PICSPAM REACTION/RECAP: Sherlock Series 3 Episode 3 (Part 7 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
PART THREE
PART FOUR
PART FIVE
PART SIX
PART SEVEN - "His Last Vow"
-*nods sagely about the witness thing* Yep. Sherlock kind of walked into doom there. Killing him would have been the tactically sensible and simplest thing to do at that point, with a side bonus of framing him and John for the assassination of Magnuson and preventing further investigation. But she didn't do that. Because Mary is awesome. *nods*
-"The solution of course was simple. Kill us both and leave." *nods* Because sometimes on covert ops scenarios things get so FUBAR the simplest and most tactically sensible option left is to shoot everyone and run away- Oh god. O.O
*stops being horrified at the image of Sherlock being shot in the head for a moment to appreciate the perfect placement of the mirror in the blurry background, reflecting Magnuson, who also has a hell of a thing for mirrors it seems given how many are in his 'inner sanctum-y' sort of room*
-Heh. I don't know if there is a character in any fiction I have ever wanted to get shot in the head more than Magnuson. Except, like I said earlier, if he has any sense at all, it won't solve a damn thing, because he'll have a dead man switch set up on his information stores to unleash mayhem. But it's a brief and pleasant illusion.
-"However sentiment got the better of you." He says, looking at John. And John looks back. Just making sure John is getting the point there, which is a good thing to do as he was being understandably a bit irrational earlier.
-"Of course you couldn't shoot Magnuson of the night both of us broke into the building, your own husband would become a suspect." Yup. It was a popular night to break into Magnuson's, most likely because of that dinner-thing he never went to.
(And bless Martin Freeman's adorable acting socks for that so-brief facial expression that manages to convey the frustration of having a genuine reason to be devastatingly angry and upset about a person's actions, but then having those actions reframed and explained and finding that anger starting to slip away and almost being at the point of fighting to hold onto it, just because it was a valid emotion to feel even though logic and sense is making it start to drain away like a frustrated sneeze. Martin Freeman's goddamn face, y'all. It needs appreciation.)
-Heh, heh, heh. Pistol-whipped Magnuson after shooting Sherlock to knock him out and very conveniently (or deliberately? How much does Mary know about Magnuson's operation?) knocked the glasses away so whoever's on the other end couldn't see what happened next either. Yes. I approve of this tactical maneuver. And not just because Magnuson gets smacked in the face with a gun and knocked out.
-"You calculated that Magnuson would use the fact of your involvement rather than sharing it with the police, as is his M.O." *nod and clap* Yep! ...You know. The more Sherlock explains the tactical reasoning of Mary, the more I approve of her. Even though she's about as far from canon Mary as it's possible to get, Mary is awesome and has tactical sense, and I have a weakness for characters who do smart things in dangerous situations. I'm hoping the appreciation of those qualities is the same for John. What am I saying? He's John Watson. Of course it's the same for John. TEAM AWESOME MAY SURVIVE THIS YET! \o/
-"How did she save your life?" Okay, I'll grant that's a fair question. A situation like this wants a direct spelling out.
-"She phoned the ambulance."/"I phoned the ambulance."/"She phoned first." BECAUSE NOT ONLY DOES THAT GET THEM THERE FASTER, SHE COULD TELL THEM EXACTLY HOW SHERLOCK HAD BEEN SHOT. \o/
-"You didn't find me for another five minutes. Left to you, I'd have died." Oh, and at that John's hand on the arm of the chair clenches. It's a subtle thing, just a split second before the shot transition, but damn. *flailing*
-"The average arrival time for a London ambulance is- *checks watch*"/"Did somebody call an ambulance?"/"Eight minutes." *chokes to death laughing* WELL IT'S ABOUT TIME SOMEONE GOT HIM ONE. Sherlock's pretty screwed up right about now.
-"We were told there was a shooting?"/"There was, last week." Nope, still choking from laughter. He reported a shooting to 999 and requested an ambulance to 221B Baker street? Lestrade's probably already getting a text about it and swearing as he pulls his coat on over his PJs. XD But aw, Sherlock had to call his own ambulance. This is why you stop fighting long enough to take care of the wounded, so they don't need to do it themselves. But he did, and still kept them talking and defusing the situation. Because he meant that vow. *flails and draws hearts everywhere*
-"But I believe I'm bleeding internally, my pulse is very erratic, you may need to restart my heart- *swoons*" Heeeeee! Moffat's been reading the whump fic, hasn't he? :-D
-*FLAILS SO HARD AT SHERLOCK STILL STANDING ON HIS FEET TRYING TO PROVE TO JOHN THAT MARY'S OKAY, EVEN THOUGH HE SHOULD BE PASSING OUT NOW* JUST. VOW. FRIENDSHIP. TEAM AWESOME. AAAAAAAA! *FLAILS*
-"She shot you."/"Mixed messages I grant you." Hee! Just a bit. But really, once he walked in and Magnuson saw who it was, if she hadn't shot him, the last thing Magnuson would have seen before getting bashed in the head would have looked like Mary and Sherlock working together, and would have set Magnuson more intently on Sherlock and John as a result. It only worked because her freaking Guns skill is through the roof (seriously, with parents like these two, Baby Watson is going to have the ability to shoot a single needle off a pine tree in a dense forest in the south of Spain from the dining car of a high speed train traveling to bloody Norfolk) but still, it worked.
-And then there's collapsing and pained noises and worried looks and John making doctory comments and DAMN I love canon whump. Ahem. I meant 'eek.' >.>
-JOHN MAKING "DON'T FREAK OUT" BREATHING NOISES. Because he knows the paramedics need space and have the equipment and much as he wants to dive in and help Sherlock he's been on the other end of the situation and knows that no matter how well trained or well meaning, another person getting in the way of a first responder working is not going to help. And it's killing him to have to stand back and watch Sherlock in pain and in medical crisis and not do anything.
-And Mary can't help either and, just, *shakes hands at screen and goes AAAAHH!!* because look at her faaaace! She wants to go to John because he's distressed, but knows that she can't because what she did and what's going on that she caused is what's distressing John and just AAAAhhh!!! *flails over everything*
-And yeah. John's got some stuff to work through on the subject of Mary yet.
-Except now it's Christmas and maybe he has! \o/
-*still hiding under blanket, just in case* It's a lot to work through, and almost certainly it's gotten tangled up with the last time he thought Sherlock got killed, so, yeah. I think he will though, which is part wishful thinking and part belief in John Watson's Watsonness, and part thinking that despite everything, John wouldn't be enough of a dick to save any negative opinions he has after reviewing Mary's jumpdrive until a family Christmas where she's away from any friends or allies or 'retired extremely dangerous'-style supply caches and bolt holes (because seriously, she was not keeping that special ops gear and weaponry in their closet at home) she can go to if he tells her they're through and she needs to get out. I'm still thinking/hoping he hasn't watched it at all and is about to toss the thing in the fire unviewed as a sign of *emotional handwaving* things.
-Oh my, there have definitely been a few months gone by there then!
-*flaps hands around* John's face, gah. Like, he's going to give it back to her unwatched, maybe, and he's still got some misgivings and is still hurt by the entire mess, but, *loses words, flaps randomly* that trust-assessing look. That 'should I give you the power to hurt me again or not' look. Gaaah.
-"These are prepared words, Mary." Suddenly very nervous. Even with his little nervous/awkward smile. Eeeek.
-"I've chosen these words with care."/"'Okay." THEY ARE KILLING ME WITH FACES AGAIN.
-"The problems of your past are your business." Oh yay. I was thinking I was wrong for a second there. Whew. I need a drink.
-Her face. Just that stalled expression of floating hope.
-"The problems of your future are my privilege." AWWW, John, you schmoopy bastard. Oh and the breathy-rough voice there. And just everything. I mean, obviously Mary is still ultimately screwed from 100+ years of canon and always has been, whatever form that's going to take, and there's still the Magnuson business (unless that's been dealt with in the intervening months (How?) except I doubt the show would keep us from seeing it play out) and the possibility of her past landing a bomb on their doorstep without warning or something, but yay. Mary's staying, Team Awesome rides again. WOO! \o/
-And she's still not sure whether it's safe to believe it's true, or maybe even whether she feels within herself that she deserves to be accepted by John. Oh Mary.
-"That's all I have to say, that's all I need to know." *flailing a little* Awwww.
-And yep.
Of course, now we might have to go back and deal with the intervening months between now and then before this reconciliation happened, which will hurt.
-"You don't even know my name."/"Is Mary Watson good enough for you?"/"Yes! Oh my god yes."/"It's good enough for me too." *wordless drippy flapping*
*decimates tissues* Bah. Sentiment. Ahem.
-"All this does not mean I'm not still blazingly pissed off with you."/"I know, I know." Understandable. Most people who shoot or try to shoot Sherlock would be in a lot of pain or dead, I suspect. But it's not just that, or the lying, it's that she had this huge problem she felt she could only deal with on her own, and he's feeling pretty peeved that even though they are partners in life and are about to start raising a child together (although *swallows hard and glances back at the monolith of canon ow* eep) she didn't trust him enough to tell him about it, or trust that if she said it was something she needed to handle on her own even then, as counter-productive as that may or may not have been, that John wouldn't respect that and stay out except as moral support unless called on, even though it would have driven him nuts. Anyway, something like that.
-"It will come out now and then." ... *has issues and moves on*
-"You can-" no idea what he says there. 'Vote the sonnet horn'? 'Write the song at home'? 'Mow the sodding lawn'? Well, that last one makes a little sense but they've got a 'never need to mow' tiled courtyard, not a lawn. Maybe they've got a lawn in the back?
