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Episode 3.1, "The Empty Hearse"


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What Did You Think Of "The Empty Hearse"?  

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Funny, I really like the scene on the train. But then, I just chose to take Sherlock's apology at face value. He was faking the danger, but I think the repentance was mostly real. I also have no idea what else he could have done to get John to come round. I mean, he'd already pulled him out of a fire and said sorry and not even that did the trick. I'd have been quite at my wits' end, too, in Sherlock's situation... You know how one sometimes says, in exasperation, "if this was the end of the world / your last day on earth / I was about to die etc. - would you...?" Well, Sherlock with all his flair for drama just takes that question to a much more literal level. Besides, he could have never admitted he was pulling John's leg. He could have forced John's forgiveness and then pretended to have a brain wave and "defuse" the bomb, thus casting himself as a hero and earn a little applause and admiration into the bargain. But he didn't. He admitted freely that John's first impression had been right and laughed his head off, completely his old, "sociopathic" self. Thus probably leading John to think something like "oh well, he's just incorrigible, he doesn't know any better, that's Sherlock for you. Well, at least we didn't die, that's a relief. I can either let it go and forgive him and be happy he's back or stay mad until the end of my days, thus making both of us unhappy. Not such a hard choice, after all."

 

In the end, it's for John's good to make him be friends again. I'm sure he's a lot happier that way. And at the wedding, he gets his full due of appreciation and praise.

 

 

 

I love the scene for its' humor (I can totally laugh with Sherlock at John's face when he thinks he's going to die) and for John's sentiment. I also would never want John to not forgive Sherlock, no matter how badly he behaves. I would like to believe that Sherlock's repentance is real - and to some degree it is (we see that earlier on when he genuinely says 'sorry') - but in the train scene I think the sentiment is faked. Anything else would only be my own wishful thinking :) I'll just have to deal with that. I still love Sherlock. And yes, TSoT in some ways did make up for it.

 

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Well, I've seen this episode 3 times by now, so I think it's time to share my geeky observations and thoughts. :) I'm trying not to repeat all those things which were already discussed the last few days.

 

1. I liked all the fake explanations, especially the first one in the beginning of the episode. The music, the acting was superb as always. My new most favourite scene is when Sherlock jumps through the window, adjusts his coat, ruffles his hair and kisses Molly. *swoon* Now I have no doubt Benedict would be a perfect James Bond! :)

Maybe you like this site! 'The kiss' over and over again:

http://fyeahsherlockandmolly.tumblr.com/

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I would like to believe that Sherlock's repentance is real - and to some degree it is (we see that earlier on when he genuinely says 'sorry') - but in the train scene I think the sentiment is faked. Anything else would only be my own wishful thinking :)

 

We'll never know. This is Sherlock. For all we can tell, he could be faking everything. But in that case, the character would become boring. Parts of him have to be genuine or else we'd lose interest and he would not be believable.

 

No, I don't think he's a hundred percent sincere when he gets down on his knees and folds his hands and so on. But there's a sincere reason for it. He really wants to be forgiven and he does feel he's done something "not quite good". So he tries to play whatever part he thinks is expected of him to gain a certain end - and badly overdoes it, as usual. I love how he just can't find the right measure with things like this. No wonder John smelled a rat. I don't believe John fully fell for the whole thing, anyway. I guess he wasn't sure and just in case they were going to die, he decided to say whatever he wanted out before he'd never get the chance, thus realizing he had things to say in the first place.

 

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No wonder John smelled a rat. I don't believe John fully fell for the whole thing, anyway. I guess he wasn't sure and just in case they were going to die, he decided to say whatever he wanted out before he'd never get the chance, thus realizing he had things to say in the first place.

 

Completely agree! And that's very realistic, because in a 'I'm about to die' situation, we'd all want to get something off our chest, wouldn't we?

 

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Completely agree! And that's very realistic, because in a 'I'm about to die' situation, we'd all want to get something off our chest, wouldn't we?

 

Of course. And that's what this scene was for, to allow John to get things off his chest. He says himself that he finds "this honest stuff" hard. So Sherlock, uh, "helps" him a bit, in his own unique, arguably rather mean Sherlock way and totally for his own advantage, probably. But it's still help, it's effective and it's for the best.

