Episode 3.2, "The Sign of Three"

[T.o.b.y]

It has been suggested that something bad will happen to Mary, but I doubt that the writers will kill her off. I think she'll probably be in jeopardy, presumably because of Magnusson, but I can't see them killing a loveable character so soon, particularly now that she is pregnant. Though John as a widower, bringing up a child with Sherlock's bizarre idea of help, would be interesting but would limit their freedom to go out together on cases.

 

I like Mary, and Amanda Abbington is lovely, but I do think her presence weakens the dynamic between the two main characters. Presumably Conan Doyle felt the same about Mrs Watson, as he kept her firmly in the background and quietly killed her off during the Great Hiatus. Looks like our Mary will play a much more prominent role than her namesake and I am not yet convinced that that is a good thing. Time will tell, no doubt...

 

Neither do I for one second believe they will let her die until I actually see it (and even then I'd assume she'd done a Sherlock). I don't think her presence weakens the main focus of my attention ( ) at all. Quite the contrary. Her being there opens up a gazillion new possibilities and allows the men to be a lot more free and easy with each other, since poor John doesn't have to worry so much any more about wrong impressions... And I like her in her own right, too. She is lovable, funny, charming, unsentimental, mischievous, mysterious and quite an individual person, not just the obligatory female main character for the sake of political correctness.

 

What Doyle was up to with the original Mary - no idea. I've always felt that he didn't really put much effort into her. This version is a big improvement and really deserves a better fate! Besides, it wouldn't work dramatically to have John suffer yet another tragic loss and stand at yet another graveside. That's so two years ago!

[T.o.b.y]

It's dangerous to speculate about an episode so near at hand as His Last Vow, but I can't help it. I was thinking how the only scene I've really missed so far from the original Sign of the Four is the ending:

 

“The division seems rather unfair,” I remarked.“You have done all the work in this business. I get a wife out of it, Jones gets the credit, pray what remains for you?” “For me,” said Sherlock Holmes, “there still remains the cocaine-bottle.” And he stretched his long white hand up for it."

 

Now, I know the cocaine is dead and buried for "our" Sherlock. But there is a case, The Man with the Twisted Lip, where Watson goes into an opium den to find the husband of a friend of his wife's who is an addict and encounters Holmes there, as well. At first it seems as if the detective has been taking opium himself, but he was just pretending to as part of a case. What if they pick up on that? Have John pull Sherlock out of some drug scene and get upset because he thinks that, true to canon, Sherlock went back to old habits after the marriage, whereas Sherlock is only investigating and gets one of his laughs at John's expense à la "you really think I'd do drugs just because you and Mary tied the knot?!" That might be quite funny...

[sherlockandjohn]

 

Neither do I for one second believe they will let her die until I actually see it (and even then I'd assume she'd done a Sherlock).

 

Oh no - 'done a Sherlock' is going to become a new expression, isn't it? I can just see that happening in future TV shows and movies in which a character fakes his/her death!

[sherlockandjohn]

 

Now, I know the cocaine is dead and buried for "our" Sherlock. But there is a case, The Man with the Twisted Lip, where Watson goes into an opium den to find the husband of a friend of his wife's who is an addict and encounters Holmes there, as well. At first it seems as if the detective has been taking opium himself, but he was just pretending to as part of a case. What if they pick up on that? Have John pull Sherlock out of some drug scene and get upset because he thinks that, true to canon, Sherlock went back to old habits after the marriage, whereas Sherlock is only investigating and gets one of his laughs at John's expense à la "you really think I'd do drugs just because you and Mary tied the knot?!" That might be quite funny...

 

I'd love to see that And I've seen people hint, from the filming of His Last Vow, at John pulling Sherlock out of a drug scene.

 

[T.o.b.y]

Oh, cool, so maybe they did do a version of "The Man with the Twisted Lip". I very much doubt it'll play out like my brain twisted it, but I'd be happy about any kind of adaptation of that case. It's pretty cool. But it also is solved by Holmes smoking all night sitting on a pile of cushions. How are they going to do that - have him plaster his entire body surface with nicotine patches?

[Loekie]

How could it be that Mary knew the room number so well? And she knew that he came out of the room. She knows his footsteps?

