Episode 4.0: The Abominable Bride (alias The Special)

[Shadow Dweller]

Sherlock's drug-induced dream about Mycroft and death could be interpreted that he realized that Mycroft most likely had pay a heavy price in exchange for Sherlock's more or less chance to slip out of the net in the Eastern Europe.

[bedelia1984]

I have to admit I thought of that too. But it seems unlikely to me, and also hope it's not true. It did sound, though, as if Mycroft thought he wouldn't be around as much anymore, and I started wondering -- could Mycroft have made some sort of deal with the devil? Somehow saving Sherlock in return for not being as available to him in the future, or something like that? It was a fleeting thought, but there were certainly overtones of loss in regards to Mycroft's final scenes, weren't there? And it would be a nice story, Mycroft sacrificing something so Sherlock can have ... well, happiness, I  suppose. Hmmm, that sounds suspiciously like sentiment....

 

 

I had to go back and look up exactly the quote I wanted to mention:

 

MYCROFT: I was there for you before. I'll be there for you again. I'll always be there for you. This was my fault.

SHERLOCK: It was nothing to do with you.

 

What struck me about the above exchange, is that I haven't always had the impression that Mycroft was doing the best thing for Sherlock- like, when Moriarty was released, for example, or when Sherlock had been away and Mycroft seemed all right with letting him suffer at the end. It's quite likely that Mycroft's reasoning is more complex than I realise, but it is interesting to me that Sherlock sees Mycroft as so exclusively and permanently loyal to him- and that he ties it all up with Mycroft feeling guilty.

 

The look that Sherlock gives him, when he says, first of all about being there before, and then about it being his fault, again to me has these heavy hints of a backstory we don't know, that Sherlock is afraid Mycroft might reveal. Redbeard is significant, but it seems there must be more to it than that.

 

One thing I thought, about the overtones of loss, is that they might refer to the 'other brother', or that there is some other death associated with Redbeard. It was interesting that Sherlock spoke about Redbeard being put down before, as that can be a sign a dog has turned dangerous/ violent, and I wonder could this play into whatever childhood incident they might be thinking of- or even a metaphor for the brother they had to get rid of, because he turned violent. If you'll excuse the wild speculation here!

[Marieke]

hey, did anyone else notice that in the beginning of TRF Sherlock manages to get a Peter Ricoletti arrested.  He is a criminal who was Interpol's most wanted criminal from 1982 until 2010. Scotland Yard were unable to track him but Sherl was able to produce decisive leads to aid his capture.

 

I don't think Ricoletti is a regular name in England, any thoughts?

[Pamela]

Why was Mary wearing all black in her first scene?  Was she in mourning?  That didn't look like an appropriate outfit to me for the time (or even now, all black like that) unless she was.

 

Thoughts, anyone?

[sittything]

Why was Mary wearing all black in her first scene?  Was she in mourning?  That didn't look like an appropriate outfit to me for the time (or even now, all black like that) unless she was.

 

Thoughts, anyone?

 

I thought it was just a costume as part of her pretend to be a client to see John.

[Slithytove]

 

 

Arwel tweeted this:

 

https://twitter.com/arwelwjones/status/683780934106218502

 

Clever, clever, clever.

 

Yupp, have seen it, but don't get it. Can you help?

 

Note to self: Read the canon. Learn Chinese.

 

 

It's from the original canon.  Ricoletti and the case of the club foot.  So Ricoletti has come out of a club in Chinatown whose name in Chinese is The CLUB Foot.  It's a play on words and a clever way of working it into the plot by Gatiss.

 

In medical terms, a club foot is a foot that is bent or twisted at a wrong angle at birth.  So it's just a play on the word - club foot, night club, gentleman's club...  it's a club called "The Club Foot."

 

That's clever.  I was wondering why Mr Ricoletti didn't have a club foot.  I'm glad they managed to work it into the story.

 

Anyone got any ideas about the significance of the scenes where Sherlock thinks he has woken up but is actually still asleep?  Why is he trying, and failing, to find the fake Mrs Ricoletti in the real Mrs Ricoletti's grave?  How does that tie-in with trying to solve the Moriarty problem?  And why does he imagine John would refuse to help him, but Mycroft and Lestrade would help?  I don't quite see how it fits in to the whole in-my-Mind-Palace-to-solve-the-Moriarty-puzzle .