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Of course. And that's what this scene was for, to allow John to get things off his chest. He says himself that he find "this honest stuff" hard. So Sherlock, uh, "helps" him a bit, in his own unique, arguably rather mean Sherlock way and totally for his own advantage, probably. But it's still help, it's effective and it's for the best.

 

 

I guess I should be happy that John seems satisfied :) I am happy. See? :D

Seriously, I know I'm overthinking the train scene, but Reichenbach had obviously hit me harder than I thought. Anyway, all is well now. For the time being.

 

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Oh, of course we are all over-thinking. If we weren't, we wouldn't be typing stuff into post boxes on an online forum (yes, I do have a life, in case anybody was wondering...). But it's fun, isn't it? I'd rather overthink than underthink. And I'd rather take a bunch of fictional characters a bit too seriously than watch an episode once, shrug my shoulders, criticize plot holes and then forget about it. So much time and effort and money goes into films and books and plays and art of all sorts, I think it actually deserves to be loved to bits.

 

Sorry about that. Back on topic.

 

Um... No, you don't have to be happy any more than John does. But given the slightest chance of happiness, I think one should grasp it. If my best friend returned from having been thought dead, I'd be glad if she made me get over my anger fast so we could cram as much enjoyment of each others' company into our remaining time together as possible.

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Still catching up here.  But just in case no one has posted this yet, Ariane DeVere has already posted her transcript of "The Empty Hearse" (posted it on the 3rd, actually!).  So if you're looking to verify any quotes, that's the place.

 

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Whew -- finally caught up with this thread!

 

Something (nit picky, I know) I've noticed... according to John's blog, the webisode with Lestrade taking him the box of Sherlock's things occurred about a month before Sherlock's return. John was clean shaven in the webisode, and I remember we were speculating on the time frame last week and I commented that John could have easily grown the mustache in a few weeks, as some men grow facial hair rather quickly. 
 
However, Mary comments that John has had the mustache for six months. 
 
Continuity error! LOL

 
As I recall, John's blog dates his posts with only the month and day, with no year given.  So it's possible that the minisode was set a year earlier than you're assuming, which gives Mary plenty of time to enjoy John's mustache!
 

BTW, did anyone not find it a bit below gatiss and moffat to come up with an idea as stupid as a bomb having a switch? .... I don't know, i just found it really silly,

 
... I'm sort of at war with myself on that one - part of me is saying "ha! An off switch! Brilliant - and yes it makes sense for there to be an off switch or, as Sherlock says, terrorists could get themselves into all sorts of trouble!" and then another part of me is saying, "hang on a minute... an off switch? I've never seen that in any movie, or heard of a bomb disposal team being called in to do the highly difficult job of flicking a switch..."

 
Seems to me that there are two types of bombs -- those planted in public places (where it's very plausible that someone might try to defuse them), and those hidden well away like this one.  The bombers would have good reason for not putting an obvious "off" switch on the former, but there's no apparent reason not to put one on the latter.  After all, who would expect even Sherlock Holmes to find this one (well, except for Sherlock fans), and as Sherlock points out, the switch would be a good safety backup for the bombers themselves.
 

I must say I was disappointed by "The Empty Hearse".  Gatiss' episodes have never been my favorites of the series, but this simply wasn't even close to the quality of writing and storytelling I've come to expect from "Sherlock". 

Briefly, the multiple plots in this episode were not really solved by Sherlock but instead relied on luck/coincidence (and not more than a bit of plain stupidity).

 
I must agree with most of your specific points.  I hadn't noticed most of them, so thanks.
 
Before I saw this episode, I had heard some general comments about it being "disjointed" and such, and I joked that maybe they had gotten the middle episode out of the way early this time.  Now that I've seen "Empty Hearse," I do think it bears some resemblance to "Blind Banker" in that regard.  However, I find it entirely possible to enjoy "Blind Banker" by just watching one scene at a time and not trying to make much sense of the attempted plot.  I seem to be developing a somewhat similar approach to "Empty Hearse" -- it's got so many enjoyable parts that I focus on those and try not to fret about the problematic bits.
 

"Wink and nod" is simply an expression here.  It identifies that the words stated are meant to be other than the truth by the way they are stated.  For example, in the last sequence, Mary tells Sherlock that he will be at the wedding.  And Sherlock tells her that weddings really aren't his thing - but then ever so slightly, he literally winks at her, letting her know the truth: of course he will be there.

