laundry truck. John with the Hound gas (MAYBE) and some random alive guy with stopped pulse on the ground, or maybe Mycroft, which would mean Sherlock can never ever make fun of his weight again.
However... I'm probably over-thinking it all. Two years to go nuts with theories will do that. It'll probably end up being something far closer to what I initially thought right after the episode. Simplest is best. *nods*
What else. I had other thoughts. I'm out of time.
Mini-live-blog-Picspam: Sherlock Series 3 Prequel - "Many Happy Returns"
-PREQUELS! Amazing things. As a spoilerphobe, I'm never certain what to do with a prequel. I saved this one to watch just before the actual episode, sort of like a prologue.
-Oh hell no, he did not go to Nepal. Did he? I know it's said in the books, but... Really? Previous Watsons may have been enthralled and forgiving, but I think this John will kill him if he didn't have a damn good reason for faffing around in Tibet while John grieved and the world thought Sherlock was a fake.
-And I don't know what to think when I instantly recognize a character by the way he shuffles around pretending to be someone else entirely.
-Okay, so finding a (possible?) member of Moriarty's organization hiding there is a fair enough reason. Still think John will kill him though. I've been pretty certain John's going to kill him since January 2012 though, so no surprises there.
-*WAVES HI TO LESTRADE* "A breakaway sect of Buddhist warrior monks infiltrated by a blonde drug-smuggler?" Well when you say it like that... XD
-HI! HI ANDERSON! HI ANDERSON'S PILOT BEARD!!! HI! OMG!
-And hello mirrors. My what an interesting shot this is. I am certain there is meta in it (maybe the role reversal of Anderson defending Sherlock and Greg doubting him? Although really Greg is technically defending Sherlock's "I am dead, woe" story, and Anderson is technically doubting Sherlock by poking holes in his bullshit tale of being dead, so really it's the same as ever isn't it?), but I'm low on time to brain right now.
-"Incident at New Delhi"/"You haven't been titling these?" Heee! He does have the jumper for it!
-"By working out the depth to which the chocolate flake had sunk into the victim's ice cream cone." PFFFFT! HAHAHAHAAH. Sure, buddy.
-*glee*
-"What police Inspector could have made that deduction?"/"Well, thank you." Lestrade's wounded pride face is rather adorable. Not sure what happened to his hair, but whatever.
-Fanboy!Anderson is also kind of adorable.
-"'The Mysterious Juror'"/Lestrade: *headtable* HEEEEEEE! Need icon.
ETA: Made icon. Might make more after the end of series 3, but no guarantees.
-They are being really cute about showing unmistakeable bits of him aren't they.
-Aw, Anderson lost his job, because he wants Sherlock to still be alive so much he's obsessing about it and has serious guilt about what happened in 2.03. Oh, Anderson. (Who until they give a first name for, I'm going to assume is something horrendous like Hortensque or Wunderbarrykins and he just goes by Anderson. I mean what the hell, it worked for MacGyver for seven seasons.)
-"Just look at the map though. He's getting closer. It's like he's coming back." Eeeeeeeee! Okay. I kind of really like Anderson right now. :-D
-HI JOHN! HI JOHN'S NEW FLAT which has the same curse of intense wallpaper as 221B it seems. And he still has his RAMC mug, Sherlock didn't destroy it in an experiment. YAY MUG CONTINUITY! \o/
-"Much better." Meaning he had a time where he was much worse, and Lestrade was around him to see it. Owwww and *flail*
-Box contents: Nicotine patches, the pink phone, a mask, a hand-written note, a disc, and a model train that must be a reference of some kind but I'm missing it.
-"Remember the video message he made for your birthday? I had to practically threaten him." THERE'S A PROMPT IN THAT. *flaaaaaaaaail* "This is the uncut version. It's quite funny." Oh god. Not sure exactly how long this is since Sherlock's 'death' but for someone still grieving, something like that could be devastating, even if it's the person who is gone just being an utter ass. Or it could be really good too, depends if the grieving person is ready for that. Definitely something to be cherished and preserved, but... just ow.
-Oh John.
