Picspam Reaction/Recap: Sherlock Series 3 Episode 1 (Part 2 of 4)
WARNING: CONTAINS IMAGES AND DETAILS OF THE SHERLOCK SERIES 3 FIRST EPISODE. If you are not watching Sherlock Series 3 at UK pace, this post is CHOCK FULL OF SPOILERS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Picspam Reaction for Sherlock Series 3 Episode 1 - Part 2
PART ONE
PART TWO - "The Empty Hearse"
And here we go!
-"Can I help you with anything sir?" What accent even is that? It's half French and half something American. Though I suppose if Benedict had busted out his Captain Martin du'Creff accent for this I'd be laughing until the middle of next week.
-"These are all excellent vintages." LOOK AT HIS FACE, THE TROLL! All smirky and 'I know something you don't' but then there's going to be pain and punching and awkward and I can't even *flaps hands*
-"Like a face from the past." Dude, you aren't Superman, taking off the glasses won't do it, especially if he's not looking.
-"Familiar, but with a quality of surpriiise!" Oh god this is already painful. XD And of course Sherlock is too focused on his attempts to surprise John to actually read John and see the situation he's walking into. And I don't know if even that would hold him back.
-Oh god. Twiddling with the ring box. At least he hasn't attempted to hide it in the bread basket.
-HI MARY'S FRONT! Mary's pretty, and the sort of 1920's hairstyle is quite cool and suits her. Batten down the hatches though Mary, because you're about to get a sequence of rather conflicting shocks this evening.
-Oh John, with his adorable hopeful face. I think I'm coming down on the side of against the mustache though, Watson tradition aside. It's like it erases his upper lip, which is a supporting feature of his wonderfully expressive nose, and not having the full range of complementary expression in the upper lip is hampering the potential of the nose. But he's had the mustache now, and therefore has fulfilled a Watson trait he'd been missing before. Not that he's the only Watson who hadn't had a mustache until now, and in the current crop of actively developing Watsons, I'd imagine Joan from Elementary's encounter with the Watson mustache tradition will be far more awkward and involve a lot of yelling at her Sherlock to stay the hell out of her facial waxing kit. *nods*
-They are so adorable, and he is even more adorable when he gets all nervous and fumble-mouthed, but if he doesn't hurry this up, Sherlock's going to land smack in the middle of it... Oh, well of course that's what's going to happen. *facepalm*
-"I agree, I'm the best thing that could have happened to you." Heeee!
-"If you could you see your way to..." Most awkwardly phrased proposal award ever if he ever gets it all out. Yet still adorable.
-And here we go. Incoming Sherlock.
-"In a crowd of strangers one feels as if one is staring into the face of an old friend." Oh crap. Hang on to something John, your world's about to get blown to bits by Sherlock Holmes. Again.
(that faaaace!)
(Oh! Sherlock's little hand gesture, half-hidden behind the lamp, he lets go of the glasses and reaches just a tiny bit towards John as he's staggering to his feet, like he has an impulse to reach out to steady him but just can't yet and just ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! *flailing everywhere*
Went a little cap-happy there, but there are moments that command me to mash the capture button like a rat on crack. Such as when I am being killed by several things, but mainly by JOHN WATSON'S FAAAAAAACE. *flailflailflail*
-"Short version: Not Dead." Well, that's gonna need some elaboration.
-And again. Only now everyone's face is trying to kill me.
-"Bit mean springing it on you like that, I know. Could have given you a heart attack, probably still will, but in my defense it was very funny." Yep. Sherlock Holmes, trolling John Watson with his own return from death since 1903.
-Oh dear. I think John's about to explode. Definitely not about to faint.
-"Okay, it's not a great defense." No, it really isn't. *headshake*
-"Oh no, you're-"/"Oh yes." I'm so glad Mary's in the loop.
-So much love for the little dialog interchange between Sherlock and Mary. I think it bodes well for them getting along in future.
-"Does yours rub off too?" Oh god. I'm thinking that on some subconscious level Sherlock actually really wants to get punched. Although I think he's consciously hoping to make John laugh. Though at this point the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
-"Oh my god, oh my god, do you have any idea what you've done?" Safe to say NOPE.
-"I'm starting to realize I probably owe you some sort of an apology-"/John: *uncappable table-punch* YAH THINK? MAYBE??? How about start with shutting up a second and letting John say something?
-"Two years." With the inhaling and the broken sounds and snuffling and things SEE HOW EXPRESSIVE HIS NOSE IS EVEN WHEN IT'S NOT MOVING MUCH?
-"That I thought- *sad snuffly croaky John noises*" Oh god, I think I'm just going to have to sit back and cap for a bit. *flail*
"-I thought-"
"-you were dead."
"That you let me grieve."
*flllaaaaaaaaailllliiiiiinnnngggg*
-I think Sherlock might be starting to get it, but it's hard to say yet. Though that tiny little hand-reach earlier does say a few things about Sherlock's awareness of how all this is effecting John.
-"How could you do that?" I am seriously dying of face here. Oh god, and the unselfconscious snuffling noises, oh god.
-"Before you do anything that you might regret-" HA. No, I don't think John would regret much of anything he might do right now. Good reasons or no good reasons. Also, you may want to continue this conversation in a less public location.
-"Let me ask one question." Oh crap. This is going to be the thing that tips John over the edge. Because it's going to be something so absolutely sideways oblivious to everything currently relevant at this moment. Like why'd he move out, or something daft about the mustache. Because Sherlock.
-"Are you really gonna keep that?" *facepalm* YEP. And yet, he's still, in his own way, trying to break the tension by getting John to laugh, so everything will go back to the way it used to be, so he can have the home that he has in his memory back the way it was. But it's really not going to work. Really really not.
-Worked on Mary, though it's more of an incredulous laugh of "I cannot fucking believe you" than any real release of tension.
-Meanwhile, John Watson's wonderfully expressive nose has gone into full attack mode.
-Oh yes, brawl! \o/
What have I been saying? John is going to kill Sherlock? Well, throttling is close enough. *nods*
-It's interesting that right now, this is a bit of a reversal of the level of knowledge of what's happened during the "Hiatus" period. In ACD, John's day-to-day life is presented pretty clearly, he has his own practice, he's still sort of consulting with the Yard a little or at least still poking his nose in at crime scenes, et cetera. then Sherlock shows up out of the blue, waffles about some vague stuff he's been doing, and then off into the next adventure. This time we have (sort of, thanks to Anderson's theories, (which is still a little weird to say O.o)) a pretty good idea of what all Sherlock's been doing while he was gone, and a minimalist outline of what's happened with John (though it's safe to say he's got a decently-paying job given the size of the ring and the fact that he was comfortable enough at the swanky restaurant he'll probably never be allowed back into). Hmm.
-*watches that last bit again and flails some more*
-"I calculated that there were 13 possibilities once I'd lured Moriarty onto the roof." I cannot describe the noises I just made. I can't. Demented Spanish rooster comes closest. EXPLANATIONS! \o/
-"I wanted to avoid dying if at all possible." Well, that's always a nice bonus.
-I'm not sure his precise planning process here but it seems to involve some extreme parkour. Also maybe a skateboard.
-"Hurling myself into a parked hospital van filled with washing bags. Impossible. The angle was too steep." Scenario number one, laundry truck, not the one that happened. Is there a betting pool? There should probably have been a betting pool. Or like a spreadsheet of all the theories so the ones getting eliminated could be crossed off like a logic problem, although I really don't know if John's going to sit there and let him babble for long. *bounces*
-And a helicopter theory reference for those who favored helicopters.
-"A system of Japanese wrestling-" AHAHAHAHAHAHA! DIRECT ACD REFERENCE!
