Episode 3.3, "His Last Vow"

[Slithytove]

Mary has already taken up arms again - against Sherlock. I don't see how John can consign that event to "the problems of your past" and write it off. He lived through it, he was affected by it and it must still have repercussions for everyone involved. It can't become irrelevant. I don't understand how a man like John could take the line that their lives begin now and what went before doesn't matter - even if he doesn't want to know about her previous murders (!), he does already know what she did to his best friend and he can't delete it from his memory.

 

It makes sense that CAM enjoys the possession of power rather than its use. It does seem a bit inconsistent that Sherlock knows CAM possesses some evidence at least (e,g, the Smallwood letters) and admits he can send for anything he needs, thus suggesting that he does keep evidence somewhere, yet Sherlock seems to believe in the Mind Palace and kills CAM after confirming that the Appledore vaults exist only in his mind. If CAM does have evidence he can send for, then someone is keeping it for him. That person could still use it for blackmail, so killing CAM doesn't really solve anything.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Unless the "letters" that CAM flashed at Baker Street were a sham, bait.....something to keep Lady Smallwood,  thus Sherlock and/or who ever else his victims might go to for mediation, on the string. CAM's actions were highly criminal. If he wasn't being protected by Mycroft and M16 or who ever else Mycroft was moonlighting with, any number of governments would be after their pound of flesh through courts or what ever channels they decided were open to them.

 

 CAM wouldn't trust anyone else with his information. No one else was in his class. Everyone else would be beneath him in intelligence and cleverness. As far as he was concerned, CAM owned the world. As he told Lady Smallwood: "The whole world is wet to my touch." and tI don't think he was just talking about "his condition".

 

 He also tells her: "Facts are for history books. I work in news."

 

  He was a consummate  liar ....he didn't care about facts or the truth. He bent information to fit his own world view and purposes.

[Arcadia]

Are we referring to the letters CAM showed to be in his pocket as he left Baker Street? Those were obviously a sham, weren't they? I thought that was established, but I haven't seen the episode in a while, I may be mis-remembering.

 

I figured the "hard evidence"  that CAM could "access as needed" was scattered world-wide. No one had to keep it for him, he just had to remember where it was -- and who to pressure into giving it to him, I suppose. Now he's gone, lots of people may have different bits of evidence but perhaps neither the will, the wealth nor the wits to use them.

 

I found it odd, actually, that Mary's history was on a thumb drive. Where'd she get that thing, anyway? Why keep it, and not destroy it herself? Maybe it contained stuff that could have protected her, as well as damned her. Ooopsie!

 

You're right, Slithytove, somehow I wasn't considering her attack on Sherlock. (!!!) So there's forgiveness in John's actions as well. As there was towards Sherlock. Of the two, it would be interesting to know who John thinks he has been more hurt by. Altho I suspect he's supposed to be the type of person who doesn't really think that way; he's almost as at sea with emotions as his best friend is. Hope we get a little more inside John's head next time, I sorta missed him this time around.

 

 

[sherlockandjohn]

Mary has already taken up arms again - against Sherlock. I don't see how John can consign that event to "the problems of your past" and write it off.

 

That's where the 'surgery' explanation comes in and supposedly redeems Mary, but in my opinion it is a vague explanation. It doesn't seem consistent with Sherlock actually suffering a heart failure. I do believe Mofftiss mean for us to buy it, though - not to present John as an uncaring friend. If that's what they intend to do, I don't buy that either! Not after them spending 8 episodes building up a great, great friendship between John and Sherlock.

[sherlockandjohn]

 

You're right, Slithytove, somehow I wasn't considering her attack on Sherlock. (!!!) So there's forgiveness in John's actions as well. As there was towards Sherlock. Of the two, it would be interesting to know who John thinks he has been more hurt by. Altho I suspect he's supposed to be the type of person who doesn't really think that way; he's almost as at sea with emotions as his best friend is. Hope we get a little more inside John's head next time, I sorta missed him this time around.

 

John seems to be the 'roll with the punches' sort of person; not one to carry a grudge or be overly sensitive.

 

The following of his words may indicate who he feels he's been most hurt by: "It's not funny. Not this time." I believe the 'not this time' comment is supposed to lead our thoughts to TEH and Sherlock's return. He made a joke of coming back as a French waiter, and then a few days later pulled another big prank while tricking John into saying he forgave him. If I'm correct, then John apparently feels more hurt by Mary's deceit - maybe because they're married, after all. Personally I would trust Mary less than Sherlock at this point. Perhaps John feels the same way.

