Speculation: How Did Sherlock Do It?

[Carol the Dabbler]

The Homeless Network may be in on it too, but pretty clearly Molly is involved -- so I'm assuming that at least some of the people are her colleagues, possibly including the fellow on the bike.

[SherLOCKED221]

Possible, but to be a colleague isn't he's a little young?

[Carol the Dabbler]

Unfortunately, IMDb doesn't list him, so I can't say how old the actor/stuntman is, but going from memory, he looks to me about 20, possibly a bit younger, possibly as old as 30. My husband's independent recollection is that he looks between 16 and 25 or 30. A twenty-year-old is a bit young to be a technician or a doctor, but he could easily be something like a janitor or an orderly.

 

Or a colleague could have loaned his bicycle to a member of the Homeless Network.

 

Was typing too fast, and that last sentence nearly came out saying "the Holmesless Network" -- which would be superficially appropriate at present (though I suspect that Sherlock hid out with them, at least for a while).

[Undead Medic]

The Holmesless network; isn't that us?

[Carol the Dabbler]

Good point!

 

 

Unless, of course, we're watching Elementary!

 

(Yeah, I know -- not the same thing, apples and oranges.)

[SherLOCKED221]

Well Elementary has a Holmes in it so if you think about it the Holmesless Network could include all HOLMES related things. *laughs*

[ronin0331]

Ok, an American is throwing his two cents in now. I think Carolerious is on to something with this link: http://melissmine.tu...faked-his-death this is a solid theory on how Holmes seemed to be dead. I think the clue to how survived the fall lies in "A Scandal in Belgravia". After Holmes has recovered from being doped by Irene and is having breakfast he is reading a newspaper and on the front page is a headline which reads "Refit for Historical Hospital". Assuming this is Bart's; renovation allows for all kinds of equipment that might allow Holmes to survive the fall: scaffolding, scrap chutes, etc. Now that I think about it; it would not surprise me if Irene helped him. After all, she's hardly a stranger at faking your own death and with all the publicity I find it hard to believe she wouldn't have reached out. What do you think?

[Carol the Dabbler]

Hello, ronin0331, and welcome to Sherlock Forum! It's good to see another fellow American here!

 

The main problem I see with that theory is the time-frame. Sherlock didn't seem to have any idea of exactly what "Brook" was up to, or that he was actually Moriarty, until just the evening before their final encounter. Therefore, I don't see how he would have known what sort of equipment or other help he might need in time to arrange anything elaborate. The same goes for Irene -- though you make a good point about her knowing how to fake a death!

 

I do agree that she would probably want to help him, since he saved her life. Even if she wasn't involved in helping him survive the fall, she may be able to assist him in dealing with his ongoing challenges in Season 3 -- getting rid of the remaining snipers, and clearing his own name.

[aely]

And Irene did owe him a favour...

[ronin0331]

I see what you are saying, but can't be sure how much Sherlock suspected. Moriarty's first contact with Sherlock was through a serial killer who coerced people into suicide; it is not inconceivable that Sherlock foresaw a need to fake his own death. The location was also Sherlock's choice, and I do think the refit at the hospital had something to do with surviving the fall; Sherlock may have improvised that part at the end though.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I can't argue with any of what you say, because it's all entirely possible. I prefer simpler explanations, so I currently subscribe to the laundry-truck theory of his survival and the rubber-ball theory of his absent pulse (and would be glad to go into the details if you haven't already heard them elsewhere). Really, the neat thing about this puzzle is that there are so many possible explanations!

 

As for the newspaper article about the hospital, yes that was St. Bart's. Moftiss explained on the DVD that they had been thinking of using the scaffolding in the rooftop scene, with the implication being that they had later changed their minds. But perhaps they didn't change them entirely -- who knows?

 

However, there is one part of Sherlock's plan that I do now believe was premeditated, namely his belief in the "computer key code." As someone has pointed out, his gullibility could well have been a ruse to evoke Moriarty's explanation of how the crimes were actually committed -- while Sherlock recorded the entire "confession" on his cell phone for later use. Also, I believe it's entirely possible that what Mycroft told Moriarty about Sherlock's life was false (and probably demonstrably so), meaning that Mycroft was in on at least that part of the plan.

[SherLOCKED221]

All excellent theories. I do like the lorry idea (to an extent) and John was filled with adrenaline making it very difficult to feel a pulse, but Ronin0331, you must see my ideas on Sherlock's actual fall! I have been working on them for a while so give me/us your thoughts. I still believe Sherlock fell wrong!!