-"You know for a genius you can be remarkably thick?" Hee, yep. John is not ready to hear about how clever Sherlock was in turning his life into a living hell for the larger part of two years.
-"Why? Because Moriarty had to be stopped." Some specific detail would really help you there Sherlock.
-"...I see. Yes. Why. That's a little more difficult to explain."/"I've got all night." And another restaurant to throttle him in too.
-"That was mostly Mycroft's idea." Heh heh heh. Well. If John ever softened on being pissed off at Mycroft for 'betraying' Sherlock to Moriarty, he's going to have a whole new reason to be pissed off now. If it's true. Sherlock might be using Mycroft as a scapegoat for the part about having John watch. Or not. Seems Mycrofty. Hm.
-"He would have needed a confidante." *grins at Mary* Sitting there quietly listening and piping up to add something and help Sherlock's explanation because really, he's not likely to ever call Mycroft a confidante willingly, even though John is more than a little understandably pissed off at Sherlock and helping Sherlock's explanation along might get you very glared at right now. I like you, Mary. Which of course means you're even more doomed than you are already bound to be, and I'm so sorry.
-"But he was the only one? The only one who knew." Oh crap, Molly time. "Couple of others." ...Who else? Aside from people John doesn't know well. Mycroft's assorted teams and barbers don't count in this regard.
-"Molly." I can't get the face John has in transition there because blur, but HAHAHAH. Oh dear.
-"So just your brother and Molly Hooper and a hundred tramps." PFT!! Not very PC of John, but HA! And I can understand the sentiment. XD
-"Noooo. Twenty five at most." And it's throttling time again! Good thing there's so many restaurants in London. By the time they've worked their way through the lot and John's throttled him in every single one, maybe most of the explanation will be out. XD
-AHAHAHAHA! I DIDN'T MEAN THAT LITERALLY! XD Getting smaller and cheaper each time though. By the time they're clustered around a kebab cart in Hackney, this will all be sorted.
-"Seriously, it's not a joke, you're really keeping it?" *FACEPALM* And there goes another restaurant.
-Or not. Progress! "Mary likes it."/"Mmmmmm.... No she doesn't."/"She does."/"She doesn't." And then Mary.
"I didn't know how to tell you!" Just *flail* hee! Also, *points at sign in background* Kebab shop. There must be something subliminal. *looks back at previous caps* Ah ha! There was a donair/gyro/meat-tube-onna-stick thing rotating in the background, so I must have seen it without being aware and made the kebab connection unconsciously. Voila!)
-"Now this is charming, I've really missed this." Heeee!!!
-"One word, Sherlock, that is all I would have needed! One word to let me know that you were alive." Oh his voice, the strain in it at the end there. *flaaaaail*
-"I've nearly been in contact so many times-" Oh reeeeally? Hmm... And the very slightest hint of tension bobble in Sherlock's voice too as he says "so many". Because under the mental homecoming script he's still trying to make work and the usual level of Sherlock-being-Sherlock smokescreen, he is carrying stress about the whole situation and the past two years of not being able to contact John, and is using the usual 'way he is' not to show it, so that little slightest, barely there hint of strain is a sign of a crack in that defensive wall of brilliant bullshit he's wielding. The tip of an iceberg of ow. *flail*
-"I worried that you might be indiscrete."/"What?"/"You know, let the cat out of the bag."/"Oh so this is my fault!" *headdesk* WRONG TACK, SHERLOCK. You're going to get throttled in a kebab shop yet.
-You know, it's generally a bad idea to shout secret things at each other in a kebab shop. Particularly when one of those things is the name of a recently-exonerated-and back-in-the-popular-press dead consulting detective. ...heh *snerk* I'm having an attack of Shakespeare suddenly. "He died, my lord, but whilst his slander lived." Sorry, sorry. XD
-"I don't want everyone knowing I'm still alive!" Then perhaps getting into brawls with your almost-as-well-known-best-friend (who will be under media attention again for a reaction to the results of the inquiry) in restaurants all over London isn't the wisest idea, hmm? ...or... heh. Maybe that is the idea. Get word out that Sherlock's still alive, draw the attention of whoever's planning that attack on London... heh heh heh. Makes sense though, because if Sherlock was this bad at keeping himself secret out on an extended covert op, he'd have been dead in under a week. Or Mycroft's been covering for him (like Penny does with Inspector Gadget, hee XD). Or he's off his usual stride because of home and John and awww. But most likely, it's a deliberate plan, ambushing John in public for maximum disruption. If that is the plan and John ever finds out, he's going to kill you again some more aaaaall over the place. You'll have to go be throttled in every restaurant in Birmingham or something.
-"London is in danger, John, there's an imminent terrorist attack and I need your help." Oh and John's face does a thing. Because a lot has happened in the last few hours for John, and while in ACD canon, Watson is off and away like a shot tra la, our John might have to struggle a bit to get back into the game. However, it being a larger concern than the problem of the original "Empty House" is going to have more pull over John for when he eventually does help, and be more realistic for him to set things aside and in the process, start 'undenting'. I love this. All the stakes are upped. *glee* Also, further throttling is not yet off the table.
-"Just the two of us against the rest of the world-"/*HEAD-BUTT* Or (uncappable) head-butting, (as was mentioned in spoilers). For when throttling's getting repetitive and really doesn't seem to be getting the message to sink in.
-"I don't understand, I said sorry, isn't that what I'm supposed to do?" And now Sherlock's trying to figure out what he's doing wrong and why his homecoming is going so differently than he'd imagined by talking to Mary. Mary! He really is out of sorts, considering how he usually treats John's romantic interests.
-"Gosh, you don't know anything about human nature, do you?" Not unless it involves someone committing a felony. Which really, if Sherlock keeps on as he has been, may just be a result here.
-"I'll talk him round." Might seem a bit odd to have Mary seeming to be on Sherlock's side here, but really, helping John accept the status quo long enough to get a solid explanation out of Sherlock about this whole mess without further injury or ejection from restaurants is really in John's best interest. This is a major shock, and a major change in his life again, and coping with it is something that needs to happen, and I'm guessing Mary has enough background on John's situation to ease things around so John can heal.
-"You will?" Aw. Sherlock's not used to having someone else in his corner, especially not one of John's girlfriends and certainly not so soon after having met him.
(based solely on this screencap, Sherlock Holmes and Bernard Black really are cousins, aren't they?)
-Mary has this wonderful smirk. Just look at that smirk. Isn't it smirky? *twirls*
-Mary-deducing time! Caps ahoy.
So, linguist, part-time nurse, only child (loved the little cluster of 'clever's there), shortsighted, guardian (except it's always capitalized so maybe that's the newspaper?), secret, liar, disillusioned, bakes bread and has a tattoo, a scar, a cat and an appendix (or doesn't, maybe that's the scar), Lib and Dem which I think is a political affiliation, the number 12... Oh it's a size. No surprise on some of that if you've read the books (which I don't think say a lot about Mary) or seen other interpretations (Ritchie movies in particular), but still cool. Wonder what Sherlock's going to make of some of that. Because if he takes the previously-seen-in-other-adaptations route, it could get even more difficult between him and John.
-And this look at John in the car. Just concern and caring and just *flappy hands* it's there in a split second as the car passes and it's gone. Okay. I really like Mary. Genuinely really like Mary.
-"Can you believe his nerve?"/"I like him."/"What?"/"I like him." And much as that's probably not what John wants to hear right now, the calm smirky acceptance is probably going to go farther in the long run in settling John down long enough to, well. Let Sherlock get past his own ridiculous notions of making the script of 'homecoming' he's expecting John to follow happen and actually try getting some communication happening between the two of them. Also, Mary's probably the first of John's romantic affiliations to say that and mean it, and also to not be dismissed out of hand initially by Sherlock. Sarah I think was okay with Sherlock and vice versa eventually, but overall cooler and more distant. Sarah would have been okay, but Mary's a keeper. Yes, yes, and I can see the monolithic OW coming from here.
