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Episode 3.1, "The Empty Hearse"


Undead Medic

What Did You Think Of "The Empty Hearse"?  

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If everything Sherlock tells Anderson is the truth. We don't know that. Yes, we do know that Sherlock had a plan. Molly and the little blue ball points to that. But Sherlock also knows his brother.....how far can he trust him.  And as posted earlier....even the best laid plans can go seriously awry and can fall apart completely and all to easily.

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Okay, because I have nothing better to do and for some reason this is really bugging me tonight, I have dug up the wonderful Ariane deVere's transcript (http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/64895.html) and put together the bits of dialogue that make up Sherlock's explanation. I think I remember enough about The Reichenbach Fall (saw it like twenty times, I think) to pinpoint what bugs me without seeing it again right now:

 

"The criminal network Moriarty headed was vast. Its roots were everywhere like a cancer, so we came up with a plan.

Mycroft fed Moriarty information about me. Moriarty in turn gave us hints – just hints – as to the extent of his web. We let him go ... because it was important to let him believe he had the upper hand."

 

Okay, so far, so good. I understand that an imprisoned Moriarty might still be dangerous, he might still manage to have contact with his people and organize all sorts of mischief. Makes sense that he would be easier to deal with if he felt overconfident - and there would be more information gained about his network, as well, maybe.

 

"And then I sat back and watched Moriarty destroy my reputation bit by bit."

 

I suppose this is what "prepared to burn" meant. That was the "burning". Okay.

 

"I had to make him believe he’d beaten me, utterly defeated me, and then he’d show his hand."

 

What I don't understand is why, if this was the plan, Sherlock acted so distressed all through The Reichenbach Fall. Everything was going really well, if that was what he wanted! I'd understand his putting on an act for John's benefit, but we see him alone and still not terribly triumphant or smug looking. Take the trial, for example. Why did Sherlock sit at home mouthing "guilty" before the TV when now it seems he would have wanted him "back on the streets" for his own purposes? And why was he so angry when the whole "Richard Brook" scheme came to light? Was that not anticipated - for a change?

 

"There were thirteen likely scenarios once we were up on that roof. Each of them were rigorously worked out and given a code name."

 

When did this happen? After the visit to Kitty Reily's house or before, during the planning mentioned earlier, which must have taken place between The Hounds of Baskerville and The Reichenbach Fall? The latter makes no sense. Because if Sherlock knew before Moriarty even broke into the Bank, the Tower and the Prison, that he would end up with him on that roof, what were all those "oh!" faces during The Reichenbach Fall meant for? Why did Sherlock ever break his head about the key code or IOU?

 

"It wasn’t just my reputation that Moriarty needed to bury – I had to die. But the one thing I didn’t anticipate was just how far Moriarty was prepared to go. I suppose that was obvious, given our first meeting at the swimming pool – his death wish."

 

At least Sherlock's reaction when Moriarty shot himself was genuine. But if he didn't expect his death, then why did he have a plan ready that only worked if Moriarty was not there to see him land on the airbag? He went to incredible lengths to fool John, but we never learn about any preparations to fool Moriarty!

 

"I knew I didn’t have long. I contacted my brother; set the wheels in motion. And then everyone got to work.
It was vital that John stayed just where I put him. That way, his view was blocked by the ambulance station.
I needed to hit the airbag – which I did. Speed was paramount. The airbag needed to be got out of the way just as John cleared the station."

 

All this makes sense. It was clear to me that he really jumped and that he must have landed on something, so why not an airbag. And of course John couldn't be allowed to see the landing. Fine.

 

"But we needed him to see a body. That’s where Molly came in. Like figures on a weather clock, we went one way, John went the other. Then our well-timed cyclist put John briefly out of action, giving me time to switch places with the corpse on the pavement. The rest was just window dressing."

 

The body seems totally unnecessary. The cyclist put John out before he came near, so Sherlock could have just rolled off the airbag and lain still on the pavement. And why didn't he go to Molly until the last minute? If he knew all the time what he was going to do? And why did he tell her "I'm not okay"? Everything was going according to plan, he claims, so what was not okay?

 

"And one final touch ... a squash ball under the armpit. Apply enough pressure and it momentarily cuts off the pulse."

 

Yup, it does. Fine.

 

"Everything was anticipated; every eventuality allowed for. It worked perfectly."

 

That is pretty strange, considering that Sherlock himself admitted the eventuality of Moriarty shooting himself was not anticipated! And if everything was going so well, then why was Sherlock so upset on the roof? Just practicing his acting skills before phoning John?

