Picspam Reaction/Recap: Sherlock Series 3 Episode 1 (Part 4 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 4
PART ONE
PART TWO
PART THREE
PART FOUR - "The Empty Hearse"
And now...
-OH! OH! HEY! THE BOMB TIMER STARTED WHEN THE POWER WENT ON! Cut the power to the traaaain! *flappy hands* Get one of the demo blocks from the chimney, trot it to a point a safe distance away, and uh. Drop it on the center rail. From a safe distance. All in 2.5 minutes or less. Eeek... O.o
-"WHY DO YOU NEVER CALL THE POLICE?" In fairness, the police would still be finding their way down there and you'd have had to wait up top for them, so no one would have had a chance at defusing the bomb at all before it blew. Though evacuation of the people up in the buildings above would have been nice.
-"Go John. Go now." Oh god. *flail*
-And John makes some excellent points about that option, but you've gotta think how it must terrify Sherlock right now that John will die after what he went through to keep him alive.
-"Mind palace."/"Hm?" HEE! In under two minutes, find how to defuse a bomb, because you might have seen it once somewhere. Oh they are really grasping at some serious straws. Though really, this scenario is a bit of a 'dick GM' move, and if straws are all they have left to grasp, one of them must work.
-"You think I've got 'how to defuse a bomb' tucked away in there somewhere?" Sherlock's face does a thing, hee!
-"Yes!" Because he's John Watson, and even after the horrific Reichenbaching he's had, he will always believe in his Holmes. *smishes them both so hard*
-Well, if he can't find anything in his Mind Palace, he might manage to give himself an aneurysm and drop dead before the bomb goes off. O.o
-And then his face when he can't provide an answer and can't solve the problem. Like not living up to John's faith is worse than not having the answer. If they get out of this (which of course they will), you just know he's going to memorize a stack of textbooks on bomb disposal.
-And then the desperate noises and frantic scrabbling at the floor and the bomb, as John goes into a bit of fatalistic freefall.
-"I'm sorry." Oh god. *flaaaail*
-"Please, John, forgive me. For all the hurt that I've caused you." Like he's praying. *HIGHLY EMOTIONAL KEYMASHING EVERYWHERE*
-"Another one of your bloody tricks." Oh god. *wordless hand flapping and gestures at screen* He's doubting Sherlock but at the same time he's really not because it means John still has faith that Sherlock's got a way to save them. He's now assuming Sherlock will get the forgiveness, turn the distressed cracking voice and pleading eyes off like a faucet and twiddle a widget to stop the bomb. And really if he actually does that, more throttling is definitely in order.
-"This is to make you look good even though you behaved like a-" And then his face does ALL THE THINGS. With some excellent sound work by his wonderfully expressive nose.
-"*stamps foot* I wanted you not to be dead."/"Yeah, well, be careful what you wish for." *flail*
-"If I hadn't come back you wouldn't be standing there, and you'd still have a future with Mary." Ow, ow, ow, keeping an eye on the vid counter and if the timer's running true they have 27 seconds left which is loads in TV time and of course they'll make it out, but god damn.
-"Yeah. I know." And he stops him from saying anything more about Mary because it's already pretty hard to die when you aren't ready, and leaving Mary this way is probably about the most horrible thing he can feel right now, and he just can't. Even though they'll both be fine. But it's like Sherlock faking his death. The feelings are still real. (20 seconds)
-*whimpers* Sad Sherlock HURTS ME.
-"I find it difficult, this sort of stuff." Most people do.
-"You were the best and the wisest man-" Me: *hits pause and has to leave the room for a minute* Oh my god. *breathes* Okay. We go there then. John has 10 seconds. This is excruciating. Even in the abridged version. "-that I have ever known."
-Oh. Oh. Sherlock's face. He didn't hear John say what he did at his grave. He was too far away. He didn't even know. Oh, his face.
And I really hope one of them looks at that timer soon, because the bomb was supposed to go off two seconds ago. Although Sherlock was looking down while John was speaking there, so he's seen whatever it's doing and hasn't stopped John and that's all going to get nothing but awkward. I suspect Mycroft. Who could also do with being throttled by John.
-"Yes of course I forgive you." Of course he does. *flappy hands*
-Okay, so, no. Because the bomb was to go off 15 seconds ago, that light is coming from outside the train, and seriously, like these guys are actually gonna die. Unless the other two episodes of this Series and all future series' are with them as ghosts or as a crossover with Supernatural or Doctor Who or something else with revolving-door Death and timey-wimey causality loops, which would also be cool, but not what the BBC signed up for, I think, they aren't going to die, the bomb won't go off. So. Another train full of bomb-disposal crew coming up the track after someone further along cut the bomb signal in some way, which was sent when Mycroft caught enough info from the Skype call between 221B and the train-spotter? Which means Mycroft's going to sashay onto this car in a minute acting like it's the end of the goddamn Kobayashi Maru and collect a Watsonian punch in the teeth. Or could be someone's dream sequence? Heh. Maybe this is all in Sherlock's Mind Palace. XD
-What? Oh! An explanation? I'd really rather John get it directly, but maybe it's better for Sherlock to give this to him on a DVD and then, like, leave for Scotland for a week.
-"Mycroft fed Moriarty information about me." *nods* Yep. So they'd know who to put extra guards and watchers on to find the people Moriarty had assigned as snipers/watchers and follow them back to their organizational cells. As I mentioned waaay in the beginning of this when I was trying to make Anderson's theory make sense. *nods*
-*watches avidly* Really really wishing I'd gotten around to posting a proper updated and much more detailed thing about theories etc, even just to point back at, because I'm basically nodding at much of this and going "Yeah that's what I thought."
-Thirteen possible scenarios. Right. Laundry truck is one but out, Baritsu is another, also out. Next!
-"Each of them were rigorously worked out and given a code name." YAY!!! I LOVE WELL-PLANNED CRAP WITH CODE NAMES! So all he has to do is drop a word in a call, or send a text, or say a specific phrase in the goodbye call to John, or just say something on the roof if there's a sound pickup up there or a parabolic pointed his way and Moriarty won't let him communicate by any other means. WHEE! \o/
-"But the one thing I didn't anticipate was just how far Moriarty was prepared to go." AHAHA! One thing I love more than well-planned crap with code names is LAST MINUTE HASH-SCRAMBLE IMPROVISED CRAP, BECAUSE THE ADVERSARIAL CHARACTER DID SOMETHING UNEXPECTED AND ALL THE CAREFUL PLANNING GOES STRAIGHT TO HELL. As long as I'm not the one GM-ing. \o/
-|LAZARUS| *glee*
-Okay, for pointing and laughing purposes, here's the post I made about how I thought he did it, back in January 2012. Laundry truck is already out.
-CRASH BAG!!! \o/ Who called crash bag? I know someone called it. It's great because it's another thing the show would be able to just use straight filming footage for, because that's what the stunt guy/Benedict jumped into for the last bit, after Benedict spooled down on the safety harness and rope. Ahah. Ha ha. And the crash bag would be deflated after use and could be pulled away and shoved on to the laundry truck while John was knocked down, wouldn't it. The laundry truck that notably contained among other stuff, big squashy BLUE things. Of course. *facepalm* That makes it actually Sherlock alive on the ground, no need for masks etc, but what about the fixed stare and lack of obvious breathing or blinking? I hypothesized a neuromuscular inhibitor... that would... keep him... oh well fuck. *facepalm* IT'S THE SAME SHIT THAT JUST GOT USED ON JOHN!!! They shot Sherlock up with it so he'd look dead, and they shot John up with it so he'd be cooperative about having a bonfire built overtop of him. Which means Mycroft's team put John in the bonfire to focus Sherlock's attention and that Mycroft really really needs a goddamn punch in the teeth. Assuming that I'm right about the cause of the fixed stare here, but I'm thinking I probably am.
-Molly is in place. *nods*
-Watcher of some sort. Was she the one earlier on in TRF who was at the bench when Moriarty and Sherlock were looking down, and she was doing something with her bag? ...don't think so. Different coat. Hm... She wasn't in the crowd around the body though. Hmm.
-Heh heh heh. Yep. And you.
-Oh, and a spare! Ohhh! In case John was in a different position or the first bike missed? (Also, the construction zone noted for the article about Bart's in the newspaper Sherlock was reading in Scandal in Belgravia, so YAY CONTINUITY!)
-Bunch of thuggish types? Are they another backup plan, or are they crowd, or are they watching and following Moriarty's watchers?
-PEEK BEHIND THE CURTAIN!! Oh! The thuggish types are carrying the inflated crash pad and hiding behind that car. That works. Just in case John gets too far around the building before Sherlock can turn him back or refuses to turn back at all. And truck full of squishy blue things is in place. They could have made the truck be in the right position by parking it on the sidewalk, but that would be too conspicuous as they are all hiding this from not only John but those watching John and Sherlock as well, and the sides would make targeting the landing too tricky. *nods*
-"Stay exactly where you are!" Because, if you go to far one way or another and look away from Sherlock for a second (not much chance of that) you'll see...