-HI MOLLY!! HI!!! OH, IS IT REUNION TIME FOR EVERYONE NOW?? :-D
-GAH! It's a good thing Molly already knew you were alive, dude, you could kill a person messing around with horror movie tropes like that.
-HI AGAIN LESTRAAAADE!!! *FLAIL* And Sherlock, stalking in the same pace of footfalls in the distance. Oh hell, I can almost see Lestrade pulling a canon ACD Watson and fainting on seeing him. Almost. I suppose at least Sherlock is trolling everyone. Maybe it's an experiment. "Will everyone try to throttle me on sight, or is it just John?" Regardless, he hasn't learned anything about not surprising people when he lets them know he's back from the dead. XD
-Oh dear, Lestrade's fallen off the patches without his patch-buddy. Awwwww.
-"Those things will kill you." AHAHAHAHHAAHHAHA. Such a troll.
-"Ooo, you bastard." Quick on the uptake is our Lestrade. Also, on some level prepared for the possibility by listening to Anderson's theories and in some desperate guilt-raddled corner of his mind, believing too.
-"You've been letting things slide, Graham."/"Greg." At least he got the G right? Though if he's going to do the whole theatrical looming return from the dead, he should really get the details down right. Also also, 'letting things slide'? Lestrade might throttle you too, with your handy scarf.
-OMG LESTRADE HUGGING!!!!!!!! \o/ And that's how you greet the guy you met as a 20-something kid with a fantastic mind and a drug problem who you helped or watched get clean and start to grow into a good person as well as a brilliant one, but then thought you lost it all when something you were involved with seemed to have pushed him into suicide, but then he turns up back alive. It's a very specific kind of hug that way. Oh and SHERLOCK'S FACE! He might rather have gotten punched. XD
-Oh, well, if they're going to have blatant chiaroscuro for John, I must mention it. The way John's face is half in light and half in darkness. Often used in film to signify internal conflict in feelings or motivations, or to show a descent into madness through inner turmoil, and the spinning around is exacerbating that depiction of internal conflict. Not to mention the spinning being a direct correlation for John's entire world being turned upside down by Sherlock Holmes yet again. So, while John's face is as pissed off as hell and not going to stand for any of these shenanigans, he's really not nearly as set solid in that stance as that baleful glare at the darkened ceiling might indicate. Not like thats a huge surprise or anything, but still.
-Oh crap. If Sherlock's sneaking up on Mrs Hudson, he really might give her a heart attack. Or she's going to beat him with the saucepan. 50/50 chance. Well. 10/90. Saucepan far more likely than heart attack, considering the treatment John got for just not calling her.
-Hm. Before Mrs Hudson switched it off, the radio was saying something about an anti-terrorist bill being pushed through legislation. Hmmmm. Wonder if this is an actual terrorist attack, or something organized by a group that really wants that bill to go through unopposed... Mycroft did tell Sherlock about this supposed attack... hmmmmmm... *ponders intently*
-GO SAUCEPAN! \o/
-Oh, well crap. Not like you've got a distinctive silhouette or anything.
-Screaming also an option. Probably followed by the saucepan. And then eventually hugging. And a lot of yelling.
-Whaaaat?
-AAAAAAAAhahahaahahahahahahaha. It's another Anderson theory. *waves hi to Moriarty just because* XD
-*facepalm* I think maaaaybe Anderson's drunk. XD
-... oh god, they didn't. O.O
-*commences choking on everything ever* ANDERSON, YOU'RE CUT OFF. NO MORE TEQUILA SLAMMERS FOR YOU TONIGHT. XD
-"WHAT!? Are you out of your mind!?" Oh, it's someone else's theory. Or fanfic. After two years, the lines are likely starting to blur a little.
(Side note; I don't know what the Sherlock fandom's reaction to this bit in particular was as I'm avoiding the internet until I finish watching the episode, but I can see how maybe this might have disconcerted some fans. Me though, I watch Supernatural and am used to the fourth wall going a little smashy in the direction of fandom now and then. Our sort of gothy Sherlock/Moriarty shipper here has a loooooong way to go before she gets anywhere near Becky Rosen status. *pats Moffat*)
-"It's just as plausible as some of your theories." ...true. Though that whole Derren Brown/James Bond thing could have been really believable with a bit less artistic interpretation. Maybe. Or not.
-"I founded the Empty Hearse." Oh dear god, it's the name of a conspiracy/fan club founded by Anderson. Oh god. That's... so very Anderson. In a way I can't explain. Ever.
(Does every flat in Sherlock's London have insane wallpaper or what? And if so, where is Sherlock's monograph on the commonality of designs and the statistical likelihood of them triggering a psychotic episode in the flat's occupants?)
-"Sherlock's still out there. I'm convinced of it." And cue the serendipitous news reporter! If getting 'discovered' to be alive was part of Sherlock's plan, it's worked, and if it wasn't, he's screwed. Either way, he's going to be so pissed off to find out he's being called the "Hat Detective". And Anderson's club is about to explode in squee, but that's just a side effect.
-AHAHAHAHAHAHAAH. Cute. I'd heard something about there being a promo and Twitter going boom. I guess this was it?
-And I bet after everyone took off to go squee all over everything, Anderson checked out enough news reports and first-hand accounts to make sure it was real and then sat there in front of his computer alone in the dark for a while and had a good cathartic cry. Awww, Anderson. *pats*
-*squints at text* Aw, it looks like they had the Speckled Band case as well as the Speckled Blonde and we didn't really get to see either. Also, has John's writing style gotten more florid, or... *raises an eyebrow at those first two sentences*
-Awwwww. Her pajama pants match the pillows and her top matches the lamps, that's very... organized? Also, if Mary betas John's blog, I'm going to hurt myself from grinning.
(*casts wary eye at wallpaper* Seriously, is it everywhere? Is it an alien invasion? Has the Doctor been made aware?)
-HE'S SHAVING IT OOOOOFFFFFFF!!! Good. He's had the Watson Mustache in his time of Reichenbach grief, now it can move on. *nods sagely*
-"Don't read that." Aww. I bet she'd be a great beta. *pats Mary*
-"Well you hate it."/"Sherlock hates it."/"Apparently everyone hates it." The little noise and face Mary makes at that, like an amused owl. Hee!
-"Six months of bristly kisses for me and then his nibs turns up." Mary also has this face. It does wonderful things that make me laugh like an asthmatic baboon. :-)
(I will not be distracted by the wallpaper, I will not be distracted by the wallpaper, I will not be distrac- ...Are those headless peacocks? O.o)
-"London. It's like a great cesspool into which all kinds of criminals, agents and drifters are irresistibly drained." I think that's a near-ACD quote, but I'm not certain. *fistpump* anyway. Given the attitude evident in that statement, quote or otherwise, it seems Sherlock has entered a noir phase during his return. Maybe he'll start wearing a fedora instead of a deerstalker, ha ha.
-Oh. Sherlock 'dies', John moves out and doesn't communicate much, she doesn't seek out new renters, she leaves the majority of his stuff exactly where it was, and she leaves the bullet-riddled happy face on the wall. Oh Mrs Hudsooon! *SMISHY HUGS AND TEA*
-"Sometimes it's not a question of who. It's a question of who knows." He's also been hanging around Mycroft a bit. XD
-Oh yes. Kind of loving Sherlock being a spymaster in the use of the Homeless network. More formalized than it was before he left, I'd say. His time away has changed him. As it bloody well should have, all things considered. Which... is kind of absent in the ACD canon, really. Not just because of the general way of things in the era the books were written, but because ACD was pretty much writing Sherlock back to life because among other fiscal incentives and so forth, the Victorian fans were driving him nuts and tracking down his mum at social clubs to beg her to get Arthur to unkill Sherlock Holmes. Soooo, ACD's a little rushed and handwavey on the details of what happened to each of them, particularly on an emotional and worldview level, during Sherlock's 'death' in order to get back to the adventuring as fast as possible. That wouldn't go over so well in this iteration, methinks.