-Sorry, but the moment of dueling wallpapers is making me giggle inappropriately.
-"Of course I'm going to miss dinner, there'll be people." Awwww. Yep. I understand this logic well.
-"All his friends hate him." O.o "I wrote an essay on suppressed hatred in close proximity based entirely on his friends." And John still smiles and chuckles.
-"In reflection it probably wasn't a very good choice of gift." O.O *SNEEEEEERK*
-"Only lies have detail." Heh heh heh. He had a lot of detail up on the roof, didn't he. Is John going to catch that? I think so, but in a more painful way.
-"I can tell you what you can do, you can stop being dead." Owwwwwwww. *sad flailing*
-"Okay." Ahahahahaha. Oh poor John, obviously, but still. XD
-"I'm going to be with you again very soon." Oh god. It's got to be devastating for John, but I can't stop laughing. XD
-Anderson, chuckling and talking to himself in a pub about Sherlock returning is kind of sweet. *pats Anderson*
-Hellooo, Lestrade in a long coat.
-Right. The whole world is trolling them all now.
Okay! It's time! Still not prepared. Need more tea.
Picspam Reaction/Recap for Sherlock Series 3 Episode 1
PART ONE - "The Empty Hearse" (Hahahahha, very cute)
HERE WE GO.
-*tries very hard to get all the preemptive flailing done as quickly as possible, which entails running around my apartment flapping my hands and randomly blurting things like "JOHN'S SO TOTALLY GOING TO KILL HIM WHEN HE TURNS UP NOT DEAD!"*
-"SHERLOCK!" And the recap from the end of the last episode, and nope, not done with the preemptive flailing yet. *FLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIL*
-OH HI NEW MATERIAL IN THE RECAP. I guess this is confirmation that Moriarty didn't fake his death too? Oh, hey, if John's under the influence of Hound gas, Moriarty's corpse would totally work as the one John examined because it'd still be recently-alive-warm without needing re-heating and not have a pulse without needing to use a ball. Or it could be his own men dragging him off, but.... doubtful. So, two goons of some allegiance in op gear, dragging the corpse somewhere while Sherlock is talking to John. (And rain/snow/slush falling when it was bright and sunny before. Just saying.)
-Dragging Moriarty's corpse into a... truck? Of some kind? Hm.
-OR THERE COULD TOTALLY BE A LATEX LIFE MASK OF SHERLOCK THEY CAN PUT ON MORIARTY AND COVER WITH BLOOD AND KEEP JOHN FAR ENOUGH AWAY TO KEEP HIM FROM SEEING IT. AND COLOURED CONTACTS. Not as much need for Hound gas now, though Moriarty is a totally different build than Sherlock so it'd help. And his head is smaller and the mask would be weird and squashed looking but that fits with a fall off a building I guess. Still, ARG. *MASSIVE FACEPALM*
-Oooo ow ow ow unexpected scalpel in the eye region is ow. *winces*
-ROPE! OR BUNGEE! AHAHAHA, and the best part of that is all the series has to do to show that is show the unedited footage shot for the jump scene with the safety rope left in. AHAHAHAH, love it.
-They have John's being knocked down out of sequence though. Which I guess could be partly explained by 'unreliable narrator' and the effect of trauma, both physical and emotional, on memory. What we saw at the end of TRF was John's point-of-view, solidified at the point where he's talking to Ella. Maybe to him he saw Sherlock fall and heard the landing, then ran over and was knocked down on the way, and what we're getting here is Sherlock and the Fall crew's view. John started running before the landing and was knocked down. Memories edit themselves, and like Sherlock says in Blind Banker, visual memory is only 62% accurate. The rope was close in colour to the building wall, and if he mentioned thinking he'd seen a rope to Ella in therapy, of course she would dissuade him from believing that even without being in on any conspiracy. And so the order John was knocked down is before Sherlock landed, but the trauma's effect on John's memory put it after....I guess? *handwave?*
-OH GOD MOLLY.
-BUNGEEEEEEE!!! Ahahahah! XD
-That's a heck of a targeting job on getting through that window. I can't imagine they got much of a test run for that.
