PICSPAM REACTION/RECAP: Sherlock Series 3 Episode 3 (Part 2 of 8)
WARNING: CONTAINS IMAGES AND DETAILS OF THE SHERLOCK SERIES 3 FINAL EPISODE. If you have not watched Sherlock Series 3's finale yet, this post is CHOCK FULL OF SPOILERS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Live-Bloggish Picspam Reaction/Recap for Sherlock Series 3 Episode 3
PART ONE
PART TWO - "His Last Vow"
-Ooo, someone's not too happy about getting drug tested. I suspect it's a bit of no one trusting him at his word and a bit of expecting it from Mycroft but not from anyone else.
-"Clean. (Or is it "Clean?" the sound's still muddy on this. Maybe it's my ears. :-P)" *SLAP* Wow, Molly's pissed off. O.o Now, is it several years of pent-up frustration coming out in one go, or is it that he dropped off the face of the earth for a month and turned up in a drug den after she's spent the entire month dreading every single corpse that comes through the door of the morgue because it might be his. Or is she smacking him for leaving the wedding early after saying he'd always be there? (Or was it "Clean?" and not "Clean." in which case she's slapping him for doing drugs?) In any case, words would be a more effective way of expressing detailed irkedness. Though it is an impressive and attention-getting slap.
-And again some more! Molly is seriously annoyed. But again, words would help get the point across. I think you've got Sherlock's attention. And everyone else's. Or maybe she's part of his rehab program. If he comes in for testing for reasonable suspicion of drug use at any time, he gets belted repeatedly in the chops. Might he have even set something like that up himself, asking her to do that if the situation arose as a deterrent to using?
-"How dare you throw away the beautiful gifts you were born with, and how dare you betray the love of your friends! Say you're sorry." Oooo, yes, there are some words now. And instead of "Clean." expressing a negative result, it was "Clean?" expressing 'are you frigging kidding me?'. Sherlock really is a self-destructive idiot if he's working a case solo with no one knowing what he's doing or where he is and using on top of that. Or he's faked the test results? Easy enough, go up to someone who's taken some at the drug house and get them to pee in a bottle. Doubtful that the gang would have made Sherlock pee in full view of everyone, and he could have warmed it up to closer to body temperature by putting the closed bottle of pee in a basin of hot water in the loo, or even just in a pocket. I don't know why he'd fake it to fail it here though, unless there was some reason he'd want to fail a drug test in front of his friends while not actually using. Hm. So. Drug use for Sherlock still anywhere from zero drugs to all the drugs. In any case, for making his friends worry and think he's been out on the streets and using for a month whether he has or not, well-deserved hurty words. Ow.
-"Sorry your engagement's over. I'm fairly grateful for the lack of a ring." Ooof. Not helping.
-"If you were anywhere near this kind of thing again you could have called, you could have talked to me." Oh god, and now it's an intervention. They don't trust Sherlock to keep himself safe because they know him. They know the kinds of idiot risks he takes with his own health and safety as a matter of course, not to mention the whole fake suicide and spending two years on an extended covert ops mission of sorts involving running around the world solving crimes and dismantling Moriarty's network, and also getting the crap kicked out of him in interrogations. Adding a potential drug relapse to that general tendency is gilding on the self-negligent lily.
-"We're not playing this game." John is not finding anything about this amusing, particularly spurious (and defensive?) deductions about him cycling to work. And he does have a point; even if Sherlock did stay clean an environment like that really isn't healthy for anyone with a drug problem to be in alone and without being in contact with a support network (although homeless network, but then although why couldn't he have some of them watching and reporting back on whatever he was watching for? Getting more and more interested in whatever this case he's working on is).
-"Somebody hit me.... Just some guy." Aw, like he's covering for John, or like he's worried John will hurt him some more? I think it's more covering for, though I'm not sure why. Love the extended set of looks here. You can see the clues bouncing around.
-"It was probably just an addict." Heh. Heheheh. Adrenaline addict/danger junkie, yeah? Walking up to a guy with a knife, taunting him, smacking him around. Heh. Watson, know thyself.
-"-in need of a fix." And he looks right at Sherlock. Ahahahahaha, yep.
-"Yes I think in a way it was." Good to know we're all on exactly the same page here. Kind of hard to test John's pee to see if he's been indulging in his addiction though. Hee.
-"Well it's the creases, innit?" *boggle check* Sherlock's teaching some of his Network observational reasoning skills? O.o ...AWESOME.
-Sprained Guy: "*gives how Sherlock deduced John's new cycling habit from his shirt*" John's face seems stuck between annoyed, disbelieving, and some kind of world-view shift he's not terribly comfortable having at the moment while he's being angrily concerned about his best friend. Also maybe a bit freaked out that there's more than just Sherlock and Mycroft who can look at him and tell him his life story.
(...sprained guy isn't some weird estranged-yet-not-quite-estranged Holmes brother like the Baring-Gould hypothesized Sherringford Holmes, is he? That would be... bizarre.)
-"You keep your shirts folded. Ready to pack." Ooo, that's almost a kind of burn there, isn't it? A slight hinting at a kind of rootlessness in his life? Coming from someone who knows him I'd say it might be, but coming from a guy he just met and sprained, maybe not. Hm.
-"Not bad." Something about Sherlock's face there. Don't know.
-"And I further deduce-" HA! Sherlock's little alarmed glance-storm.
-Is that alarm or 'what the hell have you done now, Sherlock?' Could be both.
-"You've got a bit of chafing."/"No, he's always walked like that." *snerk*
-"What's your name again?" The thing about John's face is it keeps doing these interesting things all the time that demand to be capped even when not directly relevant to the situation of the moment.
-"They call me the Wig."/"No they don't." I get the feeling Sherlock's random case is in the process of breaking here, maybe? Maybe Sherlock wasn't the only one undercover at the crack house? Or maybe this guy is working for someone else who wants a load of drug users kept unbothered in an abandoned industrial building? Hm.
-"Well, they call me Wiggy."/"Noop." Heh. You just did a Sherlock-level deduction, dude. Unless Sherlock was directly involved in that and provided some tips, trying to hide under your 'idiot druggie bouncer' act just isn't going to work anymore. The dangers of showing off. People see you.
-"Bill. Bill Wiggins." Heeeeeee! AKA Head of the Baker Street Irregulars in ACD canon, if I recall correctly? *fistpump of canon reference* And since Sherlock didn't recall his name offhand before now, guess who's just gotten drafted into the Homeless Network command structure and hasn't been informed yet. Heh. Wiggy and Raz can hang out. Along with the train-spotter with the awesome bobble hat from the first episode this season, who might not be homeless but could be one of the people Sherlock uses as an expert reference like Raz. They can all hang out and be awesome together.
(Mary's face also does awesome things even when the attention isn't directly on her.)
-"Nice observational skills, Billy." Oh yes. So recruited.
-"Finally." Yep, break in the case, and he's miles away from the crack den.
-"Excellent news, the best!" Sherlock's face is kiiiiind of freaking me out here. And we know it's not a fresh shipment of ruptured spleens at the morgue because Molly's right there and she's probably not terribly inclined to let Sherlock have any spleens at all just now.
Seriously, that face.
-"There's every chance that my 'drug habit' may hit the newspapers." ...*FACEPALM* He's baiting Alt!Milverton, because he's working Captain Adelaide's case. Of course. *headdesk* Sometimes I find the time elapsed during transitions a bit easy to misjudge. I figured she'd still be looking for him yet, having come while he was out on this 'other thing' for the past month, but no.
-"Excuse me. For a second." And he swirls out the door, leaving everyone confused as hell. Hee.
(Same lab as he and John met in, and later hid out in waiting for Moriarty, isn't it? Same blue thing on the doors. Molly's lab. Yay, continuity! \o/)
-London is damn pretty from many angles. Haven't seen this angle before, with the Eye being seen edge on.
-"You've heard of Charles Augustus Magnuson, of course." *nods* Captain Adelaide's case. Okay, I'm catching up, slowly. Between the major spoiler, that mishearing and the CAM speculation bomb earlier, on top of the RL madness, my brain's starting out rather scrambled for this.