[Slithytove]

I agree that we are probably supposed to accept the surgery explanation, and that is what makes me feel the writers are trying to twist our arms - to make us say, "Oh, okay then...." to something which is very much not okay. And it is such a feeble excuse, and improbable too. John, with his experience as an army doctor on active service, would surely be the least likely person to believe it, particularly as he was present after the shooting and clearly expected (judging by his words in the ambulance and when Mary arrived at the hospital) that Sherlock would die.

 

Of course, I may be misjudging the writers and they may have all sorts of surprises in store for S4, maybe proving that neither Sherlock or John really believed the surgery nonsense for a minute. Hope so, anyway.

 

To return briefly to CAM.....Were the letters fake? I don't remember that bit. They must have existed at some point, as Lady Smallwood obviously knew about them. I suppose his blackmail evidence might be scattered, but why should it be? If I wanted to blackmail people, and had hard evidence against them, I would make sure I kept it somewhere very safe and that I could trust the person who had to send it to me when I needed it.

[Arcadia]

This seemed appropriate at this juncture......

 

[sherlockandjohn]

Hmmm... Wonder if they meant Moriarty. I doubt they were thinking about Mary here. I mean, if they foresaw our issues with some of the explanations (like the surgery explanation) in HLV, wouldn't they have prevented them? Or am I just being naive? Probably. Who knows what they've got up their sleeve.

[Slithytove]

It is very hard to second-guess Moftiss. Look what they did to TRF. Took a storyline which was perfectly coherent and destroyed it. So we had Sherlock, cornered by the destruction of his reputation and realising that a confrontation was inevitable, sending John away to protect him, turning to Molly for help and finally jumping to save his friends. Okay, the logistics were never going to make sense - when did he get time to set everything up? what if Jim hadn't shot himself? - but the story made sense. Then, in TEH, they tore it to bits. Sherlock and Mycroft planned the whole thing, he only needed Molly's help with a small (and seemingly pointless) part of the plan and need not have asked her at the last moment, and he didn't need to jump really because Mycroft's people got to the snipers.....

 

So I'm not very hopeful that S4 will preserve the integrity of S3's storylines. I suspect they will throw in whatever they want, even if it leaves us going, "What? But how....? Didn't he....?"

[Carol the Dabbler]

I get the feeling that they (meaning basically Moffat, I suspect) think they're being oh-so-clever when they confuse us.  But I don't find inconsistency to be terribly clever.  In fact, I think it's roughly on a par with "your shoelace is untied" -- "Ha-ha, made you look!"

 

Arcadia -- Is that "newspaper clipping" something that some fan faked up, or is it for real?  (At this point, I could easily believe either.)

 

[Arcadia]

FAKED! Found in some humor thingy. Sorry, should have put one of these next to it... 

 

Faked, but true nevertheless

[Zain]

It is very hard to second-guess Moftiss. Look what they did to TRF. Took a storyline which was perfectly coherent and destroyed it. So we had Sherlock, cornered by the destruction of his reputation and realising that a confrontation was inevitable, sending John away to protect him, turning to Molly for help and finally jumping to save his friends. Okay, the logistics were never going to make sense - when did he get time to set everything up? what if Jim hadn't shot himself? - but the story made sense. Then, in TEH, they tore it to bits. Sherlock and Mycroft planned the whole thing, he only needed Molly's help with a small (and seemingly pointless) part of the plan and need not have asked her at the last moment, and he didn't need to jump really because Mycroft's people got to the snipers.....

 

 

 

 

God, you are so right.

 

I mean, I didn't expect them to come up with anything clever. I didn't even care much for the logistics. The main elements were clear: ball to stop pulse, John had stopped so he wasn't allowed to see something, Molly is involved. Fans have come up with dozens of likely ways how Sherlock could have faked it. I doubt anyone who kept up to date with the fandom was terribly surprised by the solution. Well, by the Sherlock/Jim kiss solution, maybe.

It was merely a question of how "clever" they would make their solution. There are very elaborate "fall strategies", and there are very simple ones out there. I expected their solution to be somewhere in the middle. I cared more about their reunion

.

