Episode 3.3, "His Last Vow"

[by the sea]

Watched this ep last night.  I feel a sense of grief when it's over because I know how long I'll have to wait until I get to see Sherlock and John and the gang again.  I shake my head at this as I have the DVDs for all 3 series and can watch them whenever I want to, but I want more ... I want new stories ... I want more Sherlock !!  I don't honestly think I've felt this way about a TV show before.  What have Moftiss done to me ??

 

Debbie

 

 

 

 

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Welcome to the club, Debbie! 

 

That's why we're all here, trying to distract ourselves.

 

[by the sea]

Welcome to the club, Debbie! 

 

That's why we're all here, trying to distract ourselves.

 

Thanks, Carol !  I'm going to start a little dabbling myself ... my e-book reader had the complete works of Arthur Conan Doyle for $2.99 !  I haven't read as many of the actual Sherlock stories as many people here seem to have done, although I have read some ... a long time ago.  So, I'm going to brush up on my Sherlock !  I'm hoping the picture of Mr. Cumberbatch communicating with witnesses on several laptops all at once won't interfere with trying to get back to Victorian England.     I'm afraid it might be hard to ignore the memory of the fluffy curls !  

 

Debbie 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

If you have watched any of Jeremy Brett's portrayal of Holmes, that helps. I am hearing his voice now when I read something from the original. Not always....but sometimes.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Since you read some of Conan Doyle's stories a while back, Debbie, you're ahead of where I was when I discovered Sherlock.  At that point, I had probably seen some of the Rathbone movies (simply because my father watched them on our television), and I had definitely seen virtually all of the Brett episodes -- but near as I recall, I had never read one single word of Conan Doyle.

 

That has changed now, of course.  I had to read A Study in Scarlet, "A Scandal in Bohemia," and "The Final Problem" between Series 1 and 2 (though I didn't make it all the way through The Hound of the Baskervilles till recently).  And when people on the forum mention interesting passages in various other stories, well then I have to read them too.  This place is insidious!

 

[Arcadia]

Welcome to the club, Debbie! 

 

That's why we're all here, trying to distract ourselves.

Oh, is that what we call it?  

[by the sea]

Distraction sounds good to me.  I was reading online that there was talk Series 4 might start filming sometime at the end of this summer ... bearing in mind that here in Eastern Canada we're expecting snow tonight so I think Summer is actually a figment of somebody's evil imagination ... Jim Moriarty perhaps  ... but now that is unlikely.  So, goodness knows when we'll see it.  Suffice it to say that HLV has all of the characters in a good place ... Sherlock is back, John and Mary are expecting a girl they won't call Sherlock ... John's chair is in Sherlock's flat so any time he wants to he can use it ... Mycroft is still able to persuade the British government that there is a need for the likes of Sherlock Holmes ... and JM is plotting bad things all over the place.  Sheesh ... that only makes it harder to wait, doesn't it ?  

 

Debbie

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

I think that is the brain child of Mofftiss. They have refined the "Sherlock Holmes drug" to such a potency that it is absolutely irresistible and then meters it out in the smallest of doses. They know that we are hooked and will wait no matter how long it takes for the next dose to appear.

[T.o.b.y]

Suffice it to say that HLV has all of the characters in a good place ...

 

Aren't they? I could stop watching after series 3 if I wanted to. It would have been hard after The Reichenbach Fall (although everything was essentially okay then, too), but this time, there's really not much of a cliffhanger (thank god!) and the mood is much more hopeful. For me! I know a lot of viewers would strongly disagree...

 

Isn't it curious how cool John's reaction to the news that Moriarty is back is? The man nearly blew him up and would have had him shot if Mycroft's people had not intervened. John must know that aside from Sherlock, he is Moriarty's prime target (because of Sherlock). But all he has to say is "he'd better wrap up warm - there's an East Wind coming!" It seems that John really does still believe in the great Sherlock Holmes who will of course have a plan and make sure that the villain has a lot more to worry about than themselves. Everybody else is in shock and John just kind of goes oh well, too bad for Moriarty!

[Carol the Dabbler]

I just can't help loving that John Watson!

 

And yes, apparently they've given up on any filming this year (see Alex's recent post here -- but also my post following that one).

 

[Slithytove]

 

 

Welcome to the club, Debbie!

 

That's why we're all here, trying to distract ourselves.

Oh, is that what we call it?

For me, it is a major distraction from real life. The older of our two daughters and her husband are relocating to the US, taking four of our six grandkids with them. At the moment, they're in the process of applying for visas. I'm putting on a brave face but I'm dying inside. Reading Sherlock fanfic and joining in the discussions on these forums provides a welcome distraction, so I'm not thinking constantly about my family going away. It has helped to save my sanity, such as it is...

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Wow, Slithylove....that is large chunk taken out of the heart.....but we will be here for you if you ever need to vent. We can't take the place of your real family but we'll do our best, I'm sure.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Goodness, yes, you're clearly in need of distraction right now.

 

What part of the US is your daughter and her family moving to?

 

[Pamela]

I "third" that sentiment.

[Slithytove]

Thank you, all of you. You are very kind.

 

My son-in-law has been offered a very good job in Madison, Wisconsin. They have been to look around and say it is a nice place and the people seem very friendly, which is true, I'm sure - but it is more than 3,000 miles away from us. They've never lived further away than a 15 minute drive.