-The crash bag being carried in. Which is really frigging noticeable, but being slightly screened at ground level by moving vehicles. Wouldn't screen it from anyone with a high vantage point like the sniper, who will be keeping his scope on John once he's in place, which might take a short while, as the red herring sending John back to 221B would make his position an unpredictable variable until his return, and when John did return, his focus would be on John his target. Tricky, but workable. Especially since Mycroft's team has likely been all over the hospital and surrounding buildings, making sure certain angles on the courtyard were inaccessible or inconvenient to watchers and snipers by unassuming means, or by making the vantage points they want Moriarty's people to take especially tempting, easy to access and secure. That part would be the same regardless of whichever of the 13 aborted plans got used, and still applies on the mad eleventh hour scramble. *nods*
-ANDERSON GOT A BIT RIGHT! Yay Anderson! Aw. I really hope he meets up with Sherlock. Just 'cause.
-Going behind the curtain/ambulance block now.
-Wheee! Nice mid-air turn.
-And they're off!
-"But we needed him to see a body." Who looks nothing like Sherlock up close, so that's some poor bastard they just dumped out the window to make a crunch sound and be a lump on the pavement in the distance before John gets knocked over by the cyclist. Did his corpse get pitched into the laundry truck so Sherlock could take his place? Seriously, something is going in the blasted laundry truck.
-And a Not!Sherlock hitting the pavement with actual body crunch noise. Not likely audible to John, but these details count, particularly when you're trying to make up for the sound of a crash bag landing. Give enough visual evidence to confirm what John thinks he saw, the mind will edit out the wrongness of the noise. Trauma is trauma. *nods*
-WHEE! ALL THE RUNNING AROUND! I also love that the guys handling the crash pad are likely actual film crew and not actors at all, since there's no point in hiring an actor to do something you've got people doing already when there's no need for actual acting.
-And body on the pavement as in TRF, same shot. And the laundry truck. *nods*
-Running around in circles, to avoid being seen, another half dozen footfalls and a big floofy bag rustling won't make much difference in the sound level when John's horrendously distracted and about to be more so.
-GOD DAMN LAUNDRY TRUCK DROVE AWAY WITH NOTHING GOING IN IT AT ALL. Just there as a screen, though maybe they'll stuff the crash bag in it when John's down and it's off to the side. So unless shown otherwise, I will think of that truck as stopping, getting a crash bag thrown into it, and having a bunch of thuggish looking men either walk nonchalantly in different directions, or all hang off the laundry cage, Barrel of Monkeys style. *nods*
-Aaaand cyclist!
-Again, love that that's probably an actual makeup/fx guy from the set, doing his job on screen being an operative instead of off-screen being tech crew.
-And away goes the dead guy...
-And in comes Sherlock. And Stethoscope guy... who... *squints* Might be one of the guys who nabbed John earlier this episode? I am horrible with faces. As evidenced by Derren Brown.
-"Squash ball under the armpit." SQUASH BALL! Called it! \o/ Heh. Though I think we all called that one. XD
-Now. How badly do we need to kill Mycroft Holmes? "Let me come through please." ...maybe not it seems. No injections given, unless he's hiding that bit, so he's keeping his eyes open, fixed and staring by will alone. Hm. Still think Mycroft did abduct John and put him in the bonfire though, maybe wet the wood to delay the fire, and just didn't plan for accelerant. Just... Hm.
-And so stethoscope guy's shoulder shake is to present John with the ball-prepared outstretched arm, AND to hide excess signs of breathing. But no injections...
-Which means. Oh god you guys. Sherlock was fully conscious. Sherlock saw John there. Shocked, broken, horrified, devastated John. And still kept his eyes open, fixed and was non-reactive. To John, there, fighting to get to him, half-collapsing, practically crying beside him, convinced he was dead. Oh god. DDD-:
-And of course the snow/slush/rain isn't solidified Hound gas, which is why that bit was in the crack/wtf/lol post about series 2, and not the main theory post. Much as it would have been cool. I'll probably keep watching for ways it could be used though. What can I say, I like the potential of the stuff. I get the feeling it's going to be the thing for the Sherlock series for me that's like dream root has been for me on Supernatural.
-OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD. YOU GUYS. ANDERSON IS FILMING THIS! WHICH NOW MEANS *beats on arm of chair and points at Sherlock on screen* UNRELIABLE NARRATOR! HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN GIVEN AN INJECTION, BUT IF IT'S SOME KIND OF TOP SECRET SPECIAL OPS ONLY DRUG THAT'S CLASSIFIED, HE COULDN'T HAVE SAID ANYTHING ABOUT IT IN THIS RECORDING, ONE THAT ANDERSON WILL PROBABLY BE PUTTING ON YOUTUBE! (He couldn't say anything about Hound gas either if that was used, but I don't think there are any huge gaps remaining for it to fill in.) I AM STILL CALLING HIM BEING GIVEN A SHOT OF NEUROMUSCULAR INHIBITOR. AND MYCROFT DEFINITELY NEEDS A PUNCH IN THE FACE.
-"Molly. Molly Hooper. She was in on it?" Dude, you called Molly being involved yourself (and Derren Brown, but *handwave*) Own your partly correct theory! \o/
-"You remember the little girl who was abducted by Moriarty?" WAIT WHAT? WHAT ABOUT HER? O.o
-*nods along with explanation of logical bad guy behaviour* "That meant there was a corpse in the morgue who looked just like me." ...*blink* .......Oh for- *facepalm* I think I just figured out what Moffat said we were all missing, guys (although it seems to me someone mentioned it in passing as a corpse source during the Great Theory Flurry of 2012). I think I just made the same face as Anderson here, only less beardy. XD
-"I've got lots of coats." Heh. Judging by the last counts I saw on that particular coat (which the company is being very silly in still not bringing back into production), there are very few left in the wild. The Sherlock crew has 3 or 4 of them and are probably very concerned about stunt damage and wear and tear. For instance, the buttonhole on that one is starting to look a little fuzzy.
-"He was invited to reconsider." Hee! I recall doing similar when I did the last part of the reaction post for 2.03, something to the tune of "You better back off, sniper-guy. I'mma hurt you." XD
-"Is it done? Good." He sounds rather irritated about it for an op designed to save the life of the baby brother he 'worries about, constantly.' Though really, he's going to have a fun time spinning this to his internal finance division, if they planned and supplied for 13 variations and had to slap together a fourteenth on the spot and source any new equipment or assets.
(Even Mycroft is not safe from the curse of the wallpaper... O.o)
-The Homeless Network cordoned the streets. "Like a scene from a play." A play a little like Act 2 of Noises Off in spots it sounds like, but yeah.
-"Neat, don't you think?" Awwww. He's looking for approval and appreciation of his genius and ingenuity from Anderson, you guys. Anderson. Awwwwwwwwww.
-"Eh. Not the way I'd have done it." AHAHAHAHAAHAH. No, you'd have a Mission Impossible team and Derren Brown, but you also don't have to explain the expense to a budget committee.
-"Oh really?" Oh dear, he's going to get one of Anderson's crack theories. I get the feeling that the status of the relationship between Sherlock and Anderson is about to return to 'quo'. XD
-"A bit... disappointed." Hee! Well, spend two years imagining scenarios which have no need for budgetary or staffing (or occasionally laws of physics) constraints, reality is going to look a little less sparkly. To be honest if snow/rain form hound gas had been involved I would have been insufferable. I'm only clinging to the injection being given because it makes John's abduction make sense and, handily, sets up a damn fine reason for a return to a more typical kind of Sherlock and Mycroft brotherhood. Since Mycroft kinda sorta singed and dented Sherlock's current 'Action Man', so to speak. If he did it. And I'm certain he did. Because Mycroft needed Sherlock motivated and hey wow presto, nothing motivates a Sherlock better than John whumpage. Anyway, disappointed Anderson.
-"Everyone's a critic." Aw. *pats Sherlock*
-"I think you know why I'm here, Philip." *deep extended inhale* AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! *FLAIL* ANDERSON HAS A FIRST NAME! PHILIP!! (Or something close to Philip since if Sherlock can't get Lestrade's first name right, then he's not as likely to make nearly as much effort to get Anderson's first name right.) Philip Anderson, and his frankly stunning wall o' weird.
-"'How I Did It' by Jack the Ripper?" Oh god, I'd forgotten about that. Well, Anderson has lost his job, and probably has alimony or something payments to make for his ex-wife (didn't see any rings on his left hand), so he's got to drum up an income somehow. Why not construct a hoax crime scene for some tourist cash. And of course Sherlock would have known Anderson did it from looking at the records of the auction and seeing who bought the suit. *nods*
-"Didn't you think it was intriguing?" Aw, he made the crime scene for Sherlock. AWWWW. It's like fan art, only massively massively illegal since it now involves actual police. Though admittedly not quite as illegal as committing an actual murder to make a crime scene would have been, but Anderson's not quite that obsessed with Sherlock. Which is a good thing. Eeeeheeeheeheeeheee his little grin!
-"I just couldn't live with myself, knowing that I'd driven you to-" OH ANDERSON, WUBBIE. *blankets and tea*
-"You were always right. I wasn't dead." Hope you've still got the camera running, Anderson, that might be the only time Sherlock ever says you were always right. You can extract the audio and make that a ringtone.
