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You mean the Xmas present? Need to look after the timing. But first what I've thought about reading this line was the BTS red herring scene with Jim and Myc at Bart's, shaking hands. Oh, imagine they would include that scene in TFP Jim was lurking around also in TBB, as the wire-puller of Chan's business. So it's possible he's got annoyed by Sherlock spoiling his business. But still killing completely random people in a quite sophisticate way just to annoy Scotland Yard - that feels not enough Moriarty-ish for me. Shut up, stupid brain! Yes, Mofftiss might have built the story by pulling notices with random ideas out of a hat. But it's not the point. Magic, remember? A whole that's more than the sum of it's parts? So SHUT THE BEEP UP and let me have fun!

Yes it's the most likely option. I used to have some kind of complicated backstory in mind that Moriarty was really the lost Holmes brother, or that he stole Carl Powers' identity (I still think the photo of him as a boy resembles Andrew Scott), but all we actually see is that something sparks with Sherlock in TGG. There are aspects of The Final Problem that throw things off for me as well- like for how long were Mycroft and Moriarty doing their backroom deals? I would have quite liked a flashback scene to show what their true relationship was, as Mycroft is a slippery fish, too.

Well, Jim killed Karl and kept the "weapon" aka poisoned shoes. The question is - did he also know about a boy who tried to convince the police about the importance of this fact.

You tell it, JP! Somebody's organized a "watchalong!" Starts tomorrow. Info at http://finalproblem.tumblr.com/megawatchalong. Putting it here in case I forget to post it somewhere more useful. TFP does feel somewhat rushed, doesn't it? Like they had to revise it on the fly. Let's blame the actor's schedules again, shall we? Maybe it's because I have no idea how the TV business works, but if it were me, I would have started writing the scripts as soon as I finished writing S3 … and have had plenty of time to polish them. But perhaps (successful) professional scriptwriters don't write unless they get paid first? (I know a few unsuccessful scriptwriters … they write all the time! ) Well, there was that whole "you're me" dialog on the roof … that was my cue that they sensed they had something in common. I've never clearly defined to myself exactly what it is, though, except a certain darkness of the soul. Which Jim gives into, and Sherlock does not, or something like that. Yeah, it was Moriarty. And somehow he knew that Sherlock had been interested in the case at the time. Doesn't he say something to that effect in TGG? He tells Sherlock to "back off" or else. And then a few minutes later Jim decides to kill him anyway, because Sherlock's getting in his way, or something. What I have always thought is that Moriarty is simply, irrevocably, stark-raving mad. And fascinated by death. A serial killer, essentially … they don't need a reason, do they? That's one of the many things that makes them so scary.

Oh Yes! Or maybe she got even with her husband's brother/cousin! I don't know enough about the Sherlock family tree to speculate further 😂 And before anyone says it, I do take note that this is Sherlock and not The Bold and The Beautiful.

Though I think Mycroft looks even more like him. Maybe Mummy is drawn to that look, even when she's just getting even? Because he's creepy?

Yeah I can see that. I'm never sure about Moriarty whether he became interested in Sherlock from the beginning, just based on hearing about him (and then maybe that case about the boy with the trainers, did we know whether that was him? Apologies that I've forgotten). Or whether the true 'bromance' if you'll forgive the term, took off from their first in-person meeting? I can imagine Moriarty obsessing about someone from afar, even stalking them, before meeting them, not sure why I think that about him.

I also always thought that Sherlock seems to be her favourite. This is a wild theory, but I did wonder if Sherlock could be a child from her revenge affair. Though that's complicated by how much he looks like his father.😂 This was my take too, though I thought it went a bit further, and Moriarty developed almost a love/hate obsession with Sherlock as a playmate. There are some minor characteristics that Sherlock and Moriarty have in common, that I feel like they recognised in each other (e.g. that detached love of 'the game'), and there was something magnetic about that dynamic.

Damn straight! That looks really well organized. And gotta love the name of their chat room: Maybe. But I get the impression that Mr. Moffat doesn't write until he's eyeball to eyeball with a deadline. (Sort of like my own system, so I can't really criticize him for that.) Why not? It's what the Moftisses do.

Well he was definitely interested in Sherlock from the get-go, and probably followed his movements via public media and whatnot at least. Moriarty is a strategist. But I don’t think the actual obsession or “bromance” was there from the beginning. I think it started more like observing from afar, keeping tabs, maneuvering to keep Sherlock from ruining his schemes, and general amusement, like “Get a load of this guy who thinks he’s a detective, that’s cute.” Even in TGG, Moriarty was still saying things like, “Now you’re in my way,” “Back off,” and “Do you know what happens if you don’t leave me alone?” He didn’t fully start with “Get Sherlock” mentality until S2.

I think so too, but not until TGG or later.

Oh I wasn’t contesting that, there are certainly logic holes and continuity errors. I can find those in just about anything, lol. I just like to chime in with my own interpretation of things.

And the same thing again when they apparently combined seasons 4 and 5. Though I'd probably say they just didn't want to take the time -- which would probably have been considerable in each case, if they'd wanted to make things really click.

Okay, it might be that Jim, when bored, instead of shooting a wall, sends a cabbie to murder random people. But the mentioning of "fan" tells me that Jim was interested in Sherlock (maybe he never stopped observe him, or maybe he realized at some moment that the boy who'd made all that fuzz about poor Karl's death became a consulting detective and it's time to play or just to get rid of him. To me the whole story works only as a trap for Sherlock. And that Sherlock didn't see it for so long.