-"Hang on. Weren't there other people?" Bwah! Okay, yes, maybe he has spent a month frying his brain a little. Although at least it's nice to have an explainer rather than subjecting Mary, Wiggins and Isaac to the red-shirt effect of having them there in one scene and then not even mentioning them when they aren't in the following scene.
-"People were talking, none of them me, I must have filtered." *SNERK* Also a legitimate explanation.
-"I have to filter out a lot of witless babble. I've got Mrs Hudson on semi-permanent mute." Aw. But not permanent, so she does rank over the general masses. And then there's John who says something and steps right into Sherlock's Mind Palace Assembly Hall unimpeded. Because Watson. Aw.
-Love that street sign. *peers down row of balconies* Just plant pots without plants on 221B's balcony, as seen before. Really curious what's in those.
-"What is my brother doing here?" *takes cap and squints* ...I don't see a single sign of Mycroft anywhere. Though Sherlock being found in a crack house after a month's absence would make a lack of Mycroft more of a surprise than a non-lack of Mycroft. *squints at cap again* Maybe it's the faintest hint of cologne remaining outside the door? No idea. Hide and seek for the Holmes boys must have been a very different game.
*waves hi to 223 Baker Street on the other side of Speedy's*
-"So I'll just pay then, shall I?" Hee. Moment of fanon confirmation there, a bit.
-"He straightened the knocker." Well he would, wouldn't he? XD
-"He always corrects it. It's OCD. Doesn't even know he's doing it." So says the man with a sock index. And then Sherlock pushes the knocker so far out of line it's not even going to hit the striker. Brothers, hee!
-Oh, Mycroft's sitting on the stairs. This is dire indeed.
-"What are you doing here?"/"I phoned him." Ooohoohoohoooo! Well, case and faking it or not, it's only sensible to phone to let family know when a family member who's been missing for a month turns up, whether that's in a drug house or otherwise.
Actually, John probably phoned Mycroft about Sherlock being missing long before this if Sherlock's been gone for a month, even if only to find out if he's off doing something for Mycroft... And Mycroft would have looked into it, and if he wasn't in Sherlock's loop, I can't see him going 'can't find Sherlock, oh well' and giving up... hm.... How much does Mycroft really know about whatever Sherlock's up to...?
-"How very like Uncle Rudy. Though in many ways, cross-dressing would have been a wiser path for you." Certainly far less illegal and damaging to the health, and only an item of concern for close-minded family members who think that their relative's perfectly legal, consensual, non-damaging private lives are in any way their business or something they need to pass judgement on. *eyes Mycroft disapprovingly*
-"You phoned him."/"Of course I bloody phoned him." Yep. Consequences for Sherlock's action or apparent action include calling in Big Brother. Hm. There is also something worrisome going on in this shot with the mirrors. I'm not sure exactly what, but something about both actual-Sherlock and mirror-Sherlock facing away from John here, with John bracketed in the middle is making me nervous. Hiding from him and defending him simultaneously? Or just completely shutting him out? Meep.
-"Where should we be looking?"/"We?"/"Mr Ho-olmes!" ...IS THAT ANDERSON'S VOICE? Hee! It's a drugs bust! \o/
-IT IS ANDERSON!!!! AHAAHAHAHAHAA! XD Oh god, I'm getting light-headed here from laughing already. Anderson's going to have a very different view of looking around Sherlock's flat now that he's been an obsessed fanboy for the past two years. And... HEHEHEH. Anderson had traced some of Sherlock's activities while he was undercover for those two years, enough that he did actually know Sherlock was alive and active out in the world on cases etc even if everyone thought he was nuts. OF COURSE MYCROFT WOULD PAY CLOSER ATTENTION TO HIM. And he was out of work, so maybe give him a job too, keep him close and under control? And Anderson would be the very first name on the "people who A) are already aware of my brother's drug issues, B) are capable of doing a thorough forensic search and C) would annoy him the most" list. (More of a Venn diagram, with an intersection point of one.) And all of it would work to support the reporting Sherlock wants done in the media to attract Alt!Milverton's attention. *glee* \o/
-"OH FOR GOD'S SAKE!" Hee! Yep. Consequences. And Anderson's about to get yelled at for trying to help. Aw. Poor Anderson.
(John Watson, what is your face? 'Futilely trying to blow out invisible drama candle'? XD)
-"Anderson?!"/"Sorry, Sherlock, it's for your own good." Oh dear. That's really not going to calm him down any. Probably good that there are innocent bystanders around. Or maybe that's worse. We'll see.
-Who exactly is the *squints* guy with the Beatles bowl-cut casually sitting in Sherlock's chair reading a book during the drug search? Is he on a break or something?
-"He's said to be taller." Apparently it's not just Anderson who's been tapped from the fandom for the drugs raid? O.o
-"Some members of your little 'fan club', to be polite. They're entirely trustworthy." Oh dear god. Heh. And also fits right in with the whole 'get in the press, get Alt!Milverton's attention' scheme, because fandom. Yes, they're all trustworthy and vetted by Mycroft or whatever, but someone's gonna blog about it, even obliquely, and provide another avenue of corroboration and flag in C.A.M.'s systems. *nods*
-"This toxic waste dump that you are pleased to call a flat." Mycroft, stop being mean to 221B. Also, from what we've seen so far, it's actually a bit clearer than it has been in the past. So also go apologize to Mrs Hudson. Again.
-Aw, curling up in his chair. The sofa must be full of fans.
-"Hey, what happened to my chair?" THE NOISE I JUST MADE. LIKE THE LAST LONELY HOWL OF A LONELY HOWLING THING. NOT JOHN'S CHAIR! DDD-:
-"It was blocking my view of the kitchen." Only while he's curled up on his side in his own chair though, so either he couldn't bear to see it all the time without John in it anymore (and maybe on some broken level inside still thinks John's never going to forgive him and will eventually turn away and disappear from his life, despite the best friends and the vowing and all from the wedding), in which case, AWWWWWWWW, or he's moved it so it looks like John's not such a big part of his life anymore to try to protect him from potential blow-back from the case he's working or protect him from being used against Sherlock again (which is most probably also a reason Sherlock did the drugs thing, to give Magnuson that (which he doesn't really seem to care that much about) to hold over him with blackmail, rather than Magnuson threatening John (who Sherlock's already demonstrated how far he's willing to go to protect quite clearly, even before the bonfire incident) in some way, be it blackmail or imperilment, so that's obviously not going to work now, is it? Eeeeeee....), in which case, AWWWWWWWW, or both, in which case, AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. (Or the director of photography moved it to get a clear angle on Sherlock curled up like a whelk in his chair and the 'view of the kitchen' business is handwaving the absence which is more than some shot direction changes involving iconic items get on certain other shows that could be mentioned. Ahem.)
-"Always good to be missed."/"Eh. You were gone. I saw an opportunity." Suuuure. *pats*
-"Why would a man who has never knowingly closed a door without the direct orders of his mother bother to do so on this occasion?" Oh, now isn't this a lovely and telling bit of theatre now. See. Bedroom door shut, fans who can be trusted and are cleared by Mycroft going over the flat, there'd be a hesitancy in the fan group to cross the boundary of a closed door without a direct statement from Mycroft. Sherlock shuts lots of doors. In fact, speaking of his mother, he shut one on her. Therefore, Mycroft's little spiel about closed doors and their mother is utter shash, designed to hold the attention of the witness/dissemination group ("Backstory! OMG!"), and get them to watch. If Sherlock were actually hiding drugs in the flat for the purposes of using at some point, it wouldn't be behind a simple closed door. Also, John's been through Sherlock's room on prior occasions, disrupting his sock index, so something obvious would be new (and quite silly of Sherlock to leave lying around, considering Mrs Hudson is probably also going in there and puttering to fend off anxiety while he'd disappeared (although Mycroft's statement seems to imply Sherlock was there last night, but John hasn't heard from Sherlock in a month and found him in a drug house, so... all something odd there, probably feeding into the next point as well)) must be in there. Therefore Mycroft is in on this case with him but making the appearance of not being so, and there's going to be something far too obvious in Sherlock's bedroom that the fan group will feel almost duty-bound to post about, furthering his case goal of attracting the attention of alt!Milverton/Magnuson (who I'll eventually see a proper name-spelling for).