-HI JOHN'S UPPER LIP!!!! YOU HAVE BEEN MISSED!!! \o/
-Ah, where John works! Clinic? Not a hospital, not an imposing enough frontage.
-Just... *beams*
-Oh god, chess and acerbic snarking. Wow. Two years with no contact with your actual life other than your 'arch-enemy' brother will patch a lot of fences it seems. (Though I don't doubt we'll get back to screeching violins and constant worry once things get more settled) O.o
(I've been watching too much Hobbit lately, that chessboard looks like it's got some kind of forced perspective thing going on, like it's closer to the camera than they are. *rubs eyes*)
-"Secret terrorist organization planning an attack, that's what secret terrorist organizations do, isn't it? It's their version of golf." HA! Well, he does have a point, there is a difference between planning and carrying out or implementing a plan. You can sit around forever planning and nothing might ever actually happen.
-"An agent gave his life to tell us that." As Anthea also said, in much the same words... hm... *scrolls back* Nope, she said one of their men died. I was beginning to suspect some sort of weasel-wording definition of 'gave his life' to mean something other than dying... though technically Sherlock 'died' and... hm. I'm over-thinking this far too early. Mycroft is just setting off my paranoia about handwavey government conspiracies regarding scaring the populace into supporting legislation that will make it easier for him to keep track of what everyone is doing with even less concern for watchdog groups and oversight committees. Hm. Or the opposite, if he's trying to expose a fake terror plot to put the bill under further scrutiny and curtail governmental surveillance and selective bending of human rights other than his own. *side-eyes Mycroft*
-"Perhaps he shouldn't have done, he was obviously just trying to show off." Heh heh heh. And now I wonder if they aren't actually talking about something Sherlock turned up but wasn't aware of the full ramifications of while he was out and about.
-"Oh bugger!" HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH Oh god. Operation. So yeah. The chessboard was forced perspective. Hobbit shout-out? XD
-"That takes me back. 'Don't be smart, Sherlock. I'm the smart one.'" Awww.
-"I am the smart one." He manages to sound so evil when he says that.
-"I used to think I was an idiot." AWWWWWWWWWWW!!!! *wraps wee!Sherlock in blankets and feeds him cocoa*
-"Both of us thought you were an idiot, Sherlock." Mycroft, I will smack you. "We had nothing else to go on until we met other children." Ah. Sounds like they were home-schooled in a remote area and then introduced to other children to 'socialize' them. Aw. A society of two, baffled by a world of idiots. Awwwwwww.
-"Ah yes. Friends." And Mycroft goes a bit sharky because you just know he was set up in front of the CCTV monitors last night with a big ol' bowl of popcorn, watching John throttle and head-butt Sherlock all over town. Troll.
-"I'm living in a world of goldfish." I'd like to see art of that statement. Grumpy Mycroft at the bottom of a fishbowl in a little diver's helmet, surrounded by familiar-looking yet vapid goldfish.
-"I've been away for two years. I thought you might have found yourself a... goldfish." Hee, that's almost bizarre, Sherlock expressing a kind of sideways concern for Mycroft's social life. Those two years must have been serious hell for him. And at the same time, it's a bit heart-warming? Though Mycroft's not likely to take it that way.
-"Change the subject. Now." Nope. Mycroft's allowed to take an intense interest in Sherlock's personal life and companions, but not the reverse. AHAHAHA, his face! XD
-Looking at it in daylight, is that the same sofa? Was that chair always there? *looks back at series one caps* It totally was, and I didn't notice. Huh. Once again, the set design crew is astounding in their awesomeness.
-"I just can't believe it, him sitting in his chair again!" AW MRS HUDSON, all happy! AND THEN SHERLOCK HAS THIS FACE AND JUST LOOK AT HIM WITH THE HAPPY SHE'S HAPPY AND ALL!!! *FLAIL* At least some of his homecoming is going according to his hopes. Awwwww *smishes the two of them*
-"I can barely contain myself." *snerk*
-"He's secretly pleased to see you under all that-" MRS HUDSON'S MYCROFT FACE FOR THE WIN. Hard to cap though it may be.
-"Both of you." Or her Holmes face. Regardless. MRS HUDSON WINS.
-Something about the way Sherlock is looking at Mycroft here makes him look about five. It's adorable.
-"Let's do 'Deductions'." You know, it makes so much sense, with the way Sherlock gives the big long spiels and all that that they started doing it as a game as kids. Aw. We're getting a considerable amount of Holmes backstory for the series in this.
-"Client left this while I was out, what do you reckon." Aw, clients kept showing up even though he was dead? Or people have already started showing up to hire him again now that he's been announced as alive? Hm. Probably the former, there'd be a hell of a pile of media to fight through if it was the latter. And, Sherlock and Mycroft doing the throw-and-catch thing kind of like Sherlock and John, awwww.
-"*deductions* ...Damn." And Sherlock gets Mycroft to play despite himself. And Mycroft is probably the person who most needs to cut loose and play out of everyone in Sherlock's life. Aww. My god, it's practically brotherly schmoop around here.
-I'm just going to flail allll over this game of deduction volleyball they've got going on tossing the hat back and forth. Because hee!
-"I've written a blog on the varying tensile strengths of different natural fibers." Of course you have. *ruffles Sherlock's hair and pinches his cheeks* Kind of outing yourself as alive though, posting monographs on your blog. Maybe it's an old one. Or, you know, a deliberate 'here I am' to draw out the et cetera as previously mentioned. Not that much of that matters if he's posted it after the news reports. Not much time to do materials testing and write a monograph. Maybe he did the testing in the field (the original Holmes said he spent some time researching coal-tar derivatives while he was gone) and did the write-up when he got back. Hm. Anyway.
-"Plain as the nose on your-" *giggles*
-Social isolation being deduced because he wears that hat doesn't quite work, though. Around here, quite a few people wear that kind of hat, particularly 20-something young women who spend a lot of time on the ski-hill. It's practically fashionable, or at least it was the last time I paid attention. Less likely to be in London though, no ski-hill. As far as I know.
-...I'm not sure if it's Sherlock's hat or not now. Halitosis doesn't suit, and while he might wear it as a disguise, I really cannot see him getting sentimentally attached to that hat without a darn good reason. Unless that's all done deliberately and it's one of his disguise hats, which is possible.
-"He's different, so what, why would he mind? Why would anyone mind?" Oh and so this is all about Mycroft not forming any social bonds. Sherlock really has spent far too much time with him lately.
-"I'm not lonely, Sherlock." Mycroft also has this face. It makes me giggle. And go aw.
-The intent stare is fighting with the hat, but I think the stare is winning.
-"How would you know?" Owwwwwww. Because Sherlock's spent two years being alone after having friends and saw what he had missed having most of his life in missing it again. Also, big clue for Mycroft being lonely, he's willing to hang out and play Operation with Sherlock, which is an almost entirely non-mental game, and likely not his thing at all, but he's still doing it because he gets to have some purely social interaction with Sherlock to go with the mission reports. Aw, Mycroft. I'd smish you, but I doubt you want your suit rumpled. *pats*
-Aw, and Sherlock and Mrs Hudson, just awwwww. Family isn't always blood.
Continued in...