-*needle-scratch* Oh wait, wait. We're getting Molly's unreliable narrator version now aren't we? *facepalm* Or maybe he just kissed her... *shrug* Stranger things have happened, and I should think anyone who'd just survived jumping off a building would feel like kissing someone who'd helped them do it. *handwave*
-Ah, not a truck, an alcove of some kind?
-Ah ha ha ha. Okay.... hm. If this is meant to be Sherlock in a change of clothes and an anorak, as I think it might be judging by the hands even though that was a hell of a quick change if so, there is a subtle canon reference. When Sherlock came back in disguise in the original Empty House, part of the disguise was a false nose and wads of cotton tucked inside his cheeks, which would look something like he does here. And I can believe that intense ACD fanboys like Gatiss and Moffat would find a way to work that in somehow. :-)
-BAG OF BLOOD! \o/ That's probably the most inappropriate thing I have squeed over, at least in this fandom, but really, I think it's warranted.
-*squints* ...maybe it's not him? But. Hm. Bald-wig, nose with extension to upper lip, jowly with cotton, contacts... Or maybe it's someone recognizable to people in the UK, some large-scale illusionist like Derren Brown since I've seen that name getting tossed around in combination with Moffat's other projects, but he's not looking much like his picture on Wikipedia if so. In which case, no jowly cotton, darn, but oh well. Can't have all the things.
-Hunh. The timing here is all really whacky... I'll have to take another run at watching this and figure out how long each bit does take, but Moriarty may have been on the ground before Sherlock jumped in order to make everything fit. John might have been knocked down for longer than he remembered too. And they would have had to have an exact copy of what Sherlock was wearing in Moriarty's size, but that could have been arranged after Moriarty killed himself by Sherlock calling Mycroft from the roof (because Mycroft is so very involved with all of this of course he is.) and not by them having a complete set of Sherlock's clothes including coat in Moriarty's size on hand before Sherlock went up on the roof, which would have indicated that Moriarty wasn't leaving that rooftop alive regardless of who killed him. They could have had the latex life mask and contact lenses done and ready to put on anyone or any corpse. Or the clothes too, since the way the body was laying it would be hard to tell if the clothes fit correctly or not. Hm. So. Regardless, whatever Mycroft's role in the government is, you can bet that sourcing a complete wardrobe in under an hour is a cakewalk, and sourcing the rest of this after Sherlock called him regarding Moriarty's endgame and his own plans to take down the organization etc would be even easier. He probably had that life mask of Sherlock done ages ago. And, given Mycroft's involvement, this all could be a fairly standard recipe MI6 asset extraction procedure, with a few variations, and the team involved would have had lots of practice getting the timings down. Anyway, TLDR, I think it sort of works? Somehow?
-And guy with stethoscope and medical people running in to cover. Oh hey! In the back of the pack, that looks a bit like Craig, the Eleventh Doctor's flatmate. Maybe. Hehe. I'm looking at these caps too closely. I'm only at 2:15. XD
-HAHAHA what. Okay. Well, who needs Hound gas when you've got hypnosis? That's like an instant handwave for all the John's POV quibbles, and his not seeing the difference in the size of the corpse or any other weirdness if he's operating under a post-hypnotic suggestion to see the body as Sherlock (would that work with hypnosis?). Tricky to do with a sniper watching John, but so is the rest of it. So given they know what Moriarty knows about Sherlock because Mycroft gave it to him deliberately (because Mycroft doesn't do anything without it being deliberate), and know who has snipers on them, perhaps they've got watchers on the snipers in preparation to follow them all back to their individual cells of the organization and carry on from there, and therefore know that there's a blind spot on John where his sniper is set up. Given the angle seen in TRF, and his sniper maybe still griping his way up the stairs after following John back to 221B and back, and the sniper and the rest of Moriarty's crew totally missing Sherlock bouncing back on the bungee (...maybe it was a low window, so it wouldn't be seen over that blocking building? *tentative handwave*) I'd say that could be possible.