[T.o.b.y]

How could it be that Mary knew the room number so well?

 

Um... never asked myself that! Maybe, since she was doing a lot of the organizing, she booked the room for the major herself?

 

Btw, they gave him a different first name. In the original, he is John Sholto. Probably they thought it would sound odd if John Watson had to shout his own first name through a closed door...

 

Oh, another reference: What Mary reads out loud from John's blog (in The Empty Hearse, not this episode) is a compound of original Watson phrases describing Holmes.

[Detective Prince]

 

How could it be that Mary knew the room number so well?

 

Um... never asked myself that! Maybe, since she was doing a lot of the organizing, she booked the room for the major herself?

 

Btw, they gave him a different first name. In the original, he is John Sholto. Probably they thought it would sound odd if John Watson had to shout his own first name through a closed door...

 

Oh, another reference: What Mary reads out loud from John's blog (in The Empty Hearse, not this episode) is a compound of original Watson phrases describing Holmes.

 

 

Another reference is that when we see the case of the 'Poison Giant' we see a dwarf with a blow dart thing. In the Sign of Four, Jonathan Small has an accomplice who is a small dwarf called Tonga who's murder weapon is a blow dart.

[Loekie]

 

How could it be that Mary knew the room number so well?

 

Um... never asked myself that! Maybe, since she was doing a lot of the organizing, she booked the room for the major herself?

 

 

 

Anyway, it's rather unbelievable that Sherlock forgot that number.

[T.o.b.y]

 

Anyway, it's rather unbelievable that Sherlock forgot that number.

 

Why would he have paid attention to it before he knew that the major was going to be murdered? I hardly think he bothered to find out what rooms all the guests were staying in.. Besides, he had a lot of other things on his mind that day. His brain seemed close to blowing a fuse during that speech. And it was just a nice opportunity for the writers to have Mary look good. They need those once in a while.

 

[Loekie]

I have read at another forum that in the books of Conan Doyle there is a connection between Mary and the major, and wiki tells:

Mary Morstan's father, a senior captain of an Indian regiment and later stationed near the Andaman Islands, disappeared in 1878 under mysterious circumstances that would later be proven to be related to the mystery, The Sign of Four.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_Sherlock_Holmes_characters

[T.o.b.y]

In case anybody hasn't seen this yet:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01p6j8z

 

(It's available from all countries)

 

I love "that kind of Sherlock way of being - whatever disorder he has". That sums up the character nicely

 

Ms Abbington is absolutely right, the dynamic in the trio works really well. Better than I had ever expected. And all within the confines of almost perfect harmony, which is amazing to me. No, Mary simply must not die in this version. She won't. It would be so completely unnecessary.

[shoot999]

How could it be that Mary knew the room number so well? And she knew that he came out of the room. She knows his footsteps?

 

Maybe while the other two were running off to be heroes she had the good sense to ask at reception on the way.

[Caya]

There's a new entry on John's blog.

[T.o.b.y]

There's a new entry on John's blog.

 

Who writes these? I've been avoiding them so far, but this is actually quite funny! Thanks, Caya.

 

[sherlockandjohn]

There's a new entry on John's blog.

 

Going to read it now, it looks great from the first few lines! Didn't think it sounded like John. Sherlock making fun of John makes more sense, and is much funnier!

 

The entry is from 11 August. Wasn't the wedding supposed to be in May? :)

[sherlockandjohn]

Ha ha ha! Sherlock's entry on John's blog is great

"To be honest, he (John) talks about things and I phase out. She's the same. They're both perfectly acceptable friends in their own way but then they start talking and I wish I really had died."

[Earendil]

 

The entry is from 11 August. Wasn't the wedding supposed to be in May? :)

 

 

This is a belated Sex Holiday... oops... honeymoon.

[sherlockandjohn]

Hehe

[julia5]

I really want Molly and Lestrade to happen.  ::sigh::

[Caya]

Pretty much everybody wants that to happen, I think, except for Tom maybe .

[T.o.b.y]

Well, too bad for Tom, then. I must say the writers don't really seem to want us to like him, do they? And just for the record: Even I would love to see Molly and Lestrade become a couple and I usually object strongly to any pairing until I am forced to see that it works on screen.

