Episode 3.3, "His Last Vow"

[Arcadia]

What kind of man lets his beloved wife and child go into witness protection without going with them, though? First they would have to establish that John doesn't really love her ... and that's just soap opera territory, ugh. And he'd have to be willing to let the child go too .... ick. I hope that's not it.

 

Personally, for me the only satisfactory solution seems to be to just keep Mary around as a tertiary character like Mrs. H and Molly, and accusations of misogyny be damned. Maybe have Lestrade get a sex change so they'd at least have a woman in a position of authority.....

[Pseudonym]

He'd have to stay behind for, I don't know, reasons.

Nooo, I like Lestrade. Who can we sex change instead? ;)

 

[Boton]

 

 

Personally, for me the only satisfactory solution seems to be to just keep Mary around as a tertiary character like Mrs. H and Molly, and accusations of misogyny be damned. Maybe have Lestrade get a sex change so they'd at least have a woman in a position of authority.....

 

Maybe they treat Mary a bit like John's Mycroft?  I mean, Mycroft is smarter than Sherlock and has access to more power through his governmental role, so theoretically he could micromanage  facilitate Sherlock's life even more than he already does, but he generally lets Sherlock do his own thing.  Mary has "mad skillz" too, but maybe she just stays out of things unless she's explicitly asked?

[Shadow Dweller]

Sherlock have a low opinion of himself shows that behind the caustic behaviour he still have a functioning conscience. He realized that he had treated most people badly and he knows to never expect loyalty from those he had abused. A lot of his actions and remarks sounds like a defensive mechanism to me. Of course, as long as he still hides behind that wall of thorns he cannot expect to really find fulfillment from interacting with other people the way he really needs it. Being rude tends to push people away and even the most patient person have limit. He is going to miss a lot if continue to behave like that.

 

Imagine someone with Sherlock's skill but no conscience at all. S/he only demand respect/admiration from others without any guilt at all about the damages he had wrecked on other people's lives. Fortunately this Sherlock is not such a rotten character. He might be childish but he begins to learn many things to be a better person than before, which hopefully will lead to a life of happiness and fulfillment later.

[J.P.]

Back to Lady Smallwood again.

Someone in this thread wrote that the letters could not be a big deal, because Mr Smallwood broke up etc. But who says that what Lady S said to CAM was true? She could lie to CAM to play down the story. Her husband could lie to her. Maybe CAM exposed the whole story, surely adapting it for his needs. And you know that people seldom do they research before starting a sh*tstorm.

 

I had a similar thought during the Greece financial crisis. Listening to news about it I thought, that actually it doesn't matter if a country is broke. It's enough if some (seldom impartial) credit rating agency says so to stir trouble. It must be also CAM's MO.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Back to Lady Smallwood again.

Someone in this thread wrote that the letters could not be a big deal, because Mr Smallwood broke up etc. But who says that what Lady S said to CAM was true? She could lie to CAM to play down the story. Her husband could lie to her.

That doesn't really matter in this illogical world. People are always ready to believe the worst. Lord Smallwood says all he did was write a few letters and broke it off once he found out she was underage. People say "Yeah, right -- where there's smoke, there's fire."

 

So in the court of public opinion, he's guilty (regardless of what a court of law would say), and sometimes that's what really matters. As CAM said (and as you said regarding Greece), you don't have to prove it, you only have to print it.

[T.o.b.y]

 

Back to Lady Smallwood again.

Someone in this thread wrote that the letters could not be a big deal, because Mr Smallwood broke up etc. But who says that what Lady S said to CAM was true? She could lie to CAM to play down the story. Her husband could lie to her.

That doesn't really matter in this illogical world. People are always ready to believe the worst. Lord Smallwood says all he did was write a few letters and broke it off once he found out she was underage. People say "Yeah, right -- where there's smoke, there's fire."

 

So in the court of public opinion, he's guilty (regardless of what a court of law would say), and sometimes that's what really matters. As CAM said (and as you said regarding Greece), you don't have to prove it, you only have to print it.

 

Very true. That's one the reasons why Magnussen is despicable in my eyes and why I think he works as a villain even though we see very little of his actual evil deeds. He thrives on injustice and sadism, both things that make my blood boil.

[Van Buren Supernova]

It's very common that government has some sort of control or influence to the media, in some country it's even totally controlled by them.

 

But Magnussen has a lot of influence to British Prime minister, at least that was mentioned in the beginning, and he is not even British.

Why didn't the council try to investigate the internal first, and trying to cut off Magnussen instead of bringing him for questioning *without having any leverage over him*? It's a poor move, inviting an enemy/rival to your home without anything substantial to get into him and instead letting him see your position, defense and weakness.