(Although some small cartoonish part of me hopes there's a herd of some kind of animals in there that are going to stampede out and knock Mycroft over, but we all must live in hope about something, hm?)
-"Okay, stop! Just stop!" The trouble with characters who sit up suddenly like they've been given an electric shock is that they are damned hard to cap. Also now wondering if he's booby-trapped his bedroom door. Not a big bomb, but maybe a sort of directed charge flash-bang to incapacitate? Orrrr...is someone hiding in his room? Which he's only realized because he didn't shut the door when he left but now it's shut?
-"Point made."/"Jesus, Sherlock." Oh yes. And the reaction of John (who saw the place he found Sherlock and saw Molly's reaction to the possibly-faked tests (OR IS SHE HELPING HIM AGAIN AND FAKING THE TEST RESULTS? Which would be only slightly less arcane than getting a junkie to pee into a bottle)) is the cement. And so, without there actually having to be any kind of drugs at all on the premises, the fan-witnesses have been given the impression there must be loads, and some are no doubt now itching to get to their blogs and forums to post about it, or to launch defenses which would have the same effect of spreading the bait for the media and alt!Milverton, who will be watching Sherlock-centric forum spaces for just this sort of thing. *golf clap* The fantastic misdirections of the cooperating Holmes boys, y'all, once again. Possibly.
-Maybe I'm just being horrendously naive with all that, but it just seems to me that if Sherlock's on a case, he wouldn't actually be using drugs, even if part of the case was to give the impression that he's using drugs, and so far, everything seems to be eminently fakeable, so... maybe. Maybe.
-"I'm going to have to phone our parents of course, in Oklahoma. Won't be the first time that your substance abuse has wreaked havoc with their line-dancing." *boggle, with bonus hyena noises* (Although it seems a little weird somehow that he'd say that in front of the Empty Hearsers, so now I'm wondering if it's some form of code.) O.o
-"This is not what you think, this is for a case." Which he hasn't been too circumspect about hiding, and he's already mentioned it to John so if he doesn't mention the same rationale to Mycroft it'll be inconsistent and might make John wonder and pick at any holes. And the fan-witnesses, if they didn't hear the case-rationale and heard it later on from a different source would latch onto it with all four feet and start picking holes themselves, since it would be a way to salvage their faith in their hero. And the last thing Sherlock needs in order for this to draw out alt!Milverton is anyone anywhere trying to take apart the scenario he's built here.
-"What case could possibly justify this?"/"Magnuson." And Mycroft's face falls like a rock. Ooo. Maybe Mycroft isn't in on it, and Sherlock played him with the closed door? Hm. There are things going on here that are not what they appear. And they're still discussing this in front of the fan drug squad, so... hm. THINGS going on here. Definitely. Somehow. *steeplefingers*
-"That name you think you may have just heard. You were mistaken. If you ever mention hearing that name in this room, in this context, I guarantee you on behalf of the British security services that materials will be found on your computer hard drives resulting in your immediate incarceration. Don’t reply. Just look frightened and scuttle." BWAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. And it doesn't hurt to spread a little doubt about Magnuson either. To Sherlock's fans. Who have two years of practice spinning theories out of minimal evidence, and have only been restricted in saying they heard Magnuson's name in relation to Sherlock working a case. And Mycroft doesn't seem to be the type to discount a potential asset, or vector of confusion to the enemy, and a sudden increase in conspiracy theories might serve to muddy the waters. Y'know, just saying. ;-)
-Between Sherlock's hangdog slouch and Anderson's assiduous door-closing and staring at the back of Mycroft's head, this cap is making me laugh far harder than it reasonably should.
-"I hope I won't have to threaten you as well." Hehehehe, yeah, and that's worked so well the previous times you've tried it on John. Good luck with that, Mycroft.
-"I think we'd both find that embarrassing." *snerk* And Sherlock's little amused snort, hee!
-"Magnuson is not your business."/"Oh you mean he's yours?" Oooo.
-"You may consider him under my protection."/"I consider you under his thumb." OH HO. Not directly I don't think though. SO. From that, and knowing how Magnuson operates (*shudder*) I take it that various people in government etc have put Magnuson on the *handwave* 'do not disturb' list because of what holds he has on them. And Mycroft sees this and can't do a damned thing about it. *taps sides of keyboard agitatedly* So. Mycroft has a heck of a motivation for working with Sherlock on his case, but can't be seen to be working with Sherlock on the case or it will cause inconvenient disruptions in the power structure, etc as Magnuson starts reminding his thralls that he's got something on them and to stop this 'minor government official' from bothering him. So. Mycroft needs to be seen to be overtly against Sherlock's case while acting to help it. Hmmmmm. *more steeplefingers*
-"If you go against Magnuson, then you will find yourself going against me." Whoooaaaaaaa. Okay, cool cool cool. I mean, not cool obviously, just *flail* because if it's the way I think it is as mentioned above, they must appear to be at odds, even if they are doing things that work into each other's plans to end Magnuson. Which there have to be, I mean come on. The guy's a total sleaze with way too much power. And he's got some horrifying hold over Mary. And he put John Watson in a bonfire. Nobody puts John Watson in a bonfire.
-"Okay. I'll let you know if I notice." BWAH.
-"Uhhhhhm what was I gonna say? Oh yeah. Bye-bye." *sneeeeeeerk*
-"Unwise, brother mi-"/"*somewhat sloppy hammerlock and slamming Mycroft into the doorframe*" I believe the internet lingo for this situation would be 'WELL THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY.' O.O
-"Brother mine, don't appall me when I'm high." The sing-songy-ness of that. The simmerings of madness, he plays it well. Also, as a long time whump aficionado, I find Mycroft's little pained noises quite enthralling. And honestly, I've seen far worse scraps between siblings, fictional and otherwise, so I'm not terribly worried, and it's all excellently playing to any hidden cameras/listeners et cetera that the Holmes brothers are at odds, even if they really aren't. Maybe.
-"Mycroft, don’t say another word, just go. He could snap you in two, and right now I'm slightly worried that he might." John. Mostly watching Sherlock while saying that. And then after he says that, Sherlock's eyes close, like, I'm not sure. Like it hurts that John believes this of him, or that it hurts that he's had to make John believe this of him, or that he can't see the look John's giving him right now, or that he's trying to get control of himself, I don't know exactly yet. But there's something in that little closing of eyes before he lets Mycroft go that's... *headshake, random gestures* You know?
-Now. Wait a minute. Call me paranoid, but... Sherlock's right hand as he walks away here. Kind of held half behind him, elbow bent, a little clenched, was clenched when it held Mycroft's arm behind his back in that strangely awkward hold.... Now. It occurs to me that if Sherlock and Mycroft are collaborating on this case, but Mycroft has to appear as though he is opposing it entirely, and Mycroft had a bunch of intel on Magnuson that he'd either accumulated himself by various means, or was in the system locked down due to Magnuson's hold over key players, that if Mycroft wanted Sherlock to get that information, he'd load it on a thumb drive (or go old school and just have a note on paper) and put it in a pocket. And that if Sherlock wanted to cover retrieving that thumb drive from Mycroft's pocket, he'd get him in a grapple hold and slam him into a door-frame, and slip the thumb drive out of his pocket in the confusion (*scrolls to previous cap* or out of Mycroft's hand, which was in his pocket earlier, since Sherlock's oddly sloppy hammerlock involves his own hand being slightly clenched like he's holding something, rather than grabbing Mycroft's wrist and hoisting. Oh ho ho ho ho). Because Sherlock's hand looks like it's holding something about the size of a thumb drive, and possibly about to tuck it up into his sleeve or a pocket while any watchers are still distracted. Just saying. But as I've said before in prior reaction posts, I have played far too many intrigue-based RPGs. *steeplefingers and preemptive chortling*
-"Don't speak. Just leave." A wise policy for Mycroft visiting Sherlock at the best of times, usually. Also something I'd like on a doormat.
-There is something about John handing Mycroft his umbrella. I don't know what. Just something.
