Episode 3.2, "The Sign of Three"

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

That was good. I loved it when he tells Mary to stop smiling. "But it's my wedding day!" And Sherlock just turns away.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Oh! I think we have our "invisible car" reference from TUP.  The invisible photographer speech when he is detaining John Small.

[Carol the Dabbler]

That definitely does remind me of either the "invisible car" or "you're invisible when you're a cabbie."

 

[miltk]

this episode ran the full gamut of emotions. it's now close to my favorite next to "belgravia".

 

great intertwining of the narrative...the kaleidoscopic time frame back and forth between sh's speech and the events leading up to it. sh's interpretation of his reaction when he was asked to be best man,,,,FANTASTIC!!! the blend of seriousness and comic relief was perfect. the courtroom. sh sniffing out the man. the crime also was a good fit for the episode. i feel the first 2 episodes of season 3 have been freeman's to carry. he gave them heart. now i don't know whom i like better , cumberbatch or freeman 

 

i guess every show needs a brain and a heart

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

They're a matching set of bookends. You really can't have a Sherlock Holmes without a Dr. Watson...and you certainly couldn't have a Dr. Watson without a Sherlock Holmes.  Yeah, without heart and brain a show would be pretty much dead on arrival.

 

 Like you, I feel that Cumberbatch and Freeman have owned this show.

[T.o.b.y]

I think Sherlock Holmes is just as much "heart" as "brain", though. And we're getting to see more and more of that, while John Watson in "Sherlock" is very far from a softie. Yeah, they do own the show. Would be bad if they didn't... And they're a fantastic combination. (Duh, I know, but it just can't be said often enough, can it).

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

 

I think Sherlock Holmes is just as much "heart" as "brain", though.

 

   At least in this interpretation, yup. But we still need Watson and Sherlock says that so well in his "Best Man's" speech.

[bowlwoman]

 

Also, did anyone hear Rickman in some words Benedict spoke? Or was that just me? 

 

My husband doesn't watch Sherlock, but I had it on in bed watching it last night on PBS, and he asked without opening his eyes, "Is that Alan Rickman?"

 

And then of course, the one moment he DOES open his eyes to look at the screen is when the eyeball pops up in Sherlock's coffee cup...

[Let's_have_dinner]

Ha, glad it wasn't just me! There were definite words that sounded Rickman-esque... "Yep" (when he was talking to Archie), "Do people like me?", "Our entire species...", "When one of them's dead"... And probably more! Those are just the ones I remember off the top of my head. Always make me laugh :-)

[T.o.b.y]

"When one of them's dead"

 

Oh yeah, the analogy between marriage and murder. God, that speech is so outrageous. I love it. Why can't more weddings be like that?

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

I wonder how many Sherlockians/Holmesians will be planning weddings and "Best Man" speeches just like this?

[T.o.b.y]

Yeah, me too... Though of course, the speech is inimitable. The attempted murder, now that one could take care of...

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Naawww....the whole thing....or at least the reception turns into one of those dinner/murder theater things.

[Pamela]

Oh, my.  What an episode!  I totally loved it.  I really have only a few things to say.  You all have covered most everything.

 

- T.o.b.y - you have an amazing knowledge of ACD's canon!  How long have you been a Sherlockian?  I'm really impressed.

 

- I'm so glad it was pointed out that Holmes RETIRED to beekeeping on the Sussex Downs in his later years.  Earlier on when it was discussed, it almost seemed as if he went into beekeeping earlier in life.

 

- I'm giving this episode 10/10.  Whatever was lost for me in TEH, the thrill is back now in SOT.  I agree Sherlock changed between the two, but I'm in the camp that feels his two year absence hardened him, and then the six months between TEH and SOT with John and Mary softened him.

 

- I'm left with one question I haven't seen answered, and maybe I'm just a dolt:  What made Sherlock think it was the photographer, besides the fact that he was the "invisible" one?

[miltk]

 

 

- I'm left with one question I haven't seen answered, and maybe I'm just a dolt:  What made Sherlock think it was the photographer, besides the fact that he was the "invisible" one?

 

 

was it about the knowledge of watson's middle name? must watch again.

[Pamela]

 

 

 

- I'm left with one question I haven't seen answered, and maybe I'm just a dolt:  What made Sherlock think it was the photographer, besides the fact that he was the "invisible" one?

 

 

was it about the knowledge of watson's middle name? must watch again.

 

Sorry, I don't remember the photographer being the one who knew John's middle name.  Did he?

[Carol the Dabbler]

My husband doesn't watch Sherlock, but I had it on in bed watching it last night on PBS, and he asked without opening his eyes, "Is that Alan Rickman?"

 

And then of course, the one moment he DOES open his eyes to look at the screen is when the eyeball pops up in Sherlock's coffee cup...

I knew that tone sounded familiar (but hadn't bothered to try placing it) -- Rickman, of course! Cumberbatch is well known for his actual Rickman impersonation -- here he was merely hinting at it.

 

Nice to hear from you again, bowlwoman -- it's been a while!

  

What made Sherlock think it was the photographer, besides the fact that he was the "invisible" one?

Hmm, he did run that by us kinda fast, didn't he? I think basically, he ruled out the guests (perhaps because he knew how each of them fit into John and Mary's lives, and none of them appeared to know Sholto). This left him with some variation on "the butler did it," and Sherlock mentioned that the photographer had been a last-minute substitute, which made him a more likely suspect than, say, the waiters. Also, he had already noted that the method was the same one used on Pvt. Bainbridge, and he had seen lots of people taking photographs of Bainbridge, so photography was also a common factor.