-And timing quibbles from John's perspective solved, I guess, and what we're being shown now is out of order a bit. Thought he'd got up awfully slow from being run down by a bike. And god only knows what happened to sniper guy to have missed his target disappearing for five minutes, but he could have got caught in traffic. Missed the bus et cetera. Or something. *handwave*
-And John will kill him even harder when he realizes that was Moriarty's body.
-"Bollocks!" BWAHAHAHAHAAHAH! Or it could all be Anderson's theory, which explains the kiss and all the other bits that don't quite fit. And the James Bondness. Oh dear. It's the Rashomon effect gone mad. Could be close in bits though? Very small bits? No sign of the ball though, but that wouldn't have been generally known. Well, I'm not going to cut any of the insane handwaving I was doing above during the first bit because it does go to show that when presented with material that's masquerading as a somewhat hard to swallow "way things actually happened" by a show with show-runners/episode-writers I trust, I will handwave the hell out of all of it until it works. Somehow. Sort of. Other shows with runners and writers I either don't trust or have lost trust in, I would've been "Oh hell no," from when John getting knocked down happened out of sequence. So, what all this does prove is that I trust Moffat and Gatiss, even if it looks like they may have lost their minds. *nods* It is interesting though to look at what Anderson's theories are and see what they include as knowns (Moriarty is dead, John was knocked down, the details of the phone call, etc.) and don't include or account for as unknowns (the ball, the laundry truck (or did it?), the sniper) to see the shape of what the available knowledge base is for the public or former members of the police service. Hm.
-Also, gotta say, Anderson's Theory music was catchy. What? It was. *shrug*
-"Derren Brown?" Guess that was actually who that was then. Huh. I'd guess that would have been when anyone who recognized him easily had their suspension of disbelief finally and irrevocably go *TWAANNNNNNNGGGG!* if it hadn't already. Though I can believe Mycroft could pull off getting a well-known illusionist/hypnotist involved in this particular circus. It being for Sherlock's safety, he'd have sufficient motivation to make extraordinary effort.
-"Two years and the theories keep getting more stupid." Oh hell, Lestrade, that's nothing. He hasn't even mentioned Hound gas, Portal guns, giant bees, feather fall spells or Tardises yet. XD
-"You pushed us all into thinking Sherlock was a fraud, you and Donovan. You did this and it killed him, and he's staying dead." Ow. Charitably, they were doing their job based on the evidence they were fooled by, but that's a hard thing to see when it seems like a friend is dead because of it. Yet Lestrade is still willing to meet Anderson and listen to his crazy theories, even feeling that way at the root. A surprising and sudden amount of ow in this scene.
-"I believe in Sherlock Holmes." Says Anderson. I may have just flailed very hard indeed.
-"Sherlock Holmes was vindicated and cleared of all suspicions." And the truth is coming out, two years later. Shorter than canon, but nicely in line with the gap between series'.
-"Absent friends." Oh and the toasting with Anderson. ANDERSON. Like they've had this little support group of two after Sherlock's death full of regret and guilt and crazy theories and bitter bitter pain at the heart of it all because you know when Lestrade is talking about Anderson's guilt he's talking about his own too, and and oh god Lestrade's faaaaaaaaaaaaaace. I can't flail hard enough. *flaaaaaaaail*
-Heh. Drinking buddies. I get the feeling between the prequel and this that maybe both their wives left them permanently around the same time (considering the various infidelities going on before the stressor of Sherlock's apparent demise) and they just sort of started hanging out in pubs as fellow-wounded and became actual friends of a prickly sort, circling around mutual loss, grief, guilt and hope. Just a headcanon though.
-Also since I'm firing up the headcanons, until shown otherwise, my current headcanon for Donovan is that she's a DI in another division, and even before the vindication came down realized she was likely wrong about Sherlock, but has no apologies for following the evidence as it appeared at the time, and that if Sherlock encounters her in future, he won't be put out by that at all. Likelihood on all that might be minimal, but that's what headcanons are for.
-Oh John. Hi John. Hi John's wonderfully expressive nose. Aw.