(*eyes Sherlock in background, looking like he's fiddling with something in front of him* JUST SAYING.)
-I'm not sure which way what's going, if Sherlock is clean and faking or if he's taken drugs, if Mycroft's working with him, against him or looking like he's working against him when he's working with him, or if something else entirely's going on, but my goodness there's a lot of plot flying around out here.
-"I'm meeting him in three hours, I need a bath." Probably a good idea. Eau du crack house is never an asset in any meeting. Also, there are loads of excellent places to hide a thumb drive in a bathroom. I'd recommend avoiding the 'sealed bag in the toilet tank' route though, everyone looks there first.
-"What sort of case?"/"Too big and dangerous for any sane individual to get involved in." YAY! \o/ I mean oh dear.
-"You trying to put me off?"/"God no. I'm trying to recruit you." HAHAHAHA. Yeah, no, if he was trying to put you off he'd tell you he was on drugs to catch someone's cheating spouse or an entirely unthreatening embezzler.
-"Stay out of my bedroom." Ha. Yeah, that's not gonna work either. Hm. Not drugs, nothing small and hidden or too destructive... Someone's in there. Witness? Client? Maybe Captain Adelaide (who I realize has a different name in this show but I've already forgotten it. I'm sure I'll get a refresher on it in a minute when John busts in there.) AND. That would explain why John hasn't heard from Sherlock in a month, if he's hiding the client in the flat.
(*giggles and inexplicably points at the blender and microwave*)
-YES There's someone in there! And it's... Not Captain Adelaide. ...is... is that Janine??? O.o
-Yeah, that's Janine. Possibly in one of Sherlock's shirts. Well then! O.O
-Oh. Hey. So. She's heard all the stuff that's been said in the flat. And... if they are following the little bit of canon I know about Milverton and having Sherlock hook up with one of alt!Milverton's staff to gain access... then maybe Janine works for Magnuson??? But. But she's so awesome! And she's Mary's friend! Oh god, is she keeping tabs on Mary for Magnuson??? DAMMIT, I'VE CURSED ANOTHER CHARACTER INTO BEING EVIL BY LIKING THEM, HAVEN'T I? /o\ No, no, wait, in canon, the maid Holmes takes up with to gain access to Milverton's place is just an innocent member of his household staff, so Janine's probably fine, just furthering a case and/or spreading corroborating misinformation regarding his drug habit and Mycroft's level of involvement back to Magnuson by leading Janine on and using her horribly. Bad Sherlock. No cookie. (Seriously, times like this knowing any part of the canon source os a disadvantage. Although Moffat and Gatiss do also like inverting canon, although although I'm dead certain their alt!Milverton is an irredeemable scumbag. So. Regardless, poor Janine.)
-Janine certainly seems to know her way around the place.
-"Was it Mike?"/"Mike?"/"Mike, yeah, his brother, Mike?" PFFFFFFFFFT!!! XD
-"Mycroft?"/"Do people actually call him that?" I can't stop laughing long enough to think.
-"How's Mary? How's married life?" Hm, not as close a friend of Mary as all that then, it seems. Still. *ponders suspiciously*
-"Oh, it's over there now." Ooooo. Ow.
-"Where's Sherl?" I just laughed exactly like Ernie from Sesame Street.
-"*giggles and splashing*" John's image of Sherlock is getting some new things added to it it seems. Though considering Sherlock told John not to look in his bedroom, he doesn't seem too put out that Janine's out roaming around the flat. Maybe he heard her talking earlier and got his facepalming and eyerolling out of the way well in advance.
-"So, just a guess, but you've probably got some questions."/"Y-yeah. One or two. Pretty much." So say we all. Myself, the incipient idea that Janine was an informant who had been clever in hiding in Sherlock's bedroom and pretending to be a girlfriend by throwing on one of Sherlock's shirts to deflect questions was kind of scotched by Sherlock following along with her going in to see him in the bath, so he's either pretending to have a relationship with her as in canon, or they're both hiding that she's just an informant from John, which could also be what's happening as Sherlock has left John out of the loop before (and didn't that go well?) and, maybe, something has already turned up regarding Mary in Sherlock's investigations and he doesn't want to let John in on it because Mary can detect lies if John does decide to hide Janine's involvement in this from her, or... hm. (Then again, I also had the passing thought that Janine was some relation of Moriarty's because of the accent, so my brain is not firing on all the sensible cylinders right now.) So, questions, yes.
-John's face, watching Janine bustle around the flat!
-"You have a girlfriend?"/"Yes I have." Oh dear. XD On the up side, it seems to have blown the whole, 'Sherlock's been using drugs' matter clear out of John's head. Unless he's already fully accepted that Sherlock did it for a case and has shelved all his qualms about it because he's got faith in Sherlock, but really, I think there's a bit more shouting or discussion yet to happen on that topic.
-"Magnuson is like a shark." Spider, shark, Sherlock's enemy descriptions are progressing up the animal kingdom. Vertebrates now after arthropods. He must have had his mollusk, annelid, jellyfish and sponge enemies earlier in life. *nods* Though the shark metaphor makes me think that he's implying the way to end Magnuson is to stop him from 'swimming', after the common partially true conception that sharks need to keep moving to breathe (many shark and shark-related species don't have that problem, though great whites do and that's the typical shark that gets thought of, and I doubt Sherlock's comparing Magnuson to a nurse shark or a manta ray). Though I'm not sure if that helps at all as it seems to imply that the way to stop Magnuson is... by stopping him. Which is a tad recursive.
-Sherlock's description of Magnuson as the most repugnant criminal he's ever gone against who turns his stomach and so forth (*canon reference fistpump I believe?*), and John's face is just, well. Like a puppy eager to get out and play. :-D
("Can we go now? Can we? Hunh?" Seriously, look at that smirk and tell me some part of John Watson isn't bounding around inside him, barking and scratching at the door to go out ass-kicking.)
-"You have a girlfriend." Or John could have severely blown his boggle-check and still be stuck on the Janine thing and not heard a word Sherlock just said. *facepalm and headshake*
-And even after a second repeat, John's still stuck on it, and Sherlock makes this face that makes me think of a disillusioned turtle. Don't know why. Well, I know why he's making the face, John's being weirdly mundane at him with the relationship obsession, just not sure why disillusioned turtle sprang to mind.
-"Care to elaborate?"/"*BLOWFISH FACE OF IMMINENT BULLSHIT*" Bwahahahahah! Between Sherlock's enemies, John's brain and Sherlock's faces, we're hitting the entire animal kingdom in this ep. XD
-"You got that from a book."/"Everyone got that from a book." Oh dear. John's onto Sherlock's relationship being fake already, maybe. Our Watson is occasionally a perceptive Watson.
-I almost hope Janine turns out to be evil now, because if this relationship is true-to-canon fake... ow. Poor Janine.
-*gestures randomly at the screen* Face!
-"I haven't told Mary about this, I kind of wanted to surprise her."/"Yeah, you probably will." *snerk*
-And invitations to a group dinner thing at Janine's. Oh dear, I think I'm getting infected with John's stuck bogglement now.
-"Great, yeah! Dinner, yeah." HAHAHAH. Oh I'm pretty sure the questions are going to get more pointed and grilling when Janine leave's for work or wherever she's headed.
-"Unless I meet someone prettier." Hee! And John with the combined awkward-squirm and boggle-squirm as Sherlock kissing his girlfriend. HEEEEE!
-And randomly looking around the walls as the smooching continues....
-"Solve me a crime, Sherlock Holmes." Oh god. *headlaptop* BWAH. Poor Janine!
-Yep. And after she leaves, the facade comes down. Fake relationship, as in canon. And soon, Watsonian shouting. Poor Janine. Even if she does turn out to be evil. Though, really, if she was working for Magnuson Sherlock wouldn't be discussing Magnuson as a case while she was in ear-shot, right? Unless he was doing it because he knows she'll pass it to him and that's what he wants? ...nah. Janine's cool. Poor Janine.
Continued in...
