Episode 3.3, "His Last Vow"

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

I'm really getting to like that concept. It does make a lot of sense. Each episode is a stand alone but like "TGG" and "ASiB"....there is a definite link...and of course Moriarty is the thread that ties them all together from "ASiP" right up through to "HLV".

 

And it is also the learning and growing process for Sherlock Holmes as well.

[T.o.b.y]

Interesting article... There were some statements that made me want to comment on them, so I'll just go ahead and do so here, where the probability of anyone being seriously annoyed at that is probably comparatively low.

 

 

  This was the episode the fans actually wanted.

 

Uh... sure? I can't judge from anything but this forum, but: hands up all those who really, really wanted an episode just like His Last Vow...

 

Pretty quickly we learn that Sherlock hasn't suddenly developed the capacity to love (...) Clearly, Sherlock hasn't developed the capacity for compassion.

 

 

Nonsense, if you ask me. He might not be in love with Janine, but I think if series 3 goes to show anything, it is that Sherlock Holmes does, indeed, have a heart and uses it. More than he'd like, probably... And he shows quite a lot of compassion as well, towards Molly, towards clients, towards Mary...

 

Without the sappy previous episodes, and the inevitable fan response that the show had lost its way, we would never have been convinced that Mary and John were going to settle down, and that Mary had simply wandered into Sherlock's life by chance in a show where nothing happens by coincidence.

 

 

Ahem. I protest against the word "sappy" being used for The Sign of Three (although it is probably true). And it was The Sign of Three where I went, with a relieved sigh, "oh, they've still got it after all", not His Last Vow. And it was pretty obvious that something was going to happen with Mary...

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

A blog is a blog is a blog. Everyone has his/her interpretation. I surely don't agree with everything in the article. If the writer can't see Sherlock's growth and depth of heart...then shame on them. They may be seeing....but boy, in no way are they observing.

[sherlockandjohn]

Well, the thing we'll all have to keep in mind when S4 airs is not to take any episode too much by itself but that they go together as an arc...

 

Ah, where was that advice prior to HLV? I really could have used it! It's a good point, and one of the reasons why I've come to appreciate this episode more and more. Same thing with TSoT (although I liked that a whole lot better than HLV upon the first viewing). They both contribute to a beautiful character arc (of Sherlock's), if perhaps I don't feel entirely comfortable with the story arc. It's exciting, no doubt, but perhaps a little too dramatic? On that note, I'm all in favor of this being a drama series, not a detective show - as long as it's still mainly detective work forming the backdrop. More cases should also include more Lestrade; an additional bonus for sure.

[sfmpco]

I totally agree about wanting it to be more of a drama than a strict detective series, and I actually think it is although i think it took them a little while to get their bearings about it.  We love the deductions but the detective series in general have been done ad nauseum.  You know?  That's part of the reason why TBB puts me off a bit.  I'm more forgiving of ASIP because it's the beginning of the series and so much foundation work is done, and I'm more forgiving of HOB because there's interesting character stuff with Sherlock... plus Russel Tovey is riveting in his portrayal of Henry Knight.  

 

But solving cases is not nearly as interesting as the interactions between all our main characters against the backdrop of a case, and I for one could watch those interactions all day without ever having a case to solve!

[sherlockandjohn]

Interesting article... There were some statements that made me want to comment on them, so I'll just go ahead and do so here, where the probability of anyone being seriously annoyed at that is probably comparatively low.

 

 

  This was the episode the fans actually wanted.

 

Uh... sure? I can't judge from anything but this forum, but: hands up all those who really, really wanted an episode just like His Last Vow...

 

Considering that my initial reaction to the episode was pretty much shock and horror (except from Sherlock's character arc), I'd have to say... no. I'm not sure I'd rather have been without it now, though. Like I suggested, Sherlock's character developed beautifully, and we really could not have seen the extent of that if he hadn't been shot by John's wife, only to end up working as sort of a "therapist" to her and John, and killing the villain in order to protect them.

[sfmpco]

Sherlock did an incredible amount of character growth in HLV.  Can't wait to see how that continues.

