Episode 3.3, "His Last Vow"

[sherlockandjohn]

When it comes to Sherlock's traits I don't even believe anymore that he's a sociopath. (Referring to the above discussion.) Not after series 3. I wasn't even sure at all after series 2.

 

Watched all of s3 last night, and I keep feeling different about the episodes every time I watch them. TSoT made me love Mary this time around, so I thought, "Great, maybe now I'll have a different perspective of her in HLV." I sort of did, but not entirely. I can sympathise better with her situation now, and in the light of TEH and TSoT I see her love for John and her regard and consideration for Sherlock. That makes it easier to believe her distress when Sherlock walks in on her when she's about to shoot Magnussen. Yes, I can definitely see a very human character in Mary. I find all of her traits and actions very human, actually, from her self-protection to her lying about her identity to her fear of rejection. She's also very warm and loving. I cannot agree with her attitude, though, that she has a right to kill people who "should be killed." And then to say that John deep down is attracted to that side of her... well, it bothers me. John is capable himself of killing, and didn't seem to have any problem with it in ASiP, but Sherlock did say back then that the shooter had a strong moral principle. He didn't fire until Sherlock was in immediate danger.

 

I don't know, maybe I'm just too obsessed with my characters doing "the right thing" in the end. I don't mind them messing up - I kind of like that - but I prefer them to make things right eventually. Gives me hope, I suppose.

 

Anyway, I like Mary a lot better now than after first watching HLV. So much so that yesterday, when I watched the airfield scene, I didn't flinch when she said, "Don't worry, I'll keep him in trouble." While I feel it takes some coldness to preserve an attitude of having a license to kill, I've calmed down enough to not take the above words so seriously - that is, I don't see it so much as her defending her past as simply a friendly reassurance that she will take care of John when Sherlock has left. Sniff!

[sfmpco]

I keep rewatching HLV - downloaded it through Itunes so that i could have better control over moving around in the episode rather than watching it on Netflix which is great if you don't need to stop it and "rewind".  Anyhow... that whole confrontation scene with Mary at the Lie of Leinster Gardens.  Really masterful.  She lets Sherlock know that she would do ANYTHING to keep John from knowing the truth, which she is implying to Sherlock, that she WILL kill him without hesitation, and Sherlock, who has been completely in control, isn't going to allow her game to continue, isn't going to allow himself to be threatened, but instead exposes the very heart of what she's trying to protect - John.  And he's in control enough to demand in a calm, authoritative voice, "Baker Street.  Now."

 

We know that when they return to Baker Street that it has only been a week since he'd been shot, but how long had it been since he had escaped from hospital?  1 day?  2 days?  He had enough time during his disappearance to put John's chair back as well as procure a bottle of Mary's perfume.  Plus he had enough time to set up the projection onto Leinster Gardens, and he had enough time to get John into his plan to get Mary to expose who she really was.  I keep watching him pick up the coin that she put a bullet through, thinking that stooping to pick it up would have been massively painful.  

 

Did anyone every analyse where he was shot and what the bullet have hit?  Massive internal bleeding.  Lacerated liver, diaphram, inferior vena cava... He would have been pretty much dead on arrival at the hospital, which is why he still only had the bullet hole... no need to cut him open to try open heart massage.  No need for a chest tube to drain the blood.  

 

So when the ambulance arrived at Baker Street during the big confrontation, he likely was bleeding internally. Between then and the Christmas scenes, he was probably in hospital for a few weeks getting properly healed.

 

Anyhow, in that entire confrontation scene at Baker Street, there is this wonderful, sweeping music behind it, and I downloaded it from the Sherlock Series 3 CD via ITunes and the music is called, "Addicted to a Certain Lifestyle."  Can't stop listening to it.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

 

So when the ambulance arrived at Baker Street during the big confrontation, he likely was bleeding internally. Between then and the Christmas scenes, he was probably in hospital for a few weeks getting properly healed.

 

  He tells the medics....which he called...some what....eight minutes before hand?....that he was bleeding internally and that they would probably have to restart his heart on the way to the hospital.

 

 It seems it was some months that he was in hospital the second time. At least Mary said it's been months of silence between her and John and it seems Sherlock is just getting home from the hospital.

[Zain]

 

Did anyone every analyse where he was shot and what the bullet have hit?  Massive internal bleeding.  Lacerated liver, diaphram, inferior vena cava... He would have been pretty much dead on arrival at the hospital, which is why he still only had the bullet hole... no need to cut him open to try open heart massage.  No need for a chest tube to drain the blood.  

 

 

 

 

There are two very well-received "meta essays" on this.

They basically say the same but come to different conclusions.