PART THREE
PART FOUR
PART FIVE
PART SIX
PART SEVEN
PART EIGHT
(PLEASE, NO SPOILERS OR RUMOURS OR REFERENCES TO ANY INFORMATION FOR OR ABOUT FUTURE EPISODES OR SERIES' OF SHERLOCK)
Live-Bloggish Picspam Reaction/Recap for Sherlock Series 3 Episode 3
PART ONE
PART TWO - "His Last Vow"
-Ooo, someone's not too happy about getting drug tested. I suspect it's a bit of no one trusting him at his word and a bit of expecting it from Mycroft but not from anyone else.
-"Clean. (Or is it "Clean?" the sound's still muddy on this. Maybe it's my ears. :-P)" *SLAP* Wow, Molly's pissed off. O.o Now, is it several years of pent-up frustration coming out in one go, or is it that he dropped off the face of the earth for a month and turned up in a drug den after she's spent the entire month dreading every single corpse that comes through the door of the morgue because it might be his. Or is she smacking him for leaving the wedding early after saying he'd always be there? (Or was it "Clean?" and not "Clean." in which case she's slapping him for doing drugs?) In any case, words would be a more effective way of expressing detailed irkedness. Though it is an impressive and attention-getting slap.
-And again some more! Molly is seriously annoyed. But again, words would help get the point across. I think you've got Sherlock's attention. And everyone else's. Or maybe she's part of his rehab program. If he comes in for testing for reasonable suspicion of drug use at any time, he gets belted repeatedly in the chops. Might he have even set something like that up himself, asking her to do that if the situation arose as a deterrent to using?
-"How dare you throw away the beautiful gifts you were born with, and how dare you betray the love of your friends! Say you're sorry." Oooo, yes, there are some words now. And instead of "Clean." expressing a negative result, it was "Clean?" expressing 'are you frigging kidding me?'. Sherlock really is a self-destructive idiot if he's working a case solo with no one knowing what he's doing or where he is and using on top of that. Or he's faked the test results? Easy enough, go up to someone who's taken some at the drug house and get them to pee in a bottle. Doubtful that the gang would have made Sherlock pee in full view of everyone, and he could have warmed it up to closer to body temperature by putting the closed bottle of pee in a basin of hot water in the loo, or even just in a pocket. I don't know why he'd fake it to fail it here though, unless there was some reason he'd want to fail a drug test in front of his friends while not actually using. Hm. So. Drug use for Sherlock still anywhere from zero drugs to all the drugs. In any case, for making his friends worry and think he's been out on the streets and using for a month whether he has or not, well-deserved hurty words. Ow.
-"Sorry your engagement's over. I'm fairly grateful for the lack of a ring." Ooof. Not helping.
-"If you were anywhere near this kind of thing again you could have called, you could have talked to me." Oh god, and now it's an intervention. They don't trust Sherlock to keep himself safe because they know him. They know the kinds of idiot risks he takes with his own health and safety as a matter of course, not to mention the whole fake suicide and spending two years on an extended covert ops mission of sorts involving running around the world solving crimes and dismantling Moriarty's network, and also getting the crap kicked out of him in interrogations. Adding a potential drug relapse to that general tendency is gilding on the self-negligent lily.
-"We're not playing this game." John is not finding anything about this amusing, particularly spurious (and defensive?) deductions about him cycling to work. And he does have a point; even if Sherlock did stay clean an environment like that really isn't healthy for anyone with a drug problem to be in alone and without being in contact with a support network (although homeless network, but then although why couldn't he have some of them watching and reporting back on whatever he was watching for? Getting more and more interested in whatever this case he's working on is).
-"Somebody hit me.... Just some guy." Aw, like he's covering for John, or like he's worried John will hurt him some more? I think it's more covering for, though I'm not sure why. Love the extended set of looks here. You can see the clues bouncing around.
-"It was probably just an addict." Heh. Heheheh. Adrenaline addict/danger junkie, yeah? Walking up to a guy with a knife, taunting him, smacking him around. Heh. Watson, know thyself.
-"-in need of a fix." And he looks right at Sherlock. Ahahahahaha, yep.
-"Yes I think in a way it was." Good to know we're all on exactly the same page here. Kind of hard to test John's pee to see if he's been indulging in his addiction though. Hee.
-"Well it's the creases, innit?" *boggle check* Sherlock's teaching some of his Network observational reasoning skills? O.o ...AWESOME.
-Sprained Guy: "*gives how Sherlock deduced John's new cycling habit from his shirt*" John's face seems stuck between annoyed, disbelieving, and some kind of world-view shift he's not terribly comfortable having at the moment while he's being angrily concerned about his best friend. Also maybe a bit freaked out that there's more than just Sherlock and Mycroft who can look at him and tell him his life story.
(...sprained guy isn't some weird estranged-yet-not-quite-estranged Holmes brother like the Baring-Gould hypothesized Sherringford Holmes, is he? That would be... bizarre.)
-"You keep your shirts folded. Ready to pack." Ooo, that's almost a kind of burn there, isn't it? A slight hinting at a kind of rootlessness in his life? Coming from someone who knows him I'd say it might be, but coming from a guy he just met and sprained, maybe not. Hm.
-"Not bad." Something about Sherlock's face there. Don't know.
-"And I further deduce-" HA! Sherlock's little alarmed glance-storm.
-Is that alarm or 'what the hell have you done now, Sherlock?' Could be both.
-"You've got a bit of chafing."/"No, he's always walked like that." *snerk*
-"What's your name again?" The thing about John's face is it keeps doing these interesting things all the time that demand to be capped even when not directly relevant to the situation of the moment.
-"They call me the Wig."/"No they don't." I get the feeling Sherlock's random case is in the process of breaking here, maybe? Maybe Sherlock wasn't the only one undercover at the crack house? Or maybe this guy is working for someone else who wants a load of drug users kept unbothered in an abandoned industrial building? Hm.
-"Well, they call me Wiggy."/"Noop." Heh. You just did a Sherlock-level deduction, dude. Unless Sherlock was directly involved in that and provided some tips, trying to hide under your 'idiot druggie bouncer' act just isn't going to work anymore. The dangers of showing off. People see you.
-"Bill. Bill Wiggins." Heeeeeee! AKA Head of the Baker Street Irregulars in ACD canon, if I recall correctly? *fistpump of canon reference* And since Sherlock didn't recall his name offhand before now, guess who's just gotten drafted into the Homeless Network command structure and hasn't been informed yet. Heh. Wiggy and Raz can hang out. Along with the train-spotter with the awesome bobble hat from the first episode this season, who might not be homeless but could be one of the people Sherlock uses as an expert reference like Raz. They can all hang out and be awesome together.
(Mary's face also does awesome things even when the attention isn't directly on her.)
-"Nice observational skills, Billy." Oh yes. So recruited.
-"Finally." Yep, break in the case, and he's miles away from the crack den.
-"Excellent news, the best!" Sherlock's face is kiiiiind of freaking me out here. And we know it's not a fresh shipment of ruptured spleens at the morgue because Molly's right there and she's probably not terribly inclined to let Sherlock have any spleens at all just now.
Seriously, that face.
-"There's every chance that my 'drug habit' may hit the newspapers." ...*FACEPALM* He's baiting Alt!Milverton, because he's working Captain Adelaide's case. Of course. *headdesk* Sometimes I find the time elapsed during transitions a bit easy to misjudge. I figured she'd still be looking for him yet, having come while he was out on this 'other thing' for the past month, but no.
-"Excuse me. For a second." And he swirls out the door, leaving everyone confused as hell. Hee.
(Same lab as he and John met in, and later hid out in waiting for Moriarty, isn't it? Same blue thing on the doors. Molly's lab. Yay, continuity! \o/)
-London is damn pretty from many angles. Haven't seen this angle before, with the Eye being seen edge on.
-"You've heard of Charles Augustus Magnuson, of course." *nods* Captain Adelaide's case. Okay, I'm catching up, slowly. Between the major spoiler, that mishearing and the CAM speculation bomb earlier, on top of the RL madness, my brain's starting out rather scrambled for this.
-"Hang on. Weren't there other people?" Bwah! Okay, yes, maybe he has spent a month frying his brain a little. Although at least it's nice to have an explainer rather than subjecting Mary, Wiggins and Isaac to the red-shirt effect of having them there in one scene and then not even mentioning them when they aren't in the following scene.