It is the same with aftermath of the headbutt.  Mary accuses him of not knowing human nature.  And he uses his voice - its intonations - to tell her he definitely knows it.  He goes from playful and alloof with his first "no" to wise and knowing with his second "no".  It's not him "smiling" at himself, but revealing himself.


That's an interesting interpretation. I'll have to bear it in mind next time I watch this episode, and see whether I can see that interpretation. Hard to be sure about Sherlock, though! As Mrs. Hudson says, who knows "what goes on in that funny old head?"

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I would like to believe that Sherlock's repentance is real - and to some degree it is (we see that earlier on when he genuinely says 'sorry') - but in the train scene I think the sentiment is faked. Anything else would only be my own wishful thinking :)

 

We'll never know. This is Sherlock. For all we can tell, he could be faking everything. But in that case, the character would become boring. Parts of him have to be genuine or else we'd lose interest and he would not be believable.

 

No, I don't think he's a hundred percent sincere when he gets down on his knees and folds his hands and so on. But there's a sincere reason for it. He really wants to be forgiven and he does feel he's done something "not quite good". So he tries to play whatever part he thinks is expected of him to gain a certain end - and badly overdoes it, as usual. I love how he just can't find the right measure with things like this. No wonder John smelled a rat. I don't believe John fully fell for the whole thing, anyway. I guess he wasn't sure and just in case they were going to die, he decided to say whatever he wanted out before he'd never get the chance, thus realizing he had things to say in the first place.

 

 

Now, THIS explanation makes a bit more sense to me!  I can see Sherlock manipulating forgiveness out of John - the problem I had in the train scene was Sherlock laughing at John.  However, after having mulled the episode over for 8 days now and having watched it again tonight, I can see how the humor "broke the ice" (although I don't know how Sherlock would've figured that out, since he doesn't understand these interpersonal type situations). 

 

John's quick acceptance of being laughed at - which also bothered me greatly at first - now, too, makes more sense.  After all, imagine the emotional roller coaster John's been on for however long Sherlock's been back in this episode! (which must've been some time, since Sherlock was clearly in pain after "being beaten nearly to a pulp" and for the rest of the episode was fine)  And now, he's bared his soul to Sherlock, they're in another adventure - just like old times - and he has his best friend back for real.  I think it's sheer relief and he just wants to embrace life with Sherlock in the picture again and move on.

 

I know coincidences have been mentioned quite a bit - coincidences in TEH & SOT - that, I agree, amount to bad, or at the very least, lazy writing.  It's probably been mentioned here, but what if that train guy never went to see Sherlock?  It's reiterated that there's no such thing as coincidence, but it sure is lucky, at the very least, that he went there!

 

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I know coincidences have been mentioned quite a bit - coincidences in TEH & SOT - that, I agree, amount to bad, or at the very least, lazy writing.  It's probably been mentioned here, but what if that train guy never went to see Sherlock?  It's reiterated that there's no such thing as coincidence, but it sure is lucky, at the very least, that he went there!

 

Well, obviously the train guy went there so Sherlock and Mycroft could deduce his hat!

 

Real life could be viewed as a series of coincidences, but we do like art to be a bit tidier, don't we? 

 

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Quick question about this ep...

 

Moffatt said (repeatedly) that there was something fandom had missed clue wise with regards to the Fall, something that was out of character for Sherlock. I might just be being thick, but I can't actually think of anything that I hadn't already seen discussed in fandom as having been revealed.

 

I've not had the time for a rewatch yet (too much time spent working and sleeping, thanks NHS) and haven't been able to keep up to speed with this thread (for the same reasons).

 

Any good ideas as to what that "something" might have been?

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Quick question about this ep...

 

Moffatt said (repeatedly) that there was something fandom had missed clue wise with regards to the Fall, something that was out of character for Sherlock. I might just be being thick, but I can't actually think of anything that I hadn't already seen discussed in fandom as having been revealed.

 

Any good ideas as to what that "something" might have been?

 

I've been asking myself the same question, but I don't have any good ideas, no. The only things I can come up with are:

 

- Sherlock asking Moriarty for a moment of privacy and saying "please". Not a good idea because it was noticed by a lot of fans and it wasn't really out of character, seeing that Sherlock was not begging for mercy in any way but just keeping Moriarty from looking over the ledge and seeing the preparations on the pavement. That was obvious. The only "out of character" bit there was Moriarty, in my opinion: why on earth did he give in to Sherlock's request? (And btw,  what the heck would Sherlock have done if Moriarty had not killed himself - something Sherlock admits was not anticipated! - and had looked over when Sherlock fell?)

