Study in Pink vs. His Last Vow

[jesskayding]

I tried to figure out how to begin a topic.. I gave up.

 

Similarities between SIP & TLV:

 

Episode 1, Season 1 A Study inbPink:

 

1. Sherlock dashes down same exact staircase to solve the case of the pink Lady. John isn't even an after thought.

 

2. Camera pans over top Sherlock. His stunningly blue eyes open. He has 3 patches on his arm to kick his smoking habit.

 

3. John kills the serial killing caby as a last option to save Sherlock's life.

 

Episode 3, Season 3 His Last Vow:

 

1. Sherlock fights to survive after being shot. He needs to make sure John is safe. So he struggles up that same staircase to get to John. Who is now his best friend. No longer an after thought.

 

2. The camera pans atop of Sherlock. His beautiful eyes open. He's in a hospital bed attached to morphine.

 

3. Sherlock shoots Magnussen as a last resort to save John and Mary.

 

That is why I love this series so much. It takes love for something to put so much detail into each & every show.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Is this what you meant by wanting to start a new thread, jesskayding?  (If not, just let me know, and I can put it back in the HLV thread.)

 

You've mentioned some parallels that I'd never noticed.  Some seem intentional, others who knows?  But you're right, they all contribute to the sense of cohesiveness.

 

[jesskayding]

Yeah. There are Similarities in several episodes. But these two in particular had probably even more than I mentioned.

[sfmpco]

Regarding the staircase, it is very similar but not the same.  However, I think the mind palace version is meant to represent that staircase in ASIP.  

 

His eyes are hard to photograph to get the correct color.  I kept thinking they were hazel or gray for a long time, but it turns out they are heterochromia iridis - i.e. his eyes are not a perfect color match to each other.  His eyes are a combo of blue, green and gold.  They are beautiful.  His right eye has a little brown spot right above the pupil.  

[Arcadia]

Oh, don't get me started on those amazing eyes.....

[sherlockandjohn]

Another great topic. Moffat certainly keeps some red threads going through "his" episodes; ASiP, ASiB, and HLV. I've noticed a few, and probably can't remember them all now, but here goes:

• His Last Vow focuses quite a bit on John's need for danger, and this need is established very early in A Study in Pink. They are also the only two episodes to focus on that theme to that degree, from my perspective.
• The baby names reference. Has nothing to do with ASiP, I know, but it comes up in ASiB and HLV, and all those three episodes are written by Moffat, according to the credits.
• In HLV, John wakes up from a dream about him first meeting Sherlock. We see his hand twitching as though his tremor is coming back; the tremor he hasn't experienced since ASiP (perhaps with the exception of after Sherlock's death. Some think that John's hand movements when he's standing at Sherlock's grave show hints of the tremor returning).

[Carol the Dabbler]

Another great topic. Moffat certainly keeps some red threads going through "his" episodes; ASiP, ASiB, and HLV. I've noticed a few, and probably can't remember them all now, but here goes:

• His Last Vow focuses quite a bit on John's need for danger, and this need is established very early in A Study in Pink. They are also the only two episodes to focus on that theme to that degree, from my perspective.

 

Oh, good point!  Next time I grit my teeth over that "John is an adrenaline junkie" theme, I'll know whom to thank!

[sherlockandjohn]

Precisely!

[T.o.b.y]

I love how things seem to come "full circle" in His Last Vow. Nothing irritates me more than when I get the impression that a writer has forgotten what happened earlier in his or her series (or is willfully ignoring it). Besides, I am obsessed with endings and complete stories and if series 4 turns out to be something I can't get used to, I can now always stop after series 3 and be happy with the whole thing. Thank you, Mr Moffat!

[sherlockandjohn]

While there are things I'll probably never get fully used to in series 3 I do love it. A lot. Sherlock really comes full circle as a person, the way I see it. Everything John has given him in the first two seasons, he is now giving back.

[jesskayding]

While there are things I'll probably never get fully used to in series 3 I do love it. A lot. Sherlock really comes full circle as a person, the way I see it. Everything John has given him in the first two seasons, he is now giving back.

I agree. Actually Season 3 has been my favorite because you really see Sherlock not just being a great man, but you can see he's getting closer to becoming a good one.

 

Not only that, this series did something the other 2 did not. It gave us a glimpse into what's happened during the passing of time. Especially in SO3. All those crimes Sherlock and John solved together.

[sherlockandjohn]

 

While there are things I'll probably never get fully used to in series 3 I do love it. A lot. Sherlock really comes full circle as a person, the way I see it. Everything John has given him in the first two seasons, he is now giving back.

I agree. Actually Season 3 has been my favorite because you really see Sherlock not just being a great man, but you can see he's getting closer to becoming a good one.

 

Not only that, this series did something the other 2 did not. It gave us a glimpse into what's happened during the passing of time. Especially in SO3. All those crimes Sherlock and John solved together.