[Carol the Dabbler]

Onward to Page 6 (being very careful to use the built-in touch pad!):
 

P.S: everyone must catch it? Ricoletti is a Scotland Yard case solved by hat detective boffin in TRF. Fitting. But I suspect they just like the sounds of Ricoletti spoken by Greg. I know I do. XD

 
That's absolutely true.  But that's not the end of it, or rather it's not the beginning -- both references to a Ricoletti are based on one brief passage in Conan Doyle's story "The Musgrave Ritual," where Holmes refers to an old case involving "Ricoletti of the club foot and his abominable wife."  That's all he says -- but it's also the source for this episode's title!
 

3. When Watson says that it could be a "secret twins" Sherlock says no because "It's never twins" FULL IMPORTANT!!!! When he says that, he also confess that it would be the only way to trick him. And not because he's not smart enough, but because he never conceived that option. A case with twins will be the only case that he'll never resolve because of his pride. And Moriarty knows his pride is his weakness.

 
That is an excellent point.  (Sherlock needs to remember that old saying about whatever remains after you've eliminated the impossible must be the truth.)  Twins are not impossible, nor even improbable -- merely uncommon.  I'm not saying that I think Jim had an identical twin (though of course he might have), but in canon the professor did have a brother or two.  So I'm expecting them to do something along those lines -- however I fully expect them to do it in a totally unexpected way!
 

... when I realized they were going to tackle feminism in the Special, I went oh no - boys, you'd have better left well enough alone. This is really, really really not your area, and it sure isn't Sherlock's either. I am surprised the women on the production team let them get away with the script. But oh well. I am not seriously angry, and not all that offended, either. I feel more like Mrs Hudson watching John make a proper mess of a date and shaking her head and clucking "that really wasn't very good, was it." :lol:
 
I don't look to Sherlock for feminist inspiration, and I much prefer to think of everything that happens in the Victorian setting as scenes that play inside Sherlock's mind palace and to try and deduce what they tell us about Sherlock rather than what they might have to do with anything in the real world. That's much more fun, more productive, and better for my happiness.

It was nice of them to attempt a feminist story, but as you say, they simply don't have the background to be able to do anything plausible, any more than I'd be able to write a plausible gay-male story.  But you're right, it was all in Sherlock's head anyhow, so it's not about feminists, it's about Sherlock's impression of feminists.  And just as in canon, Holmes really doesn't have much of a clue, though his heart does seem to be in the right place.
 

First of all, Mary. The Special does tie in to the series, and remember, it takes place right after His Last Vow, where Sherlock was fatally wounded because he underestimated Mary. And why did he underestimate Mary? Because she is a woman. It's that simple, she's a woman and she is John's wife. Neither he nor John really considered her outside that role. Their attitude towards her was pretty chauvinistic and pretty 1800s, and it backfired - hard. If this mistake had not been made, Sherlock probably wouldn't be on that plane and heavily drugged in the first place. So of course his mind is running on the subject, and it's actually no surprise in this context that his mind palace is populated by angry, underestimated, disregarded and ultimately dangerous and murderous women - like Mary.

Yes, that's exactly how I interpret that scene in HLV.  Mary very clearly explains that if he takes one more step, she will shoot him, but he says (rather patronizingly, I've always thought), "No you won't, Mrs. Watson."  You raise an interesting thought -- how might that scene have played out if he had taken her seriously?  Seems like they could probably have negotiated something interesting.
 

I hate the "twins" explanation, it would be so terribly cheesy. I was so happy when Holmes roared "it is never twins!"

 
Note to Sherlock: Pride goeth before a fall!  :P
 

... those who are open to experimentation and interested in experiences more than facts may be in for one wild ride in S4. We'll see, I suppose. I don't recall ever seeing anything like this on TV before, it's a huge risk. Personally I love it (so far) but I can see where it could simply get too far up its own arse to be fun anymore. (Max Headroom, anyone?) Not yet, though; not yet.

Did ol' Max jump the shark?  I must not have noticed, because near as I recall, I loved every bit of that show.  Now that you mention it, though, TAB does have somewhat the same feel about it.

