Carol the Dabbler

I just checked, and there's a brand of premium cigar called Ashton [here], so yeah, that might be what he's referring to. "I know Ashton" sounds a bit obscure to me, but maybe that's what the Moftisses smoke? ADDED: Duh! Just now thought to check what purports to be an official script (though not the final draft) here. That has him saying simply "I know ash!" -- but a good bit of the dialog in that scene is considerably different from what made it to screen, so who knows?

... and if he had, there went the plot!

If you're looking for an in-universe explanation, probably the least implausible is that John pulled some sort of stunt so that the army didn't realized he still had his gun. Considering the meaningful long look he gave it in his sad little room (especially in the pilot, I think), his motive for cheating (which seems unlike John otherwise) may have been so that suicide would be an option.

I assume he's literally Sherlock and Mycroft's uncle (or possibly a close family friend, an honorary uncle). We never meet him, but doesn't Mycroft say (in Final Problem) that he died some time ago? In any case, he seems to have considered himself to be the head of the family in some sense (for example, he took charge of Eurus), as well as Mycroft's mentor, or at least his role model. If I had to guess, I'd say he was Daddy Holmes's eldest brother. By the way, in what appears to be the official shooting script [here], his name is spelt in the usual British way, Rudy. The subtitles have it as Rudi, but the people who write subtitles don't generally have access to the scripts, they just go by what they hear (and sometimes guess wrong). I agree! But that doesn't mean he wouldn't be tempted. So he might send a few text messages. And then feel guilty about it -- which he did. She made another brief appearance in Empty Hearse, the scene in Mycroft's office where Sherlock is being restored to his usual appearance after his Serbian experience. She brings him a suit. So apparently nothing has happened to her, it's just that she was generally in a different room on those rare occasions when we've seen Mycroft's office. You're right, there must have been search parties looking for Trevor, but we didn't happen to see them. If Mr. and Mrs. Holmes were told that their daughter had died in the fire, they would have grieved, but they would have seen no reason to look for her, because they thought they knew where she was. It might have been helpful if we'd seen a bit of that as well as the search for Trevor, but apparently Moftiss preferred to use the time for other things. As someone pointed out on another website, they could have lowered a bolt cutter to him -- we just didn't happen to see that part either.

Yeah, you'd think so! But on the other hand, he took a hands-off attitude toward Magnussen. Maybe he figured it would be easier to keep an eye on her if she was married to John. Heaven knows I don't understand how Mycroft's mind works! Right -- sometimes it's hard to tell where the plot leaves off and the inconsistencies begin. Or maybe the apparent inconsistencies are merely areas where we don't have all the data.

Me too! I should know for sure in about a week. Tell ya one thing, I'm becoming increasingly hesitant to give my credit card number to subscription-type places. There often seems to be no clean way to cancel the subscription, other than changing the card number.

I take it, then, that your preferred method (as an American) of dealing with problem people is to shoot them. Remind me to stay on this side of the Appalachians.

Maybe you can clarify this apparent gross overstatement when you do come back: Besides, that should be "whomever."

For anyone not up on somewhat-old-fashioned American derogatory slang, the word can refer to black people -- when it's not referring to ghosts or perhaps to government agents such as those in the CIA. I never was really clear on that, especially considering the source. Was Magnussen being honest or manipulative or what? He was heading into a dicey situation, so if he's anything like the original Holmes, he'd bring it for self protection == though if he already had an inkling where the "vaults" really were, he may have had a contingency plan as well. Heaven knows that's true enough! It's been a while since I read any canon stories, but there were definitely a few cases where he stood by and let someone die, if he thought it was deserved. Oddly enough, for those who haven't read Conan Doyle, one of them was Milverton (the original Magnussen), who was killed by one of his blackmail victims. But the Moftisses thought that was a fiction made up by Watson to protect Holmes from prosecution. (And besides, they just couldn't believe that a mere female could have killed him. ) As for whether either Holmes "should" have killed CAM, I'll leave that for others to debate.

Did you answer the questions from a different point of view this time? For example, did you take the quiz one time based on how you talk now, and the other time based on how you talked as a kid? (I did the latter, because -- like you -- I've moved around so much that the reults would otherwise have been fairly meaningless.)

If Sherlock had indeed been flown off to meet his doom, would you have found that more appropriate? And what would you then have considered an appropriate governmental reaction to the apparent return of Moriarty?

I don't think that was the reason given, but let me go check..., Oh, right, of course -- at the end of His Last Vow [here], Sherlock is on his way to a special assignment, AKA exile and almost certain death, when Moriarty's image pops up on every screen. There's apparently a really quick top-level phone conference, and the plane turns back. Mycroft's explanation is that Sherock is needed (by England). So it's a lot more pragmatic than "the good guy did it."

Or both! *sigh* But the Moftisses seem to think that the only strong female characters are BAD female characters. See my previous comment. You have more patience than I do! But yeah, that did it for sure. Up till then, I was still able to think of it as the same show, albeit with a different tone. I hadn't quite thought of it that way, but yeah. I wouldn't say I "like" it, but now that you mention the analogy, it could easily be construed as dismissive to the fans, rather than the tip of the hat they claim to have intended. Maybe they don't understand the difference? Me too. As for the latter, yes, that sort of thing could happen in real life. Tempers do flare, and friends are forgiven. But sheesh, guys, you're writing for a (supposed) drama series, not a soap opera! No argument. They claim it was an hommage to the fans, and maybe that really is what they thought they were doing. But it's sure not how it came across. Funny how we're all still hanging around here, isn't it? Well, I still like the show, at least the first two seasons, most of the third season (albeit not as well), The Abominable Bride, and selected bits of the fourth season. But more importantly, I enjoy the discussions here (about Sherlock and about everything else).

I think you're probably right. But their idea of "playful" isn't necessarily mine! Plus there are times when I don't feel it's quite appropriate.

That was carefully orchestrated by the government, though. Apparently too much dirty laundry would have been exposed if the murder had come to light. So instead they said that one of Mycroft's retinue had fired accidentally. Or do you understand that, but think it was the wrong way to handle it?