-GAH!!! Right. I'd heard about the mustache, but being confronted with it directly is rather disconcerting. And, it's a Watson thing. Watson having a mustache has been canon for as long as there's been canon, and now this Watson has his mustache, to connect him to the long line of mustached Watsons before and after him in his time of Watson-specific grief. Or something. Sure. (Is that Sherlock's scarf? No... I don't think so, but it's similar enough to me to make me take a second look, once I stopped being distracted by the mustache.) Sad John. Saaaaaad Jooooohn. *wraps him up in blankets and feeds him soup and tea*
-HI BACK OF MARY! HI! I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOUR FRONT! ...That sounded weird. O.o
-In other parts of the world, Sherlock needs a haircut. And some night vision goggles. And an extraction team, like, yesterday.
-Oh dear. If you die before you get back to London, Sherlock, you know John will kill you even harder.
-Rather permissive military or paramilitary group to let their guards listen to loud music to block out the noises of an interrogation beat-down. Likely a sign of over-confidence. They'll regret that.
-One thing that this screencap tells me is that I think I know too much about the Geneva convention and interrogation and torture techniques. It also tells me that Sherlock's going to come out with some smart-ass reply about sleep in a second here.
-Or he's going to provoke his captors by deducing them, as one does. Ahhahahahahah! I just laughed so hard my spine cracked. XD
-And the interrogator takes off, which is why you don't let the low IQ, easily-manipulated thugs do the interrogating, as they can be convinced into leaving in the middle by their interrogation subject telling them things that confirm their suspicions about their home life, whether they're true or not. Which now leaves Sherlock with one guard who's listening to an iPod, and one guard/watcher with his feet up who has been staying muchly out of the interrogation in a rather suspicious manner, and who isn't stopping his compatriot from leaving in the middle of a job, and therefore is probably one of the extraction team. Or Mycroft, though he doesn't seem like the in-person sort but it sounded slightly like his voice, hard to say in Russian or whatever Slavic language they're speaking, so... maybe. We'll see. One way or another I'd say that's a major success on beating an interrogation on Sherlock's part.
-"Sorry, but the holiday is over, brother dear." HI MYCROFT! Aw. He went into the field himself to get to his brother. AWWWWWWW! And I'd bet we now know who let the guard have an iPod while on duty.
-"Sherlock Holmes." Probably the first time he's been called by his own name in two years. And the grin. Hee!
-THEME MUSIC! \o/ Not too much distinctive in terms of hints of things to come in the title sequence, except that hospital bag of fluid, (Sodium somethingide, making it probably saline solution) which could be [guesses based on ACD canon.] Mary getting sick and dying which would be awfully fast, or an update of Dying Detective which if Sherlock pulls that this series so close after Reichenbaching John, John will really, really kill him. Or could be just someone getting whumped enough to end up in hospital. WOOHOO! Er... I meant "eek" there, obviously. >.>
-I suppose they had to do it, horrible pun that it is. I did hear about the promo for the air-date of this episode being announced. The BBC drove a hearse through London to St. Bartholomew's Hospital with the show's air-date spelled out in flowers in the back windows. Fans all over the world were watching the CCTV live online traffic cameras of London apparently, waiting for a glimpse. Which is, in a way, kind of amazingly awesome.
-GAH! Sorry, mustache. It's startling. I'll get used to it, though I suspect I won't need to. That's definitely not Sherlock's scarf, though... John wasn't much of a habitual scarf-wearer before, was he? I don't think so. Aw.
-Mycroft's office got a bit swankier, looks like. Love the antique desk fan.
-Seems like a lot of members of the Diogenes Club ride bicycles. Sensible of them. *nods*
OH! *flaps hand* And I found out a little while ago that the fellow in Reichenbach Fall in the Diogenes Club, the one who used his cane to push the 'someone is annoying me, come take them away' button (wouldn't we all love to have one of those?), was played by a fellow who had previously played Sherlock Holmes in the 1964-65 TV series, played a "Professor Van Dusen" who was another fictional detective of a similar mien in A TV Series "The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes", and played Sherlock Holmes again in the comedy, "The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother". So that's kind of awesome too.