 

[sfmpco]

I think it's important to remember that we can't take anything at face value that is in the drug-addled mind palace where he is partially sleeping while being high.  He is trying to piece together a narrative under the worst of circumstances.  He didn't need to do any of it to prove that Moriarty was dead - he already knew that 100%.  He simply needed to look at another case with a similar story.  He doesn't believe in a ghost bride and is furious with Watson when Watson insists he saw a ghost.  Yet he has his own ghost haunting him in the form of Moriarty.

 

I think it's significant that he allows John to push Moriarty over the falls because it represents two things:

 

1. That he's letting go of needing to do everything by himself.

2. That he is including John in a major moment (albeit only in the mind palace) where in the past in real life he had excluded him.  He excluded him from being up on the roof with Moriarty, and he excluded him when he took matters into his own hand and shot Magnussen.

 

WATSON: Would you mind?

SHERLOCK: Not at all.  (the two lines are directly repeated from ASIB)

WATSON: It was my turn.

SHERLOCK: Quite so.

 

Sherlock has allowed John to participate fully, thus fixing another error.  Whether or not this will continue or he will still behave as "alone is what I have, alone protects me" remains to be seen.

[T.o.b.y]

I think I am taking the magic of multiquote further than I have ever tried... Hope my computer can cope. :lol:

 

 

 

It's from the original canon.  Ricoletti and the case of the club foot.  So Ricoletti has come out of a club in Chinatown whose name in Chinese is The CLUB Foot.  It's a play on words and a clever way of working it into the plot by Gatiss.

 

Anyone got any ideas about the significance of the scenes where Sherlock thinks he has woken up but is actually still asleep?  Why is he trying, and failing, to find the fake Mrs Ricoletti in the real Mrs Ricoletti's grave?  How does that tie-in with trying to solve the Moriarty problem?  And why does he imagine John would refuse to help him, but Mycroft and Lestrade would help?  I don't quite see how it fits in to the whole in-my-Mind-Palace-to-solve-the-Moriarty-puzzle .

 

I think Sherlock wanted to find the other corpse to prove to himself that his theory about Emilia Ricoletti was correct. Because if it isn't, then he can't be entirely sure about Moriarty either and besides, it's bugging him. He needs to know.

 

I have a hard time deciding when I think Sherlock is really awake and when he falls into his trance (again?). It's probably safe to assume they never left the plane, but the scene where Mary hacks MI5 security could theoretically be real, which would give us an awful lot of information about her and Mycroft.

 

About the Chinese sign and the club foot: Brilliant. Just brilliant.

 

 

Why was Mary wearing all black in her first scene?  Was she in mourning?  That didn't look like an appropriate outfit to me for the time (or even now, all black like that) unless she was.

 

Thoughts, anyone?

 

I thought it was just a costume as part of her pretend to be a client to see John.

 

 

Yes, and a satiric comment on John's absence: She was dressed as a widow.

 

hey, did anyone else notice that in the beginning of TRF Sherlock manages to get a Peter Ricoletti arrested.  He is a criminal who was Interpol's most wanted criminal from 1982 until 2010. Scotland Yard were unable to track him but Sherl was able to produce decisive leads to aid his capture.

 

I don't think Ricoletti is a regular name in England, any thoughts?

 

It's from a Doyle story (which also mentions an "abominable" wife). They used the name once before on Sherlock, that is true.

 

MYCROFT:  Are you aware of recent theories concerning what is known as paranoia?

WATSON:  Ooh, sounds Serbian.

Hmmm.... harkening back to being tortured in a Serbian dungeon?  Is that part of his life creeping back into his drug-addled mind palace?

 

Likely... I love how almost everything in the Victorian story connects to Sherlock's real life. Just the way it really is inside our minds.

 

MORIARTY:  Did you know that dust is largely composed of human skin?

SHERLOCK:  Yes.

MORIARTY:  Doesn't taste the same, though.  You want your skin fresh. Just a little crispy.

Moriarty's lines harken back to "I will skin you" and "I will burn you.  I will burn the heart out of you."

 

:lol: I had the same thought when I saw that...

 

Interestingly enough, Sherlock knows Mary by her perfume in the opening scenes, something John fails to realize and that Sherlock had missed in HLV.  He doesn’t miss it a second time in TAB, however, when a black-veiled Mary (echoing the black she wore in Magnussen’s flat) appears at 221B.  He deduces her correctly, thus correcting that error he had made before.  That’s what a lot of TAB is – correcting/fixing errors he had made.