PART THREE
PART FOUR
(PLEASE, NO SPOILERS OR REFERENCES TO ANY INFORMATION AT ALL FOR OR ABOUT EPISODES PAST 3.01 IN COMMENTS! )
Picspam Reaction for Sherlock Series 3 Episode 1 - Part 2
PART ONE
PART TWO - "The Empty Hearse"
And here we go!
-"Can I help you with anything sir?" What accent even is that? It's half French and half something American. Though I suppose if Benedict had busted out his Captain Martin du'Creff accent for this I'd be laughing until the middle of next week.
-"These are all excellent vintages." LOOK AT HIS FACE, THE TROLL! All smirky and 'I know something you don't' but then there's going to be pain and punching and awkward and I can't even *flaps hands*
-"Like a face from the past." Dude, you aren't Superman, taking off the glasses won't do it, especially if he's not looking.
-"Familiar, but with a quality of surpriiise!" Oh god this is already painful. XD And of course Sherlock is too focused on his attempts to surprise John to actually read John and see the situation he's walking into. And I don't know if even that would hold him back.
-Oh god. Twiddling with the ring box. At least he hasn't attempted to hide it in the bread basket.
-HI MARY'S FRONT! Mary's pretty, and the sort of 1920's hairstyle is quite cool and suits her. Batten down the hatches though Mary, because you're about to get a sequence of rather conflicting shocks this evening.
-Oh John, with his adorable hopeful face. I think I'm coming down on the side of against the mustache though, Watson tradition aside. It's like it erases his upper lip, which is a supporting feature of his wonderfully expressive nose, and not having the full range of complementary expression in the upper lip is hampering the potential of the nose. But he's had the mustache now, and therefore has fulfilled a Watson trait he'd been missing before. Not that he's the only Watson who hadn't had a mustache until now, and in the current crop of actively developing Watsons, I'd imagine Joan from Elementary's encounter with the Watson mustache tradition will be far more awkward and involve a lot of yelling at her Sherlock to stay the hell out of her facial waxing kit. *nods*
-They are so adorable, and he is even more adorable when he gets all nervous and fumble-mouthed, but if he doesn't hurry this up, Sherlock's going to land smack in the middle of it... Oh, well of course that's what's going to happen. *facepalm*
-"I agree, I'm the best thing that could have happened to you." Heeee!
-"If you could you see your way to..." Most awkwardly phrased proposal award ever if he ever gets it all out. Yet still adorable.
-And here we go. Incoming Sherlock.
-"In a crowd of strangers one feels as if one is staring into the face of an old friend." Oh crap. Hang on to something John, your world's about to get blown to bits by Sherlock Holmes. Again.
(that faaaace!)
(Oh! Sherlock's little hand gesture, half-hidden behind the lamp, he lets go of the glasses and reaches just a tiny bit towards John as he's staggering to his feet, like he has an impulse to reach out to steady him but just can't yet and just ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! *flailing everywhere*
Went a little cap-happy there, but there are moments that command me to mash the capture button like a rat on crack. Such as when I am being killed by several things, but mainly by JOHN WATSON'S FAAAAAAACE. *flailflailflail*
-"Short version: Not Dead." Well, that's gonna need some elaboration.
-And again. Only now everyone's face is trying to kill me.
-"Bit mean springing it on you like that, I know. Could have given you a heart attack, probably still will, but in my defense it was very funny." Yep. Sherlock Holmes, trolling John Watson with his own return from death since 1903.
-Oh dear. I think John's about to explode. Definitely not about to faint.
-"Okay, it's not a great defense." No, it really isn't. *headshake*
-"Oh no, you're-"/"Oh yes." I'm so glad Mary's in the loop.
-So much love for the little dialog interchange between Sherlock and Mary. I think it bodes well for them getting along in future.
-"Does yours rub off too?" Oh god. I'm thinking that on some subconscious level Sherlock actually really wants to get punched. Although I think he's consciously hoping to make John laugh. Though at this point the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
-"Oh my god, oh my god, do you have any idea what you've done?" Safe to say NOPE.
-"I'm starting to realize I probably owe you some sort of an apology-"/John: *uncappable table-punch* YAH THINK? MAYBE??? How about start with shutting up a second and letting John say something?
-"Two years." With the inhaling and the broken sounds and snuffling and things SEE HOW EXPRESSIVE HIS NOSE IS EVEN WHEN IT'S NOT MOVING MUCH?
-"That I thought- *sad snuffly croaky John noises*" Oh god, I think I'm just going to have to sit back and cap for a bit. *flail*
"-I thought-"
"-you were dead."
"That you let me grieve."
*flllaaaaaaaaailllliiiiiinnnngggg*
-I think Sherlock might be starting to get it, but it's hard to say yet. Though that tiny little hand-reach earlier does say a few things about Sherlock's awareness of how all this is effecting John.
-"How could you do that?" I am seriously dying of face here. Oh god, and the unselfconscious snuffling noises, oh god.
-"Before you do anything that you might regret-" HA. No, I don't think John would regret much of anything he might do right now. Good reasons or no good reasons. Also, you may want to continue this conversation in a less public location.
-"Let me ask one question." Oh crap. This is going to be the thing that tips John over the edge. Because it's going to be something so absolutely sideways oblivious to everything currently relevant at this moment. Like why'd he move out, or something daft about the mustache. Because Sherlock.
-"Are you really gonna keep that?" *facepalm* YEP. And yet, he's still, in his own way, trying to break the tension by getting John to laugh, so everything will go back to the way it used to be, so he can have the home that he has in his memory back the way it was. But it's really not going to work. Really really not.
-Worked on Mary, though it's more of an incredulous laugh of "I cannot fucking believe you" than any real release of tension.
-Meanwhile, John Watson's wonderfully expressive nose has gone into full attack mode.
-Oh yes, brawl! \o/
What have I been saying? John is going to kill Sherlock? Well, throttling is close enough. *nods*
-It's interesting that right now, this is a bit of a reversal of the level of knowledge of what's happened during the "Hiatus" period. In ACD, John's day-to-day life is presented pretty clearly, he has his own practice, he's still sort of consulting with the Yard a little or at least still poking his nose in at crime scenes, et cetera. then Sherlock shows up out of the blue, waffles about some vague stuff he's been doing, and then off into the next adventure. This time we have (sort of, thanks to Anderson's theories, (which is still a little weird to say O.o)) a pretty good idea of what all Sherlock's been doing while he was gone, and a minimalist outline of what's happened with John (though it's safe to say he's got a decently-paying job given the size of the ring and the fact that he was comfortable enough at the swanky restaurant he'll probably never be allowed back into). Hmm.
-*watches that last bit again and flails some more*
-"I calculated that there were 13 possibilities once I'd lured Moriarty onto the roof." I cannot describe the noises I just made. I can't. Demented Spanish rooster comes closest. EXPLANATIONS! \o/
-"I wanted to avoid dying if at all possible." Well, that's always a nice bonus.
-I'm not sure his precise planning process here but it seems to involve some extreme parkour. Also maybe a skateboard.
-"Hurling myself into a parked hospital van filled with washing bags. Impossible. The angle was too steep." Scenario number one, laundry truck, not the one that happened. Is there a betting pool? There should probably have been a betting pool. Or like a spreadsheet of all the theories so the ones getting eliminated could be crossed off like a logic problem, although I really don't know if John's going to sit there and let him babble for long. *bounces*
-And a helicopter theory reference for those who favored helicopters.
-"A system of Japanese wrestling-" AHAHAHAHAHAHA! DIRECT ACD REFERENCE!
-"You know for a genius you can be remarkably thick?" Hee, yep. John is not ready to hear about how clever Sherlock was in turning his life into a living hell for the larger part of two years.
