Episode 3.3, "His Last Vow"

[sfmpco]

CAM's rundown of his basic facts lists M.I.6.  Just saying.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

True, but CAM doesn't know everything either.

[sfmpco]

yeah, but why would CAM make that up?

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

He made up a lot of stuff. And yeah, Sherlock did seem to work there once in awhile when he felt like it....so it wasn't exactly a lie....it just didn't need to be completely accurate either.

[sfmpco]

Well, I don't think he made it up.  I think it's a part of Sherlock's background that we haven't fully explored yet.

[jesskayding]

Emergency Awesome has some pretty good insights into HLV

 

 

Iiked his summary of HLV, but the QA, He assumed a lot before watching, 3.2 & 3.3?. So yeah his answers were not correct.

 

But I loved the HLV summary, he summarized well.

[jesskayding]

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.

 

Hmmm I never considered that Mary could have been protection for Sherlock... She did shoot him though... Hmmm

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

 

Well, I don't think he made it up.  I think it's a part of Sherlock's background that we haven't fully explored yet.

 

  And we all know how important head canon is so everything's fine.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

And Sherlock shot Magnussen when he really didn't want to. You put your finger on a trigger chances are sooner or later it's going to get pulled. I like Carol The Dabblers head canon that maybe Mary wouldn't have shot him if Sherlock hadn't made that move forward. We did get a pretty close up view of him doing just that so it was an important move.

[jesskayding]

Yeah, you tell em' Fox.. Sherlock isn't necessarily a vigilanty. At least he wasn't being @ that moment. He had John bring his gun in the event of self-defense. Just didn't go as planned. It was a deduction he wasn't expecting & did not have actually.

 

 

Oh well. Poor poor Magnussen.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Poor Magnuseen nothing. I do feel bad for Sherlock for being put into that kind of situation.

[jesskayding]

I know right.

[Arcadia]

And Sherlock shot Magnussen when he really didn't want to. You put your finger on a trigger chances are sooner or later it's going to get pulled. I like Carol The Dabblers head canon that maybe Mary wouldn't have shot him if Sherlock hadn't made that move forward. We did get a pretty close up view of him doing just that so it was an important move.

And I've wondered if we're supposed to draw a parallel between her and Major Sholto, who had "a lifetime of unfortunate reflexes." (Why on earth was he allowed to keep his gun if he has such poor impulse control .... *sigh*)

[jesskayding]

I think he was referring to being a war veteran. I don't know that he enjoyed pulling the trigger as much as it was for the good of his country.

 

Or per all the threats to his life, he had to have some way of protecting himself... Don't be silly enough to sneak up on the man.

[Zain]

 

 

And I've wondered if we're supposed to draw a parallel between her and Major Sholto, who had "a lifetime of unfortunate reflexes." (Why on earth was he allowed to keep his gun if he has such poor impulse control .... *sigh*)

 

I thought nobody was allowed to keep their gun after serving? Or does that depend on which country one is talking about, for example, does England handle this differently? I thought they had strict(er) gun control, too.

To me, this was always the writers asking us for some willing suspense of disbelief. Just like with John's gun, and the off-switch on the bomb.

[jesskayding]

You know Zain I'm about to begin a thread about that per I do actually find that confusing per England gun laws.

[Arcadia]

Yah, Zain, same here. John and Sholto having guns makes no real world sense to me. Oh, and don't get me started on that stupid off switch!!

[Arcadia]

I think he was referring to being a war veteran. I don't know that he enjoyed pulling the trigger as much as it was for the good of his country.

 

Or per all the threats to his life, he had to have some way of protecting himself... Don't be silly enough to sneak up on the man.

Well, he was responding to Mary's suggestion that they break down the door to his room in order to save him.

 

SHOLTO: I really wouldn’t. I have a gun in my hand and a lifetime of unfortunate reflexes.

 

Meaning, if you burst in here I'll probably shoot you even though I know you are my friends who mean me no harm. And I know that's "unfortunate", but I'd do it anyway.

 

Sounds like it could apply to Mary.... ?

[sfmpco]

Arcadia, your interpretation is exactly how I have always interpreted it as well.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Ditto. Have to totally agree. I think that's why the camera was so focused on Sherlock's feet in "HLV". She told him to stand still or she would shoot him....and he moved. Deliberately.