 

That's exactly what the special is about. Sherlock cleaning up his past, doing what we'd all like to do: Go back in time and undo our mistakes. There's one scene in particular that I love in this respect, but I'll come to that later.

 

[T.o.b.y]

 

Do I believe he was high when he first stepped on the plane?  I don't know, but Mycroft believed it.  It's weird to think he was high while saying goodbye to John and Mary, but that's the thing with drug users/addicts.  They lay a foundation of lies that you walk onto like a carpet and never think aout it until that carpet is ripped out from under you.  Still, how sad to think he was high getting on the plane.  It is also sad to think that perhaps he had taken the extra drugs on board to perhaps fatally OD rather than face death on the MI6 mission.  I don't think of Sherlock as suicidal despite his flaws, but perhaps he really did feel his life was over and what was the point.  Certainly a week in solitary confinement had probably pushed his brain over the edge and he wasn't thinking clearly anyhow.

 

I'm more curious about logistics; how did he get the drugs if he'd spent a week in solitary and then was moved to the plane?

 

I bet his homeless network found a way to bring him supplies... As for his reasons for taking them, I am sure he had plenty. Sherlock in solitary confinement, bored out of his wits and with little hope for the future? What was Mycroft thinking? He should be glad his brother only overdosed enough to let him go on adventures inside his mind.

 

(Btw, I am probably the only person who is not touched by Mycroft's behavior one single bit, but then, I have never liked him.)

 

 

I've seen it three times now, and I'll be seeing it in the theater on Tuesday.  A few thoughts before I jump into the actual discussion:

 

• I've changed my mind: sex really does bother Sherlock.  When he's musing on his failings, it's on all the women that he's noticed in some way and had to "categorize" into something that doesn't scare him.  Molly is "one of the boys," literally; Mrs. Hudson is a plot device; Irene is a memory preserved as a photograph. 

 

I fully agree with you here.

 

Morality went out of the window in HLV, when John decided he did not need to know who Mary had murdered or why, and when Sherlock shot an unarmed man in the head.  The Bride saw a return, I'd say, to the morality of ACD's Holmes, who felt no need to have people arrested if he thought the murders they had committed were justified.  If the victims were sufficiently nasty, Holmes occasionally let killers escape, so I don't think he would have been handing over either Molly or Sir Eustace's wife to the hangman.

 

Sherlock believes that murder can be justified, yes. I think that became obvious in His Last Vow.

 

The whole thing about the orange pips is really about his guilt coming back to him over and over.  Sherlock is wrestling with his inner demons.

This episode is NOT just about him  using a Victorian case to solve how Moriarty could be alive.  No, it's also about reliving the events of HLV, trying to right the way he handled the case.

 

Not just His Last Vow! While he's at it, he revisits almost all of his life since he met John, and probably also some earlier parts.

 

 I hadn't thought about it when I was watching it, but I love the idea that all the characters are represented as Sherlock sees them, not as they actually are. Still mulling over what that might mean, especially for Molly (she's one of the boys?) My guess is that he thinks of Mycroft as a fat man because 1) Mycroft was actually fat once, 2) he struggles to stay lean, and 3) it's one area where Sherlock excels over his brother, so he rubs it in when he can. But mostly I think Mycroft was fat because it was just brilliantly funny. :D

 

I think it's Sherlock's wicked sense of humor, too. Plus he thinks the pleasures of the table are Mycroft's one weakness, so he makes the most of that...

 

Only wanted to mention in case someone hasn't noticed yet: The DVD will be released on January 11, and at least in Germany, TAB is available on Amazon Instant Video for 8,99€. So no need to wait anymore if you've got an account there.

 

Oh, Schlauer Fuchs, Du bist wirklich ein Schlauer Fuchs! (translation: oh smart fox, you really are a smart fox). It never occurred to me to look there. I couldn't download it because I have neither a kindle nor an iphone, but now I have access to 100% legal streaming on demand. YAYYYYYYYYYY!!! Guess what I've been doing this afternoon... ;)

[Carol the Dabbler]

Page 7 and counting!
 