[sherlockandjohn]

I totally agree about wanting it to be more of a drama than a strict detective series, and I actually think it is although i think it took them a little while to get their bearings about it.  We love the deductions but the detective series in general have been done ad nauseum.  You know?  That's part of the reason why TBB puts me off a bit.  I'm more forgiving of ASIP because it's the beginning of the series and so much foundation work is done, and I'm more forgiving of HOB because there's interesting character stuff with Sherlock... plus Russel Tovey is riveting in his portrayal of Henry Knight.  

 

But solving cases is not nearly as interesting as the interactions between all our main characters against the backdrop of a case, and I for one could watch those interactions all day without ever having a case to solve!

 

I wasn't put off with any of the more case-based episodes. I actually feel they had quite a bit of character development too, compared to many other crime shows. Still, I love the character stuff the best.

 

Completely agree with you on Russel Tovey! And I love HoB. The whole story, character arc, and setting just appealed to me, somehow.

 

[Janie]

Interesting article... There were some statements that made me want to comment on them, so I'll just go ahead and do so here, where the probability of anyone being seriously annoyed at that is probably comparatively low.

 

 

  This was the episode the fans actually wanted.

 

Uh... sure? I can't judge from anything but this forum, but: hands up all those who really, really wanted an episode just like His Last Vow... 

 

 

 

I did. Maybe I'm the only one on this forum but I really couldn't wait for a normal episode in series 3. Not that I didn't like TEH and TSoT but I had to watch them at least twice to really enjoy them. They seemed very different from S1 and S2 so I was relieved that HLV was finally what I was waiting for. I think I like the dark episodes better than the funny ones. 

[sfmpco]

BTW, the whole M.I.6 thing has been debated... how much involved with that really is Sherlock... and Magnussen's digital run-down of Sherlock lists M.I.6, which goes with my theory that he is still at least semi-active as M.I.6 as he does do occasional work for Mycroft although I think being undercover for two years dismantling Moriarty's network and then doing uncovering the bomb in the subway were the last two M.I.6 assignments.  So it's no surprise that M.I.6 comes up again twice in this episode.  Of course, it came up in TGG with the Bruce Partington case, and Mycroft hints at it in ASIP as well as TSOT. 

 

I get the feeling that there was a time, perhaps a few years, when SH was very active as M.I.6, sometimes undercover.  I get the feeling he is a highly respected agent.  However, I suspect that SH my have had some conflicts of interest as well as not finding that type of work particularly challenging overall.  Working with Lestrade on solving crimes was much more interesting and mentally stimulating.

 

Mycroft may have initially recruited SH into M.I.6 as a way to keep a better eye on him and the drug habit.  Ultimately Mycroft does care a great deal about him but also is somewhat out of his depth in how to really help him.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

I liked Season 3 all the way through. I do like "SoT". It's sweet, funny and sad. I like "HLV" yes it did take a bit of getting used to...but it is also about as close to canon as I could hope for. More so then some of the other episodes.

[sfmpco]

S3  is by far my favorite.  So many wonderful things.

[Arcadia]

BTW, the whole M.I.6 thing has been debated... how much involved with that really is Sherlock... and Magnussen's digital run-down of Sherlock lists M.I.6, which goes with my theory that he is still at least semi-active as M.I.6 as he does do occasional work for Mycroft although I think being undercover for two years dismantling Moriarty's network and then doing uncovering the bomb in the subway were the last two M.I.6 assignments.  So it's no surprise that M.I.6 comes up again twice in this episode.  Of course, it came up in TGG with the Bruce Partington case, and Mycroft hints at it in ASIP as well as TSOT. 

 

I get the feeling that there was a time, perhaps a few years, when SH was very active as M.I.6, sometimes undercover.  I get the feeling he is a highly respected agent.  However, I suspect that SH my have had some conflicts of interest as well as not finding that type of work particularly challenging overall.  Working with Lestrade on solving crimes was much more interesting and mentally stimulating.

 

Mycroft may have initially recruited SH into M.I.6 as a way to keep a better eye on him and the drug habit.  Ultimately Mycroft does care a great deal about him but also is somewhat out of his depth in how to really help him.