-"I choose the baby's name."/"Not a chance."/"Okay." Heee!
-First, Aw hugs, and second *absorbs the awesome spiral staircase in the background* I love the Holmes family house. Though I wouldn't put open flame on a staircase. Too much risk of trailing clothing catching fire or candles being knocked down stairs.
-Brotherly chat time! "I'm glad you've given up on the Magnuson business." Well, if he had (and of course he hasn't really if Magnuson still has files on Mary), Sherlock's more likely going to get back into it sooner rather than later, now that he knows it'll piss off Mycroft.
Houuuuse. *grabby hands* Needs more windows though. Must be quite old.
-"Because he attacks people who are different and preys on their secrets." Yeah, I suppose, though that's probably a view with a significant personal filter added.
-It looks like Mycroft's taken up smoking since Belgravia, and Sherlock's off the patch-wagon too. The intervening months haven't been easy, and I imagine John's been rather too distracted to nag him. Although Sherlock's just gotten out of hospital, hasn't he? They're usually pretty good about keeping patients up on smoking cessation therapies. ...Hm.
-"A necessary evil, not a dragon for you to slay." Hee. Though really, now I can't tell if Mycroft is egging Sherlock on to continue going after Magnuson through reverse psychology or not, since really, he only doesn't harm too many really important people because they give in to his pressure and do whatever he wants, and I can't see Mycroft being so blase or blind as to think that's not a problem that needs solved. Plus, Sherlock is now smirking, so I don't know whether he's catching the reverse psychology or something else.
-"A dragon-slayer. Is that what you think of me?"/"It's what you think of yourself." *considers and nods* In a way, yeah.
-"Are you two smoking?"/"No."/"It was Mycroft!" BWAHAHAHAHA. I love Mum Holmes.
-Hm! Mycroft telling Sherlock to reject a job offer from MI6. Wondering if that's reverse psychology or not too.
-"An undercover assignment that would prove fatal to you in about six months." Oh, well, he's interested now.
-"Then why don't you want me to take it?" HA!
-"Utility, how do I have utility?" For a guy who presents an arrogant, self-confident front, Sherlock has some moments where a kind of deep and pervasive self-doubt (I suspect partly from spending parts of his childhood thinking he was stupid, and partly from being 'the freak' with no friends for so long) comes through.
-"Here be dragons." *nods* Yep. Yes there are indeed. And that would be as much of a sanction to go disrupt the hell out of Magnuson's operation, for the reasons mentioned above, and for the reasons mentioned waaay earlier regarding what Mycroft Holmes can and can't be seen condoning in terms of actions against horrendously manipulative cringe-worthy businessmen on British soil, whether they are from a different country or not.
-"This isn't agreeing with me." Aw, Mycroft hasn't picked up the smoking habit, he's just out bumming a cigarette from Sherlock to go hang out alone with his baby brother and talk obliquely about missions and things. Awwww.
-"Also... your loss would break my heart."/Sherlock: *chokes* BWAHAAHAHHA. And aw. And yeah.
-"What the hell am I supposed to say to that?!" *snerk* Yeah, it's hard to handle a direct statement of caring when your sibling interactions are primarily through snark, sarcasm, oblique judgement and vague implied threats. XD
-"Merry Christmas?" Awwwwww. This is some pretty epic schmoop from Mycroft right here.
-"You hate Christmas."/"Yes. Perhaps there was something in the punch."/"Clearly. Go and have some more." Heeeee. Re-establishing the status quo with snark. Brothers and their walls.
-DAWWWWW. THEY'VE BEEN HUGGING THAT WHOLE TIME. Just hanging on to each other there. Because sometimes that's what you need, just to hang on and not ever let go. Awwwwwww. *flail*
-"So you realise that Sherlock got us out here to see his mum and dad for a reason." Because they are an awesome couple to model on. Also because they're awesome. Also because WELCOME TO THE FAMILY. Wiggins too. \o/
-Ohhhh crap. Okay, maybe it's just a bout of fainting from standing after sitting so long and the big release of emotional stress and, yeah, maybe not. *thinks of canon* Eeeeek.
-"Don't drink Mary's tea." O.O!!!! MUMMY HOLMES, TELL ME YOU DIDN'T KNOW MARY WAS THE SHOOTER ALL ALONG AND DRUG MARY! Although she did shoot Sherlock and that's entirely a reasonable if highly illegal and inadvisable response to figuring out who shot your child. Something a little less alarming for all concerned and less risky for the baby would've been nice. Or you know, bringing up that you'd figured out who'd shot him and letting the gang give you the overall rundown on the situation might have been better. Also, she's a guest and it's generally bad form to poison guests. Send her away with some 'special cookies' or something would be better. This isn't Game of Thrones. XD
-"Or the punch." Oh well crap. O.O Someone's taking out the Holmes family??? (Though I suppose that explains Mycroft's moment of schmoop.)
-*pauses for a moment of 'that's his actual dad' squee, just because*
-Mycroft is slipping if he didn't taste something off about the punch... or. Maybe he did. And Sherlock's lack of alarm and knowing about all the drugging, maybe Sherlock drugged everyone. And Mycroft could tell, and mentioned the 'something in the punch' to let him know he knew Sherlock had drugged the punch, and he'd kept drinking it anyway... because... heh. Sherlock and John are gonna go after Magnuson now, aren't they? And that's why the discussion about dragons and MI6 and Mycroft forcing himself to smoke so he could spend time with Sherlock. And then that statement at the door. Because if Sherlock's going after Magnuson, his lifespan might be less than six months, OR. Ooo. Or, he might need that MI6 job offer to either get away from or control the damage from Magnuson's reprisal/info bomb. Ooooo. Just oooo. Silly Mycroft not finding a comfy chair to pass out in though. Maybe he just wanted to pass out next to the *squints* honey-bun things.
-"Did you just drug my pregnant wife?" Hehehe. Yeah, John's going to have a few words to say about that. Hey it looks like Wiggins escaped the snooze attack. Making it even more likely they're going out to kick ass, but sadly that Wiggins came to the family dinner mostly for mission purposes rather than seasonal warmth purposes. Aw. But he still got a dose of mumming form Mummy Holmes, which he could definitely use.
-"Don't worry. Wiggins is an excellent chemist." Oops! That's reaaaally not going to make John feel any better there Sherlock. Neither is you going around to everyone to check that they're still breathing. Not that it's not nice to know everyone's still breathing, just that it would probably be better if you had the confidence that there was no chance they wouldn't stop breathing. (Aw, look. That's why Mycroft passed out there instead of his comfy chair, he had to guard his laptop. Or did he hit the panic button, and will several teams of MI6 gun-bunnies be descending on the Holmes family home shortly?)
-"Won't affect the little one. I'll keep an eye on 'em."/"He'll monitor their recovery." Aw. Wow. Leaving Wiggins guarding over the whole unconscious clan? There's some serious trust there. Somewhere in the intervening months there is some backstory for that level of trust that we are missing.
-"It's more or less his day job." HA! True. XD
-"What the hell have you done?"/"Deal with the devil." OH CRAP. WHAT??? O.O
-I don't know any restaurant, even hospital cafeterias, that let patients sit at tables dressed only in hospital gowns. Though maybe he's got his coat or a blanket over the chair and is sitting on that. This feels kind of like a hallucination. Hard to say. Although *points at plate* Chips. Mrs. Hudson sent him up a plate of chips and a ham steak in Sign of Three, and he gets extra chips from the place where he helped them put up a shelf. Sherlock likes chips! \o/ Not sure what the round thing on the plate is though. Looks like a radish?
-"I am in hospital. This is the canteen." Daaaaaamn, NHS. O.o But I doubt it. He's either hallucinating or being facetious, or the production couldn't get access to a canteen-like space to film in and this is expository hand-waving. *squints into the background* Fish tank, fish like things on strings on the ceiling, probably that fish and chip shop. A rather nice fish and chip shop.
-"In my opinion, yes." Okay then! (It's not Angelo's or Speedy's (though the room shape is very familiar and Speedy's-like...). Needed somewhere completely away from John, Mary, Mycroft, and the hospital for this discussion, of course. Which means they're all back at the hospital freaking out that he's gone AWOL again. The big puzzle is, how'd he get out across the rooftops and into a cab with that IV stand?)
-"I've been thinking about you."/"I've been thinking about you." Gaaaaaaaah, how is Magnuson so creepy. Also, this is at least a few weeks on, there's no sign of damage from the pistol-whipping from Mary, and I doubt she'd have been inclined to hold back from causing him cosmetic damage. Although that could also be a tactical move, as it makes it easier for Magnuson to cover up the incident (though I'd REALLY like to hear how he explained all this to the ambulance crew that showed up at the penthouse for Sherlock.)
-Also, getting outside the hospital with a loaded morphine pump would be a hell of a trick. ...Heh. Unless he's loaded it with saline and faking so Magnuson thinks he's worse off than he is, or is mentally compromised. HA! Or to make him think he's back on drugs again in order to feed Magnuson's pressure tactics towards the drugs issue as he was doing at the start rather than leaning toward any of his more sensitive actual pressure points. AHA!
-[Dammit, now I really want fries.]
-"I want to see Appledore." Hm! Well,of course getting an invitation would save having to break in. What's he got on Magnuson to leverage that request though?
-"What makes you think I would be so careless?"/"Oh I think you're a lot more careless than you let on." Ooo, it's gone all cat-and-mousey, yay.
-Ahahahah, he's figured out the glasses. Which really he should have done from that first meeting, but he was a little distracted by Redbeard and Lady Smallwood's documents being right there and the peeing and then the being shot and all.
