Episode 3.3, "His Last Vow"

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

I think that by the looks of the start of Season 3 and "The Empty Hearse" Moffat and Gatiss is already much tuned into Sherlock's fandom and paying attention to what we want.

[Carol the Dabbler]

... and doing the opposite! 

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Oh I don't know. Featuring that "Goth girl's" version and the "kiss" between Moriarty and Sherlock was pretty much right out of fandom?

[T.o.b.y]

So which part of fandom did "Mary is a killer, married John under an assumed name and shoots Sherlock in the chest" come from, I wonder? They must be pretty creative...

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Hhmmm, not sure....maybe tumblr?

[Zain]

Well, there are elements.

 

Mary often was portrayed as Moran, and as a hired assassin who stayed near John to keep an eye out for Sherlock.

 

Then the baby is straight out of fanfiction. Not the ones i like, though. The title "Sign of Three" has been (ab)used for the theme more than once. I actually think this change of the original title has been taken from fandom. The pun has been going around for quite some time.

 

TEH had lots of fanservice on its own. It was mostly fanservice and reunion for the first half.

To get into that, it would take a long post. And I tend to ramble when I am at my best, so I feel it's better to shut up now

[T.o.b.y]

Oh, rambling is fine, I certainly shouldn't complain about that - I do little else.

 

The baby is really a strange idea. I still wonder why they thought they needed that. Okay, it makes the "end of an era" theme more believable, because, of course, Sherlock should actually have been right (in spite of Mrs Hudson and his darling brother) when he summed up the marriage as "two people who currently live together are going to have a party, go on a short holiday and then continue living together". And since things seem to have been fine before, why would they change so much afterwards?

 

But then, at the beginning of His Last Vow, we learn, rather surprisingly (to me), that they have already changed although the baby hasn't even been born yet. So the baby isn't needed as a plot device in that sense.

 

Maybe the writers saw no other way out of "the crime solving trio" (which I assume by this time they know wouldn't be too popular) than to claim Mary can't come along on dangerous adventures because she has to take care of her child. The writer who thinks Mummy Holmes couldn't have continued to be a mathematician just because she had two boys might come up with an idea like that.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

 

The writer who thinks Mummy Holmes couldn't have continued to be a mathematician just because she had two boys might come up with an idea like that.

 

  It was a different era when she was younger. A lot of brilliant women gave up professions to have a family. There are a lot of "glass ceilings" for women even now. A lot of women are still opting out of marriage and children so that they can give all their time and their energy to their careers.

[Zain]

Oh, rambling is fine, I certainly shouldn't complain about that - I do little else.

 

The baby is really a strange idea. I still wonder why they thought they needed that. Okay, it makes the "end of an era" theme more believable, because, of course, Sherlock should actually have been right (in spite of Mrs Hudson and his darling brother) when he summed up the marriage as "two people who currently live together are going to have a party, go on a short holiday and then continue living together". And since things seem to have been fine before, why would they change so much afterwards?

 

But then, at the beginning of His Last Vow, we learn, rather surprisingly (to me), that they have already changed although the baby hasn't even been born yet. So the baby isn't needed as a plot device in that sense.

 

Maybe the writers saw no other way out of "the crime solving trio" (which I assume by this time they know wouldn't be too popular) than to claim Mary can't come along on dangerous adventures because she has to take care of her child. The writer who thinks Mummy Holmes couldn't have continued to be a mathematician just because she had two boys might come up with an idea like that.

 

 

Just a personal guess of mine.

The baby is somewhat of a time bomb. Mary and John go through a lot of tension due to her... deeds. The baby's arrival is drawing near, so it puts pressure on John to make a decision instead of keeping up the silence until she's out of the picture. Then there's the responsibility to consider on his part.

In that spirit, the baby is more like a plot device.

 

And they probably couldn't resist the pun on the original title. 

 

(I still think it is very irresponsible to allow someone like Mary to raise a child. The above reasoning is an attempt at objectivity... I do not like the idea to bring a baby into this mess of a relationship.)