 

"You remember the little girl who was abducted by Moriarty? You assumed she reacted like that because I was her kidnapper. But I deduced Moriarty must have found someone who looked very like me to plant suspicion, and that that man – whoever he was – had to be got out of the way as soon as his usefulness ended. That meant there was a corpse in a morgue somewhere that looked just like me. Molly found the body, faked the records, and I provided the other coat. I’ve got lots of coats."

 

As I have said, the body was unnecessary for the "stage", in my opinion. Of course they needed someone to put in the grave later, but that could have been anybody. And I simply dislike the idea of a Sherlock look-alike and "lots of coats". Sherlock and his coat should both be unique!

 

ANDERSON: "And what about the sniper aiming at John?"
SHERLOCK: "Mycroft’s men intervened before he could take the shot. He was invited to reconsider."

 

Okay. This is the part that really bugs me. Moriarty was dead. So the only reason to still jump off the roof for Sherlock would have been the snipers who were threatening to kill his friends. But Mycroft obviously took care of those. So why jump at all? I thought the only reason Sherlock had for faking his death was to let Moriarty believe he'd won so he would "show his hand". Moriarty was dead, he couldn't show him anything any more. The snipers weren't a threat either. Why was the jump still necessary?

 

ANDERSON: And your homeless network?
SHERLOCK: As I explained, the whole street was closed off ...  like a scene from a play.

 

Okay, makes sense. To limit the number of people who knew what had really happened.

 

This is how far I have gotten in trying to answer some of my own questions and make sense of what I saw: Moriarty himself wasn't as much the problem as his "network" was. To take that apart, Sherlock and Mycroft needed information only Moriarty could give. Torture didn't work in trying to obtain it. So they decided he needed to be led to believe he was winning "The Game", then he would become careless and they would learn what they needed to know. So Mycroft fed Moriarty fake information about Sherlock, thus setting Moriarty on the path of destroying Sherlock's reputation and ultimately, his life.

The Holmes Brothers couldn't have known exactly what Moriarty would do. So Mycroft was nervous (because his brother was in danger) and Sherlock had to brace himself for what he knew would be a thoroughly unpleasant experience, terminating in either the end of his life (if the plan went wrong) or faking the end of his life and leaving his home and his friends behind. Which is why he seemed sad and anxious.

Telling Sherlock about the key code seemed like it was the first blunder Moriarty was expected to make in his exultation. That would have been valuable information indeed if it had been true.

The "thirteen possibilities" must have been worked out during the night after Sherlock and John were at Kitty's flat. He didn't know about the lookalike kidnapper sooner. Which would explain why he didn't go to Molly until the last minute.

On the roof, it transpired that the key code was a lie. Moriarty didn't really give away much information except that he wasn't really Richard Brook (hardly news to Sherlock) and the explanation on how he really got into the Bank, the Tower and the Prison. If that was taped or filmed, they could at least have used it to convict Moriarty and imprison him again if they wanted to (but what for? They had had him once and that didn't do much good). Then Moriarty shot himself. No more information to get from him. So it seems that no, things did not really work out as well as Sherlock had expected, because he never learned anything about "the web" from Moriarty, did he.

I guess Sherlock still jumped off the roof because if he was supposed to be dead, he could hunt down Moriarty's people in peace and quiet, and besides, his reputation was shattered, anyway, and he had just run from the police, so if he came down from the roof in a civilized manner, he'd probably go straight to prison and stay there until his brother had sorted things out - not an appealing idea, I suppose.

 

 

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The Holmes Brothers couldn't have known exactly what Moriarty would do. So Mycroft was nervous (because his brother was in danger) and Sherlock had to brace himself for what he knew would be a thoroughly unpleasant experience, terminating in either the end of his life (if the plan went wrong) or faking the end of his life and leaving his home and his friends behind. Which is why he seemed sad and anxious.

 

  A very plausible outlook because we all know that in any plan the most unreliable factors are the humans involved. They very seldom react the way we hope they will. Unpredictable and uncontrollable up to a certain point. Sometimes they do disappoint....they just seem to be so predictable...but often they surprise us too. Doing something so out of character. A quiet, shy person can become quiet heroic, while the person who seems so strong and level headed can turn into a blithering coward.

 

 

I guess Sherlock still jumped off the roof because if he was supposed to be dead, he could hunt down Moriarty's people in peace and quiet, and besides, his reputation was shattered, anyway, and he had just run from the police, so if he came down from the roof in a civilized manner, he'd probably go straight to prison and stay there until his brother had sorted things out - not an appealing idea, I suppose.