1) Why doesn't Sherlock realise Molly is a woman, when it is so obvious and John realises immediately?  My guess is that Sherlock, normally so observant, is so uninterested in women that he is blind to gender differences.  It is, I think, otherwise hard to explain why he could be so blind, when he normally notices such tiny details about people.  Of course, this is Sherlock's version of Molly [....]

This is also Sherlock's version of Sherlock and Sherlock's version of John.  Perhaps (as in canon) he merely considers John to be the expert on women, so he needn't be bothered about such matters.
 

2) Why is Mycroft so fat?  My daughter hasn't read the ACD stories, so I explained that the original Mycroft was fat but she pointed out that this version of Mycroft, in Sherlock's Mind Palace, is not merely overweight but grossly obese and extremely greedy. [....] we wondered whether it was also an illustration of the way Sherlock feels about his brother.

 
Another possibility is that it was a bit of fan service, a nod to the Mycroft/cake theme.  But yes, Sherlock does clearly have an awkward relationship with Mycroft, and is not above insulting him, especially as regards his weight -- so the in-universe explanation is presumably that Sherlock is insulting Mycroft by picturing him in that way.
 

Martin Freeman was fantastic once again proving that he can be the comedy character.

 
Oddly enough, before Freeman was cast in Sherlock, many people thought of him as only a comic actor, due to his great success in The Office.  Apparently he has succeeded well enough with his recent dramatic roles that people are now surprised he handles comedy so well!  (This kinda reminds me of the people who were wondering how Sherlock could be translated into the Victorian era, whereas earlier they were skeptical that a Sherlock Holmes story would work in the modern era.)
 

I am not convinced that Sherlock is unaware that Dr. Hooper (the only time she has been officially called "doctor") is not actually female in disguise but that he chooses to keep her secret [....]

 
What still amazes me about that scene is not the "why" but rather the mere fact that she's finally been called "Doctor."  Since (as you point out later) all this is a product of the modern Sherlock's mind, apparently she really is a doctor -- or at least Sherlock is under the impression that she is.
 

Sorry ..double post.

 
That happens!  All you have to do is just click the "Hide" button on the superfluous post (just to the left of the Quote buttons).  I've already hidden that one for you (so it'll be interesting to see whether my attempt to quote it will work), but in the future you can hide the post yourself, far more easily than editing it.
 

I laughed when they showed Mycroft fat did anyone else?

I not only laughed, I clapped and cheered!  Of course the Victorian Mycroft would be fat -- it's canon!  Also, they did such a marvelously believable job of making Mark Gatiss look extremely fat.  I suppose it was an application of computer morphing, but if so, they've gotten very, very good at it.

[sittything]

Page 7 and counting!

 

 

I am not convinced that Sherlock is unaware that Dr. Hooper (the only time she has been officially called "doctor") is not actually female in disguise but that he chooses to keep her secret [....]

 

What still amazes me about that scene is not the "why" but rather the mere fact that she's finally been called "Doctor."  Since (as you point out later) all this is a product of the modern Sherlock's mind, apparently she really is a doctor -- or at least Sherlock is under the impression that she is.

 

 

Me at the verification that Molly Hooper is in fact Dr. Hooper:

 

 

 

It's really a good thing I didn't see this in the theater first as I probably would have been thrown out for screaming over and over....

[sfmpco]

Easter eggs in the special:

 

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-01-04/7-easter-eggs-you-might-not-have-spotted-in-the-sherlock-special

[sfmpco]

So... as to Mary.  

 

 

I think that when the plane lands that Sherlock has a lucid moment.  In this moment we see Mary break into the MI5 files (on a smartphone no less), and Mycroft is entirely nonplussed about it.  This tells me that Mycroft knows what and possibly who she really is - either because he's always known and/or because Sherlock spilled the beans in an interrogation after shooting Magnussen.  It's all out in the open and everyone is comfortable with her skill set.

 

 

This is probably why he has Mycroft use her in his dream.

 

Interesting that at Emilia's gravesite in the modern world, he sees her as quite dominant and that perhaps John is a bit hen-pecked.  Dream sequence of course.

 

Interesting also that when he gets the note from Mary that despite still being quite high, he reiterates to John that he will always be there for Mary.