While I do not particularly dislike TEH, I still think they botched it up somewhat. It's quite funny: I believe most people had come to the conclusion that Sherlock jumped, and then he took out all those secret next-in-commands who would obey Jim's last order if they heard even the slightest whisper of Sherlock's continued existence. He more or less managed, the last "target" is in London, that's why he returns and endangers John. While John is terribly angry, Sherlock at least has got something to prove that he had a reason to act the way he did. End of story. Instead, Sherlock returns and never explains what he did, or why he returned now and not later or earlier. What has changed? For all we know from season three, Sherlock spent three years merrily globetrotting to find his spiritual balance before he got caught up by accident in Serbia while sight-seeing. Sure, a full explanation is not likely, it even goes against canon. But he never even hints at it for John to draw his own conclusions. No hint whatsoever when usually the writers bombard us with them.

The writers deliberately mess up the entire TRF impression (I loved TRF!) to show that Sherlock had no good reason at all to fake his death.

 

I mean, I don't know if I am the only one: But the fall seemed to be the one good thing Sherlock did. Even if he faked his death, he had to organize everything on a short note, and I refuse to believe he faked all those emotions. I refuse to believe everything "went as planned."

 

I still don't understand why the writers chose this solution. It's not particularly clever. It's not particularly emotional. I can't figure out any reason whatsoever why this is preferable to what TRF had hinted at. Not just from a fan's perspective, but from a writer's. It doesn't make much sense to me. I mean... it's not just a matter of "something not functioning." Rather, I cannot even see the stylistic device in there.

 

And I can only hope that there's a reason, and that everything will turn out to be connected.

Sherlock's sudden reutrn to England. Mycroft's mission in Eastern Europe. The big plot hole: why Mycroft had a file on John which contained no picture of Mary. I mean, did he deliberately blend her out? He apparently didn't have a background check made on her, either. Well, maybe she's not his type.

[Slithytove]

Absolutely, Zain. Why undermine the whole plot line of TRF, which worked so well and had so much emotional impact? As you say, the fans provided plenty of solutions (and wrote at length about the pain which Sherlock suffered because he had to deceive John to save his life, and about John's rage turning to acceptance and forgiveness when he understood Sherlock had no choice), so why did the writers decide to make it all a set up, with no lives at stake and no compelling reason either for Sherlock to jump or to keep John in the dark? The explanation in TEH just tears down everything that TRF built up, and for no good reason. I too don't accept that Sherlock's emotions were faked. What would be the point? Jim is dead, John is much too far away to see tears, so who would Sherlock be trying to fool?

 

Mycroft's ignorance regarding Mary is baffling. No photos of her in John's file, no background checks, despite the fact that she would be in very close proximity to Sherlock, who had just spent two years undercover working against a criminal network. Wouldn't you think Mycroft, with his Secret Services connections, would want to be sure that anyone getting close to Sherlock wasn't a survivor of that network? Apparently not.....And yet he abducted John as soon as he moved into Sherlock's life, and had done an extensive background check on him within 24 hours, even to the extent to learning confidential information about his therapy. Are we also expected to believe that Mycroft, who is supposed to be even more brilliant than his brother, couldn't find out the identity of Sherlock's shooter? Or that he would be forgiving, as Sherlock apparently is?

 

When I think about the things that bug me about S3, I sometimes wonder why I love it so much. Maybe it is because it has so much drama and so much pace that it sweeps us along, even when we are aware of gaping plot holes and some really annoying plot developments (the Xmas reconciliation scene - aargh!). Maybe it is because the performances are so good. Or maybe it is just because I am prepared to make allowances for Sherlock Holmes.

 

Still hoping S 4 will make sense of it all, though.

[T.o.b.y]

When I think about the things that bug me about S3, I sometimes wonder why I love it so much. Maybe it is because it has so much drama and so much pace that it sweeps us along, even when we are aware of gaping plot holes and some really annoying plot developments (the Xmas reconciliation scene - aargh!). Maybe it is because the performances are so good. Or maybe it is just because I am prepared to make allowances for Sherlock Holmes.

 

Still hoping S 4 will make sense of it all, though.

 

I feel the same way. When I first saw The Empty Hearse and His Last Vow, I was horribly disappointed. Only The Sign of Three appealed to me right away, though even while I was watching that, my brain kept trying to tell me it shouldn't at all.

