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Zain
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Everything posted by Zain
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Well, is it really romanticizing? To me, it is more like John does not concede Sherlock the right to be flawed. In S3, that is. And Sherlock is flawed, no denying that. But John takes particular offense in Sherlock's being human, like when Sherlock forgets the room number, or when he did not see Mary's two-headedness. He takes offense in Sherlock's human limitations, which is the fading of knowledge, the filtering, and the disassociation to an issue that would need to be recognized. In a way, I am not sure if John is seeing Sherlock as superhuman at all. Again, strictly talking about s3. To me, it is more like John is denying Sherlock the right to anything that would classify as prototypically human, like human reactions. Maybe emotions, too, to a degree. And motive, as well. In TEH, for example, he is not interested in the motive behind the jump, only in the reason why he was kept in the dark. Maybe in his mind, Sherlock does not need a motive to do something like that. To "collaborate" against him. I do not think John views Sherlock as something better than Sherlock actually is. To be honest, I think he is not viewing Sherlock at all during s3. He seems completely out of sync with Sherlock's emotional responses, to such a degree that in s3e2, Mary who knows Sherlock not as long as John recognizes much faster that Sherlock is nervous, for example. But that may very much be my subjective perspective and nothing more.
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Well, I meant that I was too lazy to copy and paste the Cyrillic version, to be honest. I think it's brilliant to have programmes to switch between the two modes... If I used it more often, I'd download something of the sort... And yes, down there, looks like it could be that. I'll try to "reapply" the filters I did the last time, and if I manage, maybe I can zoom in a bit and upload. But bit hard to make definite statements with the quality we have. I wish there was a better version. Haven't encountered one yet, though...
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Sorry, not that I am doubting her or anything: But where does she read that letter? Just went back to it, and I did look for it, but to me, it looks like a normal "k." So that I can have a look at it.
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Yes, I spotted, too, that the above text is most likely in English, and possibly hand-written, while the text at the bottom looks like a report to me. Maybe Magnussen's "mental notes", or the notes from the person he got Mary's file from. CIA? They would be interested in keeping up with their former employee's "career" after leaving their service. I could try to use the same filtering I did on the word below, but I am not very hopeful. I once tried it, because the last word in the last line is more legible than the others, but I think I gave up after a minute or two.
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Ummm... because it's beautiful? Honestly, I think "Sherlock" is a lovely name. I hate hearing it mutilated by Janine or Bill Wiggins. At least nobody has ever called him "Shirley" (yet... ) "Mycroft" isn't too bad a name, either. I fits the character perfectly. And it is a good name to shout. Better than William, and I suspect his parents had to shout his name rather often and rather loud when they encountered the mess he made... And when he was good, he was Billy.
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Okay. I've deliberately let it go for a day or two to get a less prejudiced POV on the subject. I've looked at it again, and I might have a solution to offer. Not that I claim this is true in any way. It's still hard to make out shapes, and some resemble more than one letter. While many words are longer, I've noticed that I was lacking one vowel to make it sound "better", or rather: More like a word that would truly exist. I still have my issues with the first letter, or letters. There is basically no distance between what I deem the first and the second letter. However, I could not see any letter that I am aware of in it when I combined the two "letters." The shape makes no sense. A "D" would be possible, but it would be a rather ugly one with a big curve. Instead, I now offer this solution: Об'єкт which, as you probably could guess means object or target. If the first five letters are indeed this word, the language cannot be Russian, as the Russian synonym would be объект, which is indeed one letter too much. And I definitely cannot spot a hard sign in there. Об'єкт is Ukrainian, in fact, Serbian is different as well, and includes too many letters, too. The red line may overlap with the apostrophe, and that is why it is not legible. Though there is something under the red line, indeed. The next part was easier to spot, and I am more confident in this part: мить. Which could be Serbian, too, that is why I was at first rather despairing, as I have no idea whatsoever about Serbian, which has got a few special letters. I feared the first letter could be one of those. But then I realized that Ukrainian, too, knows the word мить, which can mean moment or very quickly. I am not familiar with the Ukrainian grammar (barely with the Russian one, thank you, that is enough for a lifetime ^^): But we do not know the context anyway. It is possible that this is complete nonesense or that I got it right. But for now: It is very likely that it is Ukrainian, and, from my perspective, unlikely that it is Russian. There simply seem to be a hard sign missing (or a я, or one of the sh-sounds which is rather characteristic). It does not feel like Russian to me. I might be wrong, and season 4 will make me want to delete this post in shame, who knows But for now, I dare say it is not Russian, and while I cannot make any statement about Serbian (which I do not know enough about to make definite statements), it seems likely to be Ukrainian. Which... is another reference to Eastern Europe, but not really helpful. The words I identified make somewhat sense.