 

 

“Are you even in a fit state?”
“For Mary, of course.  Never doubt that, Watson.  Never that.”

 

I think perhaps his love (not "in love") for Mary has been understated since HLV, but he did say at the end of HLV, "Give my love to Mary.  Tell her she's safe now."  He didn't say "You're both safe now."  He had forgiven her and was willing to do what was necessary to protect her (and thereby John) because he still loved her, perhaps even more so.

 

 

I don't think we should be assigning any of "what's happening in his dreams is how he REALLY feels about things" type of rubbish.  He displays more true feelings in the other episodes than he ever does in this one.

 

[sittything]

You know, TAB made me temporarily forget that Mary shot Sherlock.  Huh.   

[Boton]

Why was Mary wearing all black in her first scene?  Was she in mourning?  That didn't look like an appropriate outfit to me for the time (or even now, all black like that) unless she was.

 

Thoughts, anyone?

 

That looked like pretty deep mourning to me.  I'm leaning toward thinking that's a clue that she is or will be mourning a death in real life, but I guess we'll see.  Some year.  Sigh.

[sfmpco]

 

Why was Mary wearing all black in her first scene?  Was she in mourning?  That didn't look like an appropriate outfit to me for the time (or even now, all black like that) unless she was.

 

Thoughts, anyone?

 

That looked like pretty deep mourning to me.  I'm leaning toward thinking that's a clue that she is or will be mourning a death in real life, but I guess we'll see.  Some year.  Sigh.

 

 

For me it was a reflection of when he incorrectly deduced her as Lady Smallwood by her perfume when she was all in black ready to shoot Magnussen.  Here she is also in black, he knows it's her perfume, and he correctly deduces her.  it's a little fix in his mind palace.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Comments on Page 8:
 

I laughed when they showed Mycroft fat did anyone else?

 
Well, Gatiss did say we'd be seeing more of him in the special.  LOL!!!

 
I'm still trying to decide whether Mycroft's plumpitude explains why we never saw Mark Gatiss in any Setlock pictures.  Of course his scenes were all indoors, which makes perfect sense from a canon point of view -- he rarely travels any further than the short distance between his rooms and the club, then back again.  Even if we had seen Mr. Gatiss on his way to filming, though, we'd merely have seen a slender man in a nice suit.  (Or would we?)
 

... he noticed Mrs. Carmichael (which means he noticed the pilot/stewardess/MI 5 agent/whatever she was in real life [....]

 
Oh, good heavens, I really do need to see this again (which I will accomplish at the theater on Wednesday).  So the actress who plays Lady Carmichael also appears in the modern-day scenes?  Of course, she'd be dressed differently, so maybe I should just ascribe my failure to notice to the touch of face-blindness that I've mentioned elsewhere.
 

Although there were about a million in-universe explanations and justifications for it, I'm not 100% sold on BC's portrayal of Victorian Holmes.  Yes, this is how his drug-addled mind hopes he would act in another era, but to me, it lacked just a bit of the sparkle and sass I like about the modern Sherlock.

 
This could be due to Sherlock thinking of Victorian men as comparatively stuffy and humorless.
 

Sherlock started to play the violin with the theme he wrote for their wedding when John and Mary started quarrelling. (When it failed, he got frustrated and yes, it’s funny)

 
I really have to see this episode again!
 

This episode is NOT just about him  using a Victorian case to solve how Moriarty could be alive.  No, it's also about reliving the events of HLV, trying to right the way he handled the case.
 
When Sherlock says, “We all have a past, Watson.  Ghosts.  They are the shadows that define our every sunny day. [....]”  - He's not just talking about Sir Eustace.  He's talking about himself, and it's not just Moriarty's ghost that haunts him.

 
Ooh, I like this idea!  That explains the parallels -- they're actually Sherlock's mind trying to bring order out of chaos by making sense of what he's already been through.
 

John concludes Molly is a woman after he sort of peeking to see her behind in the morgue.
We are so busy I believe no one mentions Anderson. Anderson!

 
Poor Anderson!  I really liked him in this -- not in the sense that I actually liked him as a person, but in the sense that his character was perfectly done for that situation.  Jonathan Aris deserves more recognition.
 
And I like your explanation for John's insight!