I have given up all hope for future series making more sense. I expect the contrary: Moriarty's return alone will require so many logical contortions that my reason will probably explode after the first half hour. But, that is all true to the original. Doyle's plots made not an ounce more sense and coherence was virtually non-existent (for example, Lestrade's physical appearance changed from story to story, Moriarty's brother had the same first name as the professor himself and Watson's war wound wandered around from shoulder to leg to god knows where. Plus, Holmes was definitely supposed to be dead after The Fall and the original solution was thrown together in hindsight.)

 

Still, I enjoy the new episodes a lot. An awful lot. And they grew on me, especially His Last Vow.

 

Mycroft's indifference concerning Mary is indeed a giant plot hole! And there is also no way in which can make sense of him not bothering to find out who shot his brother. Mycroft must have been aware of Mary's existence before Sherlock's return; he told him John had a dinner reservation and where, so he must have known with whom.

 

[sherlockandjohn]

To be honest, I don't understand how Mofftiss live with their own giant plot holes. I - and so many others - have a need to make sense of things. How they just live with making up things as they go along, never mind the inconsistency with previous episodes, is beyond me. But, hey, it's theirs to do with what they want! At this point, I realise I have to detach myself enough to simply enjoy the ride, as far as possible

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

 

Mycroft's indifference concerning Mary is indeed a giant plot hole! And there is also no way in which can make sense of him not bothering to find out who shot his brother. Mycroft must have been aware of Mary's existence before Sherlock's return; he told him John had a dinner reservation and where, so he must have known with whom.

 

  Unless he Mycroft already knew Mary before hand. It may not be as big a plot hole as we may think. Gatiss has said that there are going to be some common threads running through the last few episodes brought together so that the audience will be filled in on where the whole story line was going so I'm anticipating some pretty surprising reveals in Season Four.

[Arcadia]

Oh, I hope so. I think. Hmm, I should be careful what I wish for....

 

O gawd, what if Mary's the 3rd Holmes sibling......

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

 

O gawd, what if Mary's the 3rd Holmes sibling......

 

  Mycroft and Mummy and Daddy Holmes will have a lot to answer for for keeping all of that from Sherlock....would make it interesting...but then....when isn't it ever?

 

 But then, everyone in that family has a lot to answer for, it seems.

[sherlockandjohn]

Forgive me for gushing about Sherlock for a moment, but he is really something in HLV. Despite Mary pleading with him not to tell John, he goes behind her back and sets up a big revelation, but also makes sure to bring up the fact that she didn't try to have him killed, merely hospitalised. Setting aside my feelings about the surgery explanation, I do appreciate that Sherlock has a big enough heart to not go down on Mary for shooting him. He's more concerned about John, which is evident from the ruthless way in which he exposes Mary, and yet the caring way in which he stands up for her. He then continues his attempts to mend their damaged relationship over the following months, it seems, until John decides to move forward, together with his wife. And, of course, I need not mention his actions at Appledore...

[Carol the Dabbler]

To be honest, I don't understand how Mofftiss live with their own giant plot holes. I - and so many others - have a need to make sense of things. How they just live with making up things as they go along, never mind the inconsistency with previous episodes, is beyond me. But, hey, it's theirs to do with what they want! At this point, I realise I have to detach myself enough to simply enjoy the ride, as far as possible

 

I seriously believe that they (i.e., Moffat) take such childish delight in "fooling" us that they're willing to change plots in midstream to accomplish it.

[sherlockandjohn]

I suspect you're right! I just wonder at their willingness to do so... Wouldn't you have to detach yourself from previous episodes in order to change plots along the line? And how do you detach yourself from your own scripts? But maybe that's the (very questionable) advantage to having three script writers take turns.

[Zain]

 

 

Forgive me for gushing about Sherlock for a moment, but he is really something in HLV. Despite Mary pleading with him not to tell John, he goes behind her back and sets up a big revelation, but also makes sure to bring up the fact that she didn't try to have him killed, merely hospitalised. Setting aside my feelings about the surgery explanation, I do appreciate that Sherlock has a big enough heart to not go down on Mary for shooting him. He's more concerned about John, which is evident from the ruthless way in which he exposes Mary, and yet the caring way in which he stands up for her. He then continues his attempts to mend their damaged relationship over the following months, it seems, until John decides to move forward, together with his wife. And, of course, I need not mention his actions at Appledore...