[jesskayding]

Oh. Yeah, I don't know for Mary if it was a reflex, as much as she felt like she did what she had to do. Even Sherlock said that she had to recalculate or take her chances, per she couldn't kill both Magnussen & Sherlock.

 

Or she wanted to show she wasn't bluffing.

[sherlockandjohn]

I think Mary got caught like a deer in the headlights, and felt threatened. She was terrified at seeing Sherlock there, realising immediately that John would now find out her secret. Sherlock tried to tell her that he would help, but how could Mary be certain? How could she trust that her husband's best friend, partner, and former flatmate would be her ally, when she has clearly been lying to both men? Besides, even if she thought Sherlock might help her, she still couldn't trust him to keep her secret from John. So when Sherlock took a step forward, Mary paniced and fired the gun. She didn't panic in the sense that she didn't know what she was doing - she is a trained killer, after all - but she didn't know what else to do in that moment, so she shot Sherlock, not to kill him, but to stop him in that very moment from blowing her cover. Her aim was careful in that she gave Sherlock the chance to survive, but she didn't know for sure that he would. I don't even think she knew exactly whether or not she wanted him to. Her feelings probably went both ways; wanting Sherlock to live, but not wanting him to reveal her secret to John.

 

Personally, I'm beginning to understand Mary better, assuming that the above is a possible interpretation of her actions and feelings, which I think it is. It's just that I'm used to seeing the show from John's or Sherlock's point of view (and to love those two characters), and that makes it difficult to accept when anyone hurts or threatens them, even if it's out of self-preservation, and not evil intent.

 

While it's interesting to see things from Mary's perspective, I do prefer spending little time on it, for the most part of the show - simply because it takes time away from Sherlock and John. However, in an episode such as HLV, in which her character arc is so unexpected and morally questionable, it would have been nice to get more background for her.

[sfmpco]

Oh. Yeah, I don't know for Mary if it was a reflex, as much as she felt like she did what she had to do. Even Sherlock said that she had to recalculate or take her chances, per she couldn't kill both Magnussen & Sherlock.

 

Or she wanted to show she wasn't bluffing.

 

Well, she couldn't kill Magnussen once Sherlock was there because she would have had to do it in front of him, and that wasn't going to happen.  She couldn't shoot them both because it would have made her husband a suspect... although probably not for long, but he would certainly have had some trouble.  

 

She was left with the unfortunate choice of disabling Sherlock.  After all, Magnussen was already blackmailing her... if SH didn't survive, what was one more hit to be blackmailed for?  She would have eventually killed Magnussen somehow.

[Arcadia]

You both have described it in about the only way that even remotely makes sense to me. (And even then it only makes sense in a very, very narrow channel of my brain....)

[Zain]

That's what I really do not get about her, either. It's not a choice: Shoot Sherlock or don't shoot him. It shouldn't be a choice. The answer is just... it's not something you have to explain to someone. Even small children know that answer. Don't harm. It was a deliberate action, not out of surprise.

 

That bullet tore through skin, through veins, and it bore itself into his body until it hit something that it didn't manage to shatter and rupture into shreds of tissue, and until it hit something that did not give way for the bullet to tear and to burn another hole into Sherlock's already weakened body.

 

It drew blood. It caused pain. Not only to Sherlock, mind you. I cannot really see her love for either of them, John or Sherlock. Even with this shoddy explanation of "you would have never died, I am such a crack shot, you hypochondriac", she deliberately caused all this. Thought it fitting. She put a lasting brand mark on Sherlock's chest. Scars can hurt just as much as the actual injury did. And they are long-lasting, if not permanent. They may fade, but they are there. They do not disappear after 90 minutes of HLV. He'll have that scar in s4, too. And in s5, if Moftiss will give us another season.

 

I can't see how that is much better than the prison guards which tortured Sherlock in the beginning of TEH. They probably left their marks on his body, too. And they most likely thought he could be a danger to their plans. They hurt him just as deliberately as Mary did. Maybe that's why he could forgive her so easily. Because he was used to being hurt. Who knows.

 

Okay. Dangerously approaching my ranting mood again. Mary always gets me riled up...