-Oh. John has a scarf and a longer, swishier coat. Oh Joooohn. *smishes him*
-"Penny for the Guy." Making this late October/Early November if Guy Fawkes day is coming up. Good to know. Also, I'm not precisely sure of what all is involved in a Guy Fawkes Day tradition aside from burning someone in effigy, but if it involves a lot of fireworks and firecrackers being set off all over at random, that's going to make a hell of a cover for some loud, organized criminal or terrorist activity. Hm. I also know that John Watson's Blog has been updated on the run up to the episode and probably even has a matching date now, but I've been avoiding that, kind of because of spoilers, but kind of also I was trying to get that stupid post-Reichenbach fic I was writing finished before looking at any new material. I'm probably missing bits that tie in to the blog, but I'll do the reading later, because obviously now it'll have a post up about this episode and the next since it's taken me so long to watch this one, so actual spoilers. Not going near the Science of Deduction page or Molly's page either yet. Later. Anyway, Guy Fawkes day is coming. *nods*
-Waitaminute, that's the door to 221B! Does John still live there and just had it massively renovated!? I don't think so. But he's still got a key. OMG. You guys. He's still got a keeeey! *flail* Maybe he visits Mrs. Hudson and checks on the place and things when she's out of town and and omg *flail* I can't even explain.
-*FLAIL* OR HE COMES AND STARES INTENTLY AND SILENTLY AT THE DOORS AND HEARS GODDAMNED VIOLIN MUSIC AND VOICES AND MEMORIES AND TRIES TO DEAL WITH THE GRIEF AND THE AVOIDANCE ISSUES BUT CAN'T AND OH MY GOD *FLAAAIL*
-HI MRS HUDSON! HIIIIIII!!!! \o/ She looks a bit disconcerted to see him, so maybe he doesn't stop by at all and just still has a key but I don't care *flaaaaail*
-Okay, one, Mycroft's office has an intense door, one that makes me think it's on board a ship of some kind except it's in the Diogenes Club, judging by that otherwise random transition shot of the car pulling up in front paired with Mycroft in his office, so the door is just like that because sound-proofing, and two, there's a barber and a barber chair and a wet bar, and blankets and seriously, if anyone could make Anderson's 'Derren Brown/James Bond Extravaganza fall survival' theory work, it's Mycroft Holmes. He's practically a Bond villain already, without being a villain. He's got a barber in his office.
-HI SHERLOCK'S CURRENT FACE! Not looking too bent or busted from the interrogation, so some time has passed, though the thug did seem to be aiming for body blows mostly.
-Did Sherlock say 'It was awesome' there? My sound is muddy. Sounded like awesome. Don't think it was.
-"Fieldwork is not my natural milieu." Awwwww Mycroft cares about his brother so much. *glee*
-And then the bickering about whether Mycroft was protecting Sherlock's cover or enjoying watching him get beat to crap. Which really at the heart is the Sherlock variation of the same sort of thing as Supernatural's infamous "Bitch"/"Jerk" exchange. Sort of. Ah, brothers.
-ANTHEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! OH MY GOD I JUST LITERALLY SCREAMED! HI ANTHEA! HIIIIII!!! WELCOME BACK!!! \o/
-That was a rather hard clunk of the teacup... Aw. I guess Mrs Hudson's upset with John? (Is she wearing black nail polish? Different.)
-Yep, she's upset. Those are some angry biscuits, those are.
-I have to say that at this angle and expression, John looks very classically Watsony. It's cool.
-"You forget lots of little things, it seems." Oh my. She is good at the passive-aggressive. Maybe he hasn't been around in a long while?
-"Not sure about that." So say we all. Maybe. Well the few bits I've seen referencing John growing a mustache seem to be intent on removing it from him as quickly as possible.
-"Ages you."/"Just trying it out."/"Well it ages you." Oh Mrs Hudson. I don't know why you're so angry just yet but I want to sit you down with a nice warm blanket and a cup of tea. As to John's mustache, when it's not making him look like a classic Watson on the rare occasions when the facial expression and angle are right, I think it makes his eyes look enormous and is mouth look small. Kind of like a chibi. Which is adorable in its own way, but probably not the effect he's going for with it.