 

I am trying to be happy for them because it is a big opportunity and they are all very excited, but it's very hard. I know I am lucky to have my other daughter, who lives with us and her husband and their two darling little girls, but I am still going to miss them so much. I can't help feeling as if they'll be so far away, it will be as if they are dead. Everyone keeps telling me that that's silly, because there is the phone, and Skype and we can visit - though not very often, in my opinion, as it's very expensive and my husband and I will soon be pensioners - and I keep agreeing but, in my heart, I still feel like we're losing them.

 

Sorry. You see why I waste so much time thinking about silly things like Sherlock!

[Carol the Dabbler]

It's true that Madison is a nice place.  But it's also true that it's nowhere near Leicester.

 

It's gotta be toughest for you and your husband.  It's probably easier for them.  When I was in my twenties, I moved out of Indiana and visited home only a few times over the next ten years, and not all that often for another twenty years.  For me, it was an adventure, but my parents worried about me till Alex and I finally moved back here.

 

You might want to check into various phone deals.  Alex has relatives in the East, so we have unlimited long-distance calling within the US for one flat monthly fee.  There's probably something similar available for overseas calls.  And people who are more tech-savvy than I am can probably tell you about other methods over the internet, etc.

 

[T.o.b.y]

Sorry. You see why I waste so much time thinking about silly things like Sherlock!

 

What's to be sorry about? I feel for you. I come from an intercontinental family myself, and all our modern communication can't make up for direct contact, I know. But you get used to it over time... And it's a lovely excuse for making use of old-fashioned snail mail, sending nice cards and packages and so on.

 

As for wasting time thinking about Sherlock, I'd say, go right ahead! A good stock of fiction to escape to has certainly kept me sane for years... I'm looking forward to many great discussions with you - your posts are always so inviting for a friendly disagreement (and if it comes across as not so friendly, let me know, please...).

 

 

I do wish Moftiss hadn't had Mary shoot Sherlock. 

 

Okay, another occasion for friendly disagreement! I actually am very happy about that incident. For me, things were going a bit too smoothly between our three friends. I had originally hoped for a dynamic similar to the one between John, Sherlock and Sarah in The Blind Banker, but this is even better - it's so, well, odd. Unique. Intriguing. Sherlock's attitude towards Mary is very curious. It's really as if she can do anything she likes with or to him. He's not his usual self with her. He's never even rude. I wonder why.

 

This show just never gets boring.

 

[Slithytove]

Thank you. I know it is hard for the people caught up in the excitement of moving to understand what it feels like for those left behind. I am dreading the day they leave, even though I know it will take a while for them to sort out their relocation details and their visas, etc.

 

I'm sure your family must be glad you moved back, Carol. I hope the same will happen with my daughter, and hopefully the grandkids too (though our 18 year old grandson keeps saying he wants to become an American citizen as soon as possible.). Your suggestion about the phones is a good one. We'll look round and see if we can find a deal. People also say Skype is good. I am not clever with computers, nor is my husband, but our younger daughter is pretty good with technology so I hope she'll be able to sort out any problems.

 

Thank God for the distractions of Sherlock....

[Slithytove]

As far as plot developments are concerned, I think that Mary shooting Sherlock was very dramatic. I just didn't like the way they wrote John's character after that. Sherlock's attitude to Mary is definitely odd - he literally lets her get away with murder. I am hoping it will all be a facade and that the real reasons for his behaviour will be revealed in S4. Probably not, but these writers have very convoluted minds. Maybe they will surprise us.

[T.o.b.y]

They are certainly good at making their protagonists behave differently from what we expect, without completely writing them out of character, though. As John said, with Sherlock, it's always the unexpected.

 

If I look at the story from my favorite perspective, as if it were all real and happening independently of any author's intention to mess with the audience, I'd say Sherlock can't afford to be antagonistic towards Mary, because that could mean losing John's friendship, which is on wobbly legs anyway since the The Fall. And even if that weren't the case, it makes things very difficult if you don't like your best friend's partner. I guess Sherlock does probably feel a bit jealous on some level, and lonely, too, but knows those feelings wouldn't be helpful to anybody, so he puts them aside and over-compensates by falling (blindly) in love with Mary himself, so to speak. Because if he does, he's on John's side again, and sharing the most important aspect of his life. I love it when the photographer in The Sign of Three says "just the bride and groom, please", and Sherlock doesn't budge. As if he's just gotten married to Mary, too.

[Arcadia]

I also thought that he accepted her because she seemed to be on his side after the not-so-successful reunion with John. And she made efforts to include him in their lives afterwards. And, yes, because he couldn't afford not to accept her.

[Slithytove]

Or to John. (Married, that is.)

[T.o.b.y]

I also thought that he accepted her because she seemed to be on his side after the not-so-successful reunion with John. And she made efforts to include him in their lives afterwards.

 

Oh yes, yes, yes, of course. I'm sure Sherlock would have liked her fine if he had gotten to know her independently. But none of the other people he likes are spared his usual rudeness and arrogance the way Mary is, which is why I think he's overcompensating for something and / or afraid to antagonize her.

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Congratulations T.o.b.y for your 1,500th post and your becoming a Consulting Detective!!!  

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

I'm still standing on the position that he learned something that makes him confident that some how she is worth keeping around.

 

He's not easily intimidated, he's not a coward, and I really can't believe that he would leave John in her close company if she was the true threat. He fought his way back from death because his subconscious told him that John was in some real danger.....but it has to be more then just her....or it's a case of "hold your friends close but your enemies closer."  But he felt she was worth killing a man for.....so there is something he and Mycroft knows but we don't.

 

  At least that's what my gut is telling me.....and it could be wrong....but I have to go with it.