[Sherlock_luvr]

A friend told me yesterday that the red rose on the table in Sherlock's hospital room is from Irene. And there's even a card signed 'W'. Anyone else know more?

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

That's pretty much the buzz around the internet that the rose is from Adler.

[Sherlock_luvr]

That's pretty much the buzz around the internet that the rose is from Adler.

 

I don't follow any kind of buzz so I had no idea. I didn't even remember seeing a rose:)

[Pamela]

A friend told me yesterday that the red rose on the table in Sherlock's hospital room is from Irene. And there's even a card signed 'W'. Anyone else know more?

But if it's from Irene Adler, what would  "W" be for?

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

I don't follow it closely, but it's out there. Facebook and stuff. Maybe Sherlockology would have the answer....or a screen shot from "His Last Vow" would.

[Sherlock_luvr]

I don't follow it closely, but it's out there. Facebook and stuff. Maybe Sherlockology would have the answer....or a screen shot from "His Last Vow" would.

 

I just found here in the News Stand area that Arwel confirmed the rose was from Irene Adler.

 

I don't have the DVDs yet. They're not out here until tomorrow.

[T.o.b.y]

The more often I see this episode, the more I like it. Like the whole series 3, it really grows on me. I particularly love the voices. There is all this drama going on, but the voices are nearly always low and constrained. And the music is beautiful. And Sherlock. I have to rave a bit about him; have just seen it again and am still sniffling into my sofa pillows. Sherlock is so wonderful in His Last Vow. I just love him as "the hero he isn't". When he shoots Magnussen, tells John to stand back and then turns around and goes "Give my love to Mary. Tell her she's safe now!" and then falls on his knees, all my own romanticism and love of good old-fashioned melodrama, fostered by years and years of Dickens novels, surfaces and cheers.

 

This episode gives us such a wide range of who Sherlock can be. From scruffy addict "under cover" to sleek, suave "heartless backstabbing manipulative bastard" sociopath who gets engaged to break into an office to dying, vulnerable white little boy to great epic hero and back to just a lonely man trying to find the right words for an impossible good bye.

 

I am so glad they showed the plane turn around. When the credits first begin, it is so sad because it would be such a believable ending. Such a sad, poetic ending, it's almost too bad they spoiled it. But only almost.

[Sherlock_luvr]

I actually wish they hadn't shown the plane turning around.

[Janine M. Adler]

The more often I see this episode, the more I like it. Like the whole series 3, it really grows on me. I particularly love the voices. There is all this drama going on, but the voices are nearly always low and constrained. And the music is beautiful. And Sherlock. I have to rave a bit about him; have just seen it again and am still sniffling into my sofa pillows. Sherlock is so wonderful in His Last Vow. I just love him as "the hero he isn't". When he shoots Magnussen, tells John to stand back and then turns around and goes "Give my love to Mary. Tell her she's safe now!" and then falls on his knees, all my own romanticism and love of good old-fashioned melodrama, fostered by years and years of Dickens novels, surfaces and cheers.

 

This episode gives us such a wide range of who Sherlock can be. From scruffy addict "under cover" to sleek, suave "heartless backstabbing manipulative bastard" sociopath who gets engaged to break into an office to dying, vulnerable white little boy to great epic hero and back to just a lonely man trying to find the right words for an impossible good bye.

 

I am so glad they showed the plane turn around. When the credits first begin, it is so sad because it would be such a believable ending. Such a sad, poetic ending, it's almost too bad they spoiled it. But only almost.

I totally agree with you T.O.B.Y. HLV is my favorite episode too. I just can't get through how much emotions it contains. And I like the thing that how much true they remained to the canon stories. Oh, my God. But the scenery of the Mind Palace just blew me off. I like the idea of mind palace thing. You know mind palace isn't a fantasy thing. It is an age old technique used by ancient Greeks. I like how they used the idea here.