-"People were talking, none of them me, I must have filtered." *SNERK* Also a legitimate explanation.
-"I have to filter out a lot of witless babble. I've got Mrs Hudson on semi-permanent mute." Aw. But not permanent, so she does rank over the general masses. And then there's John who says something and steps right into Sherlock's Mind Palace Assembly Hall unimpeded. Because Watson. Aw.
-Love that street sign. *peers down row of balconies* Just plant pots without plants on 221B's balcony, as seen before. Really curious what's in those.
-"What is my brother doing here?" *takes cap and squints* ...I don't see a single sign of Mycroft anywhere. Though Sherlock being found in a crack house after a month's absence would make a lack of Mycroft more of a surprise than a non-lack of Mycroft. *squints at cap again* Maybe it's the faintest hint of cologne remaining outside the door? No idea. Hide and seek for the Holmes boys must have been a very different game.
*waves hi to 223 Baker Street on the other side of Speedy's*
-"So I'll just pay then, shall I?" Hee. Moment of fanon confirmation there, a bit.
-"He straightened the knocker." Well he would, wouldn't he? XD
-"He always corrects it. It's OCD. Doesn't even know he's doing it." So says the man with a sock index. And then Sherlock pushes the knocker so far out of line it's not even going to hit the striker. Brothers, hee!
-Oh, Mycroft's sitting on the stairs. This is dire indeed.
-"What are you doing here?"/"I phoned him." Ooohoohoohoooo! Well, case and faking it or not, it's only sensible to phone to let family know when a family member who's been missing for a month turns up, whether that's in a drug house or otherwise.
Actually, John probably phoned Mycroft about Sherlock being missing long before this if Sherlock's been gone for a month, even if only to find out if he's off doing something for Mycroft... And Mycroft would have looked into it, and if he wasn't in Sherlock's loop, I can't see him going 'can't find Sherlock, oh well' and giving up... hm.... How much does Mycroft really know about whatever Sherlock's up to...?
-"How very like Uncle Rudy. Though in many ways, cross-dressing would have been a wiser path for you." Certainly far less illegal and damaging to the health, and only an item of concern for close-minded family members who think that their relative's perfectly legal, consensual, non-damaging private lives are in any way their business or something they need to pass judgement on. *eyes Mycroft disapprovingly*
-"You phoned him."/"Of course I bloody phoned him." Yep. Consequences for Sherlock's action or apparent action include calling in Big Brother. Hm. There is also something worrisome going on in this shot with the mirrors. I'm not sure exactly what, but something about both actual-Sherlock and mirror-Sherlock facing away from John here, with John bracketed in the middle is making me nervous. Hiding from him and defending him simultaneously? Or just completely shutting him out? Meep.
-"Where should we be looking?"/"We?"/"Mr Ho-olmes!" ...IS THAT ANDERSON'S VOICE? Hee! It's a drugs bust! \o/
-IT IS ANDERSON!!!! AHAAHAHAHAHAA! XD Oh god, I'm getting light-headed here from laughing already. Anderson's going to have a very different view of looking around Sherlock's flat now that he's been an obsessed fanboy for the past two years. And... HEHEHEH. Anderson had traced some of Sherlock's activities while he was undercover for those two years, enough that he did actually know Sherlock was alive and active out in the world on cases etc even if everyone thought he was nuts. OF COURSE MYCROFT WOULD PAY CLOSER ATTENTION TO HIM. And he was out of work, so maybe give him a job too, keep him close and under control? And Anderson would be the very first name on the "people who A) are already aware of my brother's drug issues, B) are capable of doing a thorough forensic search and C) would annoy him the most" list. (More of a Venn diagram, with an intersection point of one.) And all of it would work to support the reporting Sherlock wants done in the media to attract Alt!Milverton's attention. *glee* \o/
-"OH FOR GOD'S SAKE!" Hee! Yep. Consequences. And Anderson's about to get yelled at for trying to help. Aw. Poor Anderson.
(John Watson, what is your face? 'Futilely trying to blow out invisible drama candle'? XD)
-"Anderson?!"/"Sorry, Sherlock, it's for your own good." Oh dear. That's really not going to calm him down any. Probably good that there are innocent bystanders around. Or maybe that's worse. We'll see.
-Who exactly is the *squints* guy with the Beatles bowl-cut casually sitting in Sherlock's chair reading a book during the drug search? Is he on a break or something?
-"He's said to be taller." Apparently it's not just Anderson who's been tapped from the fandom for the drugs raid? O.o
-"Some members of your little 'fan club', to be polite. They're entirely trustworthy." Oh dear god. Heh. And also fits right in with the whole 'get in the press, get Alt!Milverton's attention' scheme, because fandom. Yes, they're all trustworthy and vetted by Mycroft or whatever, but someone's gonna blog about it, even obliquely, and provide another avenue of corroboration and flag in C.A.M.'s systems. *nods*
-"This toxic waste dump that you are pleased to call a flat." Mycroft, stop being mean to 221B. Also, from what we've seen so far, it's actually a bit clearer than it has been in the past. So also go apologize to Mrs Hudson. Again.
-Aw, curling up in his chair. The sofa must be full of fans.
-"Hey, what happened to my chair?" THE NOISE I JUST MADE. LIKE THE LAST LONELY HOWL OF A LONELY HOWLING THING. NOT JOHN'S CHAIR! DDD-:
-"It was blocking my view of the kitchen." Only while he's curled up on his side in his own chair though, so either he couldn't bear to see it all the time without John in it anymore (and maybe on some broken level inside still thinks John's never going to forgive him and will eventually turn away and disappear from his life, despite the best friends and the vowing and all from the wedding), in which case, AWWWWWWWW, or he's moved it so it looks like John's not such a big part of his life anymore to try to protect him from potential blow-back from the case he's working or protect him from being used against Sherlock again (which is most probably also a reason Sherlock did the drugs thing, to give Magnuson that (which he doesn't really seem to care that much about) to hold over him with blackmail, rather than Magnuson threatening John (who Sherlock's already demonstrated how far he's willing to go to protect quite clearly, even before the bonfire incident) in some way, be it blackmail or imperilment, so that's obviously not going to work now, is it? Eeeeeee....), in which case, AWWWWWWWW, or both, in which case, AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. (Or the director of photography moved it to get a clear angle on Sherlock curled up like a whelk in his chair and the 'view of the kitchen' business is handwaving the absence which is more than some shot direction changes involving iconic items get on certain other shows that could be mentioned. Ahem.)
-"Always good to be missed."/"Eh. You were gone. I saw an opportunity." Suuuure. *pats*
-"Why would a man who has never knowingly closed a door without the direct orders of his mother bother to do so on this occasion?" Oh, now isn't this a lovely and telling bit of theatre now. See. Bedroom door shut, fans who can be trusted and are cleared by Mycroft going over the flat, there'd be a hesitancy in the fan group to cross the boundary of a closed door without a direct statement from Mycroft. Sherlock shuts lots of doors. In fact, speaking of his mother, he shut one on her. Therefore, Mycroft's little spiel about closed doors and their mother is utter shash, designed to hold the attention of the witness/dissemination group ("Backstory! OMG!"), and get them to watch. If Sherlock were actually hiding drugs in the flat for the purposes of using at some point, it wouldn't be behind a simple closed door. Also, John's been through Sherlock's room on prior occasions, disrupting his sock index, so something obvious would be new (and quite silly of Sherlock to leave lying around, considering Mrs Hudson is probably also going in there and puttering to fend off anxiety while he'd disappeared (although Mycroft's statement seems to imply Sherlock was there last night, but John hasn't heard from Sherlock in a month and found him in a drug house, so... all something odd there, probably feeding into the next point as well)) must be in there. Therefore Mycroft is in on this case with him but making the appearance of not being so, and there's going to be something far too obvious in Sherlock's bedroom that the fan group will feel almost duty-bound to post about, furthering his case goal of attracting the attention of alt!Milverton/Magnuson (who I'll eventually see a proper name-spelling for).