 

- Sherlock saying he can deduce the physique of the actual kidnapper but not saying what it is, although he is a compulsive show-off. That may have been supposed to point at his idea that there is a body double for him waiting somewhere out there (I still don't understand why that was needed on the pavement in the first place, because John couldn't see the landing, anyway, and was knocked out by the cyclist before he could go have a closer look).

 

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Quick question about this ep...

 

Moffatt said (repeatedly) that there was something fandom had missed clue wise with regards to the Fall, something that was out of character for Sherlock. I might just be being thick, but I can't actually think of anything that I hadn't already seen discussed in fandom as having been revealed.

 

Any good ideas as to what that "something" might have been?

 

I've been asking myself the same question, but I don't have any good ideas, no. The only things I can come up with are:

 

- Sherlock asking Moriarty for a moment of privacy and saying "please". Not a good idea because it was noticed by a lot of fans and it wasn't really out of character, seeing that Sherlock was not begging for mercy in any way but just keeping Moriarty from looking over the ledge and seeing the preparations on the pavement. That was obvious. The only "out of character" bit there was Moriarty, in my opinion: why on earth did he give in to Sherlock's request? (And btw,  what the heck would Sherlock have done if Moriarty had not killed himself - something Sherlock admits was not anticipated! - and had looked over when Sherlock fell?)

 

- Sherlock saying he can deduce the physique of the actual kidnapper but not saying what it is, although he is a compulsive show-off. That may have been supposed to point at his idea that there is a body double for him waiting somewhere out there (I still don't understand why that was needed on the pavement in the first place, because John couldn't see the landing, anyway, and was knocked out by the cyclist before he could go have a closer look).

 

 

I think it was the other way round. wasn't it? Sherlock did not anticipate Moriarty would kill himself. Hence why Sherlock asked him for some time. I didn't find anything out of character with either Sherlock asking for time; or Moriarty granting it. They both had their own code, as we saw with the first encounter after the court case. It would not be the done thing for either of them to have a 'final encounter' when sharing a pot of tea. Particularly when using the best china. In the same way that Moriarty would have been 'a bit disappointed' if Sherlock had shot him in the swimming pool scene.

I think this 'give me  a moment' also ties in the one of the solutions put forward by Gatiss. In that Sherlock would land on a platform near the top of the building whilst a body double was thrown from the same location. This scenario tied in with the newspaper article on the Barts Hospital renovations.

I see the body double as being needed for a number of the other  12 solutions  to the fall. For example if  Moriarty had lived and reached the pavement before the body was taken into the hospital. Or indeed for the solution that was used. i.e. if John had reacted to the cyclist and not been knocked down.

As for the something the fans missed. I assumed after he said that someone may have brought it up on a forum somewhere as he has never revealed it. 

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From Sherlockology:
 

Presenting ‘Sherlockology on Set: A Day on Location In Cardiff’, our second behind the scenes look at The Empty Hearse, this time on a closed set visit during filming with Benedict Cumberbatch and Louise Brealey!
 
Please note, as with our last set report, this article contains some spoilers for Sherlock S3E1 The Empty Hearse.
 
Head to our website to read the article.

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In the scene toward the end of the show where everyone's in Baker St, Sherlock is on the phone with Mycroft and Mycroft is begging for Sherlock's help with something.  Was this back to the Les Miserables thiing - Mycroft begging Sherlock to take their parents to the matinee?  Or was it something else that we don't know about?

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In the scene toward the end of the show where everyone's in Baker St, Sherlock is on the phone with Mycroft and Mycroft is begging for Sherlock's help with something.  Was this back to the Les Miserables thiing - Mycroft begging Sherlock to take their parents to the matinee?  Or was it something else that we don't know about?

 

Yes, it was the "Les Mis" thing. Mycroft and their parents seem to already be at the matinée and Mycroft is begging Sherlock to come and take over for him. You can hear a tune from the musical in the background.

 

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From Sherlockology:

 

Presenting ‘Sherlockology on Set: A Day on Location In Cardiff’, our second behind the scenes look at The Empty Hearse, this time on a closed set visit during filming with Benedict Cumberbatch and Louise Brealey!