-"Why? Because Moriarty had to be stopped." Some specific detail would really help you there Sherlock.
-"...I see. Yes. Why. That's a little more difficult to explain."/"I've got all night." And another restaurant to throttle him in too.
-"That was mostly Mycroft's idea." Heh heh heh. Well. If John ever softened on being pissed off at Mycroft for 'betraying' Sherlock to Moriarty, he's going to have a whole new reason to be pissed off now. If it's true. Sherlock might be using Mycroft as a scapegoat for the part about having John watch. Or not. Seems Mycrofty. Hm.
-"He would have needed a confidante." *grins at Mary* Sitting there quietly listening and piping up to add something and help Sherlock's explanation because really, he's not likely to ever call Mycroft a confidante willingly, even though John is more than a little understandably pissed off at Sherlock and helping Sherlock's explanation along might get you very glared at right now. I like you, Mary. Which of course means you're even more doomed than you are already bound to be, and I'm so sorry.
-"But he was the only one? The only one who knew." Oh crap, Molly time. "Couple of others." ...Who else? Aside from people John doesn't know well. Mycroft's assorted teams and barbers don't count in this regard.
-"Molly." I can't get the face John has in transition there because blur, but HAHAHAH. Oh dear.
-"So just your brother and Molly Hooper and a hundred tramps." PFT!! Not very PC of John, but HA! And I can understand the sentiment. XD
-"Noooo. Twenty five at most." And it's throttling time again! Good thing there's so many restaurants in London. By the time they've worked their way through the lot and John's throttled him in every single one, maybe most of the explanation will be out. XD
-AHAHAHAHA! I DIDN'T MEAN THAT LITERALLY! XD Getting smaller and cheaper each time though. By the time they're clustered around a kebab cart in Hackney, this will all be sorted.
-"Seriously, it's not a joke, you're really keeping it?" *FACEPALM* And there goes another restaurant.
-Or not. Progress! "Mary likes it."/"Mmmmmm.... No she doesn't."/"She does."/"She doesn't." And then Mary.
"I didn't know how to tell you!" Just *flail* hee! Also, *points at sign in background* Kebab shop. There must be something subliminal. *looks back at previous caps* Ah ha! There was a donair/gyro/meat-tube-onna-stick thing rotating in the background, so I must have seen it without being aware and made the kebab connection unconsciously. Voila!)
-"Now this is charming, I've really missed this." Heeee!!!
-"One word, Sherlock, that is all I would have needed! One word to let me know that you were alive." Oh his voice, the strain in it at the end there. *flaaaaail*
-"I've nearly been in contact so many times-" Oh reeeeally? Hmm... And the very slightest hint of tension bobble in Sherlock's voice too as he says "so many". Because under the mental homecoming script he's still trying to make work and the usual level of Sherlock-being-Sherlock smokescreen, he is carrying stress about the whole situation and the past two years of not being able to contact John, and is using the usual 'way he is' not to show it, so that little slightest, barely there hint of strain is a sign of a crack in that defensive wall of brilliant bullshit he's wielding. The tip of an iceberg of ow. *flail*
-"I worried that you might be indiscrete."/"What?"/"You know, let the cat out of the bag."/"Oh so this is my fault!" *headdesk* WRONG TACK, SHERLOCK. You're going to get throttled in a kebab shop yet.
-You know, it's generally a bad idea to shout secret things at each other in a kebab shop. Particularly when one of those things is the name of a recently-exonerated-and back-in-the-popular-press dead consulting detective. ...heh *snerk* I'm having an attack of Shakespeare suddenly. "He died, my lord, but whilst his slander lived." Sorry, sorry. XD
-"I don't want everyone knowing I'm still alive!" Then perhaps getting into brawls with your almost-as-well-known-best-friend (who will be under media attention again for a reaction to the results of the inquiry) in restaurants all over London isn't the wisest idea, hmm? ...or... heh. Maybe that is the idea. Get word out that Sherlock's still alive, draw the attention of whoever's planning that attack on London... heh heh heh. Makes sense though, because if Sherlock was this bad at keeping himself secret out on an extended covert op, he'd have been dead in under a week. Or Mycroft's been covering for him (like Penny does with Inspector Gadget, hee XD). Or he's off his usual stride because of home and John and awww. But most likely, it's a deliberate plan, ambushing John in public for maximum disruption. If that is the plan and John ever finds out, he's going to kill you again some more aaaaall over the place. You'll have to go be throttled in every restaurant in Birmingham or something.
-"London is in danger, John, there's an imminent terrorist attack and I need your help." Oh and John's face does a thing. Because a lot has happened in the last few hours for John, and while in ACD canon, Watson is off and away like a shot tra la, our John might have to struggle a bit to get back into the game. However, it being a larger concern than the problem of the original "Empty House" is going to have more pull over John for when he eventually does help, and be more realistic for him to set things aside and in the process, start 'undenting'. I love this. All the stakes are upped. *glee* Also, further throttling is not yet off the table.
-"Just the two of us against the rest of the world-"/*HEAD-BUTT* Or (uncappable) head-butting, (as was mentioned in spoilers). For when throttling's getting repetitive and really doesn't seem to be getting the message to sink in.
-"I don't understand, I said sorry, isn't that what I'm supposed to do?" And now Sherlock's trying to figure out what he's doing wrong and why his homecoming is going so differently than he'd imagined by talking to Mary. Mary! He really is out of sorts, considering how he usually treats John's romantic interests.
-"Gosh, you don't know anything about human nature, do you?" Not unless it involves someone committing a felony. Which really, if Sherlock keeps on as he has been, may just be a result here.
-"I'll talk him round." Might seem a bit odd to have Mary seeming to be on Sherlock's side here, but really, helping John accept the status quo long enough to get a solid explanation out of Sherlock about this whole mess without further injury or ejection from restaurants is really in John's best interest. This is a major shock, and a major change in his life again, and coping with it is something that needs to happen, and I'm guessing Mary has enough background on John's situation to ease things around so John can heal.
-"You will?" Aw. Sherlock's not used to having someone else in his corner, especially not one of John's girlfriends and certainly not so soon after having met him.
(based solely on this screencap, Sherlock Holmes and Bernard Black really are cousins, aren't they?)
-Mary has this wonderful smirk. Just look at that smirk. Isn't it smirky? *twirls*
-Mary-deducing time! Caps ahoy.
So, linguist, part-time nurse, only child (loved the little cluster of 'clever's there), shortsighted, guardian (except it's always capitalized so maybe that's the newspaper?), secret, liar, disillusioned, bakes bread and has a tattoo, a scar, a cat and an appendix (or doesn't, maybe that's the scar), Lib and Dem which I think is a political affiliation, the number 12... Oh it's a size. No surprise on some of that if you've read the books (which I don't think say a lot about Mary) or seen other interpretations (Ritchie movies in particular), but still cool. Wonder what Sherlock's going to make of some of that. Because if he takes the previously-seen-in-other-adaptations route, it could get even more difficult between him and John.
-And this look at John in the car. Just concern and caring and just *flappy hands* it's there in a split second as the car passes and it's gone. Okay. I really like Mary. Genuinely really like Mary.
-"Can you believe his nerve?"/"I like him."/"What?"/"I like him." And much as that's probably not what John wants to hear right now, the calm smirky acceptance is probably going to go farther in the long run in settling John down long enough to, well. Let Sherlock get past his own ridiculous notions of making the script of 'homecoming' he's expecting John to follow happen and actually try getting some communication happening between the two of them. Also, Mary's probably the first of John's romantic affiliations to say that and mean it, and also to not be dismissed out of hand initially by Sherlock. Sarah I think was okay with Sherlock and vice versa eventually, but overall cooler and more distant. Sarah would have been okay, but Mary's a keeper. Yes, yes, and I can see the monolithic OW coming from here.