[selva]

So, I registered to come post my two cents on the ending

 

Loved the series, really brilliant. I haven't watched the episodes again yet (just the fake death scene), so the two things I noticed are probably stupid, but I'll say them anyway. First of all, on the theories already stated, Molly's help seems the most obvious thing Sherlock could involve to fake his death. I replayed the scene a few times, and one thing that might just be an error (or my imagination), needs mentioning: after John says "no, oh god no", and they zoom in on Sherlock's bloody body, his hand moves on its own? You see someone touching his elbow, but it looked clear to me that he moved his hand himself to rest on his stomach. So, it is Sherlock's body, with possibly fake blood? I won't try to make this fit into theories of how he survived the fall and so on, but I'm pretty sure that it isn't a fake lying on the ground but is Sherlock himself. He could have used the rubber ball in the lab to make it look like he had no pulse (as was already said). Also, though I'm pretty sure this is just due to contrast in the filming, in the very last frame the mole on Sherlock's neck looks red/black and very dark. When I saw it I thought it was an injection mark, but he does have a mole there (after I looked back to other scenes). It just seemed weird that it looks so extremely dark, but could just be contrast and nothing deliberate. Molly possibly injecting him with something (or giving him something to inject himself with) prior to or after the rooftop scene (over his existing mole), is my only other thought on that.

 

Like I said, lame observations but I wanted to post them

[Carol the Dabbler]

Hello, selva -- welcome to Sherlock Forum! Thanks for jumping right in with your ideas -- it's active members like you that keep the forum interesting.

 

I agree with you that it's really Sherlock lying there. I never noticed his arm moving -- next time I watch, I'll look for that! One thing that will make episode 7 really interesting -- in addition to how did Sherlock do it, and how will John react -- will be finding out how many of the anomalies really were clues, and how many were just coincidences or artifacts of the filming process.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

He knew that Moriarty was up to something big for him. Sherlock was getting in the way of his "consulting" criminal activites. The disruption of the Black Lotus and such. Moriarty did say that he would have to kill Sherlock, someday, and that he would also "burn the heart out of him." Moriarty also knew that Sherlock was not the friendless sociopath he tried to be.

 

Anyone in law inforcement will tell you that haveing close friends and family can be a liability. The bad guys can use them against you, black mail, ransoms, that sort of thing. Was Sherlock faking the tears? Why would he? What would be the point? No, I do think, and my own opinion only, that he realized that he did care about certain people and he was cared about in return. He does have trouble with dealing with people. His asperger's may have come into play here. He was going to hurt the one person that had not only befriended him, but was willing to kill for him. A bit of a shock and cause for a whole lot of emotion?

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Yes, he did land wrong. If he had hit the side walk the same way he was falling he would not have landed parallel to the wall like he did. He probably landed in the laundry truck then let himself fall from there to the sidewalk. He was playing with a small blue ball in the morgue. I have been reading where a ball put in the arm pit and pressed will cause temperary loss of blood flow in the arm and there would be no discernable pulse.

 

I too think the gathering of people was prearranged. They gathered just to darn quickly to be spur of the moment. This was planned by Sherlock and others. He knew Moriarty wanted him dead and that it was to be somekind of a "Fall."

[Loekie]

It looks like he is gliding in stead of falling. Maybe there is something made in his coat to let him fly in the right direction, namely above the car.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Must be camera angle. You can find a video captured by a tourist who happened to stumble into the filming of that scene. It showes "Sherlock" falling from St. Bart's. He is in harness being lowered by a crane.

[redmess]

Well I think I understand what the hint is that "everybody missed": it's Sherlock saying: "It's a trick, a magic trick". Well, what about that then. Isn't that a big hint? Let me try to explain: there are a lot of magic tricks using mirrors. Mirrors making things disappear. We all see that there is a platform beneath the ledge Sherlock is standing on. And he doen't jump: no he falls of. Which would just make him fall on to the platform below. And he tells John to focus on him while he's falling. So John can be the witness of him actually plunging to his death. Just to be certain that John is an eyewitness to the suicide. Otherwise it would leave room for speculation. But what if it was a body from the morgue falling? And Molly works in a morgue right? I guess it would be to hard to arrange for a body to looking like Sherlock. But a mask and wig maybe? Make up used in a morgue? Does leave something unsolved though: Sherlock obviously moves while falling. I really have no explanation for that. But maybe somebody else can try to work that out? Really want to watch the next series to see if anything at all mentionned by all of you was correct. I like the injection idea, as it has some interesting proof from the episode. But I still like my theory as well.