-"And everything's okay now, isn't it?" Aw. His hopeful fuzzy face. *pats*
-(I just had the sudden dread feeling that Anderson snapped in some way and orchestrated John ending up in the bonfire with the help of people from his club. In my defense, I've gotten a total of about 4 hours sleep and 12 cups of coffee over the weekend and I'm tending a teensy bit towards the paranoid. O.o)
-*runs down list of 'reasons not to fake a crime scene'* Now be fair Sherlock, what was distracting you from the terrorist thing was a lack of John being as you expected him to be. (And good to hear that this is after the bomb didn't blow up, since of course that wasn't going to happen. But a 'what actually happened' would be nice)
-Anderson having a bit of a breakdown and anxiety attack from the guilt oh wubbie. Grief and guilt makes you do stupid things. Just don't do it again, it's all fine now. *pats Anderson* Philip. Philip? Anderson. *nods*
-Oh Anderson. And Sherlock with the awkward little shoulder pat. Aw. *flappy hands*
-"Hang on. That doesn't make sense." Oh? Which bit? Because if Anderson gets to the muscular inhibitor theory too and gets Sherlock to admit it, I may make very loud noises.
-Nope, he's just poking holes in what's there. Right. Handwaving time. *cracks knuckles*
-Quibble 1: "How could you be sure John would stand on that exact spot? What if he'd moved?" The taxi pulled up next to the ambulance station so there were a limited number of non-restricted spots it could stop, which limited the number of places John would get out. He got out, headed for the doors, Sherlock ordered him back, he went, and in the meantime, all the players were tucked away, but still mobile and could have adjusted if needed. Sherlock directed him to the spot he needed to be and told him to look up to see where Sherlock was on the roof, and after that, John was pretty certain to stay in that position until after Sherlock fell, and when he did try to move that once, Sherlock ordered him back and told him to keep his eyes on Sherlock. When your best friend who is on the ledge of a building and about to jump asks you to do something, you do it. As he fell, it was fairly guaranteed John wouldn't move either from pure shock. So, *handwave*
-Quibble 2: "How did you do it all so quickly?" Well-trained operatives, trained to work together on similar operations, with several detailed plans in place that could be adapted to fit even the unexpected by cannibalizing them piecemeal, and using an effective and active communication system and a controller with oversight of the situation, who no one would question an order from, and who was motivated to make the operation by any means necessary: Mycroft. The Homeless Network weren't directly involved in the extraction, they were being in essence guards, cordoning off the street and staying clear of the area. I've seen similar complexities and speeds managed by crews on stage plays, and there is the built in misdirection of John being terribly distracted by Sherlock and his apparent death, an event that renders any other background information happening around you just so much irrelevant noise. And I think that's a *handwave*
-Quibble 3: "What if the bike hadn't hit him?" Field operative, probably received the same training at some point that bicycle-riding police officers do. Again, John's not looking at traffic around him when the bike hits him, he's looking at what he thinks is the dead body of his best friend. A transit van could have been coming and he might not have noticed that either. Plus there was a backup biker, just in case, and he probably would have come from behind John, in case John proved too aware of incoming traffic. *handwave*
-(Adding one of my own) Quibble 4: "The sniper actually was set up before John arrived and would have had a view over the Ambulance building before he had to focus on John. Why didn't he see everything?" Because, until John arrived and was directed to the location he was directed to, all the preparations were either camouflaged as everyday people and activities, or were right up against the inner wall of the ambulance building. There would not have been anything to see until after the snipers' focus became John, and at that point, in the location Sherlock directs John to, the angle of fire is such that any movement would be in the sniper's peripheral vision. I am given to understand that sniper training includes ignoring information in the peripheral field so it is not a distraction, particularly when an extended period of focus is required. The sniper would have blanked out anything he did see as irrelevant. Moriarty's people would have a similar kind of team in place. Probably one or two spotters and one sniper. The spotters are there to confirm Sherlock has jumped, the sniper is there for John. As mentioned before, through unassuming means, Mycroft's crew would have made specific areas more likely to appeal to spotters and snipers than others, by arranging the construction barriers, by moving patients and equipment around so that vantage points that would provide an angle that would reveal any of Mycroft's team's activities would be made unusable to someone covertly watching for Sherlock's death. Since the sniper would be focussed on John, he wouldn't have seen the fall directly except through John's reaction. However as he kept targeting John around the building, he almost certainly would have seen that giant blue bag come lolloping around the corner, and at that time, he'd be getting confirmed jump reports from his spotters. If Mycroft hadn't had a persuader in place for the sniper by then, he likely would have called in the doubts he had on the jump, cancelled the confirmation, and set all the assassins off. Not having much reason to be loyal (his arguably insane boss having recently killed one of his co-workers due to his usefulness being at an end) accepting the option Mycroft's team offered would seem a pretty smart deal, in exchange for continuing to target John until his spotters gave the all clear to pack up, so they wouldn't know he'd been turned. He was likely one of the first inside sources of information on Moriarty's organization. *ponders* It's my quibble, and I think I am okay with that reasoning so *handwave*
-"Anyway, why are you telling me all this? If you'd pulled that off, I'm the last person you'd tell the truth." Not really a quibble of theory, more of a character point. On a pragmatic level, Anderson has the ear of the in-Show "Sherlock Fandom". Let's face it. Anderson is pretty much a BNF here. Sherlock gives him a recording of a sensible, believable, and cleared of classified material reporting of how he pulled off the faking of his death, Anderson posts it online, the in-show fandom and media gets an answer and maybe starts to lose interest in Sherlock a bit faster than if it's left a mystery. Anderson is the biggest voice for the theorizing group, and will ensure anyone who wants to know can see and find that account by Sherlock (but not the bit after that probably, since the little light was flashing on the camera the entire time.)
-Also I think in some way because Anderson believed Sherlock was alive, didn't give up the crazy hope, kept trying to convince others while thinking he had been instrumental in his death, all of that to the point he lost his wife and job and started faking crime scenes, and has been going slowly insane for the past two years. He needed a form of closure to move on and do his own healing, and Sherlock actually provided it. As is evidenced by Anderson going bananas and tearing down his wall o' weird in a fit of giddy glee. He doesn't need it any more because he was right, and Sherlock's alive and the relief at not having contributed to his death is immense. Therefore, bye bye wall o' weird. (although it was doing well at protecting him from the wallpaper...) So yeah. Yay Anderson. :-)
(I don't think that was a planned fall, but it's not like they're going to reset the wall o'weird to start again XD)
-And we're back to the Mycroft rescue train bomb!
-Oh you are so not laughing right now, Sherlock Holmes, you utter prick. You could have told him the timer stopped you know (which it had to have or it would have gone boom before John finished saying his bit), and this could have been salvaged, but now you're laughing after everything John just said and you're going to look like an absolute jerk again. *facepalm*
-Admittedly, John's face is not contributing to a cessation of laughter.
-Oh for fuck's sake. You- !!That was what the readout said when you started apologizing and begging forgiveness. You absolute troll, Sherlock Holmes! You do know that reparations for thinking you're dead for two years do not include making John think he's about to die along with everyone in the Parliament buildings, right? The danger might have been fake but just like your 'death', the distress and emotions are real. (Though really, John could have given the timer a glance in there somewhere) Oooooo, I hope John throttles you in every restaurant in the Commonwealth. You and your brother.
-Seriously. An off switch? *facepalm* Lord Moran, you were obviously never meant to be a bomber. Stop trying to follow in your boss's shoes and go find a funky experimental sniper-rifle to play with. *shoos away*
-Of course it helps your bullshit story if no one sees you grinning evilly. He really has been hanging out with Mycroft too much.
-"Your face!" Punching now? I think so. Either that or John's going to leave the train with out a word, march back up to the surface, ring the bomb squad, and never speak to Sherlock again. (But of course he won't. Because Watson.)
-"After you said such sweet things! I never knew you cared." Never mind, John, I'll punch him. Ooo! You-! Seriously Sherlock, 'Boy who cried wolf', look it up. You may find it educational.
-"I will kill you if you ever breathe a word of this-" See that face Sherlock? That face is a very serious face. John could kill you with that face.
-"Scout's honour." *mind briefly boggles at the social peer group activity Mum Holmes got her boys involved in being Scouting* O.O
-"There's always an off switch. Terrorists can get into all sorts of problems unless there's an off switch." Er... okaaaay? O.o
-"So why did you let me go through all that?" Still a face that might kill you, Sherlock. Stop being a dick who thinks he's funny for a second and actually talk to John. Maybe while you're on you're way up to fetch a bomb squad, since that flash of light doesn't appear to have been Mycroft and a rescue train.
-"I didn't lie altogether." *facepalm* Not helping, Sherlock.
-"I have no idea how to turn any of these silly little lights off." John's face is looking like it's considering turning your lights off.
-"And you did call the police."/"Of course I called the police." Well. That's. Actually useful, considering they've probably done the evacuations and whatnot above before coming down. But you're still a troll. One of these days you're going to find out what it's like to be on the other end of this sort of thing (though god knows you should have had an inkling from pulling John out of the fire) and you are going to have genuine actual regrets about being such an ass. I just hope it's before you try to pull something like "The Dying Detective" on John, or he will, literally, genuinely, and forever, kill you, or at least never speak to you again.
-"I'm definitely gonna kill you." I am definitely in support of this sentiment.
-"Killing me. Please. That's so two years ago." And he got a laugh. Which, even as rotten as Sherlock is being right now, is a start.
-Let's see, Moran's in a hotel right now, either wondering why the House of Lords hasn't blown up, or exculpating his failure with a weapon of some sort. Or having it exculpated for him. Or running for the hills. Or is about to get taken out by the woman with the trolley, who is in fact one of Mycroft's Minions who knows eighty-two ways of killing a person with that single rose.
-Looks like it's 'making a run for it'. Let's see how far that goes.
-As far as the elevator. Farther than I thought he'd get. See, Mycroft's Minion. She couldn't decide what to do with the rose so she's settling for the gun. For now.