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Of course, you are right, Toby. It's not really about getting information on Mary or finding some definite truth about her past. But this might be a general, and well-hidden hint at what we can expect of s4. For example, if this is Serbian, then there probably is a connection to the beginning of TEH, and to Moriarty. If it is Russian, or any other language, it also follows the Eatern Europe theme, and allows for some interpretation. And it may be possible to look at the books and spot some "rough" plot they are pursuing. References in the books, and so on. Sure, maybe this means nothing, but it is more productive than debating Mary's immoral/selfish/moral/selfless character, and you choose which of those adjectives you prefer, if any at all. I am rather happy with having something to do at the moment Not one for sitting around, and this is not a good trait when you like a mini series which airs every two years on average...
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Well, Magnussen is Danish, right? He shouldn't be this proficient in Cyrillic, in that case. Danish is a very strange language, with lots of strange vowels. And I am saying this as a German Sounds to me like someone stuck in the Middle Ages. Or someone speaking with their mouth still full with food. I only remember one word from when I went there, and it sounded like "smoe-roe-browde." Anyway, it's based on the Latin alphabet. He could have picked it up some other way, though, sure. Gotta say, I'd be impressed if he became afluent enough to think in that language. Thanks you for the effort, Caya. I am sorry, but I can't for the sake of it get to the rest of the word. The "b" says Cyrillic, the "it" is very common in Russian, at least. The rest, though... I've tried different theories (well, educated guesses based on the letters' shapes and placement) but so far, doesn't really add up to anything that makes sense to me. Maybe I'll ask a friend of mine to have a look at it. She was raised bilingually, and she might be able to say with certainty if this is not Russian. Maybe I hit the right combination, but it simply did not make sense to me, because my skills are too poor or it is just some word I do not know. Right now, I am considered Serbian, because the first "letter" looks slightly like a Serbian lj/j. But I only got that when I looked up special Cyrillic letters. I am not familiar with Serbian at all. Edit: Just checked again, and if the beginning letters were 'nje', it would be the Serbian pronoun "her." But, that is just a possibility. I really am not familiar with Serbian, or with reading Serbian extra letters.
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I used a programme to go in a bit deeper, I sharpened it, fiddled a tad bit with the brightness, and that is why I was able to pick up some of it. I wish I knew how to improve it even more, but I never was any good with photoshop. Well, if they did not intend for us to spot that, why bother using Cyrillic there? One heck of a red herring, though, if they intended us to be led onto a false trail. They could have made sure the shadows weren't this much of hindrance... Here, the one with the better resolution (if only slightly). The word I was referring to is the one after AGRA in the paragraph titled AGRA. Probably a report of some sort. Maybe someone else has got more luck than me with it...
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Well, I cheated. I searched for a screen shot with better resolution, and then I went in deeper until I spotted rough edges to make out basic shapes. But thanks. I've tried fiddling with grey scale, negativity, and so on, but it doesn't really get better. I might go back to this once I finished my work....
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Yes, they could go that way. Make her a link between Sherlock and his last mission in Serbia, which was cut short by Mycroft. Who declared it over. Here, the best screen shot of that particular moment that I could find. I enlarged it a bit. http://postimg.org/image/v1p5g0wct/ You can see the Cyrillic AGRA on the right to Magnussen's finger, just where the shadow begins. Then Mary's signature to the right, but a bit higher. The R has got a curve, so she signed using the Roman alphabet. Personally, I'd say that beneath there, it's Cyrillic. It's not that readable. In the text, you can see again the initials (or abbreviation?) AGRA. After that, there's a word, and from all the other ones, it's the most readable. I can spot a b, a soft sign. Typical for verbs. Before that, I am certain it's "it." The it gets a bit wobbly. Could be "z" or "m." Going backwards, it's something I cannot identify, then "yek" or "yech." But looks more like a k. The beginning is rather unreadable, especially with the red line crossing the first and second letter. Looks like a "D", could be an "O", next letter could be anything or nothing, maybe an "f." At first I thought it could be "defected." But I am pretty sure there's no "e" after the first letter. Well, conclusion. Basically unreadable.... but with a small margin for error: Cyrillic. Now my eyes hurt...