Oh, I hope not. Somehow that robs some of the uniqueness from him, for me, to think he was honed by some shadowy big brother organization. I like to think he's self-made to the core, I guess.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

I think he is very much self-made. He created the job of consulting detective. He knows a lot about himself and what it takes to keep what demons he has down to a dull roar. He fights his addictions. Sometimes failing, but he is only human but he can keep the drugs at bay. He is trying to quite smoking. As for Mycroft helping him, or not Mycroft didn't sound to terribly over his head. Just worried about Sherlock's going after CAM.

[sfmpco]

He's self made as a detective, but a lot of his skills come from M.I.6 - and let's not forget that Mycroft actually sort of threatened him in TGG regarding Sherlock's reluctance to be involved with the Bruce Partington case of "Don't make me force you."

 

Sherlock's retort was "I'd like to see you try."

 

Still, Mycroft has some sort of control, and Sherlock does eventually do the case.  Anything involving the government is M.I.6, and all the rest is his private detective stuff.  So the case with Lord Moran and the tube bombing was M.I.6.  

 

He used his M.I.6 skills to infiltrate the terrorist cell in Karachi and rescue Irene.

 

For Mycroft to even suggest in HLV that M.I.6 wanted to send Sherlock undercover for 6 months tells me that Sherlock's status with M.I.6 is still ACTIVE.  It is Sherlock who has made himself largely unavailable because he has made himself a Consulting Detective, but Mycroft can always pull the M.I.6 strings on Sherlock if he has to.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

I do see your point. But it seems that Sherlock can drag his feet until he is good and ready to respond to Mycroft's "requests" then Sherlock isn't under Mycroft's governmental thumb totally. It is Mycroft in "ASiB" who jumps and says something along the lines: Anything you need. When Sherlock simply says: I will need some equipment. So there is some government involvement for Sherlock but he can refuse or not...it is his choice. 

 

 Maybe he is the new 007 or he doesn't run cross purposes with "The Palace". At least he doesn't try to be the "British Government"  with the help of being A Queen's Messenger, he is more in line with The Palace then with Mycroft.

[sfmpco]

I think Mycroft passes Sherlock the lesser government cases  that involve local legwork... probably also to make sure his little brother has occasional income since we know Sherlock (at first) isn't really earning a good living since he does all the casework with Lestrade for free.  Once John's blog takes off and Sherlock gains an "international reputation" (TSOT),  case work doesn't seem to be as lacking and his finances seem more stable.

 

Yes, Sherlock can drag his feet - Mycroft describes him as "intransigent."

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Well Sally said Sherlock didn't get paid....but do we really know?  According to Starret and Baring-Gould if he was acting for most if not all of the DI's at Scotland Yard then it was very likely that they would have, should have been paying him some kind of retainer. Even CAM didn't know where Sherlock's money was coming from.

[T.o.b.y]

 

This is the wrong thread.

But I am genuinely baffled about the issues people have with HLV.

Well, some people don't like that it turned out Mary was an assassin. And some people don't like that she got away with shooting Sherlock. And some people don't like Sherlock becoming a murderer. And some people don't like John taking Mary back.

 

Then there's things like ... how on earth did CAM's security allow John to bring his gun into Appledore? How could Mary possibly know that her shot wouldn't kill Sherlock? Why would Mycroft leave a laptop full of state secrets just lying around?

 

If you want the episode to make logical sense -- it often doesn't. Which is why I've started to think that's simply the wrong way of looking at it. I'm thinking now this episode asks for a leap of faith (primarily, faith in Moftiss ) -- and that's not easy for most people!

 

 

Especially not after The Empty Hearse. Since The Reichenbach Fall actually made less sense to me after I saw the next episode, I'm not holding out much hope of series 4 explaining any of the Vow mysteries...

 

There are problems with the logic in all Sherlock plots. The same is (more) true for the original Doyle plots, and I don't really mind in general. Often, I don't even notice them until someone else points them out. His Last Vow holds together pretty well, actually, from my point of view.