-Oh yay, press. I have the feeling that in Sherlock 'verse (where it's located on Baker Street and not North Gower), Speedy's makes note of whenever Sherlock does something that gets media mention and jacks up the price of everything by 50p to cash in on the crowds of waiting reporters. If not, it should.
-"You don't understand the pain of it." And Sherlock is abandoning his brother to their parents and Les Mis. It's a start. Mycroft begging for help is a moment to be cherished. Given what he most likely did to John, next time he should be made to take them to see a mandatory sing-along performance of the Lion King. At least. *nods*
-John appears to be quite over the killing Sherlock bit. For now. I'm sure it'll return now and then.
-Aww, Mrs Hudson properly meeting Mary. And yes he did get around to asking, she did say yes, and they're thinking of a May wedding. *beams*
-Lestrade looks glum, though given the direction he's looking (at Mary happy and discussing her upcoming marriage) and his lack of wedding band, he's probably a bit wistful, remembering the happier days of his married life, before everything went to hell. Aw. *cuddles Lestrade*
-"Once we actually got engaged."/"Yeah."/"We were interrupted last time."/"Yeah." Heeee. don't know if he's up to receiving pointed and subtle yet, but the message is definitely being sent.
-Aw, he got it! Yay! Social communication!
-"Can't wait!" With a hint of sad and bitter and envy, but happy for his friend. Aw, Lestrade. *pats him*
-"Weddings. Not really my thing." Oh shut up, you're going. It'll probably be a disaster for the ages, but you're going.
-"Hello everyone, this is Tom." Ah. She does have a type: Tall, curly-haired, cheek-boney scarf-wearers who pop the collars of their long swishy coats. And may or may not be sociopaths, we'll see when he starts talking.
-Lestrade's face! XD
-John's subtle side-look at Molly is subtle like a subtle thing.
As is this face.
-It makes up a bit for the blunt blankness of Sherlock's.
-Oh and the shoes too! XD I don't know if I hope he dressed like this before he met Molly, or if she nudged him into making changes in his style in one way or another, or if he's a huge fanboy and cosplaying, and I'm not sure which might be better. Or worse.
-Heee! John Watson, King of subtle. XD
-So, Sherlock, John, Mrs. Hudson, Mary, Lestrade, Molly, and her new fellow Tom. Aw, the gang's all here! Is this an actual homecoming party for Sherlock? Even though it doesn't match the one in his head, because no home will ever match the one you build in your head when you're away for an extended period.
-"Is it serious you two?" Aw. I get the feeling Lestrade was kind of hoping he had a chance with Molly if he ever got up the nerve, but... aw. Poor Lestrade.
-"Yeah. I've moved on." Um. Well, hey. We don't know a thing about this Tom guy, and really, if she's going to have a fiance who emulates one of her former romantic interests, Sherlock's a far better pattern to emulate than Moriarty.
-"Did you uh...?"/"I'm not saying a word." No, but when you come out dressed in the scarf and coat for... hm. Front door press conference? And Tom sees you, a few pennies might start dropping.
-As he actually realizes. He's gotten better at the social stuff in some ways.
-"Why did they try and kill me? If they knew you were after them, why come after me? Why put me in the bonfire?" Heh. Considering it didn't turn out to be a distraction from another part of the plot, there's really only one answer to that, and maybe you should save this particular explanation for some time when you have a few hours to shout obscenities at Mycroft in a location where the press and everyone you know can't hear you.
-"I don't know. I don't like not knowing." Hm! So. Either he does know and is just delaying the shouting about Mycroft John will be doing for later on, or he really doesn't know and will be having an epic shouting match with Mycroft later over exactly what methods of motivating Sherlock are now and forevermore off the table when he finds out it was him, or... Hm. Maybe it's not Mycroft...? Feels like Mycroft. And there's the drug that isn't being mentioned as used during the faking of Sherlock's death that might not actually have been used, but... it feels like Mycroft. After this episode, I trust Mycroft far less than I ever did, which is alarming. Even after the Wee!Holmes backstory, and meeting Mummy, and all that stuff to humanize him. Hm. But if it wasn't Mycroft, who else would want to motivate and clue-in Sherlock to focus on the terrorism case and make the connection to Guy Fawkes? To stop the bombing but still have the plot exposed to get that bill through parliament. Someone who wants broader power of accessing the average citizen's personal information and ignoring human rights in the name of protecting the common good. Hmmm. Hmmmmmm. Yeah... I still blame Mycroft.
-"I don't know who's behind all this but I will find out, I promise you." Hm. If it's someone who followed him home from while he was away, they already have alarming access to information on John. And what's the connection with Mary, because whoever it was sent her the clues to her phone, not Sherlock's, and then the second message sent was addressed to 'Mr Holmes' meant that the caller knew he and Mary were en route together, all sent still to Mary's phone. And then there was 'hotting up' and the horrible pun ...You know... If it's not Mycroft, then who in hell else has that much power without Mycroft and Sherlock being aware of them? Eeeeek. You know things are bad when Mycroft nearly getting John killed (or appearing to, as if it was Mycroft, I don't doubt there were fail-safes) simply to motivate Sherlock on a case is the less alarming option. O.O
-"You'd have to be an idiot not to see it. You love it."/"Love what?"/"Being Sherlock Holmes." Considering he most likely got called anything but his real name while he was away, being called it again would be good, even if it wasn't by the media, calling him a hero.
-"I don't even know what that's supposed to mean." Be an arrogant know-it-all-dick as a defense against actually making any social connection with most people, because most people have found ways to hurt you, deliberately or accidentally, though you hide it well Nah. Just awww. He might mean it facetiously, but aw.
-"Sherlock, you are gonna tell me how you did it?" Just wait till Anderson gets done fighting with Windows Movie Maker and uploads it to YouTube, and you can Google it any time you like. Though that is the 'cleared by Mycroft et al for public dissemination' version.
-"When you were dead, I went to your grave."/"I should hope so." Awwww.
-"I made a little speech. I actually spoke to you."/"I know. I was there." OH GOD, DID HE HEAR IT AFTER ALL? He can't have heard it all, he was too far away. Though John was a bit loud for parts of it. Depends on the ...acoustics of the graveyard? Hm.
-"I asked you for one more miracle. I asked you to stop being dead."/"I heard you." *flaaaaaails all over everything.*
-And he changes the subject. "Time to go and be Sherlock Holmes." You know between that and the hearing of requests for miracles, they're practically prompting Supernatural crossovers, right? Just checking.
-Ahahahaha, the resigned look on his face when he reaches for the damned hat. XD
-Media circus time!
Oh hello... didn't the coat just have the top button hole red before in stead of all of them? And wasn't it a brighter red and not a sort-of maroon-purple that matches his purple shirt? Did Anthea do things to Sherlock's coat? or is this a different one of the "lots of coats" he has? *side-eyes*
Hey, 219 next door, obviously that's what number the place always was, but was the number there before? Wonder if this means we're going to get to meet Mrs Turner and the neighbours at some point this series.
-Oh hi unexpected pre-credit bit. Some kind of store-room. With clowns. O.o
-Hat plus bunny equals magician, plus clowns equals circus? *eyes-latex glove tree in the background* Not sure what sort of circus...
-Doll's head in a bowl of oranges. Er... This is getting more disturbing as we go...
-Old style telephone switchboard operator headset on a bust.
-SOMEONE WHO ISN'T MYCROFT WATCHING SEVERAL SCREENS OF SHERLOCK FRANTICALLY PULLING JOHN OUT OF THE BONFIRE, OH HOLY CRAP.
-OH MY GOD IT'S EVEN CREEPIER, HE'S JUST WATCHING SHERLOCK PULL JOHN OUT OF THE FIRE AND MARY SCREAM ON A GODDAMNED LOOP, OVER AND OVER AND OVER, HOLY CRAP, THAT'S- WHAT- THIS IS MESSED UP RIGHT HERE. OH MY GOD.
-I... I think I might owe Mycroft an apology for thinking he'd put John in a bonfire to get Sherlock on track (although I do believe he'd do anything necessary and that if he did do that, there would be no real chance of any serious physical damage to John or his rescuers), but HOLY CRAP WHO THE FUCK IS THAT GUY? IT'S NOT MORIARTY OR MYCROFT, SO WHO THE HELL IS THAT? WITH THAT LEVEL OF ACCESS AND POWER AND A CREEPY WAREHOUSE FULL OF VAGUELY CIRCUS-RELATED THINGS AND NO ONE KNOWS HE EVEN EXISTS? HOLY SHIT. O.O
-ALSO, I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE THIS EXTRA CLEAR. THE ABOVE QUESTIONS ARE ALL RHETORICAL. IF YOU DO KNOW WHO IT IS OR KNOW ACD REFERENCES I'VE MISSED THAT MIGHT IMPLY WHO IT IS (since most of the UK pace watchers are on the far side of episode 2 now) DON'T YOU EVEN DARE TELL ME. Because spoilers! XD
Now. I've been avoiding the internet since New Years Day, so I'm going to go do some limited and cautious catching up, stopping at anything posted after 9PM UTC, January 5th, and then stay right off the internet again until I've got through 3.02 at the breakneck rate of up to twenty minutes a day. WHEE! \o/
(PLEASE, NO SPOILERS OR REFERENCES TO ANY INFORMATION AT ALL FOR OR ABOUT EPISODES PAST 3.01 IN COMMENTS! THIS INCLUDES ANY REFERENCING OF INTERVIEWS, PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL, TRAILERS, PREQUELS OR ADVERTISEMENTS. The further definition of what constitutes a spoiler for this journal is located in right hand sidebar.)