 

 

 A pretty summarization, I think.

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About Sherlock's friends being targeted by Moriarty (or rather his snipers): Why was that such a big deal if Mycroft (or his subordinates) took care of them, anyway? (Sherlock says to Anderson that the sniper aiming at John was led to "reconsider" by his brother's people.) If Sherlock and Mycroft were really as much in control of the situation as Sherlock claims, then almost nothing that happens in The Reichenbach Fall makes sense to me any more

 

Regardless of Sherlock's assertion to Anderson that everything was all planned out ahead of time, and had indeed worked perfectly -- there is no way that either he or Mycroft could have been certain of everything ahead of time.  For example, there could have been an undetected sniper.

 

And they had just one chance to pull it off.  So -- just as with other dangerous ventures such as space flights -- they needed multiple layers of extra precautions.  One fairly easy layer was keeping John in the dark so that he would play his role perfectly -- so of course they did that.  I can understand his anger when he found out, but I can also understand why they did it.  (Though perhaps they could have broken the news a bit more gently!)

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Having written my responses below, I now see that you've already answered some of the same questions yourself in the remainder of your post. But what the heck, maybe I've at least come at it from a different angle.
 

 

"I had to make him believe he’d beaten me, utterly defeated me, and then he’d show his hand."

 
 What I don't understand is why, if this was the plan, Sherlock acted so distressed all through The Reichenbach Fall. Everything was going really well, if that was what he wanted! I'd understand his putting on an act for John's benefit, but we see him alone and still not terribly triumphant or smug looking. Take the trial, for example. Why did Sherlock sit at home mouthing "guilty" before the TV when now it seems he would have wanted him "back on the streets" for his own purposes? And why was he so angry when the whole "Richard Brook" scheme came to light? Was that not anticipated - for a change?

Even though things seemed to be progressing as anticipated, some of Sherlock's contingency plans must have been unpalatable, to say the least (e.g., jumping off a roof).  My interpretation of the "guilty" scene is that Sherlock is thinking, "OK, that's surely what the judge will say, so what's likely to happen after that? and after that?" (i.e., more thoughtful than worried).  And wasn't John with him in the "Richard Brook" scene?  So his anger there could have simply been part of the fool-John plan.
 

 


 "There were thirteen likely scenarios once we were up on that roof. Each of them were rigorously worked out and given a code name."
 

When did this happen? After the visit to Kitty Reily's house or before, during the planning mentioned earlier, which must have taken place between The Hounds of Baskerville and The Reichenbach Fall? The latter makes no sense. Because if Sherlock knew before Moriarty even broke into the Bank, the Tower and the Prison, that he would end up with him on that roof, what were all those "oh!" faces during The Reichenbach Fall meant for? Why did Sherlock ever break his head about the key code or IOU?

I assume that Sherlock and Mycroft started having planning sessions some time back, and continued to meet (and text) as new situations arose.  We didn't see any of that, of course.  Presumably they first set up a general plan, then modified it each time new information became available.  Near as I recall, all of Sherlock's comments on the supposed key code took place in the presence of either John or Moriarty, so he would have been playing a role.  And my impression regarding "IOU" is that he simply took it as a threat (which it surely was), rather than as any kind of code.
 

 


 "It wasn’t just my reputation that Moriarty needed to bury – I had to die. But the one thing I didn’t anticipate was just how far Moriarty was prepared to go. I suppose that was obvious, given our first meeting at the swimming pool – his death wish."
 

At least Sherlock's reaction when Moriarty shot himself was genuine. But if he didn't expect his death, then why did he have a plan ready that only worked if Moriarty was not there to see him land on the airbag? He went to incredible lengths to fool John, but we never learn about any preparations to fool Moriarty!

He had no way of knowing whether Moriarty would be alive at that point or not, so some of the thirteen scenarios had to assume that he would not be.  We have no idea what his other twelve plans were, but surely some of them covered "what if Moriarty is still alive?"
 

 


 "But we needed him to see a body. That’s where Molly came in. Like figures on a weather clock, we went one way, John went the other. Then our well-timed cyclist put John briefly out of action, giving me time to switch places with the corpse on the pavement. The rest was just window dressing."