 

Anyway, above it all, if Magnussen is what he is and that powerful, his empire won't crashing down just like that when he is dead, I suppose. They always have emergency plan, someone/something to rise up from his shoe. We are suspecting Moriarty, but Magnussen is even colder than him and he is proven to be one step ahead of Sherlock once or twice.

[Arcadia]

Maybe they suspected him of having improper influence, but didn't know for sure, or how he did it, before bringing him in?

 

I don't know ... I think when someone is that powerful, that arrogant, and that inhuman, that it's quite possible there's no emergency plan. He doesn't strike me as the type who builds something that will last; he just wants to intimidate, here and now. So why would he care what happens to his organization if he somehow ceases to be?That's how I think of him, anyway.

[Van Buren Supernova]

That makes sense. He indeed thinks he is invincible and no one dares to touch him, which is almost true.

 

But he is also very smart, smart enough to know that everything he has is in his head. By revealing that to Sherlock and John is like revealing the secret to his superpower.

Even if Sherlock didn't shoot him, he had to at least make sure that knowledge is not going to be used against him, so maybe.. he had worse plan for Sherlock.

more reason to shoot him? Can't resist...he..

[Arcadia]

You need more reasons? :p

[Van Buren Supernova]

Yes, always.

Because you are not convinced yet. :p

[Arcadia]

Oh, I'm convinced the guy deserved to die.

 

I'm just not convinced Sherlock had the right to kill him.

 

So there.

 

:p

[Van Buren Supernova]

Inaudible groan.. :p

mostly because I agree with you, although with slight, .. maybe a lot of difference. Sherlock doesn't have the right, but he makes the 'right' call, based on assumption of what he is and what he is thinking. But that is imho.

 

So we are back to square one. Dang.. told you I need more reasons.

[Van Buren Supernova]

So I was thinking why Sherlock trusts Billy so much.

 

I mean, he left his home, unconscious family and friend to him, after he knows him for only a couple of months from drug den, and Billy also said that he will get all Sherlock's stuff, job if he gets murdered or something ..:p

 

Sadly, does Sherlock try to find replacement of John in Billy?

[Arcadia]

I think Sherlock has a habit of finding people who can be useful to him. It makes sense for a detective, to have a lot of contacts, both shady and legitimate.

 

Also I still half believe Sherlock was high all the way through HLV, his judgement may have been impaired.

[sfmpco]

I've never seen this angle on this scene before.

 

https://twitter.com/thedragonaunt/status/748980256657125380

[Carol the Dabbler]

So I was thinking why Sherlock trusts Billy so much.

 

I mean, he left his home, unconscious family and friend to him, after he knows him for only a couple of months from drug den, and Billy also said that he will get all Sherlock's stuff, job if he gets murdered or something ..:p

 

Sadly, does Sherlock try to find replacement of John in Billy?

No, I doubt it. Note that it's Billy who says he's Sherlock's protege and heir. Sherlock says no, it's more like he helps out now and then.

 

He does seem to trust Billy where drugs are concerned, but that may simply be his specialty (considering where they met).

[J.P.]

Hehehe... I thought first you mean Billy the Scull. :D

 

I think Billy W is an anesthetist in his civil life. Or most probably was.

[Arcadia]

I think he's a drug dealer.

[J.P.]

I was referring to this dialogue:

 

SHERLOCK (checking Mycroft’s breathing): Don’t worry. Wiggins is an excellent chemist.
BILL: I calculated your wife’s dose meself. Won’t affect the little one. I’ll keep an eye on ’er.
SHERLOCK (putting on his scarf): He’ll monitor their recovery. It’s more or less his day job.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

The doorkeeper at the drug den may also be responsible for seeing that the clients avoid serious overdoses. No point in drawing official attention to the den's services.

[Arcadia]

Drug dealer by day, drug manufacturer by night, I'd say. Or maybe the other way 'round.

[Shadow Dweller]

I wonder if Mycroft had allowed CAM to target Lady Smallwood's husband and that's why she choose Sherlock for the case instead of someone else less connected to her political peers. Someone like CAM is useful for providing pressure to your frenemy, they might know that it is you but no direct evidence for it, which provides a plausible deniability should things went wrong.

[Arcadia]

Would she know about the Holmes brothers' rivalry, though? Normally, the brother of your frenemy is the last person you'd want to confide in, you'd think. Although I'm willing to believe Mycroft knew CAM was blackmailing Lord Smallwood, and either couldn't or wouldn't do anything about it.