 

Good point. We also get more information about Sherlock and Mycroft's past, which is great. Now, however, I feel that we don't know enough about John... Hopefully series 4 will shed some light on his background.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Regarding the "Sherlock has come full circle" idea -- mightn't that be more of a spiral?  A circle would imply that he was precisely back where he started, while a spiral could mean that he's now on a higher level.

 

[Arcadia]

Spiral... lovely idea.

[jesskayding]

Now I will say because Sherlock is done in John's voice... He is telling us the thriller of Sherlock... We actually know a lot about John. From the very beginning till now.

 

We know he studied @ Bart's

We Know he joined the armed services & became an army Dr.

We know he was wounded in action.

We know he's addicted to danger.

We know he's girl crazy.

We know he has a lesbian sister named Harriet... Who loves the liquor... John's character is an open book, so is Molly's & Mrs. Hudson for that matter. We get little tidbits of Sherlock. Very little about Lestrade, Donovan & Anderson...

 

But you know, this is not an ongoing series thru out the year. Where writers get the time to map out each character w/n like 10-16 episodes on an annual basis. So we get summaries. Then we speculate.

[Arcadia]

Boy do we ever speculate.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Now I will say because Sherlock is done in John's voice... He is telling us the thriller of Sherlock... We actually know a lot about John. From the very beginning till now.

 

We know he studied @ Bart's

We Know he joined the armed services & became an army Dr.

We know he was wounded in action.

We know he's addicted to danger.

We know he's girl crazy.

We know he has a lesbian sister named Harriet... Who loves the liquor... John's character is an open book....

 

Just for fun, I'm going to play devil's advocate.  How much of that do we actually know?

 

We know he studied @ Bart's:  In "Study" he says Bart's was different "back in his day," and he tells the military officer in "Sign" that he's a veteran of "Bart's Bloody Hospital" -- so yes, that seems pretty sure.

 

We know he joined the armed services & became an army Dr.:  In "Hounds" he identifies himself as "Captain John Watson of the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers" (or something close to that), and in "Sign," he says he's a veteran of Kandahar (a military hospital in Afghanistan) -- so yes, that seems like a safe bet as well.

 

We know he was wounded in action.:  In "Study in Pink," Sherlock deduces that John was wounded in action.  I don't recall that John either confirms nor denies that.  He does say later in the episode that he was wounded in his left shoulder -- but I don't believe he ever says how it happened (so wounded, yes, but possibly not in action).

 

We know he's addicted to danger.:  Mycroft says words to that effect in "Study in Pink."  Both Sherlock and Mary say much the same thing in "Last Vow."  But do we believe everything those three say?  And do we ever hear John say anything along those lines?

 

We know he's girl crazy.:  We sometimes see him flirt with women ("Study," "Banker," "Scandal," "Hounds").  We know he's had a few failed relationships ("Scandal").  Sounds like a typical heterosexual male to me -- do you have evidence that he's actually "girl crazy"?

 

We know he has a lesbian sister named Harriet... Who loves the liquor...:  No argument there ("Study," "Scandal," and "Sign").  Would love to see Harry in a episode, by the way!

 

John's character is an open book....:  By my count, that was three-and-a-half out of six.  So maybe the book is merely cracked open?

 

[Arcadia]

Just for fun, I'm going to play devil's advocate. How much of that do we actually know?

 

We know he studied @ Bart's: In "Study" he says Bart's was different "back in his day," and he tells the military officer in "Sign" that he's a veteran of "Bart's Bloody Hospital" -- so yes, that seems pretty sure.

 

We know he joined the armed services & became an army Dr.: In "Hounds" he identifies himself as "Captain John Watson of the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers" (or something close to that), and in "Sign," he says he's a veteran of Kandahar (a military hospital in Afghanistan) -- so yes, that seems like a safe bet as well.

 

We know he was wounded in action.: In "Study in Pink," Sherlock deduces that John was wounded in action. I don't recall that John either confirms nor denies that. He does say later in the episode that he was wounded in his left shoulder -- but I don't believe he ever says how it happened (so wounded, yes, but possibly not in action).

 

We know he's addicted to danger.: Mycroft says words to that effect in "Study in Pink." Both Sherlock and Mary say much the same thing in "Last Vow." But do we believe everything those three say? And do we ever hear John say anything along those lines?

 

We know he's girl crazy.: We sometimes see him flirt with women ("Study," "Banker," "Scandal," "Hounds"). We know he's had a few failed relationships ("Scandal"). Sounds like a typical heterosexual male to me -- do you have evidence that he's actually "girl crazy"?

 

We know he has a lesbian sister named Harriet... Who loves the liquor...: No argument there ("Study," "Scandal," and "Sign"). Would love to see Harry in a episode, by the way!

 

John's character is an open book....: By my count, that was three-and-a-half out of six. So maybe the book is merely cracked open?

Just for fun, so will I....