-As a constant glasses-wearer, this is nerve-wracking, so I'm glad it's happening to Magnuson, really. I doubt there's any vision-correction to those glasses, but he is strangely calm about this. Did he wear fakes to this meeting?
-I'm fairly certain a small specific section of fandom combusted a bit at the sight of Sherlock in glasses. They don't suit him, though. they rest too high on the bridge of his nose, too much gap at the bottom. Still wondering why Magnuson is so calm about this.
-Ahahah, yeah, they're fakes. Hence the masses of calm, because he wants Sherlock to take them and feel like an idiot. *pats Sherlock* XD
Oooo, or maybe there's a biometric fingerprint that only recognizes Magnuson? Also, randomly, where are his goons? Or did he figure he wouldn't need them to talk to a convalescent with a morphine pump in a fish and chip shop?
-Oh you smug bastard. The glasses are a misdirect and he's got... uh. Some kind of fake eye? Or a thingy on his optic nerve? Dunno. Definitely not from the current common tech level. Bit of a last minute gamemaster dodge, that. The next-next-next generation of Google Glass? Which he got because he has some nasty info somewhere about someone in Google's labs or something. And also a neurosurgeon and optician. OR CONTACTS! What the hell, Torchwood had them. Or maybe it's Magnuson's version of Sherlock's floating text-vision, just in red, with a different font and far more sleazy manipulative jerkness. Or whatever. *handwaves* Fair enough. Unconsciousness would still have kept him from being aware and able to record Mary calling 999 for Sherlock so he still doesn't think they're working together. Maybe. *handwaves some more*
Confirmation of incremental success Sherlock's "oh please do try to manipulate me via my raging drug habit and ignore my actual pressure points" ploy though.
-Aw, it's just pasta, and the round thing was a tomato and there was an olive hiding. Darn, so much for the chips idea. Well, Sherlock just likes carbs then. And that holds because one of the few things we've seen him actually eat, like toast. Also, Magnuson again trying to gain the upper hand by being gross and playing with Sherlock's food. Though maybe the pasta is planted and the olive is drugged, and there for Magnuson to snatch away?
-Snatching accomplished. I really hope the damned thing is drugged.
-And rinsing his fingers in the drinking glass. Which could also be drugged. At least he's predictably disgusting now that they know he pees in fireplaces and Sherlock can use that against him while staring blankly at a pair of normal glasses. Or something.
-"Then what are you giving me for Christmas, Mr Holmes?" Gaaaah *cringes everywhere*
-"My brother." AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. HAH. Oh dear. Yeah, Mycroft's totally in on this too. Or Sherlock's getting back at hm for 30 years of archenemy-hood, but it's more likely Mycroft's in on it, in a way where he can't be seen to be in on it. Just like I feel like he has been on the side of stopping Magnuson and helping Sherlock all along because seriously, that scuffle in the kitchen at 221B there was some kind of a note or jump drive hand-off happening there. Allllsooooo... Would Sherlock be 'giving' Mycroft to Magnuson the same way Mycroft 'gave' Sherlock to Moriarty, as combination bait and trap? Seems apropos. Ho ho ho.
-Yeah, John'd be a little distressed about that 'deal with the devil' statement coming from Sherlock particularly with his pregnant and being blackmailed spouse drugged unconscious in the next room. By arrangement of Sherlock.
-Awwwww. Face-smushy Sleepycroft. *pats him*
-"Sherlock, please tell me you haven't just gone out of your mind?"/"Rather keep you guessing." Heeeeeeeee! And Sherlock takes Mycroft's laptop, which now does actually explain why Mycroft brought it to a family thing, and it's probably full of a load of lovely tempting disinformation and vetted 'pressure points', just in case. Mycroft is totally in on this. Absolutely. For brothers who barely speak to each other without rancor, they cooperate well on some things.
-"Coming?" John Watson has the best faces. Seriously.
-"Good, because this is going to be incredibly dangerous. One false move and we'll have betrayed the security of the United Kingdom and be in prison for high treason. Magnuson is quite simply the most dangerous man we've ever encountered and the odds are comprehensively stacked against us." Ooo Sherlock, you sweet-talking devil.
-"But it's Christmas!"/"I feel the same- oh you mean it's actually Christmas." *wheezing with laughter*
-"Why would I bring my gun to your parents' house for Christmas dinner?"/"Is it in your coat?"/"Yes." *grins everywhere*
-Given this show's particular known penchant or showdown/significant meeting ties (Mycroft's umbrella tie, Moriarty's skull tie), I'm trying to make out what's on Magnuson's tie here (since this is a showdown whether he knows it yet or not) and I can't make it out. It looks like either bunnies, or VW Beetles. Or maybe the weather symbol for a hurricane. Not quite sure how any of those would relate though.
-I would have Appledore and its grounds in a heartbeat. Mine. Particularly the moat, though I'd turn it a bit less modern and more mediaeval, extend it around the whole place. Convert the room of secrets into a proper library, get rid of the Riddler question mark thing on the floor and the ridiculous spiral staircase... Providing of course owning it didn't require being a manipulative, universally hated, disgusting jerk. *nods*
*eyes the fresh lawnmower stripes on the lawn* Magnuson's been making someone mow his lawn in late December? Damn, Magnuson is mean to grass too. Figures. *handwaves, retconning that this was filmed in summer*
-Hm. I realize it's a grey day, but the colour seems more washed out even than that would account for. Contrasting the world of Magnuson to the riotously colorful world of the Holmes family? And inside the house, mostly stark white and glass contrasting to the traditional wood, fireplaces and comfy sofas, etc? There's meta there I warrant.
-*points* "CAM" logo. Just in case anyone had any doubt who's helicopter this was. Magnuson is consistent in his overt displays of ownership of everything.
-Yeah, if I owned Appledore, that weird curvy hockey rink glass sofa wall whatever it is would go too. But I'm plain like that.
-OMG ITS AN AUTON! No, no, wait, just a pale baldish guy in a suit with a vague face.
-And the Holmes and Watson team appear to be wearing nearly matching blue scarves to the evening's showdown.
(In the process of isolating this cap, I have realized that walking out of sync means that only rarely are both people being filmed not blurry simultaneously in screencapped frames. Good to know.)
-Okay, well, as long as the curvy hockey rink glass wall serves a practical purpose like keeping people (and/or Roombas since I doubt sincerely hope Magnuson doesn't keep a pet O.o) from falling down into the indoor jungle, it can stay. Not the sofa though. I'd have one that looks less like a caterpillar.
-"I would offer you a drink but it's very rare and expensive." Hahaha, got to hand it to Magnuson, he is completely invested in his identity of being a total prick.
-John, determined to remain standing because he's John Watson. And also he's carrying a gun and may need to shoot someone. Also again, I wouldn't be too keen on sitting on anything Magnuson had touched either. How is Magnuson so slimy?
-"Oh. It was you." *gasp* And now Sherlock knows for sure who put John in the bonfire. *cackles and claps hands together* You aren't a Garrideb but you'll do Magnuson, you son of a bitch. You imperiled Sherlock's Watson. Prepare to die. Or have your empire decimated a hundred times over, which you'd probably like even less. Bwahahah. Overconfidence kills. *grins very evilly*
-"Very hard to find a pressure point on you Mr Holmes." Except when you stick it in a bonfire. Don't mind me, I'll just be cackling rather a lot.
-And John's now aware too, making someone getting shot a greater likelihood, as inadvisable as it may be with that info-bomb dead man switch that's bound to exist if Magnuson's not an idiot.
-"The drugs thing I never believed for a moment." Aw, but he tried so haaaard. Hee. Magnuson is a revolting slimeball, but he isn't in fact stupid. And as much as I loathe Magnuson, I do like smart villains, particularly when they turn around and reveal that they twigged to the hero's ploy early on. Up those stakes!
-"But look how you care about John Watson." I just verbally keymashed. I didn't think it was possible to pronounce "AJKLDSAFA;SKDJFOQWPKGH!!!" but I just did. Also there was flailing. Rather a lot.
-"Your damsel in distress." *snerk*
-"Oh I'd never let you burn, Dr Watson." Just look at Sherlock there. Just look at those eyes, the way he's got his fingers locked together to keep control. Sherlock is so close to blowing whatever plan they had coming in here and just throttling Magnuson or maybe slicing the top of his skull off so he can punch him directly in the brain.
-And John would definitely help.
-"I had people standing by. I'm not a murderer-" And like I said in the 3.01 post (8 months ago, yeesh!), green boughs, wet wood, loads of smoke, etc, lots of delay. It was something designed to put pressure on Sherlock and Mary. Of course initially I thought it was Mycroft doing it to get Sherlock on track about the terrorist thing, which was not correct. *goes back and watches that scene again* Ahh. Yes. Even more interesting knowing Mary's background and that this was definitely a message for both of them. The person you love most can be endangered, so do whatever Magnuson wants. Though it was also a kind of test of how invested they both are in John as well, wasn't it.
-Of course no matter whose pressure point John Watson is, he's still going to rip Magnuson's freaking head off.
-"-Unlike your wife." Oooh! Magnuson's playing with fire there.
-Do not taunt Happy Fun Watson. Happy Fun Watson will end you.
-But then there's the tiniest little eyeshift to Sherlock, still following his lead on whatever the plan is. Save the vengeance for a lasting dismantling of Magnuson's extortion empire rather than a viscerally satisfying punch in the teeth or quick murder.
-And Magnuson has an uncappable fleeting half-smirk as he confirms to himself that even if it isn't what his magic eyeball originally suggested, as well as Sherlock Holmes's major pressure point being John Watson, one of John Watson's major pressure points is Sherlock Holmes. As it should be, as in every iteration of the Sherlock Holmes stories.