 

Here is more scientific analysis about building mind palace -

 

http://www.salon.com/2014/02/09/its_not_so_elementary_the_secrets_of_sherlocks_mind_palace/

 

 

 

BTW, I like the first ending when the plane took off with Sherlock, I almost cried at that point. But the second ending was okey too, especially when John referred Holmes as "East wind". I like to think Moriarty isn't really alive, someone is using his face to terrorize England, may be a new villain. I like to ignore the teaser at the end of the credit.

 

 

And at last I want to share a nice youtube video here on season 3. It summarizes the whole season just poetically. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Txf3qiXPCv8&feature=youtu.be

[Carol the Dabbler]

That's pretty much the buzz around the internet that the rose is from Adler.

 

I don't follow any kind of buzz so I had no idea. I didn't even remember seeing a rose:)

 

I had read about it yesterday, so was kinda looking for it when we watched the episode last night, and still didn't see it.  But judging from the picture I've seen, it was somewhere in the corner of the room by Sherlock's left foot, and they didn't much show that corner.

 

But if it's from Irene Adler, what would  "W" be for?

Maybe her professional name -- The Woman?

[Pamela]

That makes sense.

[Carol the Dabbler]

BTW, I like the first ending when the plane took off with Sherlock, I almost cried at that point. But the second ending was okey too, especially when John referred Holmes as "East wind". I like to think Moriarty isn't really alive, someone is using his face to terrorize England, may be a new villain. I like to ignore the teaser at the end of the credit.

Yes, I love John's "east wind" line!

 

And I like to think of what you call the "teaser" as just that -- merely an advertisement for Series 4, rather than anything that actually happened.

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

 

Maybe her professional name -- The Woman?

 

  Especially since "Irene Adler" is supposed to be dead. So she probably wouldn't be using anything close to Irene or Adler.

[T.o.b.y]

What do you think Sherlock was going to say to John at the airfield, before he turned it into a joke about his name?

 

Nothing. When I saw the episode the first time, I wondered the same thing but by now, I think it was just Sherlock's well-tried way of pulling John's leg. He knows his friend isn't comfortable with "this honest stuff" and the whole situation is way too laden with emotion for both of them, so he makes John brace himself for some kind of embarrassing declaration and then blurts out "Sherlock is a girl's name" to make him laugh and lighten the mood. It's kind of like on the train in The Empty Hearse.

[Sacker]

Loved it, loved it. Excellent stuff. Not even sure where to begin. LOVED Molly hitting Sherlock repeatedly and then scolding him. I love her strength with him. That scene blew me away. She's so heavy in it, so much her very own person taking matters into her own hands. *swoon*

;-)

 

I KNEW there was something to Mary! She looked completely at home in her assassin's gear. I like that even though there is some healing between them, she mentions that it has been months. The distrust and the hurt are deep and real. John has to really make peace with it all and it doesn't happen over night, just as it wouldn't in real life.

 

Second viewing tomorrow, so I'll have a better handle on my thoughts. Outstanding. Best of season three, by far. Glad they showed the plane turning around. Knowing that we have a year at least before another episode, I didn't want a cliffhanger. We got enough mystery to keep us pondering during the long break, but not so much that it becomes a burden.

 

Again, hats off to this episode. Fantastic.

[T.o.b.y]

Wow, somebody who likes this "at first sight"! I took me about five repeats and it's still not my favorite episode (but I do like it a lot now). Molly slapping Sherlock was - okay, I guess, but I didn't cheer. Does it really make a woman "her very own person" to hit somebody? I am beginning to feel that those who have told me Moffat has a certain idea of what makes women "strong" and that idea is pretty limited to bad-ass violence, are probably right. Irene was fine (for me). Mary was - a surprise, and not altogether a very good one (I don't mind her being something "bad" - and we don't even know about that, as I have already gone on about, she's probably just another dragon slayer - but I think the assassin idea is boring and corny). But does Molly really have to conform to that pattern, too?