[Carol the Dabbler]

Page 8 continued:
 

... that's the thing with drug users/addicts.  They lay a foundation of lies that you walk onto like a carpet and never think aout it until that carpet is ripped out from under you.

 
Indeed.  I know someone who (I now realize) is clearly an addict with serious behavioral issues, but I had known him for years without even suspecting it.  And he still has the professionals fooled, because he's so damn good at faking normal.
 

I remember thinking that Sherlock was high pretty much all the way through HLV, partly because it helped explain to me his mistakes and reactions at Appledore. He simply wasn't at the top of his game in that business, imo

 
Now there's a thought!
 

Well, there are theories out in fandom right now that because of the conversation and bet with fat Mycroft that it's foreshadowing Mycroft will die in S4.  Not sure how I feel about it that theory except that I hope it's not true.

 
Yup, he'll die in 1897.  ;)
 

My issue with Sherlock being high at all or taking drugs on board is - where did he get them?  I would think he was put in solitary immediately after being arrested at Appledore and then moved straight from Appledor to the airplane.  So unless somehow he arranged secretly for the drugs to be ON he plane waiting for him... even so, where did he get the drugs to be high at the end if he was under constant security?

 
I've heard that it's actually far easier to get drugs from inside a prison than from outside.  And Sherlock is known to be somewhat creative.
 

I used to know sign language because my cousin is deaf, but only recognise some of them because we talked more in slang/informal sign language (yes it exists at least between me and her) and it's been sooooo long since the last time we met.
But I really want to show her that clip and ask her to translate for me.

She may not be able to do that, because apparently there are different versions of sign language in various countries (plus even British sign language may have changed since 1895).  It all depends on which "dialect" she knows.

[sfmpco]

The only thing, Carol, is that Sherlock was in solitary, and I doubt he was in a regular prison but in something MI5 related.    

 

A few more thoughts occurred to me - that in HLV at Leinster Gardens Sherlock asks Mary, "Why didn't you come to me?" and here in TAB she is initially posing as a client.  So she did come to him.

 

Interesting that she in not pregnant in the Victorian times nor is there mention of a child.

 

Also, in TSOT, Sherlock says at the wedding reception, "I will always be there for you," but in TAB it is Mycroft saying it to Sherlock.  

 

 

[sfmpco]

Loo Brealey,,,

 

https://twitter.com/louisebrealey/status/684171099366649857

[sfmpco]

It was nice to see Anderson again.  Perhaps it's an indication that he's working with Scotland Yard again and not just heading up a fan club.

[sfmpco]

Interesting that at the end of HLV in the phone conversation between Sherlock and Mycroft:

 

SHERLOCK:Who needs me this time?

MYCROFT: England.

 

In TAB, a similar conversation:

 

MARY: just a friend in need

MRS. HUDSON: Oh, what friend?

MARY: England.

 

If England = Mycroft in TAB, is England also Mycroft in HLV?

[Arcadia]

A few funny tweets.

[Van Buren Supernova]

 

I used to know sign language because my cousin is deaf, but only recognise some of them because we talked more in slang/informal sign language (yes it exists at least between me and her) and it's been sooooo long since the last time we met.

But I really want to show her that clip and ask her to translate for me.

She may not be able to do that, because apparently there are different versions of sign language in various countries (plus even British sign language may have changed since 1895).  It all depends on which "dialect" she knows.

 

Yes I think so too.

The ugly, companion, thank you, meal, room are the same. I am curious about potato and fishmonger. :P For the more specific and complicated words we normally spelled them out with alphabets (well I guess there were not many complicated words we knew when we were kids anyway). Even for the alphabets, she taught me two versions, one hand and two hands. Oh oh.. I definitely understand the thumbs-up at the end. XD It means time to ascend in scubadiving. :lol:

 

On another thought, in the beginning of TAB, Sherlock is very dismissive about John's intelligence. He is rude, says John barely understand a word first time they meet Mary. And here, in the sign language scene. It's no rocket science at all to deduce that Mycroft is there for meal in the room. Where else he will be in his condition? (love to eat, difficulty to move, and the room). So it's either Sherlock is very courteous to the butler (?) or he finds John clotty and amusing in his mind with that scene.

 

 

If England = Mycroft in TAB, is England also Mycroft in HLV?

Mycroft is always England.