 

Please note, as with our last set report, this article contains some spoilers for Sherlock S3E1 The Empty Hearse.

 

Head to our website to read the article.

 

 

 

 

Thank you, Carol!  :)

 

"Benedict just let me fiddle his damp hair as a birthday treat. Appearently you have to 'twist and diffuse'. Gulp."  Louise 

She is so lucky. I want the same birthday treat. Please.  :wub:

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It seems that not everyone may have gotten the same twist out of the ending that I did, so allow me to shed a little light on an interpretation which might suit the good Gatiss style better.
 
If you go back and watch the bomb disarm scene, you will notice that Sherlock changes demeanour slightly right after the bomb reaches 1:29, and he sits up. From then on, he is no longer talking about the bomb, but rather about him not being able to apologise properly to Watson. Every one of Sherlock's sentences from then on fits that interpretation, and he doesn't immediately consider that Watson may not pick up on it. Which he obviously doesn't.

After the cutback to the third explanation, we return to a Sherlock who's just realised that Watson hasn't realised the misunderstanding, and is in tears laughing about it. He takes the opportunity to pretend he was merely yanking Watson's leg, rather than admitting to his 'moment of inperfection', in a way grasping the unexpected chance to roll back his admission that he was sorry and that there was something he did not know how to do (apologise). This may not be Sherlock's most shining moment, but he is only just beginning to experience and deal with his friendship emotions, and he is overcome by his own pride.
 
This crosstalk technique, playing to the expectations of the audience, and requiring a bit of digging to spot, is evident again a bit later, where Watson mentions his gravesite speech, then doesn't realise that Sherlock is talking literally when he answers that he was there, and that he listened, rather than metaphorically. We as audience, know Sherlock was there, so that is of course the first interpretation we jump to as well, but the second one is there as well, evident in Watson's reaction.

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Hello, UmbraClaw -- welcome to Sherlock Forum!  :welcome:  Thanks for jumping right in with your observations!

 

I'll need to watch this episode again before I'll have any idea how to reply, but maybe somebody else on the forum has been paying better attention.  ;)

 

 

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If you go back and watch the bomb disarm scene, you will notice that Sherlock changes demeanour slightly right after the bomb reaches 1:29, and he sits up. From then on, he is no longer talking about the bomb, but rather about him not being able to apologise properly to Watson. Every one of Sherlock's sentences from then on fits that interpretation, and he doesn't immediately consider that Watson may not pick up on it. Which he obviously doesn't.

 

After the cutback to the third explanation, we return to a Sherlock who's just realised that Watson hasn't realised the misunderstanding, and is in tears laughing about it. He takes the opportunity to pretend he was merely yanking Watson's leg, rather than admitting to his 'moment of inperfection', in a way grasping the unexpected chance to roll back his admission that he was sorry and that there was something he did not know how to do (apologise). This may not be Sherlock's most shining moment, but he is only just beginning to experience and deal with his friendship emotions, and he is overcome by his own pride.

 

Sorry, I don't quite understand what you are trying to point out here. You mean initially Sherlock really did not know how what to do and only realized there was an off switch when the timer reached 1:29?

 

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Sorry, I don't quite understand what you are trying to point out here. You mean initially Sherlock really did not know how what to do and only realized there was an off switch when the timer reached 1:29?

 

 

 

Exactly my point. Sherlock may be brilliant, but he's also arrogant, and actively tries to hide/deny it when he makes a mistake. He may have gone in with the assumption that there would be an off switch, then didn't spot it at first.

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Oh-h-h, so the way you interpret the scene, he really thought for a moment there that they were going to die, freaked out, started to apologize etc and then when he realized the switch was there and had flicked it decided to pretend he'd been on top of things all along and was only making fun of John, this being more pleasant to him than admitting he really genuinely almost got them both killed?

 

Nice idea. I don't quite believe it's what the writers had in mind though, because Sherlock was lying to John about the whole situation from the very beginning: He told him not to call the police and in the end it turned out Sherlock himself had done so long ago. Also, we've seen him in really tight situations and Sherlock genuinely freaking out looks different to me than his behavior on the train. That was kind of goofy. It takes good old John Watson not to smell a rat there (and even he does, actually!).

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