 

I was most bothered by what they did with Mary. I had fully expected her to be a blackmail victim of Magnussen's, even before the series aired, and so of course I was waiting for some kind of dark secret of hers, but a CIA trained assassin living under the name of a deceased woman? Come on. That felt like being catapulted from Sherlock to one of those crazy American crime shows my mother watches... After a re-read of "The Valley of Fear", though, I realized that from a late Victorian point of view, the original backstories of some of the characters were just like that, and worse. (Btw, I do so hope they'll use Birdy Edwards as a template for Mary's A.G.R.A. persona - they're half way there as it is!). There remains the bother with John and Mary, though, and that I still feel the lady was treated unfairly, in universe and out. My dear Sirs, if you wanted a "feminist" character, that is not the way to do it. Clearly, this is not your area. Just stick with the likes of Molly and Irene, I assure you I can handle it very well.

 

My other complaint is the return of Moriarty. We really, really have had enough fake deaths and I certainly do not want a twin brother! But as long as we don't know whether it really is him or somebody completely different just using his image, that is not really worth getting worked up about, either.

 

Apart from these little caveats, I love His Last Vow, and I got so many of my wishes fulfilled. I had been going on and on about how I'd like to see the drugs thing in play properly just once, but never thought they'd go there, because hey, Sherlock can't even smoke on public television in the 21st century. We got way more in that area than I had ever dared to hope for, and they embedded it in a case so cleverly, and left it so conveniently open whether Sherlock was only using to fool Magnussen or whether there was another, deeper reason (just as with Janine - and the fake engagement was another big item on my wish list that I could cross off after this episode).

 

[sfmpco]

Well, I suspect Sherlock has money tucked away in off shore accounts, and he probably has a bit of a gambler in him - after all, that's how he won the Leinster Gardens property from the Clarence House Cannibal.  You definitely wouldn't want to gamble at poker with Sherlock Holmes.  He counts cards and can deduce what you've got.   He can probably out-bluff too.  

[sfmpco]

Emergency Awesome has some pretty good insights into HLV

 

[sfmpco]

His another interesting vid by the same guy, but I don't necessarily agree with all his answers.  Then again, I've seen this episode countless times and he'd made this video probably after 1-2 viewings.

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

So lets see.

 

Off Shore account....(.probably  more then one. Not the type to all his eggs in one basket)

 

Retainer from the DI's in Scotland Yard.

 

Winnings from gambling

 

Stipend from the The Palace

 

Payments from his clients

 

  Yup, that could make for a very healthy nest egg....or more...indeed.

 

 

[Arcadia]

He's self made as a detective, but a lot of his skills come from M.I.6 - and let's not forget that Mycroft actually sort of threatened him in TGG regarding Sherlock's reluctance to be involved with the Bruce Partington case of "Don't make me force you."

 

Sherlock's retort was "I'd like to see you try."

 

Still, Mycroft has some sort of control, and Sherlock does eventually do the case.  Anything involving the government is M.I.6, and all the rest is his private detective stuff.  So the case with Lord Moran and the tube bombing was M.I.6.  

 

He used his M.I.6 skills to infiltrate the terrorist cell in Karachi and rescue Irene.

 

For Mycroft to even suggest in HLV that M.I.6 wanted to send Sherlock undercover for 6 months tells me that Sherlock's status with M.I.6 is still ACTIVE.  It is Sherlock who has made himself largely unavailable because he has made himself a Consulting Detective, but Mycroft can always pull the M.I.6 strings on Sherlock if he has to.

Wait ... what?!?!? The Greater Washington DC area is overrun with civilian consultants doing jobs for the federal government, that doesn't make them CIA, or CIA trained. It just means they have skills the government is willing to pay for ... assuming the person is willing to take the job.

 

BTW, wouldn't the train bombing be MI5's department, not MI6's? Although for all I know their training is the same.

 

Sending Sherlock on a fatal mission strikes me as something else entirely -- either someone in MI6 is trying to get rid of him, or they don't trust their own people and are looking for someone outside of the organization who they can trust. Or -- it's just yet another convenient but somewhat unbelievable plot device....

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

And Sherlock could turn down any assignment he didn't wish to take on. I think there is something sinister going on maybe that's why they needed this particular Mary M. Watson. To watch Sherlock's back....not that John isn't there already. But if there is someone in M16 who is trying to get to Sherlock....or maybe it's Mycroft through Sherlock. Could be Mycroft has got his fingers in to many pies and someone wants him out.  John is a doctor and army trained and good at his job but he's not black ops.