…with our final READER REACTION ‘Lockback’ of the SHERLOCK Season/Series 3.
This week bring us His Last Vow - tonight on BBC One.
While I wasn’t in love with S3E01 (The Empty Hearse), last week’s second installment…I thought was wondrous, and one of the most charming, touching, well-played and well-balanced pieces of television I’ve come across in quite some time.
Very excited to see how tonight’s tale shakes out, and can’t help but wonder if it’ll attempt to address some of Empty Hearse’s conspicuously dangling plot threads, or if the frustrating ambiguity which sometimes plagues DOCTOR WHO will rear its confounding head here.
Speaking of which, a longtime AICN Docbacker/Lockbacker has has put forth an expansive theory regarding how some of these plot threads might play out…fascinating stuff presented for your consideration below.
With this, PLEASE NOTE that this is a gently moderated Talkback, completely unlike the crass free-for-all one might find on any other AICN Talkbacks. The Golden Rule here?
…converse, agree, disagree, and question as much as you want - but the freedom to do so is NOT a license to be rude, crass, disrespectful, or uncivilized in any way. Not remaining courteous and civil, as well as TROLLING or undertaking sensational efforts to ignite controversy, will result in banning. Lack of courtesy may receive one (1) warning before a ban is instigated. Obvious Trolling or Spamming will result in summary banning with no warning.
These ‘Lockbacks’ will be returned to AICN’s main page upon S3's US transmit later...beginning next week.
As mentioned above, while we wait for tonight, here's DeltaCubedSigmaExSquared with some notions to chew on and discuss...
===================
The CASE Of The Lonely Conspirator
Being a Completely Arsed SpoileryExplanation of all Sherlock mysteries to date in 12 deductions:
1) Hound gas renders its victims unusually susceptible to hypnotic suggestion, to the point that they can be made to kill themselves or others. We deduce that Sherlock, as a graduate chemist, learned how to manufacture this gas and how to use it.
2) Moriarty was not a friend or schoolmate of Carl Powers, who was Sherlock's age. So he must be older. We heard from the exploded granny that he had a soft voice, not a loud squeaky one, and we know his activities were strictly secret until the dying Cabbie blabbed. We deduce this Moriarty is the man with the appearance of the classic Professor who appeared on screen at the end of S2E2 - the uncredited actor whose glance lifted all the Sherlocks off the walls.
3) Once Sherlock became aware of his existence, we deduce this Professor Moriarty would have determined Sherlock must inevitably prove his downfall unless Sherlock is stopped by force and discredited.
4) The dying cabbie said Moriarty wasn't "just a man". We deduce he was at least 2 men, the Professor using Hound gas to create a disposable public persona in Jim Moriarty. In the original Doyle canon there were three Moriarties and as hinted in S3E2, but unsupported by evidence, it may be that Jim is triplets, one for each of the break-ins in S2E3 ...
5) Obviously Professor Moriarty knows where Sherlock lives, eats and sleeps, and can pick him up in a cab any time he likes, so he could easily have him killed by a Hound. We deduce from the fact that Sherlock has not been assassinated that Professor Moriarty must have a very good reason to not do so.
6) We know from the end of S2E2 that Mycroft had a relationship of some sort with Professor Moriarty. Given Mycroft's desire to stay shapely and his loneliness, we deduce that he and the Professor are lovers. In order to keep Mycroft on side Moriarty would agree to merely discredit Sherlock, but as a criminal he would not hesitate to cause Sherlock to kill himself, if he, Moriarty, could reasonably apologize afterward to Mycroft.
7) This appears to be just what Moriarty attempts in S2E3. Note that he did not dare to use Mycroft as an assassination threat, further evidence for their relationship. But in order for Professor Moriarty to disappear, Jim Moriarty also needed to come to a well publicized end. We deduce this is the reason for his spectacular "thefts" at the start of S2E3 and his subsequent suicide.
8) We know that, in order to discredit Sherlock, Moriarty also used Hound gas to induce a person of unknown origin to undergo plastic surgery to resemble Sherlock sufficiently to fool the candy-poisoned children. We deduce that over the course of the following day Sherlock must have tracked down this look-alike, who subsequently disappeared.
9) We deduce Sherlock lied about how he survived the fall because the only person who could have failed to see a giant blue airbag was John - it wouldn't have fooled any of Moriarty's snipers or spotters. But the lookalike solution implicates Sherlock and John in a conspiracy to murder. This also explains Sherlock's need for Molly's ongoing complicity.
10) You can tell it's not Sherlock who jumps off Barts' roof because of the mole on the jumper's right hand. We deduce this is the infamous "clue that everyone has missed" that Moffatt remarked on. To help with some misdirection, Cumberbatch used toy monkeys to explain this device...
The jumper was the lookalike.
11) Sherlock was left with the problem of the real Professor Moriarty being still alive and in cahoots with Mycroft. If Sherlock hadn't appeared to die, the Professor would have continued to threaten all Sherlock's "angels". We deduce that Sherlock could infiltrate the Professor's network including, to an extent not yet revealed to Mycroft at the end of S3E2, Mycroft himself, and that this is why after two years he's comfortable being discovered.
12) Sherlock and John knew that there was no way John could hide his knowledge from Mycroft or the Professor except not to know it. We deduce that it was with John's consent that Sherlock used Hound gas to cause John to forget the day during which Sherlock and he together tracked down the look-alike and made preparations to fake the fall. This is the lost day Sherlock remarks on at John's wedding in S3E2.
Now I freely admit Mycroft's part in all this remains a bit vague to me. It's not clear whether he knew of Sherlock's survival all along and the two were together controlling Professor Moriarty, or whether Sherlock only let Mycroft in later once he'd got the Professor under his control or whether there was another Hound shenanigan. Anyway ... roll on S3E3!