-"For those who understand these things, Mycroft Holmes is the most powerful man in the country." Who is currently drooling unconscious on his parents' kitchen table and being watched over by a street-drug mixologist because he agreed to help his baby brother make the bad man go away. Aw.
-"Well. Apart from me." Pft. True, at the moment, but Mycroft is much less of a raging prick, and he got where he was by doing his job rather than controlling everyone remotely powerful via extortion. ...Probably. *side-eyes*
-Magnuson: *lists pressure point chain* "I own John Watson's wife, I own Mycroft." Long story short, he's never voluntarily giving up his hold on Mary because she's the foundation to the whole house of cards. Also seems like Magnuson may have been playing a long game to get to Mycroft all along. In which case, yeah, he really does need to die. But not without dismantling whatever he has set up for in case he dies. Unless he is an idiot or so overconfident he thinks no one will kill him, which I am quite happy to root for. The him being an idiot part, not the 'no one's going to kill him' part. Someone needs to kill this guy, preferably before Series Four.
-MAGNUSON STROKING MYCROFT'S LAPTOP IS SO DAMNED WRONG! *CRINGES FOREVER*
-"You should see what I've seen."/"I don't need to see it." *smishes John forever* Because, just *flails* You know?
-"Show you Appledore, is that what you want?"/"I want everything you've got on Mary." *flailing more* Because TEAM AWESOME! \o/ Also Sherlock's face is being very intense.
-"I think you'll find the contents of that laptop-"/"-include a GPS locator." Heee! Of course it does. Considering the sort of people and places Mycroft works, probably also multiple anti-theft, anti-hacking and anti-tampering devices and software. Who knows, nanobots. Whee!! \o/
-"By now your brother will have noticed the theft." Only if the drugs have worn off.
-*nods along with the Security Services bust scenario* Though I don't think that's quite what the plan is, though it does work. Unless, since Appledore isn't computerized Magnuson's done something to dead-zone most of his property so the laptop won't be able to get a signal to connect and get or send GPS info. Though it could have a built-in satellite modem or something. It's Mycroft Holmes's laptop. He's not just using it to play Bejeweled.
-"Restored to your smelly little apartment to solve crimes with Mr and Mrs Psychopath." *snerk* Hey, it's only smelly because you peed in the fireplace like an animal, you jerk. And that's Mr and Mrs Watson to you.
-"Then why am I smiling?" Because you think you're one step ahead of the combined plotting of the Holmes boys and the intensity of some pissed off Watsons. Hubris. This is not the whole plan, obviously. Sherlock's defeated/pained face doesn't look like that *points up*. It looks like it did in the mirror in 'The Empty Hearse', the first time he saw John sitting in his chair at 221B again. Other stuff is going down.
-"Because Sherlock Holmes has made one enormous mistake which will destroy the lives of everyone he loves, and everything he holds dear." Oh well, that's just great. ...and Magnuson's chopper picked them up. AT SHERLOCK'S FAMILY'S HOUSE. OH SHIT. MAGNUSON, IF YOU HAVE THUGS HEADED FOR THE HOLMES HOUSE, I SWEAR I WILL REACH THROUGH THE SCREEN AND PUNCH YOU MYSELF. And then wash thoroughly. And then do it again. But I'm rather hoping Sherlock thought of that and there's more than just Wiggins really guarding the place and all the unconscious Holmeses and Watsons.
-"Let me show you the Appledore vaults." Sure, why not. Give a nebulous enigmatic threat and then do a tour of the place. Yeesh. Maybe he's packed everything up and moved it off-site? Which would be even better, because anything in transit is less secure.
-Neither of them look very impressed. On a side note: they have different scarf-tying techniques.
-*glares futilely at the Joust figurines one more time* But... WHY??
-"The entrance to my vaults. This is where I keep you all." How is he so over-the-top at being deliberately creepy and yet still managing to actually be creepy?
-Heheh. The look on John's face here, staring at the back of Magnuson's head, you can practically see him thinking, "One bullet. Just one bullet." and visualizing Magnuson's head exploding.
-"Vaults? What vaults?" If all that underground wood-panel circus-themed stuff is Magnuson's bloody mind palace I may scream. Though there has to be physical storage somewhere for the evidence he's keeping. The mind palace thing would go with the non-glasses red text interface though. Just like Sherlock's hover-text.
-"The Appledore vaults are my mind palace." *deep breath* AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! *headdesk* Well, that makes the case for shooting Magnuson in the head so much more compelling. I didn't notice anyone frisking John so he may still be armed, and is verrry motivated, so Magnuson's chances of surviving to Series Four just dropped like a rock. WOOHOO! \o/ Still, where's he keeping the physical evidence? He had actual letters in his jacket when he visited 221B, unless that was just a prop for Sherlock's benefit. Which it could be, and would be a lot simpler to explain than how he acquired a specific bundle of random letters about someone's ancient underage affair. *ponders*
-Sherlock looks more than a little put out by this 'Mind Palace Vault' development. Either that or he's experiencing some severe revulsion at Magnuson's mind working anything like his own, and using his own term for his 'method of loci' memory trick, and really, I wouldn't blame him at all.
-Oh, well, if that spiral staircase is just part of his visualization for getting to his mental room of secrets, that's fine then. No need to move furniture up and down it at all. (And thinking of Sherlock's Mind Palace staircase, that was much more practical for moving furniture. More homey, warm and classic, less sterile, cold and impractical. There could be meta there.) SO. Everything past the room of Joust figurines is in Magnuson's head. Got it. Well, that makes redecorating Appledore easier, and there has to be somewhere in the building a proper library can be built without ever having been tainted by slimy extortionist jerk vibes.
-Heh. Seeing the dolls and clowns again, now that we know this is in Magnuson's head the term "toys in the attic" does spring to mind.
(It also makes me REALLY NOT WANT TO KNOW what that movement in the background of the records room rolodex shot was. O.o)
-"I'll look at the files on Mrs Watson." Oh, Sherlock's little dreading headshake.
-John Watson's face. I swear. Also lighting. That thing Martin Freeman said at his BAFTA acceptance years back about the lighting director? The lighting here is just *waves hands around* damn.
-HEE! Magnuson's "I AM SO CREEPY SRSLY U GUIZ" field seems to have had a localized failure. Giggles are entirely appropriate. Although they could also be wry giggles of irony, not having viewed Mary's history deliberately, and now having to hear it involuntarily after all.
-If I wasn't utterly certain that there are armed goons just out of sight waiting for their boss to get done toying with the fresh meat, I'd be more curious why Sherlock and John aren't just wandering away to search the place while Magnuson's in his memory room. But, goons with guns.
-Here's a factoid. Wherever Mary's originally from, that file is using the Cyrillic or Greek alphabet. *points* "А.Г.Р.А." are Mary's initials in Cyrillic/Greek characters, and also that's confirmation that A.G.R.A are all her initials and it's not "A.G. Roving Assassin" or something else... Hehe. I wonder what Amanda Abbington's middle initials are... ;-)
-"All those wet jobs for the CIA." Worked for the Americans for a while then, which would be reason enough for there to be a file in Cyrillic lettering on her. Darn, I had half a crossover thought about her and Black Widow being trained together in Russia.
-"She's gone a bit freelance now." I'm thinking John's face is less pissed off about Mary's history in itself and more pissed off about Magnuson revealing bits of it just to be even more of a giant manipulative dick.
-"So there are no documents, you don't actually have anything here." Important distinction. If there are no documents at all, it's all media spin and Magnuson's word, and offing him for the good of humanity is a viable option. If he's got files but they're off-site, that's another story. Ooo. And it could explain why he had the letters in Sherlock's flat. They aren't in Appledore, they're in his London place, and he had them because he was picking them up. Maybe.
-"Sometimes I send out for something if I really need it." Confirming there are physical records around and making Sherlock semi-blink in an interestingly mini-mind palace sort of way... Possibly? Or a pained thought? What are you thinking, Sherlock Holmes?
-"I don't understand."/"You should have that on a t-shirt." Ahahahaha. Dick.
-"Proof, what would I need proof for? I'm in news, you moron. I don't have to prove it, I just have to print it." And there's a bit of meta commentary on the state of modern media, yes? Also, pretty much removing any real obstacle to John killing Magnuson other than the pesky guards lurking around and that whole "lingering reluctance to straight-up murder a dude to his face (when he's not actively trying to kill anyone)" issue, which is still an impediment. I think the balance may be tipping on that for John though, strong moral principle or not. (This is almost weirding me out. I don't think I've rooted for any character to die more than I have for Magnuson. He's just such an unrelenting irredeemable slimeball.)
-"Speaking of news, you'll both be heavily featured tomorrow. Trying to sell state secrets to me." What!? Oh my god what an ass. So, did he actually want Mycroft or did he just want them to provide even more rope to hang themselves with? I think he does want Mycroft in his control though. He's too big a fish, and he's eventually going to go from turning a blind eye to taking an interest in Magnuson's activities (unless Mycroft already has like I think he has and is collaborating secretly with Sherlock), so solidifying control now would be strategically smart. Not sure how Magnuson revealing to the world that Sherlock and John handed the stuff to him plays into that though, other than threatening Sherlock and using that to try to manipulate Mycroft maybe?
-"They'll be here shortly. Can't wait to see you arrested." !!! *short burst of Magnuson-directed profanity* Well. There's another reason not to shoot him I suppose, though if Mycroft has been in on this all along, maybe the 'they' that's coming isn't what Magnuson expects and is a 'they' that wouldn't particularly mind if they found John and Sherlock standing over Magnuson's cooling corpse. Keep a happy thought!
Continued in...