 The body seems totally unnecessary. The cyclist put John out before he came near, so Sherlock could have just rolled off the airbag and lain still on the pavement. And why didn't he go to Molly until the last minute? If he knew all the time what he was going to do? And why did he tell her "I'm not okay"? Everything was going according to plan, he claims, so what was not okay?

I totally agree about the unnecessary body!  Even if Sherlock needed more time, they could've simply had the bicycle hit John before he came around the corner.  I suspect this was a combination of Moftiss being clever and a nod to a lot of the fans.
 

 


 "Everything was anticipated; every eventuality allowed for. It worked perfectly."
 

That is pretty strange, considering that Sherlock himself admitted the eventuality of Moriarty shooting himself was not anticipated! And if everything was going so well, then why was Sherlock so upset on the roof? Just practicing his acting skills before phoning John?

Sounded to me like Sherlock was bragging there!  And he had a right to, having pulled off a pretty complex stunt.  But that doesn't mean that he had no moments of fear and doubt.
 

 


 "You remember the little girl who was abducted by Moriarty? You assumed she reacted like that because I was her kidnapper. But I deduced Moriarty must have found someone who looked very like me to plant suspicion, and that that man – whoever he was – had to be got out of the way as soon as his usefulness ended. That meant there was a corpse in a morgue somewhere that looked just like me. Molly found the body, faked the records, and I provided the other coat. I’ve got lots of coats."


 As I have said, the body was unnecessary for the "stage", in my opinion. Of course they needed someone to put in the grave later, but that could have been anybody. And I simply dislike the idea of a Sherlock look-alike and "lots of coats". Sherlock and his coat should both be unique!

I doubt that they even needed a real corpse in the coffin -- what's wrong with sandbags?  And yeah, "lots of coats" struck a false note with me as well.  I frankly don't think Moriarty would have used a look-alike either -- too iffy.  Different people home in on different characteristics to identify a person, so how could Moriarty know that Claudette would confuse Sherlock with (I assume) Benedict Cumberbatch's stunt double?  If I'd been Jim "Easy-Peasy" Moriarty, I'd have simply shown her a photo of Sherlock, and told her that was the bad man who was after her.
 


 ANDERSON: "And what about the sniper aiming at John?"
SHERLOCK: "Mycroft’s men intervened before he could take the shot. He was invited to reconsider."
 

Okay. This is the part that really bugs me. Moriarty was dead. So the only reason to still jump off the roof for Sherlock would have been the snipers who were threatening to kill his friends. But Mycroft obviously took care of those. So why jump at all? I thought the only reason Sherlock had for faking his death was to let Moriarty believe he'd won so he would "show his hand". Moriarty was dead, he couldn't show him anything any more. The snipers weren't a threat either. Why was the jump still necessary?

Sherlock said nothing about the other two known snipers.  If they hadn't gotten word that Sherlock was dead, they'd presumably have killed Mrs. Hudson and Greg Lestrade.  Even if Mycroft had also spotted those and dealt with them, there could have been others that he didn't know about.  Also, and perhaps more importantly, Sherlock needed for Moriarty's network to think he was no longer a threat, so they wouldn't be on their guard.

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Another thing, about the train car scene.  The way I see it, Sherlock was sincere in the first part, before the "Anderson video" break.  Afterward, I believe he only just discovered the 'off switch' and pretended that he knew it was there all along to save face.  In fact, I think saving face was what the laughing was all about and why he said "I totally had you."  He's just such a child at times.  Anyway, that's what I choose to believe.

Another viewing, and I have to change my mind about this.

 

Just before the touching conversation in the train car, there is a very brief screen shot of the bomb timer at 1:29 (my DVD timer is 1:13:11).  Then, after the (what I'll still call) the Anderson video break, comes the laughter, etc., and the timer has stopped at the same time, i.e., 1:29.  (Actually, it's flashing 1:29/1:28.)

 

Which makes it seem as though Sherlock found and flipped the switch before the conversation, doesn't it?  Phooey!  I can't think of any other way around it.

 

Can anyone else?

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I haven't figured out how to do that "embeddy" thing yet, but this goes back to T.o.b.y's question "why was Sherlock so visibly upset, even at times when nobody was watching him?"

 

I need to go back and watch TRF again (actually, I need to go back and watch the whole series again, because ... I want to!) but one thing I do remember thinking the last time I saw it .... I knew Sherlock wasn't going to die, and I thought he was so upset because he'd just seen a man blow his brains out right in front of him, and he, Sherlock, had essentially caused this to happen.