(Although some small cartoonish part of me hopes there's a herd of some kind of animals in there that are going to stampede out and knock Mycroft over, but we all must live in hope about something, hm?)
-"Okay, stop! Just stop!" The trouble with characters who sit up suddenly like they've been given an electric shock is that they are damned hard to cap. Also now wondering if he's booby-trapped his bedroom door. Not a big bomb, but maybe a sort of directed charge flash-bang to incapacitate? Orrrr...is someone hiding in his room? Which he's only realized because he didn't shut the door when he left but now it's shut?
-"Point made."/"Jesus, Sherlock." Oh yes. And the reaction of John (who saw the place he found Sherlock and saw Molly's reaction to the possibly-faked tests (OR IS SHE HELPING HIM AGAIN AND FAKING THE TEST RESULTS? Which would be only slightly less arcane than getting a junkie to pee into a bottle)) is the cement. And so, without there actually having to be any kind of drugs at all on the premises, the fan-witnesses have been given the impression there must be loads, and some are no doubt now itching to get to their blogs and forums to post about it, or to launch defenses which would have the same effect of spreading the bait for the media and alt!Milverton, who will be watching Sherlock-centric forum spaces for just this sort of thing. *golf clap* The fantastic misdirections of the cooperating Holmes boys, y'all, once again. Possibly.
-Maybe I'm just being horrendously naive with all that, but it just seems to me that if Sherlock's on a case, he wouldn't actually be using drugs, even if part of the case was to give the impression that he's using drugs, and so far, everything seems to be eminently fakeable, so... maybe. Maybe.
-"I'm going to have to phone our parents of course, in Oklahoma. Won't be the first time that your substance abuse has wreaked havoc with their line-dancing." *boggle, with bonus hyena noises* (Although it seems a little weird somehow that he'd say that in front of the Empty Hearsers, so now I'm wondering if it's some form of code.) O.o
-"This is not what you think, this is for a case." Which he hasn't been too circumspect about hiding, and he's already mentioned it to John so if he doesn't mention the same rationale to Mycroft it'll be inconsistent and might make John wonder and pick at any holes. And the fan-witnesses, if they didn't hear the case-rationale and heard it later on from a different source would latch onto it with all four feet and start picking holes themselves, since it would be a way to salvage their faith in their hero. And the last thing Sherlock needs in order for this to draw out alt!Milverton is anyone anywhere trying to take apart the scenario he's built here.
-"What case could possibly justify this?"/"Magnuson." And Mycroft's face falls like a rock. Ooo. Maybe Mycroft isn't in on it, and Sherlock played him with the closed door? Hm. There are things going on here that are not what they appear. And they're still discussing this in front of the fan drug squad, so... hm. THINGS going on here. Definitely. Somehow. *steeplefingers*
-"That name you think you may have just heard. You were mistaken. If you ever mention hearing that name in this room, in this context, I guarantee you on behalf of the British security services that materials will be found on your computer hard drives resulting in your immediate incarceration. Don’t reply. Just look frightened and scuttle." BWAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. And it doesn't hurt to spread a little doubt about Magnuson either. To Sherlock's fans. Who have two years of practice spinning theories out of minimal evidence, and have only been restricted in saying they heard Magnuson's name in relation to Sherlock working a case. And Mycroft doesn't seem to be the type to discount a potential asset, or vector of confusion to the enemy, and a sudden increase in conspiracy theories might serve to muddy the waters. Y'know, just saying. ;-)
-Between Sherlock's hangdog slouch and Anderson's assiduous door-closing and staring at the back of Mycroft's head, this cap is making me laugh far harder than it reasonably should.
-"I hope I won't have to threaten you as well." Hehehehe, yeah, and that's worked so well the previous times you've tried it on John. Good luck with that, Mycroft.
-"I think we'd both find that embarrassing." *snerk* And Sherlock's little amused snort, hee!
-"Magnuson is not your business."/"Oh you mean he's yours?" Oooo.
-"You may consider him under my protection."/"I consider you under his thumb." OH HO. Not directly I don't think though. SO. From that, and knowing how Magnuson operates (*shudder*) I take it that various people in government etc have put Magnuson on the *handwave* 'do not disturb' list because of what holds he has on them. And Mycroft sees this and can't do a damned thing about it. *taps sides of keyboard agitatedly* So. Mycroft has a heck of a motivation for working with Sherlock on his case, but can't be seen to be working with Sherlock on the case or it will cause inconvenient disruptions in the power structure, etc as Magnuson starts reminding his thralls that he's got something on them and to stop this 'minor government official' from bothering him. So. Mycroft needs to be seen to be overtly against Sherlock's case while acting to help it. Hmmmmm. *more steeplefingers*
-"If you go against Magnuson, then you will find yourself going against me." Whoooaaaaaaa. Okay, cool cool cool. I mean, not cool obviously, just *flail* because if it's the way I think it is as mentioned above, they must appear to be at odds, even if they are doing things that work into each other's plans to end Magnuson. Which there have to be, I mean come on. The guy's a total sleaze with way too much power. And he's got some horrifying hold over Mary. And he put John Watson in a bonfire. Nobody puts John Watson in a bonfire.
-"Okay. I'll let you know if I notice." BWAH.
-"Uhhhhhm what was I gonna say? Oh yeah. Bye-bye." *sneeeeeeerk*
-"Unwise, brother mi-"/"*somewhat sloppy hammerlock and slamming Mycroft into the doorframe*" I believe the internet lingo for this situation would be 'WELL THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY.' O.O
-"Brother mine, don't appall me when I'm high." The sing-songy-ness of that. The simmerings of madness, he plays it well. Also, as a long time whump aficionado, I find Mycroft's little pained noises quite enthralling. And honestly, I've seen far worse scraps between siblings, fictional and otherwise, so I'm not terribly worried, and it's all excellently playing to any hidden cameras/listeners et cetera that the Holmes brothers are at odds, even if they really aren't. Maybe.
-"Mycroft, don’t say another word, just go. He could snap you in two, and right now I'm slightly worried that he might." John. Mostly watching Sherlock while saying that. And then after he says that, Sherlock's eyes close, like, I'm not sure. Like it hurts that John believes this of him, or that it hurts that he's had to make John believe this of him, or that he can't see the look John's giving him right now, or that he's trying to get control of himself, I don't know exactly yet. But there's something in that little closing of eyes before he lets Mycroft go that's... *headshake, random gestures* You know?
-Now. Wait a minute. Call me paranoid, but... Sherlock's right hand as he walks away here. Kind of held half behind him, elbow bent, a little clenched, was clenched when it held Mycroft's arm behind his back in that strangely awkward hold.... Now. It occurs to me that if Sherlock and Mycroft are collaborating on this case, but Mycroft has to appear as though he is opposing it entirely, and Mycroft had a bunch of intel on Magnuson that he'd either accumulated himself by various means, or was in the system locked down due to Magnuson's hold over key players, that if Mycroft wanted Sherlock to get that information, he'd load it on a thumb drive (or go old school and just have a note on paper) and put it in a pocket. And that if Sherlock wanted to cover retrieving that thumb drive from Mycroft's pocket, he'd get him in a grapple hold and slam him into a door-frame, and slip the thumb drive out of his pocket in the confusion (*scrolls to previous cap* or out of Mycroft's hand, which was in his pocket earlier, since Sherlock's oddly sloppy hammerlock involves his own hand being slightly clenched like he's holding something, rather than grabbing Mycroft's wrist and hoisting. Oh ho ho ho ho). Because Sherlock's hand looks like it's holding something about the size of a thumb drive, and possibly about to tuck it up into his sleeve or a pocket while any watchers are still distracted. Just saying. But as I've said before in prior reaction posts, I have played far too many intrigue-based RPGs. *steeplefingers and preemptive chortling*
-"Don't speak. Just leave." A wise policy for Mycroft visiting Sherlock at the best of times, usually. Also something I'd like on a doormat.
-There is something about John handing Mycroft his umbrella. I don't know what. Just something.
(*eyes Sherlock in background, looking like he's fiddling with something in front of him* JUST SAYING.)