-"I'm not your mother, I've no right to expect it, but just one phone call, John! Just one!" Awwwwwww. And given how he walked in, how many times do you think he might have stood in that entryway, looking up those stairs, looking at her door, and not able to bring himself to face going to see her again?
-"It just got harder and harder to pick up the phone, somehow." *nods* Avoidance. I hear that. Also HOW MUCH MORE OW CAN THEY GET IN THIS SCENE, MY GOD.
-Well I had to go and ask, didn't I. *wibbles*
-HI AGAIN ANTHEA! No Blackberry. She looks bereft.
-Sherlock asking about John *flail* "Oh yes, we meet up every Friday for fish and chips." Yeah, didn't think he'd have much to say to Mycroft after what he thinks Mycroft did. Or at least not much to say that was pleasant.
-Surveillance photos should not result in such warm fuzzy feelings as I am having. Mycroft and his crew keeping an eye on John while Sherlock was out on an extended Op. Sherlock asking after John and them having a surveillance packet ready that they hand him even before the mission packet, because really, faking your own death to save your friends' lives is one thing. Being undercover taking out criminals and terrorists for two years so you can be sure your friends are safe and the people who target you won't be targeting them again before you eventually go home to them, that really shows what your priorities are. He's not asking after Lestrade or Mrs Hudson yet, but he'll get around to it. All Holmeses' and Watsons' first priority is each other, always, and everyone who knows them knows this. Any era.
-"We'll have to get rid of that." *snerk* Take Mycroft's barber with you.
-"He looks ancient. I can't be seen wandering around with an old man." Suuure Sherlock. You only don't like it because it looks like he's been through ten years of Hell in the time you've been through two years of active covert ops and you don't like the idea of the stress of your death aging him that much. But you're hardly going to be saying that to Mycroft and Anthea now are you? *pats*
-Hm. The lighting is hinting at dream sequence, but the furniture is a little bit differently arranged, so he may actually be re-entering 221B. We'll see.
-Oh, dust in the air. Ohhh. The kind of gross factoid that I'm sure John knows about dust containing a significant percentage of shed skin particles has to be going through his head. So on top of 221B being unused and dusty, that's bits of his dead best friend floating there. Macabre maybe, but ow.
-Or not a dream, as Mrs Hudson bustles around. The lamps must all be attached to the switch circuit since they're on now. *handwave* The books, the chair, the skull, the bat and insect collection, the slipper on the hearth, the cow skull with headphones in the mirror. Wow. Oh god, the old tech and the box of floppies is still there. Which, when you consider the entire set has to be re-built from the walls in for the filming of each series is fucking astounding. So thank you so much to the set crew for Sherlock for getting all those incredibly nitpicky details back in place and spreading dust on them. Because wow. O.O
-"I've got some news."/"Oh god. Is it serious?" Oh, poor Mrs Hudson, so used to woe she assumes the news is bad and she's going to lose another surrogate son. Awww. It's okay, he's probably just going to tell you about Mary. *hugs*
-"I'm moving on."/"You're emigrating." Aw. Less final loss, but something where she'd still be losing him. Awww. Seriously, Mrs Hudson, I will wrap you in blankets and feed you soup.
-Something about John's face here. Heeee.