 

Wounded in action... when he runs into Mike Stamford, Mike says something like "I heard you were in Afghanistan getting shot at, what happened?" and John tells Mike "I got shot." So, wounded in action, pretty safe bet.

 

Girl crazy. He's a typical heterosexual male, of course he's girl crazy.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

That is what I love about this show......it doesn't spoon feed us every little tid bit there is to know about the character. We are getting just glimpses.

 

We know Molly is a cracker jack pathologist, painfully shy, has more then just a passing crush on one Sherlock Holmes, but we know next to nothing about her home life, her childhood. We know more about Sherlock's background now then we do about Molly. Can't have much of a home life if she's willing to spend Christmas in a morgue though, can she.

 

Lestrade the same. We know that he had working with Sherlock for five years before John comes on board. That he may have had a hand in getting Sherlock reigned in from his drug use by giving him "Work". We know he still has a father who is alive and he visits on Christmas. We know that he was once married but  now seems to be divorced. Do we really know any more then that? Oh yes, he doesn't care for weddings though he will attend one. Probably reminds him to much of his failed one.

 

This show leaves a lot to the imagination. We can create our own head canon until or unless they decide to fill in some of the blanks.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Wounded in action... when he runs into Mike Stamford, Mike says something like "I heard you were in Afghanistan getting shot at, what happened?" and John tells Mike "I got shot." So, wounded in action, pretty safe bet.

Good point -- I will concede that one. (But would you believe he was cleaning his gun and it went off?)  I wish they'd said more about that incident -- whether John was in a battle, or was hit by a sniper -- or was shot in some dumb accident on the Army grounds.

 

Girl crazy. He's a typical heterosexual male, of course he's girl crazy.

Ha ha!  And I see what you mean -- but I doubt that jesskayding would have bothered to call John "girl crazy" if she merely thinks he's typical.  And Jess, you're not alone -- a lot of people (including Moftiss) seem to think of John in those terms.  But I don't understand why.

 

There's a quote from The Sign of the Four that I had heard cited as proof that the original Watson was a womanizer.  But then I came across the actual quote, and what Watson actually says (upon first meeting Mary Morstan) is this:  "In an experience of women which extends over many nations and three separate continents I have never looked upon a face which gave a clearer promise of a refined and sensitive nature."  Which I take to mean merely that he has met a lot of women in his travels, and so considers himself a good judge of their character.  While it could mean more than that, of course, I see no reason to assume that it does.

 

But whatever the reason, Watson has often been called a womanizer, so of course John has been painted with the same brush.  If there's actual evidence of that in either case, I wish somebody would tell me what it is.

 

[jesskayding]

The man came on to a woman that was possibly putting him in a dangerous situation. Wouldn't give him her name & said "bye" even upon letting him know she had plenty of free time. SIP.

 

then was willing to heartlessly abandon his plan for some woman who called his name on the street. SIB

 

He doesn't even bother to have a type.

 

Sherlock knew he could reel him in to interview Henry's therapist.. Just show him a picture of a woman. I'd like to speak up for men.. They are not all like ThAt.

[Carol the Dabbler]

True.  Maybe John isn't a "girl crazy" womanizer, though -- just desperate.  He starts out as a virtual stranger in London -- and once he meets Sherlock, how many chances does he get for a normal (uninterrrupted) date?

 

The man is certainly not smooth, I'll grant you that!

 

[sfmpco]

Remember in ASiP where SH is talking about the woman in pink writing the word RACHE.. and SH says something to John like "imagine what you would say if it were you last moment" and John says something like, "I don't have to imagine it."  Because John knows what it's like to stare death in the face.

[jesskayding]

I could see that. My initial thought was that he was just fully aware that he would want to live. Not thinking about what to do in the event of his death. The Pink lady... Knew she was gonna die, but wanted to make sure that her killer would be brought to justice.

 

 

***tangent alert****

 

In the " Study in Scarlett" the killer left the message Rache meaning revenge in German... That was a cool discovery.

[Redbeard]

 

 

While there are things I'll probably never get fully used to in series 3 I do love it. A lot. Sherlock really comes full circle as a person, the way I see it. Everything John has given him in the first two seasons, he is now giving back.

I agree. Actually Season 3 has been my favorite because you really see Sherlock not just being a great man, but you can see he's getting closer to becoming a good one.

 

Not only that, this series did something the other 2 did not. It gave us a glimpse into what's happened during the passing of time. Especially in SO3. All those crimes Sherlock and John solved together.

 

Good point. We also get more information about Sherlock and Mycroft's past, which is great. Now, however, I feel that we don't know enough about John... Hopefully series 4 will shed some light on his background.

 

 

I agree shedding light on John's background would be interesting.  I keep thinking about Martin Freeman calling the Christmas special a "mouth-watering" idea and I can't help but think that means it will have a lot of juicy things for him as an actor to do.  So hopefully that means some interesting scenes/reveals/emotions for John.