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
PART THREE
PART FOUR
PART FIVE
PART SIX
PART SEVEN - "His Last Vow"
-*nods sagely about the witness thing* Yep. Sherlock kind of walked into doom there. Killing him would have been the tactically sensible and simplest thing to do at that point, with a side bonus of framing him and John for the assassination of Magnuson and preventing further investigation. But she didn't do that. Because Mary is awesome. *nods*
-"The solution of course was simple. Kill us both and leave." *nods* Because sometimes on covert ops scenarios things get so FUBAR the simplest and most tactically sensible option left is to shoot everyone and run away- Oh god. O.O
*stops being horrified at the image of Sherlock being shot in the head for a moment to appreciate the perfect placement of the mirror in the blurry background, reflecting Magnuson, who also has a hell of a thing for mirrors it seems given how many are in his 'inner sanctum-y' sort of room*
-Heh. I don't know if there is a character in any fiction I have ever wanted to get shot in the head more than Magnuson. Except, like I said earlier, if he has any sense at all, it won't solve a damn thing, because he'll have a dead man switch set up on his information stores to unleash mayhem. But it's a brief and pleasant illusion.
-"However sentiment got the better of you." He says, looking at John. And John looks back. Just making sure John is getting the point there, which is a good thing to do as he was being understandably a bit irrational earlier.
-"Of course you couldn't shoot Magnuson of the night both of us broke into the building, your own husband would become a suspect." Yup. It was a popular night to break into Magnuson's, most likely because of that dinner-thing he never went to.
(And bless Martin Freeman's adorable acting socks for that so-brief facial expression that manages to convey the frustration of having a genuine reason to be devastatingly angry and upset about a person's actions, but then having those actions reframed and explained and finding that anger starting to slip away and almost being at the point of fighting to hold onto it, just because it was a valid emotion to feel even though logic and sense is making it start to drain away like a frustrated sneeze. Martin Freeman's goddamn face, y'all. It needs appreciation.)
-Heh, heh, heh. Pistol-whipped Magnuson after shooting Sherlock to knock him out and very conveniently (or deliberately? How much does Mary know about Magnuson's operation?) knocked the glasses away so whoever's on the other end couldn't see what happened next either. Yes. I approve of this tactical maneuver. And not just because Magnuson gets smacked in the face with a gun and knocked out.
-"You calculated that Magnuson would use the fact of your involvement rather than sharing it with the police, as is his M.O." *nod and clap* Yep! ...You know. The more Sherlock explains the tactical reasoning of Mary, the more I approve of her. Even though she's about as far from canon Mary as it's possible to get, Mary is awesome and has tactical sense, and I have a weakness for characters who do smart things in dangerous situations. I'm hoping the appreciation of those qualities is the same for John. What am I saying? He's John Watson. Of course it's the same for John. TEAM AWESOME MAY SURVIVE THIS YET! \o/
-"How did she save your life?" Okay, I'll grant that's a fair question. A situation like this wants a direct spelling out.
-"She phoned the ambulance."/"I phoned the ambulance."/"She phoned first." BECAUSE NOT ONLY DOES THAT GET THEM THERE FASTER, SHE COULD TELL THEM EXACTLY HOW SHERLOCK HAD BEEN SHOT. \o/
-"You didn't find me for another five minutes. Left to you, I'd have died." Oh, and at that John's hand on the arm of the chair clenches. It's a subtle thing, just a split second before the shot transition, but damn. *flailing*
-"The average arrival time for a London ambulance is- *checks watch*"/"Did somebody call an ambulance?"/"Eight minutes." *chokes to death laughing* WELL IT'S ABOUT TIME SOMEONE GOT HIM ONE. Sherlock's pretty screwed up right about now.
-"We were told there was a shooting?"/"There was, last week." Nope, still choking from laughter. He reported a shooting to 999 and requested an ambulance to 221B Baker street? Lestrade's probably already getting a text about it and swearing as he pulls his coat on over his PJs. XD But aw, Sherlock had to call his own ambulance. This is why you stop fighting long enough to take care of the wounded, so they don't need to do it themselves. But he did, and still kept them talking and defusing the situation. Because he meant that vow. *flails and draws hearts everywhere*
-"But I believe I'm bleeding internally, my pulse is very erratic, you may need to restart my heart- *swoons*" Heeeeee! Moffat's been reading the whump fic, hasn't he? :-D
-*FLAILS SO HARD AT SHERLOCK STILL STANDING ON HIS FEET TRYING TO PROVE TO JOHN THAT MARY'S OKAY, EVEN THOUGH HE SHOULD BE PASSING OUT NOW* JUST. VOW. FRIENDSHIP. TEAM AWESOME. AAAAAAAA! *FLAILS*
-"She shot you."/"Mixed messages I grant you." Hee! Just a bit. But really, once he walked in and Magnuson saw who it was, if she hadn't shot him, the last thing Magnuson would have seen before getting bashed in the head would have looked like Mary and Sherlock working together, and would have set Magnuson more intently on Sherlock and John as a result. It only worked because her freaking Guns skill is through the roof (seriously, with parents like these two, Baby Watson is going to have the ability to shoot a single needle off a pine tree in a dense forest in the south of Spain from the dining car of a high speed train traveling to bloody Norfolk) but still, it worked.
-And then there's collapsing and pained noises and worried looks and John making doctory comments and DAMN I love canon whump. Ahem. I meant 'eek.' >.>
-JOHN MAKING "DON'T FREAK OUT" BREATHING NOISES. Because he knows the paramedics need space and have the equipment and much as he wants to dive in and help Sherlock he's been on the other end of the situation and knows that no matter how well trained or well meaning, another person getting in the way of a first responder working is not going to help. And it's killing him to have to stand back and watch Sherlock in pain and in medical crisis and not do anything.
-And Mary can't help either and, just, *shakes hands at screen and goes AAAAHH!!* because look at her faaaace! She wants to go to John because he's distressed, but knows that she can't because what she did and what's going on that she caused is what's distressing John and just AAAAhhh!!! *flails over everything*
-And yeah. John's got some stuff to work through on the subject of Mary yet.
-Except now it's Christmas and maybe he has! \o/
-*still hiding under blanket, just in case* It's a lot to work through, and almost certainly it's gotten tangled up with the last time he thought Sherlock got killed, so, yeah. I think he will though, which is part wishful thinking and part belief in John Watson's Watsonness, and part thinking that despite everything, John wouldn't be enough of a dick to save any negative opinions he has after reviewing Mary's jumpdrive until a family Christmas where she's away from any friends or allies or 'retired extremely dangerous'-style supply caches and bolt holes (because seriously, she was not keeping that special ops gear and weaponry in their closet at home) she can go to if he tells her they're through and she needs to get out. I'm still thinking/hoping he hasn't watched it at all and is about to toss the thing in the fire unviewed as a sign of *emotional handwaving* things.
-Oh my, there have definitely been a few months gone by there then!
-*flaps hands around* John's face, gah. Like, he's going to give it back to her unwatched, maybe, and he's still got some misgivings and is still hurt by the entire mess, but, *loses words, flaps randomly* that trust-assessing look. That 'should I give you the power to hurt me again or not' look. Gaaah.
-"These are prepared words, Mary." Suddenly very nervous. Even with his little nervous/awkward smile. Eeeek.
-"I've chosen these words with care."/"'Okay." THEY ARE KILLING ME WITH FACES AGAIN.
-"The problems of your past are your business." Oh yay. I was thinking I was wrong for a second there. Whew. I need a drink.
-Her face. Just that stalled expression of floating hope.
-"The problems of your future are my privilege." AWWW, John, you schmoopy bastard. Oh and the breathy-rough voice there. And just everything. I mean, obviously Mary is still ultimately screwed from 100+ years of canon and always has been, whatever form that's going to take, and there's still the Magnuson business (unless that's been dealt with in the intervening months (How?) except I doubt the show would keep us from seeing it play out) and the possibility of her past landing a bomb on their doorstep without warning or something, but yay. Mary's staying, Team Awesome rides again. WOO! \o/
-And she's still not sure whether it's safe to believe it's true, or maybe even whether she feels within herself that she deserves to be accepted by John. Oh Mary.
-"That's all I have to say, that's all I need to know." *flailing a little* Awwww.
-And yep.
Of course, now we might have to go back and deal with the intervening months between now and then before this reconciliation happened, which will hurt.
-"You don't even know my name."/"Is Mary Watson good enough for you?"/"Yes! Oh my god yes."/"It's good enough for me too." *wordless drippy flapping*
*decimates tissues* Bah. Sentiment. Ahem.
-"All this does not mean I'm not still blazingly pissed off with you."/"I know, I know." Understandable. Most people who shoot or try to shoot Sherlock would be in a lot of pain or dead, I suspect. But it's not just that, or the lying, it's that she had this huge problem she felt she could only deal with on her own, and he's feeling pretty peeved that even though they are partners in life and are about to start raising a child together (although *swallows hard and glances back at the monolith of canon ow* eep) she didn't trust him enough to tell him about it, or trust that if she said it was something she needed to handle on her own even then, as counter-productive as that may or may not have been, that John wouldn't respect that and stay out except as moral support unless called on, even though it would have driven him nuts. Anyway, something like that.
-"It will come out now and then." ... *has issues and moves on*
-"You can-" no idea what he says there. 'Vote the sonnet horn'? 'Write the song at home'? 'Mow the sodding lawn'? Well, that last one makes a little sense but they've got a 'never need to mow' tiled courtyard, not a lawn. Maybe they've got a lawn in the back?
-"I choose the baby's name."/"Not a chance."/"Okay." Heee!