 

1. Wellingtongoose

2. cookieswillcrumble

 

From what I've read up since HLV (and believe me, medical texts can be rather boring. I would not recommend doing that...), both seem to explain the main points rather well. The main issue I have with wellingtongoose is that he is speculating a lot. cookieswillcrumble provides more objectivity while discussing the specifics of the injury. Essentially, though, both provide sound arguments from a medical perspective. Again, not an expert, but I read up on the circulatory system and some other texts to get a better understanding of their arguments.

[sfmpco]

 

 

Did anyone every analyse where he was shot and what the bullet have hit?  Massive internal bleeding.  Lacerated liver, diaphram, inferior vena cava... He would have been pretty much dead on arrival at the hospital, which is why he still only had the bullet hole... no need to cut him open to try open heart massage.  No need for a chest tube to drain the blood.  

 

 

 

 

There are two very well-received "meta essays" on this.

They basically say the same but come to different conclusions.

 

1. Wellingtongoose

2. cookieswillcrumble

 

From what I've read up since HLV (and believe me, medical texts can be rather boring. I would not recommend doing that...), both seem to explain the main points rather well. The main issue I have with wellingtongoose is that he is speculating a lot. cookieswillcrumble provides more objectivity while discussing the specifics of the injury. Essentially, though, both provide sound arguments from a medical perspective. Again, not an expert, but I read up on the circulatory system and some other texts to get a better understanding of their arguments.

 

 

What is amazing at all is that one television show, SHERLOCK, can inspire so much research into the tiniest details of the show.  Brilliant.

[Zain]

Yes. Reading meta essays can be very interesting. It is amazing what people interpret into the smallest details.

[Arcadia]

 

 It seems it was some months that he was in hospital the second time. At least Mary said it's been months of silence between her and John and it seems Sherlock is just getting home from the hospital.

 

I've been puzzled by that too ... it doesn't seem like the kind of injury that would keep him in the hospital for months, unless he kept relapsing. Hope it wasn't rehab ... all the other patients would be traumatized!

 

I suppose more time could've gone by since the wedding than we think.....

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

 

Hope it wasn't rehab ... all the other patients would be traumatized!

 

  Suppose it could have been.  His history of drug addiction and the fact they had him hooked up to morphine.  He could have had a hard time getting off it.

[sfmpco]

 

 

So when the ambulance arrived at Baker Street during the big confrontation, he likely was bleeding internally. Between then and the Christmas scenes, he was probably in hospital for a few weeks getting properly healed.

 

  He tells the medics....which he called...some what....eight minutes before hand?....that he was bleeding internally and that they would probably have to restart his heart on the way to the hospital.

 

 It seems it was some months that he was in hospital the second time. At least Mary said it's been months of silence between her and John and it seems Sherlock is just getting home from the hospital.

 

 

Yeah, but he would have had to be even more seriously injured for them to keep him in hospital for too long, because believe me, hospitals try to move you out as fast as they can, at least in the USA.  Maybe socialized medicine works differently.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Like Arcadia posted in another thread, he could have continued to have relapses.....or since he reopened the wound when he took the runner....those kinds of things does tend to set one back quite a bit. There is also the problem of his drug addiction and the fact he was hooked up to a morphine machine.

[sfmpco]

Been thinking about Molly saying her flat was one of his bolt holes, specifically her bedroom, which she implied she gave up to him because "we agreed he needed the space."  But I don't see him using her place as a bolt hole while she was engaged to Tom.  However, she says this line in HFV, after the breakup with Tom in TSoT (and clearly they broke up at the reception).  So it makes me wonder if during that month of time after John and Mary get married if Sherlock did ever use her flat.  He must have at some point.

[Arcadia]

Been thinking about Molly saying her flat was one of his bolt holes, specifically her bedroom, which she implied she gave up to him because "we agreed he needed the space."  But I don't see him using her place as a bolt hole while she was engaged to Tom.  However, she says this line in HFV, after the breakup with Tom in TSoT (and clearly they broke up at the reception).  So it makes me wonder if during that month of time after John and Mary get married if Sherlock did ever use her flat.  He must have at some point.

For some reason I was thinking about this too, and figured maybe it was after The Fall.

[sfmpco]

 

Been thinking about Molly saying her flat was one of his bolt holes, specifically her bedroom, which she implied she gave up to him because "we agreed he needed the space."  But I don't see him using her place as a bolt hole while she was engaged to Tom.  However, she says this line in HFV, after the breakup with Tom in TSoT (and clearly they broke up at the reception).  So it makes me wonder if during that month of time after John and Mary get married if Sherlock did ever use her flat.  He must have at some point.

For some reason I was thinking about this too, and figured maybe it was after The Fall.