 

The show is a great favourite of mine, and I'm a big Dutch fan, but love to ponder on this. Great stuff!

[Carol the Dabbler]

... Was Sherlock faking the tears? ... What would be the point? No, I do think ... that he realized that he did care about certain people and he was cared about in return. ... He was going to hurt the one person that had not only befriended him, but was willing to kill for him....

You've got a good point. If he was crying for effect, wouldn't he be sobbing to make it more obvious, and doing some fancy body language that would be readily visible to the assassins? Even with our close-up view, unless you happen to notice a tear falling, the only way to tell he's crying is that his voice sounds "thicker."

 

On the other hand -- it just occurs to me -- John is the only person who can hear the change in Sherlock's voice, and John is the one person who absolutely MUST believe that Sherlock is really going to kill himself (because if John is NOT obviously grief-stricken, the assassins will suspect that something funny is going on). So yeah, I guess it's possible that he's faking the tears in order to convince John that his "confession" is real.

 

 

It looks like he is gliding in stead of falling. Maybe there is something made in his coat to let him fly in the right direction, namely above the car.

Yes, it looks to me like he is sort of "sky diving" rather than plummeting. Considering how well flying squirrels can steer by using just the bit of webbing between their front and back legs, it seems plausible that Sherlock could buy himself a few feet by using his nice long coat, plus his arms and legs.

 

 

Must be camera angle. You can find a video captured by a tourist who happened to stumble into the filming of that scene. It showes "Sherlock" falling from St. Bart's. He is in harness being lowered by a crane.

The way a camera angle makes things look may be part of the show's "reality" -- just as when an actor wears a black wig, he may be playing a man wearing a black wig, or he may be playing a man with black hair. That's what makes it really hard to know what "really" happened here -- we don't know which things are really clues, and which things are merely the way the filming was done.

 

In any case, that video sounds interesting -- could you post a link to it?

 

 

... We all see that there is a platform beneath the ledge Sherlock is standing on. And he doen't jump: no he falls of. Which would just make him fall on to the platform below. And he tells John to focus on him while he's falling. ...

 

The show is a great favourite of mine, and I'm a big Dutch fan, but love to ponder on this. Great stuff!

 

Hello, redmess -- welcome to Sherlock Forum! Thanks for posting your ideas -- that's what keeps the forum going!

 

I suspect that the platform was part of how they made it look like Sherlock fell, without killing Benedict Cumberbatch. I believe that the second-season DVD says they used two different buildings (or different parts of the same building) -- one for the part when he first steps off, and the other for when he's falling. As I said to Bakerstreet Irregular just now, it's hard for us to know when we're supposed to interpret something as a clue, and when it's just a filming trick. But I guess that just makes it more of a challenge!

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Sherlock could have thickened his voice without the tears or trembling lower lip, I would think. There were times during the call that he sounded normal, his voice steady and strong. The snipers had seen both Sherlock and John at the pool. Sherlock never skipped a beat and was ready to shoot the vest of explosives and John had indicated that he was willing to let him do it even if it meant them both dying as long as they took Moriarty out. So why the fake tears and emotions. No one would be expecting them.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Maybe he thought the tears would convince John that he was telling the truth about being a fraud.

 

I just had another thought, though -- John knows that Sherlock can fake tears, because he saw him do it while questioning the wife of the man who was supposedly dead but had actually gone to South America (in "The Great Game"). And Sherlock knows that John knows it. That would argue against any kind of "he's trying to fool John" theory.

 

So I'm once more thinking you're probably right, that Sherlock genuinely realized how terribly his "death" was going to hurt his faithful friend.

[SherLOCKED221]

It seems (if that was truly his intention) Sherlock has managed to convince John that he did kill himself therefore (unless John knows and is faking his sadness) it appears whatever Sherlock did worked.

[Carol the Dabbler]

True. I can't think of any reason for John to fake his emotions at the cemetery, so he's really bought it -- which is just as well, since his belief should quiet any suspicions the assassins might have that Sherlock is alive, thus making it unlikely that they will kill Sherlock's friends, or even look very hard for Sherlock himself. Which was presumably Sherlock's motivation for cooking up that elaborate scheme in the first place.

 

The very worst thing John could do right now would be to pay any attention to that little voice in the back of his head that's telling him maybe Sherlock isn't really dead.

[htmella]

Longtime lurker, first time poster, but I had this thought today while re-watching RF for the millionth time today - Mycroft wasn't sitting in the silent room at the end of the episode to grieve, he was sitting there because he has to keep quiet about Sherlock's whereabouts and escape. He is totally, totally in on it.