-First, Aw hugs, and second *absorbs the awesome spiral staircase in the background* I love the Holmes family house. Though I wouldn't put open flame on a staircase. Too much risk of trailing clothing catching fire or candles being knocked down stairs.
-Brotherly chat time! "I'm glad you've given up on the Magnuson business." Well, if he had (and of course he hasn't really if Magnuson still has files on Mary), Sherlock's more likely going to get back into it sooner rather than later, now that he knows it'll piss off Mycroft.
Houuuuse. *grabby hands* Needs more windows though. Must be quite old.
-"Because he attacks people who are different and preys on their secrets." Yeah, I suppose, though that's probably a view with a significant personal filter added.
-It looks like Mycroft's taken up smoking since Belgravia, and Sherlock's off the patch-wagon too. The intervening months haven't been easy, and I imagine John's been rather too distracted to nag him. Although Sherlock's just gotten out of hospital, hasn't he? They're usually pretty good about keeping patients up on smoking cessation therapies. ...Hm.
-"A necessary evil, not a dragon for you to slay." Hee. Though really, now I can't tell if Mycroft is egging Sherlock on to continue going after Magnuson through reverse psychology or not, since really, he only doesn't harm too many really important people because they give in to his pressure and do whatever he wants, and I can't see Mycroft being so blase or blind as to think that's not a problem that needs solved. Plus, Sherlock is now smirking, so I don't know whether he's catching the reverse psychology or something else.
-"A dragon-slayer. Is that what you think of me?"/"It's what you think of yourself." *considers and nods* In a way, yeah.
-"Are you two smoking?"/"No."/"It was Mycroft!" BWAHAHAHAHA. I love Mum Holmes.
-Hm! Mycroft telling Sherlock to reject a job offer from MI6. Wondering if that's reverse psychology or not too.
-"An undercover assignment that would prove fatal to you in about six months." Oh, well, he's interested now.
-"Then why don't you want me to take it?" HA!
-"Utility, how do I have utility?" For a guy who presents an arrogant, self-confident front, Sherlock has some moments where a kind of deep and pervasive self-doubt (I suspect partly from spending parts of his childhood thinking he was stupid, and partly from being 'the freak' with no friends for so long) comes through.
-"Here be dragons." *nods* Yep. Yes there are indeed. And that would be as much of a sanction to go disrupt the hell out of Magnuson's operation, for the reasons mentioned above, and for the reasons mentioned waaay earlier regarding what Mycroft Holmes can and can't be seen condoning in terms of actions against horrendously manipulative cringe-worthy businessmen on British soil, whether they are from a different country or not.
-"This isn't agreeing with me." Aw, Mycroft hasn't picked up the smoking habit, he's just out bumming a cigarette from Sherlock to go hang out alone with his baby brother and talk obliquely about missions and things. Awwww.
-"Also... your loss would break my heart."/Sherlock: *chokes* BWAHAAHAHHA. And aw. And yeah.
-"What the hell am I supposed to say to that?!" *snerk* Yeah, it's hard to handle a direct statement of caring when your sibling interactions are primarily through snark, sarcasm, oblique judgement and vague implied threats. XD
-"Merry Christmas?" Awwwwww. This is some pretty epic schmoop from Mycroft right here.
-"You hate Christmas."/"Yes. Perhaps there was something in the punch."/"Clearly. Go and have some more." Heeeee. Re-establishing the status quo with snark. Brothers and their walls.
-DAWWWWW. THEY'VE BEEN HUGGING THAT WHOLE TIME. Just hanging on to each other there. Because sometimes that's what you need, just to hang on and not ever let go. Awwwwwww. *flail*
-"So you realise that Sherlock got us out here to see his mum and dad for a reason." Because they are an awesome couple to model on. Also because they're awesome. Also because WELCOME TO THE FAMILY. Wiggins too. \o/
-Ohhhh crap. Okay, maybe it's just a bout of fainting from standing after sitting so long and the big release of emotional stress and, yeah, maybe not. *thinks of canon* Eeeeek.
-"Don't drink Mary's tea." O.O!!!! MUMMY HOLMES, TELL ME YOU DIDN'T KNOW MARY WAS THE SHOOTER ALL ALONG AND DRUG MARY! Although she did shoot Sherlock and that's entirely a reasonable if highly illegal and inadvisable response to figuring out who shot your child. Something a little less alarming for all concerned and less risky for the baby would've been nice. Or you know, bringing up that you'd figured out who'd shot him and letting the gang give you the overall rundown on the situation might have been better. Also, she's a guest and it's generally bad form to poison guests. Send her away with some 'special cookies' or something would be better. This isn't Game of Thrones. XD
-"Or the punch." Oh well crap. O.O Someone's taking out the Holmes family??? (Though I suppose that explains Mycroft's moment of schmoop.)
-*pauses for a moment of 'that's his actual dad' squee, just because*
-Mycroft is slipping if he didn't taste something off about the punch... or. Maybe he did. And Sherlock's lack of alarm and knowing about all the drugging, maybe Sherlock drugged everyone. And Mycroft could tell, and mentioned the 'something in the punch' to let him know he knew Sherlock had drugged the punch, and he'd kept drinking it anyway... because... heh. Sherlock and John are gonna go after Magnuson now, aren't they? And that's why the discussion about dragons and MI6 and Mycroft forcing himself to smoke so he could spend time with Sherlock. And then that statement at the door. Because if Sherlock's going after Magnuson, his lifespan might be less than six months, OR. Ooo. Or, he might need that MI6 job offer to either get away from or control the damage from Magnuson's reprisal/info bomb. Ooooo. Just oooo. Silly Mycroft not finding a comfy chair to pass out in though. Maybe he just wanted to pass out next to the *squints* honey-bun things.
-"Did you just drug my pregnant wife?" Hehehe. Yeah, John's going to have a few words to say about that. Hey it looks like Wiggins escaped the snooze attack. Making it even more likely they're going out to kick ass, but sadly that Wiggins came to the family dinner mostly for mission purposes rather than seasonal warmth purposes. Aw. But he still got a dose of mumming form Mummy Holmes, which he could definitely use.
-"Don't worry. Wiggins is an excellent chemist." Oops! That's reaaaally not going to make John feel any better there Sherlock. Neither is you going around to everyone to check that they're still breathing. Not that it's not nice to know everyone's still breathing, just that it would probably be better if you had the confidence that there was no chance they wouldn't stop breathing. (Aw, look. That's why Mycroft passed out there instead of his comfy chair, he had to guard his laptop. Or did he hit the panic button, and will several teams of MI6 gun-bunnies be descending on the Holmes family home shortly?)
-"Won't affect the little one. I'll keep an eye on 'em."/"He'll monitor their recovery." Aw. Wow. Leaving Wiggins guarding over the whole unconscious clan? There's some serious trust there. Somewhere in the intervening months there is some backstory for that level of trust that we are missing.
-"It's more or less his day job." HA! True. XD
-"What the hell have you done?"/"Deal with the devil." OH CRAP. WHAT??? O.O
-I don't know any restaurant, even hospital cafeterias, that let patients sit at tables dressed only in hospital gowns. Though maybe he's got his coat or a blanket over the chair and is sitting on that. This feels kind of like a hallucination. Hard to say. Although *points at plate* Chips. Mrs. Hudson sent him up a plate of chips and a ham steak in Sign of Three, and he gets extra chips from the place where he helped them put up a shelf. Sherlock likes chips! \o/ Not sure what the round thing on the plate is though. Looks like a radish?
-"I am in hospital. This is the canteen." Daaaaaamn, NHS. O.o But I doubt it. He's either hallucinating or being facetious, or the production couldn't get access to a canteen-like space to film in and this is expository hand-waving. *squints into the background* Fish tank, fish like things on strings on the ceiling, probably that fish and chip shop. A rather nice fish and chip shop.
-"In my opinion, yes." Okay then! (It's not Angelo's or Speedy's (though the room shape is very familiar and Speedy's-like...). Needed somewhere completely away from John, Mary, Mycroft, and the hospital for this discussion, of course. Which means they're all back at the hospital freaking out that he's gone AWOL again. The big puzzle is, how'd he get out across the rooftops and into a cab with that IV stand?)
-"I've been thinking about you."/"I've been thinking about you." Gaaaaaaaah, how is Magnuson so creepy. Also, this is at least a few weeks on, there's no sign of damage from the pistol-whipping from Mary, and I doubt she'd have been inclined to hold back from causing him cosmetic damage. Although that could also be a tactical move, as it makes it easier for Magnuson to cover up the incident (though I'd REALLY like to hear how he explained all this to the ambulance crew that showed up at the penthouse for Sherlock.)
-Also, getting outside the hospital with a loaded morphine pump would be a hell of a trick. ...Heh. Unless he's loaded it with saline and faking so Magnuson thinks he's worse off than he is, or is mentally compromised. HA! Or to make him think he's back on drugs again in order to feed Magnuson's pressure tactics towards the drugs issue as he was doing at the start rather than leaning toward any of his more sensitive actual pressure points. AHA!
-[Dammit, now I really want fries.]
-"I want to see Appledore." Hm! Well,of course getting an invitation would save having to break in. What's he got on Magnuson to leverage that request though?
-"What makes you think I would be so careless?"/"Oh I think you're a lot more careless than you let on." Ooo, it's gone all cat-and-mousey, yay.
-Ahahahah, he's figured out the glasses. Which really he should have done from that first meeting, but he was a little distracted by Redbeard and Lady Smallwood's documents being right there and the peeing and then the being shot and all.
-As a constant glasses-wearer, this is nerve-wracking, so I'm glad it's happening to Magnuson, really. I doubt there's any vision-correction to those glasses, but he is strangely calm about this. Did he wear fakes to this meeting?