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I don't think we get to see the entire file. There's the screen shot of one of the pages, but otherwise, that's it. The link Caya provided shows that particular page. I couldn't get a better view on it when I looked at the scene again. It's in HLV, when they are at Appledore and Magnussen demonstrates how he uses his mind palace. Mostly, there are his finger movements and comments, but there's this one particular page they show us. You can make out the initials beneath the text, rather faint, but readable because they are in a bigger font than the text itself. That's like a black blur, nothing readable to me. I do not think it is possible to get a clearer picture, well, one clear enough to read it. If you do, though, please share. Unless someone is able to provide a better screen shot with the text readable, it is not possible to say which language it is. Sadly, the initials do not give much away. If I had some words, I could probably eliminate a few languages. For all we know, it could also be Greek... Most likely, it'll be Russian, though. They love to play with stereotypes. Like when they put some CIA agents into the show. Or the tourist just had to be German, after all, we travel a lot... then the Chinese smugglers. It fits best with their MO.
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Oh, don't worry. I didn't either, and I should, because I am used to reading in Cyrillic. It's not exactly easy to spot it unless one stops and has a closer look at "Mary's" file. Of course, Russia is the most likely answer, but we cannot exclude other nations. Serbian, for example, also uses Cyrillic. It only strengthens the connection to Eastern Europe that was already mentioned a few times in S3.
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Special episode, plus 3 episode series shooting in 2015!
Zain replied to Convict13's topic in Special and Series 4
Or just for protection. Granted, she may have feelings for John, but from a rather pragmatic point of view: It was in her best interest to stay around. As long as she kept close to John, she kept close to Sherlock, too, especially while Magnussen is on to her (she did not know he was after Mycroft in the long run). That way, she could always press Mycroft for protection if the worst comes to the worst. She also had the files to bring down other people, too, if she was set up for a fall. There's the baby, too, as leverage. If she had run, she would have had to give up the leverage she had on Mycroft, and the protection of John and Sherlock. Because she is rather well-situated in London, it is harder to get to her. If she had run, she would have been a faceless victim. Makes it easier for enemies to wrap up her disappearance. -
Yes, just looked at the scene again. When Magnussen demonstrates how he "pictures" her file, you see that page with the two pictures. On the left, that is either Mary's former appearance, or a hit she did. The picture on the right shows her "current appearance", though it seems to be an older picture, because Magnussen also has got one in color which seems like a picture taken in secret. Beneath, there's a text in Cyrillic, most likely Russian, sadly too pixeled to read it. Then there's the Cyrillic initials of her name, next to it, her initials in the "Roman" alphabet, which seems to be a copy of her handwriting. Resembles the writing on the thumbdrive, especially the curve of the R.
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Special episode, plus 3 episode series shooting in 2015!
Zain replied to Convict13's topic in Special and Series 4
No... Abbington said she'd be filming in January for the "episode 10", too. Which means no lovely flashback... I really wanted to have some flashback. Preferably with focus on Sherlock and Lestrade. Sigh... again, thwarted. -
Well, I think they will put some meaning behind it. Threads like those are dangerous to writers, you can get entangled rather easily. That's why it is considered better to "connect" the threads. Bring them to some superficial closure. The "other one" comment looks to me like building up to that point. Be it either to take it back and give it insignificant meaning with some sort of derogatory comment by Sherlock like "Oh, Mycroft told her she was a bad mother" or use it for the plot, like connecting if with some half-sibling story. The comment at the end of HLV is too conveniently placed there not to be picked up. Could be red herring, yes, but they build up to something like that, what, with introducing the parents, and giving us a glimpse of their home life, and naming Mrs Holmes as the author of Moriarty's book.
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Yes, I know was hinted at in the commentary, but also John says, "His lovely mum and dad. A fine example of married life." So maybe they're not ever going to play with that infidelity idea. Certainly there is no hint of it yet. Or it's a terrible hint at the fact that it is just as much of a fine example of married life as his own. I've seen this as one of the "arguments" for the "Baby is not John's" theories. Some have thought about the possibility that they decided to reverse it, to have it be an older child of Mrs Holmes. We just do not know. Could be everything, could be nothing. It will be whatever Moftiss fancied while riding that train of theirs...
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Ah, I thought it could be related to their father. In the commentary, it was hinted back then that Mr Holmes cheated on his wife. That's why the theory that "The other one" is a half-sibling is rather prominent. But, of course, it could also mean Mycroft did something in the past. We just don't know, to quote Stephen Fry and lots of scientists....
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Let's hope so. I hope the Christmas special will be a flashback of some sort. Maybe let us explore how Sherlock and Lestrade met. Which is possible. Not the Lestrade bit. But that it is a flashback. The end of HLV is not well-suited for an interlude episode, unless you either make it a spin-off or flashback. Very difficult to make it a believable chronologically following episode. I could do with a flashback. No Mary, and one last episode before the big bang... which will probably be very disappointing to me. Could be a form of closure, too.