My Dad used to be friends with a policeman who had something similar happen to him. Yes, the man who killed himself was a "bad guy," but he was also a human being, and desperate, and the policeman was shattered by witnessing a suicide literally right in front of him. He couldn't stop crying, he said.

Also, Sherlock had to convince John he was a fake, and I think he really wants John to have a high opinion of him, no matter what else he might say. And finally, he was getting ready to fake his death, with all that implies (I mean, try to imagine what that must be like ... giving up everyone and everything you know for an unknown and probably unpleasant future.... in a way, it's like dying for real.)

 

So it was believable to me that he would be as emotional as he was. What I still have trouble with is WHY he had to convince John he was a fake and a suicide, and allowed him to believe it for two years. I've seen some explanations I can accept, I just wish the writers had put the explanation into the show. I'm coming to terms with it, tho. :-)

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Just before the touching conversation in the train car, there is a very brief screen shot of the bomb timer at 1:29 (my DVD timer is 1:13:11).  Then, after the (what I'll still call) the Anderson video break, comes the laughter, etc., and the timer has stopped at the same time, i.e., 1:29.  (Actually, it's flashing 1:29/1:28.)

 

Which makes it seem as though Sherlock found and flipped the switch before the conversation, doesn't it?

Oh, definitely. If you watch very carefully during the scene where he's "panicking" and seemingly ineffectually groping the bomb control unit, you will actually see him slide his hand down to the very spot where the switch is. So yes, he had turned it off well before one might assume. 

 

I haven't figured out how to do that "embeddy" thing yet....

If you want to quote a post, just click on the Quote button in the lower right corner of that post. You'll be taken to the Edit page, where you can add your reply.

 

The only problem with the current rev of the forum software is that it can be tricky to get the cursor outside of the quote box. Anybody who has an easier way, please let us all know, but the only reliable way I have found is to click the "lightswitch" at the left end of the edit toolbar, which takes you into plain-vanilla mode so you can see all the codes. Just position your cursor at the very end (following the {/quote}) and type at least a little.

 

Then whenever you like, you can click the "lightswitch" again to return to full-feature mode, and then finish entering your reply.

 

.... I knew Sherlock wasn't going to die, and I thought he was so upset because he'd just seen a man blow his brains out right in front of him, and he, Sherlock, had essentially caused this to happen.

My Dad used to be friends with a policeman who had something similar happen to him. Yes, the man who killed himself was a "bad guy," but he was also a human being, and desperate, and the policeman was shattered by witnessing a suicide literally right in front of him.

I had not thought of that. Sherlock had seen people die up-close before (e.g., Jeff the cabbie) but not so graphically.  And, as you say, he had driven  him to it.  Plus he did seem to feel an odd rapport with Moriarty.

 

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Sherlock weeping because he has seen Jim kill himself? Interesting idea and I am sure that a normal person would react with shock if they witnessed a suicide, but Sherlock isn't exactly normal. The tears seem to be related to his goodbye to John, and I can only make sense of them by thinking that he must be upset because he is going to be parted , for an indefinite period, from his Significant Other (platonic or otherwise!)

 

To be honest, I don't see why he has to jump at all, if Mycroft's men are going to deal with the snipers anyway. Why stage such an elaborate suicide just to make Jim's network think he was dead? If the fall isn't to convince the snipers, presumably he thinks Jim had other people watching, or why bother to do it? But, if so, how does he know they can't see the airbag?

 

Sometimes it seems like the whole thing was staged for John's benefit!

 

Speaking of John, I was watching TEH (again!) and it struck me what an excellent actor Martin Freeman is. I am a rabid fan of Benedict and find he tends to eclipse everyone else on the screen, but Martin's comic timing is wonderful and he is so good at expressing the painful emotions that John is struggling to suppress. I don't like the direction that the writers have taken John's character in this series but that doesn't detract from Martin's fine acting, any more than my conviction that Mary's deeds are unforgivable means that I can't appreciate Amanda's lovely performance in the role. She made us love her and then she turned evil!

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Having written my responses below, I now see that you've already answered some of the same questions yourself in the remainder of your post. But what the heck, maybe I've at least come at it from a different angle.

 

That post of mine was unreasonably long, so if you read the whole thing - wow, I am flattered! And thank you for taking the time to reply. You do come at it from a different angle, and it is interesting and, as always, very reasonable (although I can't agree on all points, but hey, perfect agreement is boring and I am not The Voice of Reason around here...).

 

The whole thing has been bugging me to no end, because I simply loved The Reichenbach Fall and when I first saw The Empty Hearse, I felt as if that episode had been totally ruined for me. Of course that was a wild exaggeration.