 

I don't think he exactly thinks things through, though (as John says, Sherlock isn't really a puzzle solver) -- things just go "click" and sometimes even Sherlock may not know exactly why.  He just needs to follow up and make sure that his intuition hasn't misfired.

 

[cumberholmes]

Janine, you're not my cup of tea... everybody knows it. Oh, Sherlock's speech at John's wedding 

At the end when Sherlock left the party while everyone was still there... I felt bad for him. There was some solitude at the time ... It caused me a desire to hug him   +   cumberholmes = 

[Pamela]

 

  

What made Sherlock think it was the photographer, besides the fact that he was the "invisible" one?

Hmm, he did run that by us kinda fast, didn't he? I think basically, he ruled out the guests (perhaps because he knew how each of them fit into John and Mary's lives, and none of them appeared to know Sholto). This left him with some variation on "the butler did it," and Sherlock mentioned that the photographer had been a last-minute substitute, which made him a more likely suspect than, say, the waiters. Also, he had already noted that the method was the same one used on Pvt. Bainbridge, and he had seen lots of people taking photographs of Bainbridge, so photography was also a common factor.

 

I don't think he exactly thinks things through, though (as John says, Sherlock isn't really a puzzle solver) -- things just go "click" and sometimes even Sherlock may not know exactly why.  He just needs to follow up and make sure that his intuition hasn't misfired.

 

Thanks, Carol.  I think I follow.  Still, this is all rather less than satisfying.  I would also have liked more of an explanation about the "weapon."  Oh, well.

[miltk]

 

 

 

 

- I'm left with one question I haven't seen answered, and maybe I'm just a dolt:  What made Sherlock think it was the photographer, besides the fact that he was the "invisible" one?

 

 

was it about the knowledge of watson's middle name? must watch again.

 

Sorry, I don't remember the photographer being the one who knew John's middle name.  Did he?

 

 

i thought it was something like the girl(who dated the ghost) knew his middle name and the only way she could have known it was from the photographer who photographed the wedding party(groomsmen, maids of honor etc) because watson's middle name was on the wedding invite.

 

?????

[Pamela]

And I thought she knew the name because of Sholto's invitation.  She worked for him, right?

[miltk]

And I thought she knew the name because of Sholto's invitation.  She worked for him, right?

 

 

i thought sholto was a loner who lived in timbuktoo and points east.

anyway, if she knew sholto and saw the invite, that wouldn't mean sholto's life was in danger. i can't connect the dots right now,,,but if the mayfly man was the killer, then the girl had to have seen the invite through him???

 

girl knows jw's middle name > girl saw middle name on invite > if girls saw the invite then the killer is at the wedding. this is as far as i can take it,,,i'm having brain freeze.

[Carol the Dabbler]

The nurse knew John's middle name because she had recently worked for Sholto and had seen the wedding invitation.  The photographer dated her (as the Mayfly Man) and she told him that Sholto had been invited to the wedding.  He finagled himself into working at the wedding.  (I don't believe anything was said about the photographer knowing or not knowing John's middle name.)

 

It occurs to me that one other reason Sherlock suspected the photographer could be the news article about Sholto's involvement in the deaths of the raw recruits -- perhaps the article listed the names of the dead soldiers (did anyone notice?).  Since Sherlock was heavily involved in planning the wedding, he presumably knew the surname of the photographer.  "Small" is not a terribly common surname, so that "coincidence" may have made him suspicious.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

I love the page boy, Archie. Seems there might be a Sherlockian protege in the making, if his mother doesn't get all freaked out over pictures of the "lovely village, Beheadings". Would love to be a fly on that wall.

 

Oh yeah, me too! Oh, did you notice that the headless nun story made a reappearance here? It seems like they're determined to waist absolutely nothing from that 60 min pilot!

 

Maybe this has been obvious to everyone else all along, but it just occurred to me that those two scenes are related.  In Archie's initial scene, Sherlock has promised him a reward for being good at the wedding -- he'll show him photos of some beheadings.  Later, he offers a more specific reward, "a headless nun."

 

So this time around, it's apparently a photo of an actual beheaded nun.  (Eeeww!)  I liked it better in the Pilot, where the "headless nun" was presumably figurative -- perhaps the brand of wine that Antonio splashes on Sherlock's face?

 

[Pamela]

The nurse knew John's middle name because she had recently worked for Sholto and had seen the wedding invitation.  The photographer dated her (as the Mayfly Man) and she told him that Sholto had been invited to the wedding.  He finagled himself into working at the wedding.  (I don't believe anything was said about the photographer knowing or not knowing John's middle name.)

 

It occurs to me that one other reason Sherlock suspected the photographer could be the news article about Sholto's involvement in the deaths of the raw recruits -- perhaps the article listed the names of the dead soldiers (did anyone notice?).  Since Sherlock was heavily involved in planning the wedding, he presumably knew the surname of the photographer.  "Small" is not a terribly common surname, so that "coincidence" may have made him suspicious.

Boy, do I need that DVD to make some kind of sense of this!

 

Actually, I'm of two minds on that subject.  As much as I like that the DVD is being released so soon, I would almost rather they'd have taken their time and done commentaries!