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That was just so a hommage to Cabin Pressure, Yverdon-Les-Brains. Probably the only thing I enjoyed after they showed how Mary gets off without consequences. I love intertextuality.
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Mh... power play? Sorry. You just offered this entry, and I could NOT resist...
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I could see that be interesting, but actually not with Mary. For me, that works because the character is, at the bottom of things, determined to do the right thing. The events then force the character into morally ambiguous and complicated and complex behavior, which may be wrong but motivated by good intentions. Like the saying: The road to hell is paved with good intentions. With Mary, I just cannot get this "is trying to do the right thing" vibe. Because it seems like she is never trying to do the right thing for others, only for herself, or only for others when she herself benefits, too. But maybe season four will surprise me. Who knows... I doubt it.... I do not wish to offend you, and I hope that I will manage to put this as objectively as possible. I have never enjoyed or laughed at a scene when somebody is killed. I might simply have a different kind of humour, but to me every death is so unbelievably sad and a waste of potential. There are so many people that face death but want to live so desperately, it just does not feel right to wish it on someone, or to rejoice in someone's death. There are already enough unneceessary deaths... no need to add to them. Magnussen was a flawed being with a lot of mistakes and a criminal. That does not make him into a monster that could never redeem itself. Killing him means that Sherlock erases all possibilities Magnussen had. Be it to act horrible, yes, but also the possibility to change. Sherlock basically took away the change for us to truly see Magnussen as a villain. His words remain empty threats, because Sherlock intervenes before it becomes self-defense. He might have endangered Mary, or he might just equally likely have not done it. We just do not know for sure. We cannot claim for sure he would have done it, and that is why it cannot be self-defense. If Sherlock had killed him while Magnussen had been phoning up Mary's enemies, then it would be an excessive reaction, but at least then there's room to argue in favor of self-defense.
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I doubt Mary's past is as heroic as the one you picture. It's not like she worked for some agency, she went freelance. She did not come to England under witness protection. She did not receive a new identity by the government. She ran, and she did that on her own, with apparently a lot of money in the bag, since she does own a car, ("my car"), and living in the suburbs, no small feat. John worked part-time as a doctor to afford his share of living in Baker Street. Unless he won in the lottery, that money comes from Mary. For all we know she still works in that particular field, what, with her keeping her gun and attire, both which are rather incriminating. She's not that out of practice, apparently, when you think of how she hit the coin. And according to Sherlock, him.
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From what I know about Germany, it's like this (maybe Toby knows better, because my information may be outdated): Not all police men carry weapons, because we are rather strict with gun control (There's a difference between police men and, for example, members of the Federal armed forces, I am strictly speaking of police men). I think those that carry weapons also have to keep them covered so that nobody is able to directly see them (only their outline). It's one of the things that rather disturbed me when I went to France, suddenly there were police men (not soldiers, police men!) patrolling in the metro, and they were carrying rifles. It made me very, very nervous and uncomfortable, even though I was doing nothing but travelling. I felt threatened, truly. Apart from TV, or if someone in your family has got a licence, you are not likely to encounter weapons here. Though there are a lot of illegal weapons still lying around in some dark corner and totally forgotten about it, especially from WWII. My aunt, for example, once found one in the cellar from my grandfather and brought it to the state council straight away. It's a very frightening thought to have something like that near one... Okay.. back to the topic. Usually, police officers only shoot to warn, and that only happens if all other methods would not work efficiently. I believe they have to fill out forms if they use their weapons while working. Even for shots that deliberately miss. Then, if it is a very dangerous situation, to either their own lives or a civilian's life, they are allowed to shoot a person. As far as I know, they are - depending on the circumstances - allowed to shoot to kill. Only in that scenario. But they have to proof that merely shooting to stop would not have helped, and that someone's life was acutely threatened. For example: If someone holds a knife to a person's throat, they are allowed to shoot. But if the person with the knife is at the other side of the room, and would still have to charge at the person, they are not allowed to shoot them dead. Because that person might still change their mind and let go of the weapon. I once read that since about 1950, there were altogether about 490 gun-related killings by police men. It is much more common that police men do not make use of their weapons, and the number of warning shoots exceeds that number by far. Which still is rather high and sad... I just looked it up, and according to the statistics, 2012 there were 8 people shot by police men, and 36 warning shots in Germany. Thus, the above number seems to be about right. So, I'd say that here, they do not shoot unless the situation seems to be dire, and when they do, they mostly give off warning shots.