 

 

So, do you propose, sherlockandjohn, that they deliberately took out Sherlock's reason for jumping because they wanted it to be a big reveal that he has got a heart in HLV?

I agree that they were very keen on showing us how great a character Sherlock can be, and how selfless. It didn't come as much of a surprise to me, though. Because of TRF, people have been portraying Sherlock in that light for quite some time. Maybe we were just three episodes ahead of the writers? And that's why they decided to "set us back." Otherwise there's not much "oh god, did he really" but rather "oh, he did again sacrifice himself." 

If we look at it, that's what Sherlock does in HLV. And because of the motives we were given in TRF, we also thought ( and I STILL BELIEVE!) he had sacrificed his own needs and time for those he loves.

That's still a shallow reason to disrupt TRF's neat line of reason, though.

 

 

[sherlockandjohn]

I had not thought of that possibility, but that certainly is the effect, isn't it? Sherlock, in TEH, shows us just how big an a*** he can be. Not exclusively, though; yes, he makes light of a very serious situation that he himself caused, but he did have his reasons for faking his suicide. Like he said, Moriarty had to be stopped. And he is obviously distressed in the midst of his joking.

Anyway, in TSo3 and HLV he comes off as more understanding - possibly in the wake of fearing for losing John's friendship? (A thought that only just occurred.) If it hadn't been for his behavior in TEH, this wouldn't have had the same emotional impact on us. Good point.

 

Zain, if you should feel inclined to, I would love to hear you elaborate on the motives for Sherlock jumping off the roof in the thread for TEH. It's generally been considered that since Mycroft called off John's sniper, Sherlock didn't have to jump. I'm not sure about that myself... but I'll go elaborate on that in the TEH thread now.

[sherlockandjohn]

Changing the subject, again: The confrontation in Baker Street is, to me, one of the most incredible scenes of any film or episode. Let us disregard the fact that John is presented, from my perspective, a bit "off" here.

 

1. The scene delves fairly deep into psychology, and does so very delicately.

 

2. The writing and acting is excuisite.

 

3. The characters come off as both more dark and more human, showing a different side to all three (John, Mary, and Sherlock) than we've known before, at least to the same degree.

 

4. It is highly emotionally charged without being more dramatic than the situation calls for.

 

5. The situation is extremely tense, and relationships are in crises (John/Mary and John/Sherlock), yet the way it is handled calls for empathy for all three people. At least, that's what I feel. I understand why it's difficult to feel empathy for Mary, though, but I do. She stands to lose everything she loves. And the way John says to her, "That's what you are now, Mary; you're a client," actually breaks my heart, even though she has only herself to blame for being in this situation.

But my favorite part is, of course, the bond between Sherlock and John. I love how their mutual understanding and bond is demonstrated in this little part of the conversation:

Sherlock: "What is she?"

John: "Okay, your way. Always your way."

In the midst of the crisis and John's anger, he is listening to Sherlock's reasoning.

[Slithytove]

Though John disappointed me a lot in HLV, particularly in the Xmas scene and at the airfield, I thought he got a raw deal in the Baker Street confrontation. He is understandably outraged to learn that his wife has lied to him about everything, even her identity, and that she is a killer who nearly caused the death of the other person he loves most in the world. On top of that, he can't easily walk away from her because she's carrying his child. No wonder he wants to shout and kick the furniture.

 

Then Mary and Sherlock, who have both deceived him in different ways, tell him he is in this situation because he likes it! Because he is addicted to danger and to dangerous people......They imply that he somehow knew subconsciously that Mary was dangerous and thus chose to be with her, even though she had never shown this side of herself to him or given him any clues and even though the brilliant detective himself apparently failed to deduce the truth. If Sherlock took Mary at face value, how was John expected to know what she was?

 

So John, who had done nothing wrong, is told that he brought this upon himself - and he believes it, because Sherlock and Mary tell him so, Doesn't seem fair that he should end up getting the blame.

 

The only thing I would blame him for, a bit, is not noticing that Sherlock is on the verge of collapse. Even though John is naturally upset and angry, as a doctor he might be expected to notice that the victim of a very recent gunshot wound, who should have been in a hospital bed, was bleeding internally and about to go into cardiac arrest for the second time.....