 

 

She could have been a bolt hole from the time he went off the roof at Barts until he went undercover, because there would have been a transition period, maybe.  Unless Mycroft immediately spirited him away, and I favor this because only Mycroft would have been able to truly keep him undercover.  Plus, I think for him to use Molly as a bolt hole immediately after the fall would have meant Mycroft may have known about that bolt hole, and I get the feeling no one knew until she revealed it in HFV, so... I favor her flat as being a new bolt hole.

[Arcadia]

 

 

Hope it wasn't rehab ... all the other patients would be traumatized!

 

  Suppose it could have been.  His history of drug addiction and the fact they had him hooked up to morphine.  He could have had a hard time getting off it.

 

Oh, I was thinking of physical rehab as a result of a long hospital stay, but I suppose drug rehab is a possibility too. But months?

 

Why are there so many little continuity gaps like this one in S3? You'd think someone involved would've noticed and made an effort to fix it (after all, how hard can it be to change "months" to "weeks"?)  I'm beginning to think it's deliberate....they're trying to drive us mad!!! Bwahahaha.......

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

 

I'm beginning to think it's deliberate....they're trying to drive us mad!!! Bwahahaha.......

 

   You're just figuring that out....hhhhmmmm?

[sfmpco]

 

 

 

Hope it wasn't rehab ... all the other patients would be traumatized!

 

  Suppose it could have been.  His history of drug addiction and the fact they had him hooked up to morphine.  He could have had a hard time getting off it.

 

Oh, I was thinking of physical rehab as a result of a long hospital stay, but I suppose drug rehab is a possibility too. But months?

 

Why are there so many little continuity gaps like this one in S3? You'd think someone involved would've noticed and made an effort to fix it (after all, how hard can it be to change "months" to "weeks"?)  I'm beginning to think it's deliberate....they're trying to drive us mad!!! Bwahahaha.......

 

 

He might go to a physical rehab center if he had an extended hospital stay, but not too likely.  Once he was stabilized and healing, they would have had him up on his feet in hospital doing short walks up and down the halls.  As for the morphine, I think they would have weaned him off of that successfully in hospital as well, and I think he would have also wanted to be off it as quickly as possible.  "Not good for working."  

 

Interesting that when Sherlock, John and Mary return to Baker Street, Sherlock says to Mrs. Hudson... "Get me some morphine from your kitchen.  I've run out."  That means he took some from hospital when he went on the run.

[sfmpco]

He also gets out of hospital a 2nd time to meet with Magnussen at Speedy's, but he seems further on the road to recovery then.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

And yes, it seems both times he takes his morphine drip with him.

[Arcadia]

He also gets out of hospital a 2nd time to meet with Magnussen at Speedy's, but he seems further on the road to recovery then.

Yeah, what the heck was that, anyway? Are we supposed to believe Sherlock was toddling the streets in his hospital gown, looking for a place to eat? I'm surprised he didn't end up in the psych ward.... aha!!! Maybe he did. Maybe that's why he was in the hospital so long.....

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Yes, it was almost a strange dream sequence.

[sfmpco]

Yes, it was almost a strange dream sequence.

 

Very strange scene.  And Magnussen so effortlessly eats the olive, rinses his fingers in Sherlock's drinking water, then flicks the excess back onto Sherlock's plate.  Disgusting.  Sherlock is so doped up on morphine in that scene I'm surprised he's coherent enough to have a conversation.  He's barely moving, especially after he adjusts his morphine.

[Arcadia]

Everything about Magnussen was like a strange dream sequence. A nightmare....

 

Maybe they'll pull a Dallas on us! S3 was all a dream, Sherlock's still locked up in the Serbian prison .....

[T.o.b.y]

Yeah, what the heck was that, anyway? Are we supposed to believe Sherlock was toddling the streets in his hospital gown, looking for a place to eat? I'm surprised he didn't end up in the psych ward.... aha!!! Maybe he did. Maybe that's why he was in the hospital so long.....

 

Yup, we are... with his morphine drip in tow. This is exactly what I would have expected Sherlock to be like as a patient. No wonder his recovery took months.

 

As for why didn't anybody stop him, even in real life, people wander off in their nighties and are found miles away from where they started. I think you could probably get murdered in plain daylight on a busy street in most cities and nobody would bat an eyelash...

 

[Arcadia]

Yet another reason I don't like cities....

 

Yes, I can imagine Sherlock would be a really lousy patient!

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Yes, there was a case of road rage here in the US not so very long ago....a bunch of motorcyclists attacked the driver of a SUV beating him senseless. It wasn't until some of the cyclists started for his wife and kids that people started stepping in.  Broad daylight.  And some of the people on the bikes who participated in the attack were undercover cops and they did nothing at all to try to help stop the beatings.

 

 To afraid of blowing their cover....so they said.