Picspam Reaction for Sherlock Series 3 Episode 1 - Part 4
PART ONE
PART TWO
PART THREE
PART FOUR - "The Empty Hearse"
And now...
-OH! OH! HEY! THE BOMB TIMER STARTED WHEN THE POWER WENT ON! Cut the power to the traaaain! *flappy hands* Get one of the demo blocks from the chimney, trot it to a point a safe distance away, and uh. Drop it on the center rail. From a safe distance. All in 2.5 minutes or less. Eeek... O.o
-"WHY DO YOU NEVER CALL THE POLICE?" In fairness, the police would still be finding their way down there and you'd have had to wait up top for them, so no one would have had a chance at defusing the bomb at all before it blew. Though evacuation of the people up in the buildings above would have been nice.
-"Go John. Go now." Oh god. *flail*
-And John makes some excellent points about that option, but you've gotta think how it must terrify Sherlock right now that John will die after what he went through to keep him alive.
-"Mind palace."/"Hm?" HEE! In under two minutes, find how to defuse a bomb, because you might have seen it once somewhere. Oh they are really grasping at some serious straws. Though really, this scenario is a bit of a 'dick GM' move, and if straws are all they have left to grasp, one of them must work.
-"You think I've got 'how to defuse a bomb' tucked away in there somewhere?" Sherlock's face does a thing, hee!
-"Yes!" Because he's John Watson, and even after the horrific Reichenbaching he's had, he will always believe in his Holmes. *smishes them both so hard*
-Well, if he can't find anything in his Mind Palace, he might manage to give himself an aneurysm and drop dead before the bomb goes off. O.o
-And then his face when he can't provide an answer and can't solve the problem. Like not living up to John's faith is worse than not having the answer. If they get out of this (which of course they will), you just know he's going to memorize a stack of textbooks on bomb disposal.
-And then the desperate noises and frantic scrabbling at the floor and the bomb, as John goes into a bit of fatalistic freefall.
-"I'm sorry." Oh god. *flaaaail*
-"Please, John, forgive me. For all the hurt that I've caused you." Like he's praying. *HIGHLY EMOTIONAL KEYMASHING EVERYWHERE*
-"Another one of your bloody tricks." Oh god. *wordless hand flapping and gestures at screen* He's doubting Sherlock but at the same time he's really not because it means John still has faith that Sherlock's got a way to save them. He's now assuming Sherlock will get the forgiveness, turn the distressed cracking voice and pleading eyes off like a faucet and twiddle a widget to stop the bomb. And really if he actually does that, more throttling is definitely in order.
-"This is to make you look good even though you behaved like a-" And then his face does ALL THE THINGS. With some excellent sound work by his wonderfully expressive nose.
-"*stamps foot* I wanted you not to be dead."/"Yeah, well, be careful what you wish for." *flail*
-"If I hadn't come back you wouldn't be standing there, and you'd still have a future with Mary." Ow, ow, ow, keeping an eye on the vid counter and if the timer's running true they have 27 seconds left which is loads in TV time and of course they'll make it out, but god damn.
-"Yeah. I know." And he stops him from saying anything more about Mary because it's already pretty hard to die when you aren't ready, and leaving Mary this way is probably about the most horrible thing he can feel right now, and he just can't. Even though they'll both be fine. But it's like Sherlock faking his death. The feelings are still real. (20 seconds)
-*whimpers* Sad Sherlock HURTS ME.
-"I find it difficult, this sort of stuff." Most people do.
-"You were the best and the wisest man-" Me: *hits pause and has to leave the room for a minute* Oh my god. *breathes* Okay. We go there then. John has 10 seconds. This is excruciating. Even in the abridged version. "-that I have ever known."
-Oh. Oh. Sherlock's face. He didn't hear John say what he did at his grave. He was too far away. He didn't even know. Oh, his face.
And I really hope one of them looks at that timer soon, because the bomb was supposed to go off two seconds ago. Although Sherlock was looking down while John was speaking there, so he's seen whatever it's doing and hasn't stopped John and that's all going to get nothing but awkward. I suspect Mycroft. Who could also do with being throttled by John.
-"Yes of course I forgive you." Of course he does. *flappy hands*
-Okay, so, no. Because the bomb was to go off 15 seconds ago, that light is coming from outside the train, and seriously, like these guys are actually gonna die. Unless the other two episodes of this Series and all future series' are with them as ghosts or as a crossover with Supernatural or Doctor Who or something else with revolving-door Death and timey-wimey causality loops, which would also be cool, but not what the BBC signed up for, I think, they aren't going to die, the bomb won't go off. So. Another train full of bomb-disposal crew coming up the track after someone further along cut the bomb signal in some way, which was sent when Mycroft caught enough info from the Skype call between 221B and the train-spotter? Which means Mycroft's going to sashay onto this car in a minute acting like it's the end of the goddamn Kobayashi Maru and collect a Watsonian punch in the teeth. Or could be someone's dream sequence? Heh. Maybe this is all in Sherlock's Mind Palace. XD
-What? Oh! An explanation? I'd really rather John get it directly, but maybe it's better for Sherlock to give this to him on a DVD and then, like, leave for Scotland for a week.
-"Mycroft fed Moriarty information about me." *nods* Yep. So they'd know who to put extra guards and watchers on to find the people Moriarty had assigned as snipers/watchers and follow them back to their organizational cells. As I mentioned waaay in the beginning of this when I was trying to make Anderson's theory make sense. *nods*
-*watches avidly* Really really wishing I'd gotten around to posting a proper updated and much more detailed thing about theories etc, even just to point back at, because I'm basically nodding at much of this and going "Yeah that's what I thought."
-Thirteen possible scenarios. Right. Laundry truck is one but out, Baritsu is another, also out. Next!
-"Each of them were rigorously worked out and given a code name." YAY!!! I LOVE WELL-PLANNED CRAP WITH CODE NAMES! So all he has to do is drop a word in a call, or send a text, or say a specific phrase in the goodbye call to John, or just say something on the roof if there's a sound pickup up there or a parabolic pointed his way and Moriarty won't let him communicate by any other means. WHEE! \o/
-"But the one thing I didn't anticipate was just how far Moriarty was prepared to go." AHAHA! One thing I love more than well-planned crap with code names is LAST MINUTE HASH-SCRAMBLE IMPROVISED CRAP, BECAUSE THE ADVERSARIAL CHARACTER DID SOMETHING UNEXPECTED AND ALL THE CAREFUL PLANNING GOES STRAIGHT TO HELL. As long as I'm not the one GM-ing. \o/
-|LAZARUS| *glee*
-Okay, for pointing and laughing purposes, here's the post I made about how I thought he did it, back in January 2012. Laundry truck is already out.
-CRASH BAG!!! \o/ Who called crash bag? I know someone called it. It's great because it's another thing the show would be able to just use straight filming footage for, because that's what the stunt guy/Benedict jumped into for the last bit, after Benedict spooled down on the safety harness and rope. Ahah. Ha ha. And the crash bag would be deflated after use and could be pulled away and shoved on to the laundry truck while John was knocked down, wouldn't it. The laundry truck that notably contained among other stuff, big squashy BLUE things. Of course. *facepalm* That makes it actually Sherlock alive on the ground, no need for masks etc, but what about the fixed stare and lack of obvious breathing or blinking? I hypothesized a neuromuscular inhibitor... that would... keep him... oh well fuck. *facepalm* IT'S THE SAME SHIT THAT JUST GOT USED ON JOHN!!! They shot Sherlock up with it so he'd look dead, and they shot John up with it so he'd be cooperative about having a bonfire built overtop of him. Which means Mycroft's team put John in the bonfire to focus Sherlock's attention and that Mycroft really really needs a goddamn punch in the teeth. Assuming that I'm right about the cause of the fixed stare here, but I'm thinking I probably am.
-Molly is in place. *nods*
-Watcher of some sort. Was she the one earlier on in TRF who was at the bench when Moriarty and Sherlock were looking down, and she was doing something with her bag? ...don't think so. Different coat. Hm... She wasn't in the crowd around the body though. Hmm.
-Heh heh heh. Yep. And you.
-Oh, and a spare! Ohhh! In case John was in a different position or the first bike missed? (Also, the construction zone noted for the article about Bart's in the newspaper Sherlock was reading in Scandal in Belgravia, so YAY CONTINUITY!)
-Bunch of thuggish types? Are they another backup plan, or are they crowd, or are they watching and following Moriarty's watchers?
-PEEK BEHIND THE CURTAIN!! Oh! The thuggish types are carrying the inflated crash pad and hiding behind that car. That works. Just in case John gets too far around the building before Sherlock can turn him back or refuses to turn back at all. And truck full of squishy blue things is in place. They could have made the truck be in the right position by parking it on the sidewalk, but that would be too conspicuous as they are all hiding this from not only John but those watching John and Sherlock as well, and the sides would make targeting the landing too tricky. *nods*
-"Stay exactly where you are!" Because, if you go to far one way or another and look away from Sherlock for a second (not much chance of that) you'll see...