-"What's his name?" Heeeee! She never did let go of that end of the stick, did she? XD
-"Sherlock was not my boyfriend."/"Live and let live, that's my motto." Hahaha! Well, there you are. Mrs Hudson shipped it hard and still does, even in the face of direct denial. Might be a teeeeensy bit of a tin-hat though. XD
-"I am not gay!" Poor John. *pats*
-"I think I'll surprise John. He'll be delighted." Ahahahahaahahaha. Um. No. Not really. Or at least not at first. Allow me to repeat the refrain of "John is going to kill you." John has had the worst Reichenbaching a Watson has ever had. He watched his best friend jump off the roof of a building despite his own best efforts to talk him down, and listened to him spout a bunch of rubbish about being a fake (which was full of holes, since if Sherlock had researched John, he would have known Harry was his sister, not his brother, ha ha!), and then left him alone to deal with his feelings and being told by the world that Sherlock was a fake, and I'm sure we're going to find out what all that entailed in a bit here if I ever shut up, but dude. Seriously. A shock like that could kill a person. That person could be you. Hell, Mary might even punch you when she finds out who you are and what you did to John. I would if I were her. Just saying. Yes, yes, John will eventually be relieved and delighted and all that, sure, he's a Watson, but this particular Watson is not going to respond in the traditional manner of fainting for a little while and then listening enrapturedly to your tales of adventure/hanging out with monks before carrying on as usual. You've dented your particular Watson very badly, Sherlock Holmes. You're going to have to work at undenting him before things carry on as they did before.
-"You think so?" Heh. Yes, and remember to tell your brother Mycroft where you plan to ambush John so he can have every CCTV camera available pointed at it. For posterity.
-"Jump out of a cake." Oh dear god no. Though I think I have seen that in fanart. XD
-"Baker Street? He isn't there anymore. Why would he be? It's been two years, he's got on with his life." And now Sherlock's paying attention. That's the thing with being unavoidably out of contact with places and people for so long while you are in a bad situation, and wanting nothing more than to go back home. You build an idea of them in you head, family, friends and home. A crystal-perfect image of who they are are and how they acted, what they thought of you, where they lived, and you cling to it so hard because it's the only thing that gets you through sometimes. You build that safe image of home in your head with everything where it 'ought to be'. And when (and if) you do get back there, the people have changed, the places have changed, and home doesn't match that image that kept you going in the dark times. It's a jarring feeling to realize your home has moved on without you. Home doesn't wait for you if it doesn't think you'll ever come back. Sometimes it doesn't wait for you even when it does know you're returning.
-"What life? I've been away." Oh Sherlock, you are going to have one hell of a steep social learning curve coming at you very quickly. *facepalm*
-"I think maybe I'll just drop by." Oh. Well. Of course he will. This is the dinner where John's going to ask Mary to marry him. Of course it is. Oh this will be so painful. And awkward. But mostly panful.
-"It is just possible that you won't be welcome."/"No it isn't." Yep. Because Sherlock's been clinging to 'home' as 221B just as he left it, with John safe and there, and the idea that 'home' might reject him, after two years that likely featured doing a lot of nasty things and being a lot of nasty things and a lot of nasty things being done to him all for the sake of keeping part of 'home' safe is not something he can even entertain. He has a happy reunion in his head and that's where he's going, come hell or high water.
-YAY COAT! \o/ Seriously, that thing is the Impala of this series.
-Oh, and then he has to go perching for a while because all his London area knowledge is 2 years out of date. He'll go running up the back stairs at some shop and come out into a new set of one-room flats someone had built to cash in on the tourist influx during the Olympics.
And I absolutely must say, that I LOVE what they did with the music for this part. It's the same theme, but in a slightly different key. Sad, and wistful, and perfect for seeing their home city after a long hard absence.
-Oh crap, here we go. *cleans glasses and loads up more tea*
-"Your wife just texted you. Possibly her contractions have started." Well, that's an effective new way of fast-talking the maitre'd.
-John. Conspicuously checking his pocket then taking a drink of water. Hell, even I can tell he's going to ask someone to marry him.
-Oh crap. He's not going to do the fake waiter schtick, is he?
-Yep. And stealing a bow tie from a patron. *facepalm*
-Sherlock in glasses. I know there's a small subset of fandom that is very very happy right now.
-"Madam, may I suggest you look at this menu, it's completely identical." *SNEEEEEEEERK*
-CHOKING ON TEA NOW, THANK YOU SO MUCH
-You all know the funnier the run up to this reunion is, the more it's going to hurt, right? Right. Just checking. *prepares blanket*
Continued in...
PART TWO
PART THREE
PART FOUR
(PLEASE, NO SPOILERS OR REFERENCES TO ANY INFORMATION AT ALL FOR OR ABOUT EPISODES PAST 3.01 IN COMMENTS! )