-HI MOLLY!! HI!!! OH, IS IT REUNION TIME FOR EVERYONE NOW?? :-D
-GAH! It's a good thing Molly already knew you were alive, dude, you could kill a person messing around with horror movie tropes like that.
-HI AGAIN LESTRAAAADE!!! *FLAIL* And Sherlock, stalking in the same pace of footfalls in the distance. Oh hell, I can almost see Lestrade pulling a canon ACD Watson and fainting on seeing him. Almost. I suppose at least Sherlock is trolling everyone. Maybe it's an experiment. "Will everyone try to throttle me on sight, or is it just John?" Regardless, he hasn't learned anything about not surprising people when he lets them know he's back from the dead. XD
-Oh dear, Lestrade's fallen off the patches without his patch-buddy. Awwwww.
-"Those things will kill you." AHAHAHAHHAAHHAHA. Such a troll.
-"Ooo, you bastard." Quick on the uptake is our Lestrade. Also, on some level prepared for the possibility by listening to Anderson's theories and in some desperate guilt-raddled corner of his mind, believing too.
-"You've been letting things slide, Graham."/"Greg." At least he got the G right? Though if he's going to do the whole theatrical looming return from the dead, he should really get the details down right. Also also, 'letting things slide'? Lestrade might throttle you too, with your handy scarf.
-OMG LESTRADE HUGGING!!!!!!!! \o/ And that's how you greet the guy you met as a 20-something kid with a fantastic mind and a drug problem who you helped or watched get clean and start to grow into a good person as well as a brilliant one, but then thought you lost it all when something you were involved with seemed to have pushed him into suicide, but then he turns up back alive. It's a very specific kind of hug that way. Oh and SHERLOCK'S FACE! He might rather have gotten punched. XD
-Oh, well, if they're going to have blatant chiaroscuro for John, I must mention it. The way John's face is half in light and half in darkness. Often used in film to signify internal conflict in feelings or motivations, or to show a descent into madness through inner turmoil, and the spinning around is exacerbating that depiction of internal conflict. Not to mention the spinning being a direct correlation for John's entire world being turned upside down by Sherlock Holmes yet again. So, while John's face is as pissed off as hell and not going to stand for any of these shenanigans, he's really not nearly as set solid in that stance as that baleful glare at the darkened ceiling might indicate. Not like thats a huge surprise or anything, but still.
-Oh crap. If Sherlock's sneaking up on Mrs Hudson, he really might give her a heart attack. Or she's going to beat him with the saucepan. 50/50 chance. Well. 10/90. Saucepan far more likely than heart attack, considering the treatment John got for just not calling her.
-Hm. Before Mrs Hudson switched it off, the radio was saying something about an anti-terrorist bill being pushed through legislation. Hmmmm. Wonder if this is an actual terrorist attack, or something organized by a group that really wants that bill to go through unopposed... Mycroft did tell Sherlock about this supposed attack... hmmmmmm... *ponders intently*
-GO SAUCEPAN! \o/
-Oh, well crap. Not like you've got a distinctive silhouette or anything.
-Screaming also an option. Probably followed by the saucepan. And then eventually hugging. And a lot of yelling.
-Whaaaat?
-AAAAAAAAhahahaahahahahahahaha. It's another Anderson theory. *waves hi to Moriarty just because* XD
-*facepalm* I think maaaaybe Anderson's drunk. XD
-... oh god, they didn't. O.O
-*commences choking on everything ever* ANDERSON, YOU'RE CUT OFF. NO MORE TEQUILA SLAMMERS FOR YOU TONIGHT. XD
-"WHAT!? Are you out of your mind!?" Oh, it's someone else's theory. Or fanfic. After two years, the lines are likely starting to blur a little.
(Side note; I don't know what the Sherlock fandom's reaction to this bit in particular was as I'm avoiding the internet until I finish watching the episode, but I can see how maybe this might have disconcerted some fans. Me though, I watch Supernatural and am used to the fourth wall going a little smashy in the direction of fandom now and then. Our sort of gothy Sherlock/Moriarty shipper here has a loooooong way to go before she gets anywhere near Becky Rosen status. *pats Moffat*)
-"It's just as plausible as some of your theories." ...true. Though that whole Derren Brown/James Bond thing could have been really believable with a bit less artistic interpretation. Maybe. Or not.
-"I founded the Empty Hearse." Oh dear god, it's the name of a conspiracy/fan club founded by Anderson. Oh god. That's... so very Anderson. In a way I can't explain. Ever.
(Does every flat in Sherlock's London have insane wallpaper or what? And if so, where is Sherlock's monograph on the commonality of designs and the statistical likelihood of them triggering a psychotic episode in the flat's occupants?)
-"Sherlock's still out there. I'm convinced of it." And cue the serendipitous news reporter! If getting 'discovered' to be alive was part of Sherlock's plan, it's worked, and if it wasn't, he's screwed. Either way, he's going to be so pissed off to find out he's being called the "Hat Detective". And Anderson's club is about to explode in squee, but that's just a side effect.
-AHAHAHAHAHAHAAH. Cute. I'd heard something about there being a promo and Twitter going boom. I guess this was it?
-And I bet after everyone took off to go squee all over everything, Anderson checked out enough news reports and first-hand accounts to make sure it was real and then sat there in front of his computer alone in the dark for a while and had a good cathartic cry. Awww, Anderson. *pats*
-*squints at text* Aw, it looks like they had the Speckled Band case as well as the Speckled Blonde and we didn't really get to see either. Also, has John's writing style gotten more florid, or... *raises an eyebrow at those first two sentences*
-Awwwww. Her pajama pants match the pillows and her top matches the lamps, that's very... organized? Also, if Mary betas John's blog, I'm going to hurt myself from grinning.
(*casts wary eye at wallpaper* Seriously, is it everywhere? Is it an alien invasion? Has the Doctor been made aware?)
-HE'S SHAVING IT OOOOOFFFFFFF!!! Good. He's had the Watson Mustache in his time of Reichenbach grief, now it can move on. *nods sagely*
-"Don't read that." Aww. I bet she'd be a great beta. *pats Mary*
-"Well you hate it."/"Sherlock hates it."/"Apparently everyone hates it." The little noise and face Mary makes at that, like an amused owl. Hee!
-"Six months of bristly kisses for me and then his nibs turns up." Mary also has this face. It does wonderful things that make me laugh like an asthmatic baboon. :-)
(I will not be distracted by the wallpaper, I will not be distracted by the wallpaper, I will not be distrac- ...Are those headless peacocks? O.o)
-"London. It's like a great cesspool into which all kinds of criminals, agents and drifters are irresistibly drained." I think that's a near-ACD quote, but I'm not certain. *fistpump* anyway. Given the attitude evident in that statement, quote or otherwise, it seems Sherlock has entered a noir phase during his return. Maybe he'll start wearing a fedora instead of a deerstalker, ha ha.
-Oh. Sherlock 'dies', John moves out and doesn't communicate much, she doesn't seek out new renters, she leaves the majority of his stuff exactly where it was, and she leaves the bullet-riddled happy face on the wall. Oh Mrs Hudsooon! *SMISHY HUGS AND TEA*
-"Sometimes it's not a question of who. It's a question of who knows." He's also been hanging around Mycroft a bit. XD
-Oh yes. Kind of loving Sherlock being a spymaster in the use of the Homeless network. More formalized than it was before he left, I'd say. His time away has changed him. As it bloody well should have, all things considered. Which... is kind of absent in the ACD canon, really. Not just because of the general way of things in the era the books were written, but because ACD was pretty much writing Sherlock back to life because among other fiscal incentives and so forth, the Victorian fans were driving him nuts and tracking down his mum at social clubs to beg her to get Arthur to unkill Sherlock Holmes. Soooo, ACD's a little rushed and handwavey on the details of what happened to each of them, particularly on an emotional and worldview level, during Sherlock's 'death' in order to get back to the adventuring as fast as possible. That wouldn't go over so well in this iteration, methinks.