-The crash bag being carried in. Which is really frigging noticeable, but being slightly screened at ground level by moving vehicles. Wouldn't screen it from anyone with a high vantage point like the sniper, who will be keeping his scope on John once he's in place, which might take a short while, as the red herring sending John back to 221B would make his position an unpredictable variable until his return, and when John did return, his focus would be on John his target. Tricky, but workable. Especially since Mycroft's team has likely been all over the hospital and surrounding buildings, making sure certain angles on the courtyard were inaccessible or inconvenient to watchers and snipers by unassuming means, or by making the vantage points they want Moriarty's people to take especially tempting, easy to access and secure. That part would be the same regardless of whichever of the 13 aborted plans got used, and still applies on the mad eleventh hour scramble. *nods*
-ANDERSON GOT A BIT RIGHT! Yay Anderson! Aw. I really hope he meets up with Sherlock. Just 'cause.
-Going behind the curtain/ambulance block now.
-Wheee! Nice mid-air turn.
-And they're off!
-"But we needed him to see a body." Who looks nothing like Sherlock up close, so that's some poor bastard they just dumped out the window to make a crunch sound and be a lump on the pavement in the distance before John gets knocked over by the cyclist. Did his corpse get pitched into the laundry truck so Sherlock could take his place? Seriously, something is going in the blasted laundry truck.
-And a Not!Sherlock hitting the pavement with actual body crunch noise. Not likely audible to John, but these details count, particularly when you're trying to make up for the sound of a crash bag landing. Give enough visual evidence to confirm what John thinks he saw, the mind will edit out the wrongness of the noise. Trauma is trauma. *nods*
-WHEE! ALL THE RUNNING AROUND! I also love that the guys handling the crash pad are likely actual film crew and not actors at all, since there's no point in hiring an actor to do something you've got people doing already when there's no need for actual acting.
-And body on the pavement as in TRF, same shot. And the laundry truck. *nods*
-Running around in circles, to avoid being seen, another half dozen footfalls and a big floofy bag rustling won't make much difference in the sound level when John's horrendously distracted and about to be more so.
-GOD DAMN LAUNDRY TRUCK DROVE AWAY WITH NOTHING GOING IN IT AT ALL. Just there as a screen, though maybe they'll stuff the crash bag in it when John's down and it's off to the side. So unless shown otherwise, I will think of that truck as stopping, getting a crash bag thrown into it, and having a bunch of thuggish looking men either walk nonchalantly in different directions, or all hang off the laundry cage, Barrel of Monkeys style. *nods*
-Aaaand cyclist!
-Again, love that that's probably an actual makeup/fx guy from the set, doing his job on screen being an operative instead of off-screen being tech crew.
-And away goes the dead guy...
-And in comes Sherlock. And Stethoscope guy... who... *squints* Might be one of the guys who nabbed John earlier this episode? I am horrible with faces. As evidenced by Derren Brown.
-"Squash ball under the armpit." SQUASH BALL! Called it! \o/ Heh. Though I think we all called that one. XD
-Now. How badly do we need to kill Mycroft Holmes? "Let me come through please." ...maybe not it seems. No injections given, unless he's hiding that bit, so he's keeping his eyes open, fixed and staring by will alone. Hm. Still think Mycroft did abduct John and put him in the bonfire though, maybe wet the wood to delay the fire, and just didn't plan for accelerant. Just... Hm.
-And so stethoscope guy's shoulder shake is to present John with the ball-prepared outstretched arm, AND to hide excess signs of breathing. But no injections...
-Which means. Oh god you guys. Sherlock was fully conscious. Sherlock saw John there. Shocked, broken, horrified, devastated John. And still kept his eyes open, fixed and was non-reactive. To John, there, fighting to get to him, half-collapsing, practically crying beside him, convinced he was dead. Oh god. DDD-:
-And of course the snow/slush/rain isn't solidified Hound gas, which is why that bit was in the crack/wtf/lol post about series 2, and not the main theory post. Much as it would have been cool. I'll probably keep watching for ways it could be used though. What can I say, I like the potential of the stuff. I get the feeling it's going to be the thing for the Sherlock series for me that's like dream root has been for me on Supernatural.
-OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD. YOU GUYS. ANDERSON IS FILMING THIS! WHICH NOW MEANS *beats on arm of chair and points at Sherlock on screen* UNRELIABLE NARRATOR! HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN GIVEN AN INJECTION, BUT IF IT'S SOME KIND OF TOP SECRET SPECIAL OPS ONLY DRUG THAT'S CLASSIFIED, HE COULDN'T HAVE SAID ANYTHING ABOUT IT IN THIS RECORDING, ONE THAT ANDERSON WILL PROBABLY BE PUTTING ON YOUTUBE! (He couldn't say anything about Hound gas either if that was used, but I don't think there are any huge gaps remaining for it to fill in.) I AM STILL CALLING HIM BEING GIVEN A SHOT OF NEUROMUSCULAR INHIBITOR. AND MYCROFT DEFINITELY NEEDS A PUNCH IN THE FACE.
-"Molly. Molly Hooper. She was in on it?" Dude, you called Molly being involved yourself (and Derren Brown, but *handwave*) Own your partly correct theory! \o/
-"You remember the little girl who was abducted by Moriarty?" WAIT WHAT? WHAT ABOUT HER? O.o
-*nods along with explanation of logical bad guy behaviour* "That meant there was a corpse in the morgue who looked just like me." ...*blink* .......Oh for- *facepalm* I think I just figured out what Moffat said we were all missing, guys (although it seems to me someone mentioned it in passing as a corpse source during the Great Theory Flurry of 2012). I think I just made the same face as Anderson here, only less beardy. XD
-"I've got lots of coats." Heh. Judging by the last counts I saw on that particular coat (which the company is being very silly in still not bringing back into production), there are very few left in the wild. The Sherlock crew has 3 or 4 of them and are probably very concerned about stunt damage and wear and tear. For instance, the buttonhole on that one is starting to look a little fuzzy.
-"He was invited to reconsider." Hee! I recall doing similar when I did the last part of the reaction post for 2.03, something to the tune of "You better back off, sniper-guy. I'mma hurt you." XD
-"Is it done? Good." He sounds rather irritated about it for an op designed to save the life of the baby brother he 'worries about, constantly.' Though really, he's going to have a fun time spinning this to his internal finance division, if they planned and supplied for 13 variations and had to slap together a fourteenth on the spot and source any new equipment or assets.
(Even Mycroft is not safe from the curse of the wallpaper... O.o)
-The Homeless Network cordoned the streets. "Like a scene from a play." A play a little like Act 2 of Noises Off in spots it sounds like, but yeah.
-"Neat, don't you think?" Awwww. He's looking for approval and appreciation of his genius and ingenuity from Anderson, you guys. Anderson. Awwwwwwwwww.
-"Eh. Not the way I'd have done it." AHAHAHAHAAHAH. No, you'd have a Mission Impossible team and Derren Brown, but you also don't have to explain the expense to a budget committee.
-"Oh really?" Oh dear, he's going to get one of Anderson's crack theories. I get the feeling that the status of the relationship between Sherlock and Anderson is about to return to 'quo'. XD
-"A bit... disappointed." Hee! Well, spend two years imagining scenarios which have no need for budgetary or staffing (or occasionally laws of physics) constraints, reality is going to look a little less sparkly. To be honest if snow/rain form hound gas had been involved I would have been insufferable. I'm only clinging to the injection being given because it makes John's abduction make sense and, handily, sets up a damn fine reason for a return to a more typical kind of Sherlock and Mycroft brotherhood. Since Mycroft kinda sorta singed and dented Sherlock's current 'Action Man', so to speak. If he did it. And I'm certain he did. Because Mycroft needed Sherlock motivated and hey wow presto, nothing motivates a Sherlock better than John whumpage. Anyway, disappointed Anderson.
-"Everyone's a critic." Aw. *pats Sherlock*
-"I think you know why I'm here, Philip." *deep extended inhale* AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! *FLAIL* ANDERSON HAS A FIRST NAME! PHILIP!! (Or something close to Philip since if Sherlock can't get Lestrade's first name right, then he's not as likely to make nearly as much effort to get Anderson's first name right.) Philip Anderson, and his frankly stunning wall o' weird.
-"'How I Did It' by Jack the Ripper?" Oh god, I'd forgotten about that. Well, Anderson has lost his job, and probably has alimony or something payments to make for his ex-wife (didn't see any rings on his left hand), so he's got to drum up an income somehow. Why not construct a hoax crime scene for some tourist cash. And of course Sherlock would have known Anderson did it from looking at the records of the auction and seeing who bought the suit. *nods*
-"Didn't you think it was intriguing?" Aw, he made the crime scene for Sherlock. AWWWW. It's like fan art, only massively massively illegal since it now involves actual police. Though admittedly not quite as illegal as committing an actual murder to make a crime scene would have been, but Anderson's not quite that obsessed with Sherlock. Which is a good thing. Eeeeheeeheeheeeheee his little grin!
-"I just couldn't live with myself, knowing that I'd driven you to-" OH ANDERSON, WUBBIE. *blankets and tea*
-"You were always right. I wasn't dead." Hope you've still got the camera running, Anderson, that might be the only time Sherlock ever says you were always right. You can extract the audio and make that a ringtone.