-I'm not sure which way what's going, if Sherlock is clean and faking or if he's taken drugs, if Mycroft's working with him, against him or looking like he's working against him when he's working with him, or if something else entirely's going on, but my goodness there's a lot of plot flying around out here.
-"I'm meeting him in three hours, I need a bath." Probably a good idea. Eau du crack house is never an asset in any meeting. Also, there are loads of excellent places to hide a thumb drive in a bathroom. I'd recommend avoiding the 'sealed bag in the toilet tank' route though, everyone looks there first.
-"What sort of case?"/"Too big and dangerous for any sane individual to get involved in." YAY! \o/ I mean oh dear.
-"You trying to put me off?"/"God no. I'm trying to recruit you." HAHAHAHA. Yeah, no, if he was trying to put you off he'd tell you he was on drugs to catch someone's cheating spouse or an entirely unthreatening embezzler.
-"Stay out of my bedroom." Ha. Yeah, that's not gonna work either. Hm. Not drugs, nothing small and hidden or too destructive... Someone's in there. Witness? Client? Maybe Captain Adelaide (who I realize has a different name in this show but I've already forgotten it. I'm sure I'll get a refresher on it in a minute when John busts in there.) AND. That would explain why John hasn't heard from Sherlock in a month, if he's hiding the client in the flat.
(*giggles and inexplicably points at the blender and microwave*)
-YES There's someone in there! And it's... Not Captain Adelaide. ...is... is that Janine??? O.o
-Yeah, that's Janine. Possibly in one of Sherlock's shirts. Well then! O.O
-Oh. Hey. So. She's heard all the stuff that's been said in the flat. And... if they are following the little bit of canon I know about Milverton and having Sherlock hook up with one of alt!Milverton's staff to gain access... then maybe Janine works for Magnuson??? But. But she's so awesome! And she's Mary's friend! Oh god, is she keeping tabs on Mary for Magnuson??? DAMMIT, I'VE CURSED ANOTHER CHARACTER INTO BEING EVIL BY LIKING THEM, HAVEN'T I? /o\ No, no, wait, in canon, the maid Holmes takes up with to gain access to Milverton's place is just an innocent member of his household staff, so Janine's probably fine, just furthering a case and/or spreading corroborating misinformation regarding his drug habit and Mycroft's level of involvement back to Magnuson by leading Janine on and using her horribly. Bad Sherlock. No cookie. (Seriously, times like this knowing any part of the canon source os a disadvantage. Although Moffat and Gatiss do also like inverting canon, although although I'm dead certain their alt!Milverton is an irredeemable scumbag. So. Regardless, poor Janine.)
-Janine certainly seems to know her way around the place.
-"Was it Mike?"/"Mike?"/"Mike, yeah, his brother, Mike?" PFFFFFFFFFT!!! XD
-"Mycroft?"/"Do people actually call him that?" I can't stop laughing long enough to think.
-"How's Mary? How's married life?" Hm, not as close a friend of Mary as all that then, it seems. Still. *ponders suspiciously*
-"Oh, it's over there now." Ooooo. Ow.
-"Where's Sherl?" I just laughed exactly like Ernie from Sesame Street.
-"*giggles and splashing*" John's image of Sherlock is getting some new things added to it it seems. Though considering Sherlock told John not to look in his bedroom, he doesn't seem too put out that Janine's out roaming around the flat. Maybe he heard her talking earlier and got his facepalming and eyerolling out of the way well in advance.
-"So, just a guess, but you've probably got some questions."/"Y-yeah. One or two. Pretty much." So say we all. Myself, the incipient idea that Janine was an informant who had been clever in hiding in Sherlock's bedroom and pretending to be a girlfriend by throwing on one of Sherlock's shirts to deflect questions was kind of scotched by Sherlock following along with her going in to see him in the bath, so he's either pretending to have a relationship with her as in canon, or they're both hiding that she's just an informant from John, which could also be what's happening as Sherlock has left John out of the loop before (and didn't that go well?) and, maybe, something has already turned up regarding Mary in Sherlock's investigations and he doesn't want to let John in on it because Mary can detect lies if John does decide to hide Janine's involvement in this from her, or... hm. (Then again, I also had the passing thought that Janine was some relation of Moriarty's because of the accent, so my brain is not firing on all the sensible cylinders right now.) So, questions, yes.
-John's face, watching Janine bustle around the flat!
-"You have a girlfriend?"/"Yes I have." Oh dear. XD On the up side, it seems to have blown the whole, 'Sherlock's been using drugs' matter clear out of John's head. Unless he's already fully accepted that Sherlock did it for a case and has shelved all his qualms about it because he's got faith in Sherlock, but really, I think there's a bit more shouting or discussion yet to happen on that topic.
-"Magnuson is like a shark." Spider, shark, Sherlock's enemy descriptions are progressing up the animal kingdom. Vertebrates now after arthropods. He must have had his mollusk, annelid, jellyfish and sponge enemies earlier in life. *nods* Though the shark metaphor makes me think that he's implying the way to end Magnuson is to stop him from 'swimming', after the common partially true conception that sharks need to keep moving to breathe (many shark and shark-related species don't have that problem, though great whites do and that's the typical shark that gets thought of, and I doubt Sherlock's comparing Magnuson to a nurse shark or a manta ray). Though I'm not sure if that helps at all as it seems to imply that the way to stop Magnuson is... by stopping him. Which is a tad recursive.
-Sherlock's description of Magnuson as the most repugnant criminal he's ever gone against who turns his stomach and so forth (*canon reference fistpump I believe?*), and John's face is just, well. Like a puppy eager to get out and play. :-D
("Can we go now? Can we? Hunh?" Seriously, look at that smirk and tell me some part of John Watson isn't bounding around inside him, barking and scratching at the door to go out ass-kicking.)
-"You have a girlfriend." Or John could have severely blown his boggle-check and still be stuck on the Janine thing and not heard a word Sherlock just said. *facepalm and headshake*
-And even after a second repeat, John's still stuck on it, and Sherlock makes this face that makes me think of a disillusioned turtle. Don't know why. Well, I know why he's making the face, John's being weirdly mundane at him with the relationship obsession, just not sure why disillusioned turtle sprang to mind.
-"Care to elaborate?"/"*BLOWFISH FACE OF IMMINENT BULLSHIT*" Bwahahahahah! Between Sherlock's enemies, John's brain and Sherlock's faces, we're hitting the entire animal kingdom in this ep. XD
-"You got that from a book."/"Everyone got that from a book." Oh dear. John's onto Sherlock's relationship being fake already, maybe. Our Watson is occasionally a perceptive Watson.
-I almost hope Janine turns out to be evil now, because if this relationship is true-to-canon fake... ow. Poor Janine.
-*gestures randomly at the screen* Face!
-"I haven't told Mary about this, I kind of wanted to surprise her."/"Yeah, you probably will." *snerk*
-And invitations to a group dinner thing at Janine's. Oh dear, I think I'm getting infected with John's stuck bogglement now.
-"Great, yeah! Dinner, yeah." HAHAHAH. Oh I'm pretty sure the questions are going to get more pointed and grilling when Janine leave's for work or wherever she's headed.
-"Unless I meet someone prettier." Hee! And John with the combined awkward-squirm and boggle-squirm as Sherlock kissing his girlfriend. HEEEEE!
-And randomly looking around the walls as the smooching continues....
-"Solve me a crime, Sherlock Holmes." Oh god. *headlaptop* BWAH. Poor Janine!
-Yep. And after she leaves, the facade comes down. Fake relationship, as in canon. And soon, Watsonian shouting. Poor Janine. Even if she does turn out to be evil. Though, really, if she was working for Magnuson Sherlock wouldn't be discussing Magnuson as a case while she was in ear-shot, right? Unless he was doing it because he knows she'll pass it to him and that's what he wants? ...nah. Janine's cool. Poor Janine.
Continued in...
PART THREE
PART FOUR
PART FIVE
PART SIX
PART SEVEN
PART EIGHT
(PLEASE, NO SPOILERS OR RUMOURS OR REFERENCES TO ANY INFORMATION FOR OR ABOUT FUTURE EPISODES OR SERIES' OF SHERLOCK)