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Episode 3.2, "The Sign of Three"


Undead Medic

What Did You Think Of "The Sign of Three"?  

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I usually don't like weddings at all (on TV or in real life), but this one was great! Why can't all weddings be like that... and all best men?

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Soppy, sentimental, ridiculously fluffy.... Remind me why I love this episode, again?

 

I do love it, though - I love how utterly heartwarming it is. However, I keep thinking about John's words from the graveyard scene in TRF. They were so special back then, because we had only casually gotten glimpses into Sherlock's humanity, yet John said he was the most 'human human being' he had ever known. Now, it's obvious. Sherlock is the best man and the most human human being. Back then, it wasn't so obvious; it was debatable, I'd say :) even though I always loved Sherlock. Perhaps it's still debatable, but less so.

 

Another thing: I've been thinking of how Sherlock keeps claiming; "I'm not involved", and "I wasn't worried". I wonder why he still does that. Sure, he used to believe that 'sentiment is a chemical defect', but if he still feels that way, why give such a heartfelt, loving speech? He truly sounded surprised or appaled, even, at the thought that he should be involved. Strange... and a bit heartbreaking.

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I hope not. But Sherlock has shown that while he can be tolerant and even social with Mycroft, Sherlock can more then stand up to the man when needed.

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Hmm, yes, but if he does still feel that sentiment, in particular love, is a disadvantage, and he knows Mycroft feels the same... maybe he is, in a way, trying to impress Mycroft... or attempting to convince himself.

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Or maybe determined to love his brother in spite off all the negative history between them. I think a lot of us know what it's like to try to impress someone, if it hasn't work by this time, they both being adults, it isn't going to happen.

 

 What seems plausible to me, is that Sherlock will never stop trying to impress upon Mycroft that Sherlock is not a child, is capable of being his own person, is a genius in his own right and doesn't need to be controlled and influenced by "the smarter older brother".

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Well, in the instances I mentioned, in which Sherlock says "I'm not involved" and "wasn't worried", it is with regard to his feelings for John. In the first instance, "I'm not involved", he's speaking to Mycroft, yes - and I don't know if it's Mycroft he's trying to convince or himself - but he is talking about John. So I'm just wondering why (or if) he still thinks he is capable of emotionally distancing himself from John. Personally, I think it sounds like he wants to be able to do that, and is trying to convince himself rather desparately. However, that doesn't add up in my head with him then saying a thing like: "John, I am a ridiculous man, redeemed only by the warmth and constancy of your friendship". With that he demonstrates that he is depending on John. But, well, he is probably just contradicting himself without be aware of it.

 

I find that phone conversation between Sherlock and Mycroft very interesting and somehow wonderfully heartwarming. Sherlock is still fighting - but now failing - to distance himself.

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Or maybe he's making up his mind that he doesn't want to distance himself any more. He's learned that he can be friends with John and other people as well. And it's real. He doesn't have to pretend either one way or another. It just is. That's why when he is in his mind palace (court room) and he has placed Mycroft above himself, in the council's seat, he can finally say no to him. "Not you! not you!" and then can turn to John and say "You. It's always you. John Watson, you keep me right."

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Don't ask me why I feel the need to say certain things... What had you decided on before?

 

This episode is really lovely. The cases aren't terribly interesting (though they're not bad, either), but the characters are wonderful and Sherlock's speech is just priceless. And then there's that ending. I love how this episode is very bright and funny on the surface but has this undercurrent of sadness the whole time which surfaces towards the end.

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Don't ask me why I feel the need to say certain things... What had you decided on before?

 

This episode is really lovely. The cases aren't terribly interesting (though they're not bad, either), but the characters are wonderful and Sherlock's speech is just priceless. And then there's that ending. I love how this episode is very bright and funny on the surface but has this undercurrent of sadness the whole time which surfaces towards the end.

My first choice was Sign of Three, then I changed it to Empty Hearse, and now I'm back to Sign of Three.

 

It's really, really close, but Sign wins.  Unless I change my mind again.  I'm not usually like this!

 

It's certainly not HLV, though.

 

 

A couple things bother me about SOT, though.  (So what else is new?)

 

If the guardsman's wound was in his abdomen, why did John leave him on his stomach when examining him, and when he told Sherlock to apply pressure to the wound, how could he have done that when the wound was underneath the body at the time?

 

I saw the photographer behind Major Sholto, ostensibly setting up a photograph, doing something to his belt.  Is this supposed to have been when the wound was inflicted?  If so, how does a wound to the abdomen get inflicted from behind?  

 

I'm not really expecting answers, but these are my questions.  At least some of them.  I may think of more.

 

I do love this episode.

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A couple things bother me about SOT, though.  (So what else is new?)

 

If the guardsman's wound was in his abdomen, why did John leave him on his stomach when examining him, and when he told Sherlock to apply pressure to the wound, how could he have done that when the wound was underneath the body at the time?