-I'm fairly certain a small specific section of fandom combusted a bit at the sight of Sherlock in glasses. They don't suit him, though. they rest too high on the bridge of his nose, too much gap at the bottom. Still wondering why Magnuson is so calm about this.
-Ahahah, yeah, they're fakes. Hence the masses of calm, because he wants Sherlock to take them and feel like an idiot. *pats Sherlock* XD
Oooo, or maybe there's a biometric fingerprint that only recognizes Magnuson? Also, randomly, where are his goons? Or did he figure he wouldn't need them to talk to a convalescent with a morphine pump in a fish and chip shop?
-Oh you smug bastard. The glasses are a misdirect and he's got... uh. Some kind of fake eye? Or a thingy on his optic nerve? Dunno. Definitely not from the current common tech level. Bit of a last minute gamemaster dodge, that. The next-next-next generation of Google Glass? Which he got because he has some nasty info somewhere about someone in Google's labs or something. And also a neurosurgeon and optician. OR CONTACTS! What the hell, Torchwood had them. Or maybe it's Magnuson's version of Sherlock's floating text-vision, just in red, with a different font and far more sleazy manipulative jerkness. Or whatever. *handwaves* Fair enough. Unconsciousness would still have kept him from being aware and able to record Mary calling 999 for Sherlock so he still doesn't think they're working together. Maybe. *handwaves some more*
Confirmation of incremental success Sherlock's "oh please do try to manipulate me via my raging drug habit and ignore my actual pressure points" ploy though.
-Aw, it's just pasta, and the round thing was a tomato and there was an olive hiding. Darn, so much for the chips idea. Well, Sherlock just likes carbs then. And that holds because one of the few things we've seen him actually eat, like toast. Also, Magnuson again trying to gain the upper hand by being gross and playing with Sherlock's food. Though maybe the pasta is planted and the olive is drugged, and there for Magnuson to snatch away?
-Snatching accomplished. I really hope the damned thing is drugged.
-And rinsing his fingers in the drinking glass. Which could also be drugged. At least he's predictably disgusting now that they know he pees in fireplaces and Sherlock can use that against him while staring blankly at a pair of normal glasses. Or something.
-"Then what are you giving me for Christmas, Mr Holmes?" Gaaaah *cringes everywhere*
-"My brother." AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. HAH. Oh dear. Yeah, Mycroft's totally in on this too. Or Sherlock's getting back at hm for 30 years of archenemy-hood, but it's more likely Mycroft's in on it, in a way where he can't be seen to be in on it. Just like I feel like he has been on the side of stopping Magnuson and helping Sherlock all along because seriously, that scuffle in the kitchen at 221B there was some kind of a note or jump drive hand-off happening there. Allllsooooo... Would Sherlock be 'giving' Mycroft to Magnuson the same way Mycroft 'gave' Sherlock to Moriarty, as combination bait and trap? Seems apropos. Ho ho ho.
-Yeah, John'd be a little distressed about that 'deal with the devil' statement coming from Sherlock particularly with his pregnant and being blackmailed spouse drugged unconscious in the next room. By arrangement of Sherlock.
-Awwwww. Face-smushy Sleepycroft. *pats him*
-"Sherlock, please tell me you haven't just gone out of your mind?"/"Rather keep you guessing." Heeeeeeeee! And Sherlock takes Mycroft's laptop, which now does actually explain why Mycroft brought it to a family thing, and it's probably full of a load of lovely tempting disinformation and vetted 'pressure points', just in case. Mycroft is totally in on this. Absolutely. For brothers who barely speak to each other without rancor, they cooperate well on some things.
-"Coming?" John Watson has the best faces. Seriously.
-"Good, because this is going to be incredibly dangerous. One false move and we'll have betrayed the security of the United Kingdom and be in prison for high treason. Magnuson is quite simply the most dangerous man we've ever encountered and the odds are comprehensively stacked against us." Ooo Sherlock, you sweet-talking devil.
-"But it's Christmas!"/"I feel the same- oh you mean it's actually Christmas." *wheezing with laughter*
-"Why would I bring my gun to your parents' house for Christmas dinner?"/"Is it in your coat?"/"Yes." *grins everywhere*
-Given this show's particular known penchant or showdown/significant meeting ties (Mycroft's umbrella tie, Moriarty's skull tie), I'm trying to make out what's on Magnuson's tie here (since this is a showdown whether he knows it yet or not) and I can't make it out. It looks like either bunnies, or VW Beetles. Or maybe the weather symbol for a hurricane. Not quite sure how any of those would relate though.
-I would have Appledore and its grounds in a heartbeat. Mine. Particularly the moat, though I'd turn it a bit less modern and more mediaeval, extend it around the whole place. Convert the room of secrets into a proper library, get rid of the Riddler question mark thing on the floor and the ridiculous spiral staircase... Providing of course owning it didn't require being a manipulative, universally hated, disgusting jerk. *nods*
*eyes the fresh lawnmower stripes on the lawn* Magnuson's been making someone mow his lawn in late December? Damn, Magnuson is mean to grass too. Figures. *handwaves, retconning that this was filmed in summer*
-Hm. I realize it's a grey day, but the colour seems more washed out even than that would account for. Contrasting the world of Magnuson to the riotously colorful world of the Holmes family? And inside the house, mostly stark white and glass contrasting to the traditional wood, fireplaces and comfy sofas, etc? There's meta there I warrant.
-*points* "CAM" logo. Just in case anyone had any doubt who's helicopter this was. Magnuson is consistent in his overt displays of ownership of everything.
-Yeah, if I owned Appledore, that weird curvy hockey rink glass sofa wall whatever it is would go too. But I'm plain like that.
-OMG ITS AN AUTON! No, no, wait, just a pale baldish guy in a suit with a vague face.
-And the Holmes and Watson team appear to be wearing nearly matching blue scarves to the evening's showdown.
(In the process of isolating this cap, I have realized that walking out of sync means that only rarely are both people being filmed not blurry simultaneously in screencapped frames. Good to know.)
-Okay, well, as long as the curvy hockey rink glass wall serves a practical purpose like keeping people (and/or Roombas since I doubt sincerely hope Magnuson doesn't keep a pet O.o) from falling down into the indoor jungle, it can stay. Not the sofa though. I'd have one that looks less like a caterpillar.
-"I would offer you a drink but it's very rare and expensive." Hahaha, got to hand it to Magnuson, he is completely invested in his identity of being a total prick.
-John, determined to remain standing because he's John Watson. And also he's carrying a gun and may need to shoot someone. Also again, I wouldn't be too keen on sitting on anything Magnuson had touched either. How is Magnuson so slimy?
-"Oh. It was you." *gasp* And now Sherlock knows for sure who put John in the bonfire. *cackles and claps hands together* You aren't a Garrideb but you'll do Magnuson, you son of a bitch. You imperiled Sherlock's Watson. Prepare to die. Or have your empire decimated a hundred times over, which you'd probably like even less. Bwahahah. Overconfidence kills. *grins very evilly*
-"Very hard to find a pressure point on you Mr Holmes." Except when you stick it in a bonfire. Don't mind me, I'll just be cackling rather a lot.
-And John's now aware too, making someone getting shot a greater likelihood, as inadvisable as it may be with that info-bomb dead man switch that's bound to exist if Magnuson's not an idiot.
-"The drugs thing I never believed for a moment." Aw, but he tried so haaaard. Hee. Magnuson is a revolting slimeball, but he isn't in fact stupid. And as much as I loathe Magnuson, I do like smart villains, particularly when they turn around and reveal that they twigged to the hero's ploy early on. Up those stakes!
-"But look how you care about John Watson." I just verbally keymashed. I didn't think it was possible to pronounce "AJKLDSAFA;SKDJFOQWPKGH!!!" but I just did. Also there was flailing. Rather a lot.
-"Your damsel in distress." *snerk*
-"Oh I'd never let you burn, Dr Watson." Just look at Sherlock there. Just look at those eyes, the way he's got his fingers locked together to keep control. Sherlock is so close to blowing whatever plan they had coming in here and just throttling Magnuson or maybe slicing the top of his skull off so he can punch him directly in the brain.
-And John would definitely help.
-"I had people standing by. I'm not a murderer-" And like I said in the 3.01 post (8 months ago, yeesh!), green boughs, wet wood, loads of smoke, etc, lots of delay. It was something designed to put pressure on Sherlock and Mary. Of course initially I thought it was Mycroft doing it to get Sherlock on track about the terrorist thing, which was not correct. *goes back and watches that scene again* Ahh. Yes. Even more interesting knowing Mary's background and that this was definitely a message for both of them. The person you love most can be endangered, so do whatever Magnuson wants. Though it was also a kind of test of how invested they both are in John as well, wasn't it.
-Of course no matter whose pressure point John Watson is, he's still going to rip Magnuson's freaking head off.
-"-Unlike your wife." Oooh! Magnuson's playing with fire there.
-Do not taunt Happy Fun Watson. Happy Fun Watson will end you.
-But then there's the tiniest little eyeshift to Sherlock, still following his lead on whatever the plan is. Save the vengeance for a lasting dismantling of Magnuson's extortion empire rather than a viscerally satisfying punch in the teeth or quick murder.
-And Magnuson has an uncappable fleeting half-smirk as he confirms to himself that even if it isn't what his magic eyeball originally suggested, as well as Sherlock Holmes's major pressure point being John Watson, one of John Watson's major pressure points is Sherlock Holmes. As it should be, as in every iteration of the Sherlock Holmes stories.
-"For those who understand these things, Mycroft Holmes is the most powerful man in the country." Who is currently drooling unconscious on his parents' kitchen table and being watched over by a street-drug mixologist because he agreed to help his baby brother make the bad man go away. Aw.