-HI JOHN'S UPPER LIP!!!! YOU HAVE BEEN MISSED!!! \o/
-Ah, where John works! Clinic? Not a hospital, not an imposing enough frontage.
-Just... *beams*
-Oh god, chess and acerbic snarking. Wow. Two years with no contact with your actual life other than your 'arch-enemy' brother will patch a lot of fences it seems. (Though I don't doubt we'll get back to screeching violins and constant worry once things get more settled) O.o
(I've been watching too much Hobbit lately, that chessboard looks like it's got some kind of forced perspective thing going on, like it's closer to the camera than they are. *rubs eyes*)
-"Secret terrorist organization planning an attack, that's what secret terrorist organizations do, isn't it? It's their version of golf." HA! Well, he does have a point, there is a difference between planning and carrying out or implementing a plan. You can sit around forever planning and nothing might ever actually happen.
-"An agent gave his life to tell us that." As Anthea also said, in much the same words... hm... *scrolls back* Nope, she said one of their men died. I was beginning to suspect some sort of weasel-wording definition of 'gave his life' to mean something other than dying... though technically Sherlock 'died' and... hm. I'm over-thinking this far too early. Mycroft is just setting off my paranoia about handwavey government conspiracies regarding scaring the populace into supporting legislation that will make it easier for him to keep track of what everyone is doing with even less concern for watchdog groups and oversight committees. Hm. Or the opposite, if he's trying to expose a fake terror plot to put the bill under further scrutiny and curtail governmental surveillance and selective bending of human rights other than his own. *side-eyes Mycroft*
-"Perhaps he shouldn't have done, he was obviously just trying to show off." Heh heh heh. And now I wonder if they aren't actually talking about something Sherlock turned up but wasn't aware of the full ramifications of while he was out and about.
-"Oh bugger!" HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH Oh god. Operation. So yeah. The chessboard was forced perspective. Hobbit shout-out? XD
-"That takes me back. 'Don't be smart, Sherlock. I'm the smart one.'" Awww.
-"I am the smart one." He manages to sound so evil when he says that.
-"I used to think I was an idiot." AWWWWWWWWWWW!!!! *wraps wee!Sherlock in blankets and feeds him cocoa*
-"Both of us thought you were an idiot, Sherlock." Mycroft, I will smack you. "We had nothing else to go on until we met other children." Ah. Sounds like they were home-schooled in a remote area and then introduced to other children to 'socialize' them. Aw. A society of two, baffled by a world of idiots. Awwwwwww.
-"Ah yes. Friends." And Mycroft goes a bit sharky because you just know he was set up in front of the CCTV monitors last night with a big ol' bowl of popcorn, watching John throttle and head-butt Sherlock all over town. Troll.
-"I'm living in a world of goldfish." I'd like to see art of that statement. Grumpy Mycroft at the bottom of a fishbowl in a little diver's helmet, surrounded by familiar-looking yet vapid goldfish.
-"I've been away for two years. I thought you might have found yourself a... goldfish." Hee, that's almost bizarre, Sherlock expressing a kind of sideways concern for Mycroft's social life. Those two years must have been serious hell for him. And at the same time, it's a bit heart-warming? Though Mycroft's not likely to take it that way.
-"Change the subject. Now." Nope. Mycroft's allowed to take an intense interest in Sherlock's personal life and companions, but not the reverse. AHAHAHA, his face! XD
-Looking at it in daylight, is that the same sofa? Was that chair always there? *looks back at series one caps* It totally was, and I didn't notice. Huh. Once again, the set design crew is astounding in their awesomeness.
-"I just can't believe it, him sitting in his chair again!" AW MRS HUDSON, all happy! AND THEN SHERLOCK HAS THIS FACE AND JUST LOOK AT HIM WITH THE HAPPY SHE'S HAPPY AND ALL!!! *FLAIL* At least some of his homecoming is going according to his hopes. Awwwww *smishes the two of them*
-"I can barely contain myself." *snerk*
-"He's secretly pleased to see you under all that-" MRS HUDSON'S MYCROFT FACE FOR THE WIN. Hard to cap though it may be.
-"Both of you." Or her Holmes face. Regardless. MRS HUDSON WINS.
-Something about the way Sherlock is looking at Mycroft here makes him look about five. It's adorable.
-"Let's do 'Deductions'." You know, it makes so much sense, with the way Sherlock gives the big long spiels and all that that they started doing it as a game as kids. Aw. We're getting a considerable amount of Holmes backstory for the series in this.
-"Client left this while I was out, what do you reckon." Aw, clients kept showing up even though he was dead? Or people have already started showing up to hire him again now that he's been announced as alive? Hm. Probably the former, there'd be a hell of a pile of media to fight through if it was the latter. And, Sherlock and Mycroft doing the throw-and-catch thing kind of like Sherlock and John, awwww.
-"*deductions* ...Damn." And Sherlock gets Mycroft to play despite himself. And Mycroft is probably the person who most needs to cut loose and play out of everyone in Sherlock's life. Aww. My god, it's practically brotherly schmoop around here.
-I'm just going to flail allll over this game of deduction volleyball they've got going on tossing the hat back and forth. Because hee!
-"I've written a blog on the varying tensile strengths of different natural fibers." Of course you have. *ruffles Sherlock's hair and pinches his cheeks* Kind of outing yourself as alive though, posting monographs on your blog. Maybe it's an old one. Or, you know, a deliberate 'here I am' to draw out the et cetera as previously mentioned. Not that much of that matters if he's posted it after the news reports. Not much time to do materials testing and write a monograph. Maybe he did the testing in the field (the original Holmes said he spent some time researching coal-tar derivatives while he was gone) and did the write-up when he got back. Hm. Anyway.
-"Plain as the nose on your-" *giggles*
-Social isolation being deduced because he wears that hat doesn't quite work, though. Around here, quite a few people wear that kind of hat, particularly 20-something young women who spend a lot of time on the ski-hill. It's practically fashionable, or at least it was the last time I paid attention. Less likely to be in London though, no ski-hill. As far as I know.
-...I'm not sure if it's Sherlock's hat or not now. Halitosis doesn't suit, and while he might wear it as a disguise, I really cannot see him getting sentimentally attached to that hat without a darn good reason. Unless that's all done deliberately and it's one of his disguise hats, which is possible.
-"He's different, so what, why would he mind? Why would anyone mind?" Oh and so this is all about Mycroft not forming any social bonds. Sherlock really has spent far too much time with him lately.
-"I'm not lonely, Sherlock." Mycroft also has this face. It makes me giggle. And go aw.
-The intent stare is fighting with the hat, but I think the stare is winning.
-"How would you know?" Owwwwwww. Because Sherlock's spent two years being alone after having friends and saw what he had missed having most of his life in missing it again. Also, big clue for Mycroft being lonely, he's willing to hang out and play Operation with Sherlock, which is an almost entirely non-mental game, and likely not his thing at all, but he's still doing it because he gets to have some purely social interaction with Sherlock to go with the mission reports. Aw, Mycroft. I'd smish you, but I doubt you want your suit rumpled. *pats*
-Aw, and Sherlock and Mrs Hudson, just awwwww. Family isn't always blood.
Continued in...
PART THREE
PART FOUR
(PLEASE, NO SPOILERS OR REFERENCES TO ANY INFORMATION AT ALL FOR OR ABOUT EPISODES PAST 3.01 IN COMMENTS! )