-"And everything's okay now, isn't it?" Aw. His hopeful fuzzy face. *pats*
-(I just had the sudden dread feeling that Anderson snapped in some way and orchestrated John ending up in the bonfire with the help of people from his club. In my defense, I've gotten a total of about 4 hours sleep and 12 cups of coffee over the weekend and I'm tending a teensy bit towards the paranoid. O.o)
-*runs down list of 'reasons not to fake a crime scene'* Now be fair Sherlock, what was distracting you from the terrorist thing was a lack of John being as you expected him to be. (And good to hear that this is after the bomb didn't blow up, since of course that wasn't going to happen. But a 'what actually happened' would be nice)
-Anderson having a bit of a breakdown and anxiety attack from the guilt oh wubbie. Grief and guilt makes you do stupid things. Just don't do it again, it's all fine now. *pats Anderson* Philip. Philip? Anderson. *nods*
-Oh Anderson. And Sherlock with the awkward little shoulder pat. Aw. *flappy hands*
-"Hang on. That doesn't make sense." Oh? Which bit? Because if Anderson gets to the muscular inhibitor theory too and gets Sherlock to admit it, I may make very loud noises.
-Nope, he's just poking holes in what's there. Right. Handwaving time. *cracks knuckles*
-Quibble 1: "How could you be sure John would stand on that exact spot? What if he'd moved?" The taxi pulled up next to the ambulance station so there were a limited number of non-restricted spots it could stop, which limited the number of places John would get out. He got out, headed for the doors, Sherlock ordered him back, he went, and in the meantime, all the players were tucked away, but still mobile and could have adjusted if needed. Sherlock directed him to the spot he needed to be and told him to look up to see where Sherlock was on the roof, and after that, John was pretty certain to stay in that position until after Sherlock fell, and when he did try to move that once, Sherlock ordered him back and told him to keep his eyes on Sherlock. When your best friend who is on the ledge of a building and about to jump asks you to do something, you do it. As he fell, it was fairly guaranteed John wouldn't move either from pure shock. So, *handwave*
-Quibble 2: "How did you do it all so quickly?" Well-trained operatives, trained to work together on similar operations, with several detailed plans in place that could be adapted to fit even the unexpected by cannibalizing them piecemeal, and using an effective and active communication system and a controller with oversight of the situation, who no one would question an order from, and who was motivated to make the operation by any means necessary: Mycroft. The Homeless Network weren't directly involved in the extraction, they were being in essence guards, cordoning off the street and staying clear of the area. I've seen similar complexities and speeds managed by crews on stage plays, and there is the built in misdirection of John being terribly distracted by Sherlock and his apparent death, an event that renders any other background information happening around you just so much irrelevant noise. And I think that's a *handwave*
-Quibble 3: "What if the bike hadn't hit him?" Field operative, probably received the same training at some point that bicycle-riding police officers do. Again, John's not looking at traffic around him when the bike hits him, he's looking at what he thinks is the dead body of his best friend. A transit van could have been coming and he might not have noticed that either. Plus there was a backup biker, just in case, and he probably would have come from behind John, in case John proved too aware of incoming traffic. *handwave*
-(Adding one of my own) Quibble 4: "The sniper actually was set up before John arrived and would have had a view over the Ambulance building before he had to focus on John. Why didn't he see everything?" Because, until John arrived and was directed to the location he was directed to, all the preparations were either camouflaged as everyday people and activities, or were right up against the inner wall of the ambulance building. There would not have been anything to see until after the snipers' focus became John, and at that point, in the location Sherlock directs John to, the angle of fire is such that any movement would be in the sniper's peripheral vision. I am given to understand that sniper training includes ignoring information in the peripheral field so it is not a distraction, particularly when an extended period of focus is required. The sniper would have blanked out anything he did see as irrelevant. Moriarty's people would have a similar kind of team in place. Probably one or two spotters and one sniper. The spotters are there to confirm Sherlock has jumped, the sniper is there for John. As mentioned before, through unassuming means, Mycroft's crew would have made specific areas more likely to appeal to spotters and snipers than others, by arranging the construction barriers, by moving patients and equipment around so that vantage points that would provide an angle that would reveal any of Mycroft's team's activities would be made unusable to someone covertly watching for Sherlock's death. Since the sniper would be focussed on John, he wouldn't have seen the fall directly except through John's reaction. However as he kept targeting John around the building, he almost certainly would have seen that giant blue bag come lolloping around the corner, and at that time, he'd be getting confirmed jump reports from his spotters. If Mycroft hadn't had a persuader in place for the sniper by then, he likely would have called in the doubts he had on the jump, cancelled the confirmation, and set all the assassins off. Not having much reason to be loyal (his arguably insane boss having recently killed one of his co-workers due to his usefulness being at an end) accepting the option Mycroft's team offered would seem a pretty smart deal, in exchange for continuing to target John until his spotters gave the all clear to pack up, so they wouldn't know he'd been turned. He was likely one of the first inside sources of information on Moriarty's organization. *ponders* It's my quibble, and I think I am okay with that reasoning so *handwave*
-"Anyway, why are you telling me all this? If you'd pulled that off, I'm the last person you'd tell the truth." Not really a quibble of theory, more of a character point. On a pragmatic level, Anderson has the ear of the in-Show "Sherlock Fandom". Let's face it. Anderson is pretty much a BNF here. Sherlock gives him a recording of a sensible, believable, and cleared of classified material reporting of how he pulled off the faking of his death, Anderson posts it online, the in-show fandom and media gets an answer and maybe starts to lose interest in Sherlock a bit faster than if it's left a mystery. Anderson is the biggest voice for the theorizing group, and will ensure anyone who wants to know can see and find that account by Sherlock (but not the bit after that probably, since the little light was flashing on the camera the entire time.)
-Also I think in some way because Anderson believed Sherlock was alive, didn't give up the crazy hope, kept trying to convince others while thinking he had been instrumental in his death, all of that to the point he lost his wife and job and started faking crime scenes, and has been going slowly insane for the past two years. He needed a form of closure to move on and do his own healing, and Sherlock actually provided it. As is evidenced by Anderson going bananas and tearing down his wall o' weird in a fit of giddy glee. He doesn't need it any more because he was right, and Sherlock's alive and the relief at not having contributed to his death is immense. Therefore, bye bye wall o' weird. (although it was doing well at protecting him from the wallpaper...) So yeah. Yay Anderson. :-)
(I don't think that was a planned fall, but it's not like they're going to reset the wall o'weird to start again XD)
-And we're back to the Mycroft rescue train bomb!
-Oh you are so not laughing right now, Sherlock Holmes, you utter prick. You could have told him the timer stopped you know (which it had to have or it would have gone boom before John finished saying his bit), and this could have been salvaged, but now you're laughing after everything John just said and you're going to look like an absolute jerk again. *facepalm*
-Admittedly, John's face is not contributing to a cessation of laughter.
-Oh for fuck's sake. You- !!That was what the readout said when you started apologizing and begging forgiveness. You absolute troll, Sherlock Holmes! You do know that reparations for thinking you're dead for two years do not include making John think he's about to die along with everyone in the Parliament buildings, right? The danger might have been fake but just like your 'death', the distress and emotions are real. (Though really, John could have given the timer a glance in there somewhere) Oooooo, I hope John throttles you in every restaurant in the Commonwealth. You and your brother.
-Seriously. An off switch? *facepalm* Lord Moran, you were obviously never meant to be a bomber. Stop trying to follow in your boss's shoes and go find a funky experimental sniper-rifle to play with. *shoos away*
-Of course it helps your bullshit story if no one sees you grinning evilly. He really has been hanging out with Mycroft too much.
-"Your face!" Punching now? I think so. Either that or John's going to leave the train with out a word, march back up to the surface, ring the bomb squad, and never speak to Sherlock again. (But of course he won't. Because Watson.)
-"After you said such sweet things! I never knew you cared." Never mind, John, I'll punch him. Ooo! You-! Seriously Sherlock, 'Boy who cried wolf', look it up. You may find it educational.
-"I will kill you if you ever breathe a word of this-" See that face Sherlock? That face is a very serious face. John could kill you with that face.
-"Scout's honour." *mind briefly boggles at the social peer group activity Mum Holmes got her boys involved in being Scouting* O.O
-"There's always an off switch. Terrorists can get into all sorts of problems unless there's an off switch." Er... okaaaay? O.o
-"So why did you let me go through all that?" Still a face that might kill you, Sherlock. Stop being a dick who thinks he's funny for a second and actually talk to John. Maybe while you're on you're way up to fetch a bomb squad, since that flash of light doesn't appear to have been Mycroft and a rescue train.
-"I didn't lie altogether." *facepalm* Not helping, Sherlock.
-"I have no idea how to turn any of these silly little lights off." John's face is looking like it's considering turning your lights off.
-"And you did call the police."/"Of course I called the police." Well. That's. Actually useful, considering they've probably done the evacuations and whatnot above before coming down. But you're still a troll. One of these days you're going to find out what it's like to be on the other end of this sort of thing (though god knows you should have had an inkling from pulling John out of the fire) and you are going to have genuine actual regrets about being such an ass. I just hope it's before you try to pull something like "The Dying Detective" on John, or he will, literally, genuinely, and forever, kill you, or at least never speak to you again.
-"I'm definitely gonna kill you." I am definitely in support of this sentiment.
-"Killing me. Please. That's so two years ago." And he got a laugh. Which, even as rotten as Sherlock is being right now, is a start.
-Let's see, Moran's in a hotel right now, either wondering why the House of Lords hasn't blown up, or exculpating his failure with a weapon of some sort. Or having it exculpated for him. Or running for the hills. Or is about to get taken out by the woman with the trolley, who is in fact one of Mycroft's Minions who knows eighty-two ways of killing a person with that single rose.