 

I saw the photographer behind Major Sholto, ostensibly setting up a photograph, doing something to his belt.  Is this supposed to have been when the wound was inflicted?  If so, how does a wound to the abdomen get inflicted from behind?  

 

I'm not really expecting answers, but these are my questions.  At least some of them.  I may think of more.

 

I do love this episode.

I do too, it's very sweet.  When it comes to picking a favorite, though, I tend to go more for angst, so ... well, I'm still thinking about it.  Added:  Just noticed that my avatar display says "Empty Hearse."  That's apparently just the default, because I certainly didn't / wouldn't pick that one.

 

John appeared to be examining the guardsman's side, so the side of his abdomen.  I'm OK with that.

 

I agree, though, if we were seeing Small inflict the wound, it didn't appear to be in the same spot -- as you say, more from behind.  Maybe it was sort of at the "corner" between his back and his side?  That could also explain how Sherlock was able to apply the pressure from behind.

 

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No, the thing that was important about the belt buckle was that it was holding the belt tight so that it acted as a sort of compression bandage. The wound wouldn't bleed until the buckle was released and the belt loosened.

 

  And from the way Bainbridge was laying, it did seem that he was bleeding mostly from the back, the entrance and exit wound. The skewer was long so it probably, like Carol suggested passed through the back and into the abdomen on the left side. Nor would it have been surprising if he had stabbed Sholto in a different place.

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My first choice was Sign of Three, then I changed it to Empty Hearse, and now I'm back to Sign of Three.

 

It's really, really close, but Sign wins.  Unless I change my mind again.  I'm not usually like this!

 

I know. I can't decide between those two either :) but I've left it at TSoT, mainly because TEH does not gratify me the same way TSoT does. They cut away from the seriousness of the reunion too quickly, and I don't feel Sherlock ever understands what John went through because of him. It's swept under the rug.

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Just one more point regarding Bainbridge's wound:  Some of you with more anatomical knowledge may correct me, but I believe that the term "abdomen" refers to the entire section of the body that's between the diaphragm and the pelvis, not just the front surface of it.  Clearly a deep puncture from any direction could reach the same internal organs.

 

Sherlock later says "stomach," and that organ is indeed on the left side, so further examination may have revealed that the skewer punctured his stomach, which as I understand it can be pretty serious.  (Also, "stomach" is a typical lay synonym for abdomen, at least here in the US.)

 

 

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Even though Conan Doyle was a doctor, his stories are not exactly famous for medical accuracy, and "Sherlock" certainly follows that tradition. I had considered posting a few anatomical pictures but thought better of it because

- it would be too nerdy even for my standards

- it might disgust some people

- I don't think it's terribly important for understanding "Sherlock" show logic, anyway.

 

Here is a picture, however, (or rather a gif) of John and Sherlock trying to stop the bleeding. (I found it on tumblr, where I assume some desperate youknowhat shipper posted it because it shows their hands touching... but it's useful for a close look at the location of the wound as well):

 

tumblr_mz7bctLmR91qairxgo1_500.gif

 

It seems the entry is at Baindbridge's lower left side, because that's where John is directing the pressure. A long, thin weapon could easily enter the abdominal cavity from there and puncture an imaginative range of internal organs, depending on the direction it was then shoved in. To hit the stomach, Small would have had to go up and a little forward. I don't think it's the most likely target, but not impossible, especially if the weapon was pretty long.

 

Even from the back, there aren't many inches to the abdominal cavity (except if the victim is very fat).

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Some people have asked about the nurse.  Firstly, I don't why Mrs Hudson let her in on their stag night, unless she didn't.  Maybe John or Sherlock did themselves.  I'm a bit hazy on that now, can't remember if Mrs. H, showed her in or not,

 

I also agree that it's a bit strange she didn't recognise they were drunk - but then she was convinced she had had dinner with a ghost!

 

The story of the events of the stag night, including the arrival and behavior of the nurse,

was told by someone (Sherlock) who was so drunk that he fell asleep several times. 

I'm sure his memory of events was as fuzzy as his vision had been.

 

So I'd put it down to his being an unreliable narrator.

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When Sherlock makes his speech, it is interesting to watch Mary's face with the knowledge we now have about her in mind. I think I read somewhere that the actress herself wasn't in on the secret at that point, but still, it's fun to make sense of her reactions "within the universe". For example, when Sherlock says those disparaging things about love (for example "All emotions, and in particular love, stand opposed to the pure, cold reason I hold above all things. A wedding is, in my considered opinion, nothing short of a celebration of all that is false and specious and irrational and sentimental in this ailing and morally compromised world"), she looks as if she agreed on some level.

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Welcome to the forum, smallet! :wave:

 

A very good point - and since Mofftis like to play with unreliable narrators, a likely one.

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But some part must have been the truth because Sherlock, in the middle of his "Best Man's" speech remembered it was this same nurse who introduced John to the landlord as John "Hamish" Watson. And at some point she said have a good time at the wedding. He also remembered her name when he had all those other women on the different laptops researching their links to "Women Who Had Dated Ghosts".

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