-"Well. Apart from me." Pft. True, at the moment, but Mycroft is much less of a raging prick, and he got where he was by doing his job rather than controlling everyone remotely powerful via extortion. ...Probably. *side-eyes*
-Magnuson: *lists pressure point chain* "I own John Watson's wife, I own Mycroft." Long story short, he's never voluntarily giving up his hold on Mary because she's the foundation to the whole house of cards. Also seems like Magnuson may have been playing a long game to get to Mycroft all along. In which case, yeah, he really does need to die. But not without dismantling whatever he has set up for in case he dies. Unless he is an idiot or so overconfident he thinks no one will kill him, which I am quite happy to root for. The him being an idiot part, not the 'no one's going to kill him' part. Someone needs to kill this guy, preferably before Series Four.
-MAGNUSON STROKING MYCROFT'S LAPTOP IS SO DAMNED WRONG! *CRINGES FOREVER*
-"You should see what I've seen."/"I don't need to see it." *smishes John forever* Because, just *flails* You know?
-"Show you Appledore, is that what you want?"/"I want everything you've got on Mary." *flailing more* Because TEAM AWESOME! \o/ Also Sherlock's face is being very intense.
-"I think you'll find the contents of that laptop-"/"-include a GPS locator." Heee! Of course it does. Considering the sort of people and places Mycroft works, probably also multiple anti-theft, anti-hacking and anti-tampering devices and software. Who knows, nanobots. Whee!! \o/
-"By now your brother will have noticed the theft." Only if the drugs have worn off.
-*nods along with the Security Services bust scenario* Though I don't think that's quite what the plan is, though it does work. Unless, since Appledore isn't computerized Magnuson's done something to dead-zone most of his property so the laptop won't be able to get a signal to connect and get or send GPS info. Though it could have a built-in satellite modem or something. It's Mycroft Holmes's laptop. He's not just using it to play Bejeweled.
-"Restored to your smelly little apartment to solve crimes with Mr and Mrs Psychopath." *snerk* Hey, it's only smelly because you peed in the fireplace like an animal, you jerk. And that's Mr and Mrs Watson to you.
-"Then why am I smiling?" Because you think you're one step ahead of the combined plotting of the Holmes boys and the intensity of some pissed off Watsons. Hubris. This is not the whole plan, obviously. Sherlock's defeated/pained face doesn't look like that *points up*. It looks like it did in the mirror in 'The Empty Hearse', the first time he saw John sitting in his chair at 221B again. Other stuff is going down.
-"Because Sherlock Holmes has made one enormous mistake which will destroy the lives of everyone he loves, and everything he holds dear." Oh well, that's just great. ...and Magnuson's chopper picked them up. AT SHERLOCK'S FAMILY'S HOUSE. OH SHIT. MAGNUSON, IF YOU HAVE THUGS HEADED FOR THE HOLMES HOUSE, I SWEAR I WILL REACH THROUGH THE SCREEN AND PUNCH YOU MYSELF. And then wash thoroughly. And then do it again. But I'm rather hoping Sherlock thought of that and there's more than just Wiggins really guarding the place and all the unconscious Holmeses and Watsons.
-"Let me show you the Appledore vaults." Sure, why not. Give a nebulous enigmatic threat and then do a tour of the place. Yeesh. Maybe he's packed everything up and moved it off-site? Which would be even better, because anything in transit is less secure.
-Neither of them look very impressed. On a side note: they have different scarf-tying techniques.
-*glares futilely at the Joust figurines one more time* But... WHY??
-"The entrance to my vaults. This is where I keep you all." How is he so over-the-top at being deliberately creepy and yet still managing to actually be creepy?
-Heheh. The look on John's face here, staring at the back of Magnuson's head, you can practically see him thinking, "One bullet. Just one bullet." and visualizing Magnuson's head exploding.
-"Vaults? What vaults?" If all that underground wood-panel circus-themed stuff is Magnuson's bloody mind palace I may scream. Though there has to be physical storage somewhere for the evidence he's keeping. The mind palace thing would go with the non-glasses red text interface though. Just like Sherlock's hover-text.
-"The Appledore vaults are my mind palace." *deep breath* AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! *headdesk* Well, that makes the case for shooting Magnuson in the head so much more compelling. I didn't notice anyone frisking John so he may still be armed, and is verrry motivated, so Magnuson's chances of surviving to Series Four just dropped like a rock. WOOHOO! \o/ Still, where's he keeping the physical evidence? He had actual letters in his jacket when he visited 221B, unless that was just a prop for Sherlock's benefit. Which it could be, and would be a lot simpler to explain than how he acquired a specific bundle of random letters about someone's ancient underage affair. *ponders*
-Sherlock looks more than a little put out by this 'Mind Palace Vault' development. Either that or he's experiencing some severe revulsion at Magnuson's mind working anything like his own, and using his own term for his 'method of loci' memory trick, and really, I wouldn't blame him at all.
-Oh, well, if that spiral staircase is just part of his visualization for getting to his mental room of secrets, that's fine then. No need to move furniture up and down it at all. (And thinking of Sherlock's Mind Palace staircase, that was much more practical for moving furniture. More homey, warm and classic, less sterile, cold and impractical. There could be meta there.) SO. Everything past the room of Joust figurines is in Magnuson's head. Got it. Well, that makes redecorating Appledore easier, and there has to be somewhere in the building a proper library can be built without ever having been tainted by slimy extortionist jerk vibes.
-Heh. Seeing the dolls and clowns again, now that we know this is in Magnuson's head the term "toys in the attic" does spring to mind.
(It also makes me REALLY NOT WANT TO KNOW what that movement in the background of the records room rolodex shot was. O.o)
-"I'll look at the files on Mrs Watson." Oh, Sherlock's little dreading headshake.
-John Watson's face. I swear. Also lighting. That thing Martin Freeman said at his BAFTA acceptance years back about the lighting director? The lighting here is just *waves hands around* damn.
-HEE! Magnuson's "I AM SO CREEPY SRSLY U GUIZ" field seems to have had a localized failure. Giggles are entirely appropriate. Although they could also be wry giggles of irony, not having viewed Mary's history deliberately, and now having to hear it involuntarily after all.
-If I wasn't utterly certain that there are armed goons just out of sight waiting for their boss to get done toying with the fresh meat, I'd be more curious why Sherlock and John aren't just wandering away to search the place while Magnuson's in his memory room. But, goons with guns.
-Here's a factoid. Wherever Mary's originally from, that file is using the Cyrillic or Greek alphabet. *points* "А.Г.Р.А." are Mary's initials in Cyrillic/Greek characters, and also that's confirmation that A.G.R.A are all her initials and it's not "A.G. Roving Assassin" or something else... Hehe. I wonder what Amanda Abbington's middle initials are... ;-)
-"All those wet jobs for the CIA." Worked for the Americans for a while then, which would be reason enough for there to be a file in Cyrillic lettering on her. Darn, I had half a crossover thought about her and Black Widow being trained together in Russia.
-"She's gone a bit freelance now." I'm thinking John's face is less pissed off about Mary's history in itself and more pissed off about Magnuson revealing bits of it just to be even more of a giant manipulative dick.
-"So there are no documents, you don't actually have anything here." Important distinction. If there are no documents at all, it's all media spin and Magnuson's word, and offing him for the good of humanity is a viable option. If he's got files but they're off-site, that's another story. Ooo. And it could explain why he had the letters in Sherlock's flat. They aren't in Appledore, they're in his London place, and he had them because he was picking them up. Maybe.
-"Sometimes I send out for something if I really need it." Confirming there are physical records around and making Sherlock semi-blink in an interestingly mini-mind palace sort of way... Possibly? Or a pained thought? What are you thinking, Sherlock Holmes?
-"I don't understand."/"You should have that on a t-shirt." Ahahahaha. Dick.
-"Proof, what would I need proof for? I'm in news, you moron. I don't have to prove it, I just have to print it." And there's a bit of meta commentary on the state of modern media, yes? Also, pretty much removing any real obstacle to John killing Magnuson other than the pesky guards lurking around and that whole "lingering reluctance to straight-up murder a dude to his face (when he's not actively trying to kill anyone)" issue, which is still an impediment. I think the balance may be tipping on that for John though, strong moral principle or not. (This is almost weirding me out. I don't think I've rooted for any character to die more than I have for Magnuson. He's just such an unrelenting irredeemable slimeball.)
-"Speaking of news, you'll both be heavily featured tomorrow. Trying to sell state secrets to me." What!? Oh my god what an ass. So, did he actually want Mycroft or did he just want them to provide even more rope to hang themselves with? I think he does want Mycroft in his control though. He's too big a fish, and he's eventually going to go from turning a blind eye to taking an interest in Magnuson's activities (unless Mycroft already has like I think he has and is collaborating secretly with Sherlock), so solidifying control now would be strategically smart. Not sure how Magnuson revealing to the world that Sherlock and John handed the stuff to him plays into that though, other than threatening Sherlock and using that to try to manipulate Mycroft maybe?
-"They'll be here shortly. Can't wait to see you arrested." !!! *short burst of Magnuson-directed profanity* Well. There's another reason not to shoot him I suppose, though if Mycroft has been in on this all along, maybe the 'they' that's coming isn't what Magnuson expects and is a 'they' that wouldn't particularly mind if they found John and Sherlock standing over Magnuson's cooling corpse. Keep a happy thought!
Continued in...
PART EIGHT
(PLEASE, NO SPOILERS OR RUMOURS OR REFERENCES TO ANY INFORMATION FOR OR ABOUT FUTURE EPISODES OR SERIES' OF SHERLOCK)