-Looks like it's 'making a run for it'. Let's see how far that goes.
-As far as the elevator. Farther than I thought he'd get. See, Mycroft's Minion. She couldn't decide what to do with the rose so she's settling for the gun. For now.
-Oh yay, press. I have the feeling that in Sherlock 'verse (where it's located on Baker Street and not North Gower), Speedy's makes note of whenever Sherlock does something that gets media mention and jacks up the price of everything by 50p to cash in on the crowds of waiting reporters. If not, it should.
-"You don't understand the pain of it." And Sherlock is abandoning his brother to their parents and Les Mis. It's a start. Mycroft begging for help is a moment to be cherished. Given what he most likely did to John, next time he should be made to take them to see a mandatory sing-along performance of the Lion King. At least. *nods*
-John appears to be quite over the killing Sherlock bit. For now. I'm sure it'll return now and then.
-Aww, Mrs Hudson properly meeting Mary. And yes he did get around to asking, she did say yes, and they're thinking of a May wedding. *beams*
-Lestrade looks glum, though given the direction he's looking (at Mary happy and discussing her upcoming marriage) and his lack of wedding band, he's probably a bit wistful, remembering the happier days of his married life, before everything went to hell. Aw. *cuddles Lestrade*
-"Once we actually got engaged."/"Yeah."/"We were interrupted last time."/"Yeah." Heeee. don't know if he's up to receiving pointed and subtle yet, but the message is definitely being sent.
-Aw, he got it! Yay! Social communication!
-"Can't wait!" With a hint of sad and bitter and envy, but happy for his friend. Aw, Lestrade. *pats him*
-"Weddings. Not really my thing." Oh shut up, you're going. It'll probably be a disaster for the ages, but you're going.
-"Hello everyone, this is Tom." Ah. She does have a type: Tall, curly-haired, cheek-boney scarf-wearers who pop the collars of their long swishy coats. And may or may not be sociopaths, we'll see when he starts talking.
-Lestrade's face! XD
-John's subtle side-look at Molly is subtle like a subtle thing.
As is this face.
-It makes up a bit for the blunt blankness of Sherlock's.
-Oh and the shoes too! XD I don't know if I hope he dressed like this before he met Molly, or if she nudged him into making changes in his style in one way or another, or if he's a huge fanboy and cosplaying, and I'm not sure which might be better. Or worse.
-Heee! John Watson, King of subtle. XD
-So, Sherlock, John, Mrs. Hudson, Mary, Lestrade, Molly, and her new fellow Tom. Aw, the gang's all here! Is this an actual homecoming party for Sherlock? Even though it doesn't match the one in his head, because no home will ever match the one you build in your head when you're away for an extended period.
-"Is it serious you two?" Aw. I get the feeling Lestrade was kind of hoping he had a chance with Molly if he ever got up the nerve, but... aw. Poor Lestrade.
-"Yeah. I've moved on." Um. Well, hey. We don't know a thing about this Tom guy, and really, if she's going to have a fiance who emulates one of her former romantic interests, Sherlock's a far better pattern to emulate than Moriarty.
-"Did you uh...?"/"I'm not saying a word." No, but when you come out dressed in the scarf and coat for... hm. Front door press conference? And Tom sees you, a few pennies might start dropping.
-As he actually realizes. He's gotten better at the social stuff in some ways.
-"Why did they try and kill me? If they knew you were after them, why come after me? Why put me in the bonfire?" Heh. Considering it didn't turn out to be a distraction from another part of the plot, there's really only one answer to that, and maybe you should save this particular explanation for some time when you have a few hours to shout obscenities at Mycroft in a location where the press and everyone you know can't hear you.
-"I don't know. I don't like not knowing." Hm! So. Either he does know and is just delaying the shouting about Mycroft John will be doing for later on, or he really doesn't know and will be having an epic shouting match with Mycroft later over exactly what methods of motivating Sherlock are now and forevermore off the table when he finds out it was him, or... Hm. Maybe it's not Mycroft...? Feels like Mycroft. And there's the drug that isn't being mentioned as used during the faking of Sherlock's death that might not actually have been used, but... it feels like Mycroft. After this episode, I trust Mycroft far less than I ever did, which is alarming. Even after the Wee!Holmes backstory, and meeting Mummy, and all that stuff to humanize him. Hm. But if it wasn't Mycroft, who else would want to motivate and clue-in Sherlock to focus on the terrorism case and make the connection to Guy Fawkes? To stop the bombing but still have the plot exposed to get that bill through parliament. Someone who wants broader power of accessing the average citizen's personal information and ignoring human rights in the name of protecting the common good. Hmmm. Hmmmmmm. Yeah... I still blame Mycroft.
-"I don't know who's behind all this but I will find out, I promise you." Hm. If it's someone who followed him home from while he was away, they already have alarming access to information on John. And what's the connection with Mary, because whoever it was sent her the clues to her phone, not Sherlock's, and then the second message sent was addressed to 'Mr Holmes' meant that the caller knew he and Mary were en route together, all sent still to Mary's phone. And then there was 'hotting up' and the horrible pun ...You know... If it's not Mycroft, then who in hell else has that much power without Mycroft and Sherlock being aware of them? Eeeeek. You know things are bad when Mycroft nearly getting John killed (or appearing to, as if it was Mycroft, I don't doubt there were fail-safes) simply to motivate Sherlock on a case is the less alarming option. O.O
-"You'd have to be an idiot not to see it. You love it."/"Love what?"/"Being Sherlock Holmes." Considering he most likely got called anything but his real name while he was away, being called it again would be good, even if it wasn't by the media, calling him a hero.
-"I don't even know what that's supposed to mean." Be an arrogant know-it-all-dick as a defense against actually making any social connection with most people, because most people have found ways to hurt you, deliberately or accidentally, though you hide it well Nah. Just awww. He might mean it facetiously, but aw.
-"Sherlock, you are gonna tell me how you did it?" Just wait till Anderson gets done fighting with Windows Movie Maker and uploads it to YouTube, and you can Google it any time you like. Though that is the 'cleared by Mycroft et al for public dissemination' version.
-"When you were dead, I went to your grave."/"I should hope so." Awwww.
-"I made a little speech. I actually spoke to you."/"I know. I was there." OH GOD, DID HE HEAR IT AFTER ALL? He can't have heard it all, he was too far away. Though John was a bit loud for parts of it. Depends on the ...acoustics of the graveyard? Hm.
-"I asked you for one more miracle. I asked you to stop being dead."/"I heard you." *flaaaaaails all over everything.*
-And he changes the subject. "Time to go and be Sherlock Holmes." You know between that and the hearing of requests for miracles, they're practically prompting Supernatural crossovers, right? Just checking.
-Ahahahaha, the resigned look on his face when he reaches for the damned hat. XD
-Media circus time!
Oh hello... didn't the coat just have the top button hole red before in stead of all of them? And wasn't it a brighter red and not a sort-of maroon-purple that matches his purple shirt? Did Anthea do things to Sherlock's coat? or is this a different one of the "lots of coats" he has? *side-eyes*
Hey, 219 next door, obviously that's what number the place always was, but was the number there before? Wonder if this means we're going to get to meet Mrs Turner and the neighbours at some point this series.
-Oh hi unexpected pre-credit bit. Some kind of store-room. With clowns. O.o
-Hat plus bunny equals magician, plus clowns equals circus? *eyes-latex glove tree in the background* Not sure what sort of circus...
-Doll's head in a bowl of oranges. Er... This is getting more disturbing as we go...
-Old style telephone switchboard operator headset on a bust.
-SOMEONE WHO ISN'T MYCROFT WATCHING SEVERAL SCREENS OF SHERLOCK FRANTICALLY PULLING JOHN OUT OF THE BONFIRE, OH HOLY CRAP.
-OH MY GOD IT'S EVEN CREEPIER, HE'S JUST WATCHING SHERLOCK PULL JOHN OUT OF THE FIRE AND MARY SCREAM ON A GODDAMNED LOOP, OVER AND OVER AND OVER, HOLY CRAP, THAT'S- WHAT- THIS IS MESSED UP RIGHT HERE. OH MY GOD.
-I... I think I might owe Mycroft an apology for thinking he'd put John in a bonfire to get Sherlock on track (although I do believe he'd do anything necessary and that if he did do that, there would be no real chance of any serious physical damage to John or his rescuers), but HOLY CRAP WHO THE FUCK IS THAT GUY? IT'S NOT MORIARTY OR MYCROFT, SO WHO THE HELL IS THAT? WITH THAT LEVEL OF ACCESS AND POWER AND A CREEPY WAREHOUSE FULL OF VAGUELY CIRCUS-RELATED THINGS AND NO ONE KNOWS HE EVEN EXISTS? HOLY SHIT. O.O
-ALSO, I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE THIS EXTRA CLEAR. THE ABOVE QUESTIONS ARE ALL RHETORICAL. IF YOU DO KNOW WHO IT IS OR KNOW ACD REFERENCES I'VE MISSED THAT MIGHT IMPLY WHO IT IS (since most of the UK pace watchers are on the far side of episode 2 now) DON'T YOU EVEN DARE TELL ME. Because spoilers! XD
Now. I've been avoiding the internet since New Years Day, so I'm going to go do some limited and cautious catching up, stopping at anything posted after 9PM UTC, January 5th, and then stay right off the internet again until I've got through 3.02 at the breakneck rate of up to twenty minutes a day. WHEE! \o/
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