 

I think the biggest problem is, for me, to accept that so much of the emotion and distress that I sympathized with Sherlock for, is supposed to be fake. I like that you can never tell with him when he's sincere and when putting on an act, and I love him as the biggest mystery of all on this show, but ultimately, I am not interested in pretend drama and emotion, I want the real thing.

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If the fall isn't to convince the snipers, presumably he thinks Jim had other people watching, or why bother to do it? But, if so, how does he know they can't see the airbag?

 

Sometimes it seems like the whole thing was staged for John's benefit!

... or ours?  ;)

 

Good point about the airbag. In fact, judging by the snippets of action shown in Sherlock's explanation to Anderson, John probably saw the airbag as he arrived in the taxi! (Once Aithine puts up screencaps of S3, I'll post that somewhere.) 

 

I think the biggest problem is, for me, to accept that so much of the emotion and distress that I sympathized with Sherlock for, is supposed to be fake. I like that you can never tell with him when he's sincere and when putting on an act, and I love him as the biggest mystery of all on this show, but ultimately, I am not interested in pretend drama and emotion, I want the real thing.

Yes, I think that's one reason why my favorite character is John Watson -- he's for real. (*knock on wood* and hoping Moftiss don't take that as a challenge!) As for Sherlock, I do believe that some of his emotional bits are for real (e.g., his tears in "Reichenbach" and the way he was touched by John's forgiveness in "Empty Hearse"). If you want more than that, I suspect you'll have a long wait!

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They didn't bring the airbag out until after John arrived in the taxi, didn't they? I mean, Sherlock was standing on the roof when the taxi arrived, Sherlock calls him and tells him to move back and stay where he is. Isn't that when they bring it out?  I may easily be wrong on this but that was my impression.

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Here are some screencaps from "The Empty Hearse"  page 61 starts to tell the theory Sherlock told Anderson.

 

  http://screencapped.net/tv/sherlock/thumbnails.php?album=7&page=61

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I don't know anymore.  I just don't know.

 

All I know is what I like.  And for some reason I like this episode.

 

I think the only Sherlock emotion I can say for sure is sincere is his reaction to:

 

 

John's request for him to be his best man and the fact that Sherlock is his best friend in Sign of Three.

 

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They didn't bring the airbag out until after John arrived in the taxi, didn't they? I mean, Sherlock was standing on the roof when the taxi arrived, Sherlock calls him and tells him to move back and stay where he is. Isn't that when they bring it out?

 

That's when they bring it over to where Sherlock is going to fall, yes.  But they already had it unrolled and perhaps partially inflated over at the south end of the ambulance station (the right-hand end from where John stood for the conversation), and that's the direction that he had come from in the cab.  Kinda hard to miss, I'd think.

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Could he have been so distracted that he didn't make any kind of connection to what it was?  "He saw, but did not observe". Then the following events could have driven right out of mind all together?

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Could have been, and I can't think of any other explanation.  But it does seem odd for Sherlock to take the risk that John would notice it, considering how careful he was being about other things.

 

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Could he have been so distracted that he didn't make any kind of connection to what it was?  "He saw, but did not observe". Then the following events could have driven right out of mind all together?

That would be my take on it.  I'd buy that, at any rate.

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This is Sherlock's explanations of events to a irate John on a train with a bomb ticking down. It still may not have been the full truth. But John does know that there was a building between him and Sherlock and he couldn't see all that was going on.

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I think I may have the answer to why a second body was needed for the fall.

 

I watched the (supposedly real) explanation of the fall frame by frame, and John rounds the corner of the ambulance station (just barely) before the bicycle hits him, so there wouldn't have been time for Sherlock to get "made up" and to "set the stage" as it were, i.e., pour fresh blood on the pavement (John would have to see fresh blood), Sherlock to get into position and get the ball under his arm.

 

Molly et al threw the body (it was Benedict's stunt double) out the window to take the place of Sherlock immediately so that John would just glance it as he rounded the ambulance station and at that very second, the bicycle hit him.  And while he was out, they were "setting the stage" as I said above.

 

Anderson was right - it's loaded with WHAT IFS!

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Why couldn't they just arrange for the bicycle to knock him out a little sooner?

Oh, absolutely, that would have been the ideal situation.  I'm just saying what I saw.  Probably they (meaning Mark Gatiss, he wrote it) did it that way just for an excuse to complicate things and have another body in the mix.  :wacko:

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