[RV0889]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/1479345_596853707031052_413574410_n.png could not help posting it here. cracked me up big time

Edited January 7, 2014 by Caya
This is hilarious, but beware, it's a big-time spoiler for A Game of Thrones, season 3

[Slithytove]

As I've said before, I like Mary as a character. It's good to see a strong female character who is both intelligent and warm - although I must admit that I also liked Irene, who was brilliant but cold. Anyway, Mary is very likeable but I do think she makes the relationship between the two men less focused. It's always been Holmes and Watson, the classic double act, from the beginning. I think Conan Doyle recognised that core relationship and quietly wrote Mary out of the stories. I don't think this will be the fate of the current Mary. After all, the writers could not even bear to kill Irene, and sent in Sherlock to save her at the eleventh hour. I think it will be okay if they keep her as a fairly minor character like Molly or Lestrade, but I think that they will lose focus if it becomes the story of Sherlock, John and Mary (and Baby Watson), rather than the story of Sherlock and John. Of course, I could be wrong and probably am.

 

I am hoping that the next episode will be quite dark and dramatic, to shut up all those who keep whining about this series being different to Series 1& 2. Most of the tv critics seem to have enjoyed this series and we, the fans, have mainly been delighted, but there are a lot of people moaning that it has been too self-indulgent and/or too much influenced by the fandom. I suspect that most of those complaining are people who wanted the crimes foregrounded, rather than the characters. As far as I'm concerned, the interest lies in the people, particularly Sherlock, rather than in whatever dastardly crime is being foiled, but that isn't everyone's view. As fans, we love to ponder "what if" - what if Sherlock had to make a best man's speech? What if John and Sherlock got drunk? - and all fanfic is an attempt to answer those questions. Some viewers, however, just want cops and robbers. I hope that episode 3 blows their socks off! And I hope the BBC has the good sense to ignore the doubters and press on with the next series (and a bit quicker this time, please!)

[T.o.b.y]

...I think that they will lose focus if it becomes the story of Sherlock, John and Mary (and Baby Watson), rather than the story of Sherlock and John. Of course, I could be wrong and probably am.

 

...shut up all those who keep whining about this series being different to Series 1& 2. Most of the tv critics seem to have enjoyed this series and we, the fans, have mainly been delighted, but there are a lot of people moaning that it has been too self-indulgent and/or too much influenced by the fandom. I suspect that most of those complaining are people who wanted the crimes foregrounded, rather than the characters. As far as I'm concerned, the interest lies in the people, particularly Sherlock, rather than in whatever dastardly crime is being foiled, but that isn't everyone's view. As fans, we love to ponder "what if" - what if Sherlock had to make a best man's speech? What if John and Sherlock got drunk? - and all fanfic is an attempt to answer those questions. Some viewers, however, just want cops and robbers. I hope that episode 3 blows their socks off! And I hope the BBC has the good sense to ignore the doubters and press on with the next series (and a bit quicker this time, please!)

 

Oooh, thanks for that post. Can I argue with you, please? I love that!

 

A.: It's not becoming the story of Sherlock, John and Mary at all! That's what I expected on first reading the title "The Sign of Three" - I thought it referred to the introduction of a center trio. And I groaned just as dismally as the original Holmes at the thought. But it's not come true. Not at all. If anything, the last two episodes seemed to be more about Sherlock and John than anything we've seen before. Poor Mary almost comes across as a mere plot device to really put the romance into bromance. Just consider the wedding. We didn't even get to see the marriage vows, the kiss, the cutting of the cake. We never even got to hear them say "I love you". Neither did we ever hear the final marriage proposal. Now, I won't list all we heard and saw instead, but think about it... don't you notice something?

 

B.: I at first complained as loudly and violently as I could. And I do assure you that my focus is much more on the characters rather than the crimes. It's just that I loved the first series so much. It was so dark, so constrained, so subtle, so unspectacular, so clever and original. The best television I've ever seen. The newer episodes are different and they take getting used to. My brain still objects to them. But my heart has decided to ignore it and I've come to like them very, very much, too, in spite of myself.